With the price of professional art software running into many hundreds of dollars, it can be a bit disheartening for artists who want to get stuck into digital art without completely blowing the budget. Sometimes, such as when you're an arts student and need to learn the standard packages for your industry, there is really no option but to save up and buy a Corel or Adobe suite. But if you just want to create some artwork, there are some very good free and low cost options available to you. Don't be tempted to go hunting for license keys for art programs or illegal free downloads - apart from breaking the law and acting unethically, the chances are you'll end up with a computer virus. I'm a bit of a geek but no software expert (that's Sue Chastain's and Jacci Howard Bear's job!) - so I'm not going to get all techy about it. Instead I've listed a few programs that I've used myself and liked, and feel that I can give a nod of approval to as affordable, easy to download and install, and easy to use. So check out this selection of Drawing Programs and Art Software and try one today!

I was just checking out the blog of romance author Ann Stephens, who recently commented in response to a blog entry of mine on copyright. While much of her blog is focused, of course, on writing and romance, she has some great insights on creativity that will chime with anyone who has thought anything like 'I'm not really much good of an artist', so do check out her article called 'Make Something Of Yourself'.

If you've tried some simple one-point perspective and two point perspective, you're probably feeling pretty confident with the idea. So now you want to tackle a tall building, just because you can, right? Whet your appetite for more exploration in 3D drawing with this quick three point perspective drawing lesson. Grab your pencil and ruler, and try it out!

Thumbnail sketching and drawing are time-honored ways to test out ideas, but sometimes you want to pump up the visual volume without spending hours drawing fine detail. And sometimes you want to test a composition by throwing things together and seeing what works - in both of these cases, collage can be a fast and effective tool for developing creative ideas. It is also an art form in its own right, where an artist can re-interpret or 'remix' existing images. It's also one that combines well with drawing mediums.Collage is not everone's cup of tea - there's often a strong sense of the 'artist at work', and the 'borrowed' origin of the components can sometimes be quite jarring.

There's many approaches you can take though, from the a layered and worked-over piece that retains only echoes of the original, through to a derivative remix of crisply 'sampled' images. In between is a visual artwork that combines the 'sampled' motifs of other artists with your own original composition and linear 'melody'. Find out more about artistic creativity with collage.