There are few things I consider an extension of me, and if you asked me when I was a student, I would have said a pencil- now it’s Photoshop. I adore Photoshop and use it on a daily basis. A few over-users will understand me when I say that I sometimes think in Photoshop 🤓. Anyway, starting out on software was harder back then than it is now. I started transitioning because I needed to get my illustrations digital, be it for a college project or just to put on my blog I had then. So that’s where my first, and only, scanner came in. From there it just graduated to using Photoshop to make scans look better, then to colour, then to use in illustrations and print, then for work and now for everything.
I truly think the amount of digitization one wants for their drawings is purely personal but ultimately, it almost always HAS to end up as a soft copy if a drawing needs to be utilised commercially. If not, then it’s your call! That’s the beauty. I never completely transitioned to digital because I adore hearing the sound a pencil makes on paper. That scratching sound is one of my living pleasures.
I used this specific scanner to do easily over 10,000 scans. I’ve not had that great a scanner since. I just have a relatively inexpensive Epson one now.
It’s only till the Apple Pencil came out that I started even drawing digitally. Till then it was a mix. Now I get through many projects entirely digitally but mostly because it’s a very big time saver, than my usual little tedious process.
Hope that helps! More pencil power to you, digital pencil or lead :)
Alicia