I think quite a number of people use Krita. In the past, people that didn't use Photoshop often used Gimp, but over time many Gimp users have drifted over to Krita for the superior drawing experience and brushes.

About your comment on SVG & raster, have you tried Affinity Designer? It's not free, but it's not particularly expensive either. It combines vector with raster and really gives the best of both worlds. I use it a lot and I love it.