Welcome to Gaia! ::

I use MSpaint. Start in paint, finish in paint, do all of my coloring that way.
It's not as shitty as one might think.
Having a tablet helps tremendously, but you don't have to spend too much money on this stuff if you don't want to.

I like to use inkjet paper, but I'm stuck with laserjet paper right now. Oh well. I like having a heavy weight, bright white paper, but (again) I'm stuck with a 20lbs white (it's not even bright . . .), but it suffices for now. Mainly because it was free.

I use a Pentel 0.5 mechanical pencil (I like the line thickness and the fact you never need to sharpen it!), and a Pentel ClicEraser. I really like those erasers. I found a surprisingly good eraser at work, too; the Foohy Pink Pet eraser (yes, it's pink, but it's softer than those crappy high school ones, it actually works really really well for large areas).

For inking I used to use Sakura Microns exclusively. When I found their brush pen, I was in haven. But I destroy their brushes too quickly. I found that Faber-Castell PITT pens work pretty well, too. That's what I'm using now. The brush pen is slightly harder, so it seems to last longer (although I'm still too rough on them), and I like the rest of the pens as well. I don't color with markers (although, sometimes I would really like too), but sometimes I may color with those Crayola Twist Colored Pencils. They seem very crayon-ish, but they are fun to play with. And like a mechanical pencil, they don't need to be sharpened.

I have a crappy scanner that seems to have some kind of anti-scratch coating on it that turns all my work blue or grey where the white is. I plan on getting a new one soon, as inexpensive as possible.

I do have a Wacom Tablet, a Graphire. And although it does make it easier for me, I've only had it for a short time, and I've been drawing and editing my comic for more than three years. It is not necessary in the slightest. But it does make some things easier sometimes. I can't draw with it, though, I have to use pencil and paper.

I used to have Photoshop Elements 2, but it doesn't work on my Mac right now. I have a Photoshop CS2, but I just don't like it as well. Too many things, I just don't need that much.



Biggest thing is to start small!!! You have no reason to jump into this head first. Chances are, unless you are unbelievably good, or have really great connections, or are just damn lucky, no one is going to read anything for the first few months, and if you give it up before you start getting hits, then all of that money is wasted.

Don't buy a tablet PC if you are just starting out, it's just a status thing at that point. Something that makes it seem like you are saying "nah nah, look what I can do! I can spend wads of cash." Unless, of course, you plan to use it for other things as well. Something job related, maybe.

You know what I mean?

(wow, that got way longer than I expected! sorrysorry)