Hi, nice to meet you.
I am James Whitelaw, an Animator and Illustrator. Please play the video below to learn a little more about me and my background.
What software do I use?
Currently I use free software, and there is a reason for that...
Currently I use free software, and there is a good reason for that; my intended audience with a lot of my course work may not have access to paid subscription software like Adobe, ToonBoom etc - so my intention with nearly all the work I do (there are rare exceptions when I do use paid for software) is to show that great animation should not be limited by financial means, or the lack of it.
If you have access to Adobe CC, or ToonBoom etc, that is great, they are top notch products. But there are also open source and free software products that are as good, an perhaps in some cases better, than these paid for (subscription) products. And a lot of the people who take my courses use them. So That is what I use now, so I can walk the talk, so to say. I want this great craft we call animation to be available to anyone and everyone who has the talent, drive and desire to do it. And not be shut out by a lack of means (money). So the software I use is free, and below are the software packages I use.
OpenToonz
I use OpenToonz exclusively for all my 2D animation.
OpenToonz has an interesting history. It was developed by an Italian company as Toonz, and was used on many movies and series, and still is, such great studios as Studio Ghibli used it. Then they spun off an open source, free version of the Toonz software, and this is what OpenToonz essentially is.
It has had many updates and improvements over the years, the early versions had a lot of "bugs" in them, but the open source developers around the world have been legendary at fixing these issues and making OpenToonz what it is today; a VERY good free 2D animation software.
Krita
I use Krita for all my digital drawing & painting.
I came up through the ranks using Photoshop, it was the best, and probably still is, photo editing and painting package available. Keep in mind it was initially a fairly simple digital editing package, that grew and morphed into what it is today, a mammoth program, capable of incredible and amazing things.
But after deciding to go all in on free software, I discovered Krita, and after I while I got the point that I actually prefered Krita to Photoshop (I know! Horror of horrors!)
For one, it is a lot simpler and extremely intuitive - I learnt to use it in an afternoon, where as Photoshop took months. It is also a heck of a lot simpler that Photoshop, one reason being, it does only what you really want a digital painting package to do; it allows you to paint!
Photoshop has been around for decades - since 1987 - and sold to Adobe in 1988. It has since grown into the monster it is today - the powerful digital editing software that people love above most others. What's not to love - you can paint, edit and adjust digital artwork, photos etc. - you can even animate.
But Krita, the younger and leaner alternative has really only one objective, and it delivers on it very well; it allows you to draw and paint fast and freely, without getting in the way by offering you everything you actually don't need in a drawing and painting package. It is clean, lean and incredibly simple, and it has allowed me to do my work faster and better than I ever could when I used Photoshop.
So I am a big fan now. Plus, it's free. Which is great for all my students! Win win.
Shotcut
I use Shotcut exclusively for all my video compilation and editing.
Another great, free piece of software that is excellent at delivering what it promises; top class video editing capabilities. Again, being an Adobe CC faithful, I used After Effects for all my video compilation and editing. And don't get me wrong, AE is awesome in what it does! There is no mystery why it is the go-to software for most animators and video editors, it really is good.
But again, when I decided to go 100% into "free" software, I found Shotcut (after exploring a few other free options). After a short period of conversion from After Effects - I found Shotcut to be simpler, faster and easier to work with, and there is very little it can not do now that AE does. Especially if you are just looking to edit and compile videos. It's great! 
Blender
I use Blender for all my 3D modelling and animation
Another awesome piece of open source, free software! Blender is so powerful than many games companies use it, and in the future, probably more animation studios will use it. At the moment of course Maya rules supreme in the 3D animation world, and as with Photoshop and After Effects, with good reason, as it is a beast of a package, and delivers incredible punch.
But Blender is a good, free alternative to Maya. It does have a steep learning curve, but once you get your head around it, there is very little you can not do with it. And with the addition of Grease Pencil, a 2D add on that allows you to create 2D artwork and animation in a 3D environment, it has just grown even more desirable.
I was trained and worked with the "other" Autodesk 3D package, 3DMax - and I loved it. I have not had any exposure to Maya which is so prolific in the industry, but in the theme of sticking with "free" software, I am using Blender for all my 3D asset creation, modelling, some backgrounds and animation. Early days, and I am by no ways an expert with Blender, but I do like it's back story and it's power - and for 3D, it's all I need.