But tablets also take a long time to get used to Wha? I didn't have any trouble at all.
I actually draw better on a tablet .__.
Well, there's always doing your lineart on paper and then using the tablet to clean it up.
edited 1st Dec '10 10:50:34 AM by melloncollie
Wha? I didn't have any trouble at all. 
The Fastest Man Alive
I don't use a tablet. Inking by hand on the proper paper (I use bristol board, which is what most comic artists use) and scanning in a high resolution (something like 600 DPI) will give you awesome results too. I never got use to the separation of drawing on the tablet but looking at the screen. So a tablet isn't the only way to go, if that's what you're worried about.
Rawr!
Zanter
Even if you don't use it for everything. It's still a godsend. Just power through a few drawings and you'll get the hang of it.
Behold, art. http://insanelyzanter.deviantart.com/
YOSH!
i used to think it was hard as well. Then I tried out the one my sister bought when I went home. Then I found out just how easy it was. I need to buy a tablet becuase it's actually insanely easy. I figured the thing out in minutes, if I have time It'll probably be a breeeze.
I say, don't stress aboot it, Faw.
When All Else Fails, you have fun and flirt wit da ladies, dats da Drawings way!Protip:
Line work comes much easier with thicker lines. Start with something really thick, then zoom as you adjust your bruish size.
When painting, make a new layer on a regular basis and paint on it when ever your looking to make a big change. Turn the layer on and off. Is the new layer an improvement?
When working from imagination, it can be helpful to flip the image along the Y axis to keep your eye fresh.
Also, I reccomend going to pose maniacs and just doing a bunch of gestures for a while on your tablet. Very low pressure, very quick stuff, so you don't get too frustrated.
| DA Page | Sketchbook |
o hai
I don't think I could get used to a tablet because i'm always looking at the thing i'm drawing on.
It would probably be easy enough to draw directly on the monitor though. Wonder if one of those exist.
If people learned from their mistakes, there wouldn't be this thing called bad habits.
Zanter
o hai
Depends on the person...
If people learned from their mistakes, there wouldn't be this thing called bad habits.I suppose. From the people I talked to, I was the one who took the longest to get used to it, and I took a couple days.
edited 2nd Dec '10 1:52:53 PM by Roman
| DA Page | Sketchbook |
o hai
I haven't been able to get used to it after a month of trying, so.
I can't even type without looking at the keyboard.
If people learned from their mistakes, there wouldn't be this thing called bad habits.Me either. I use a system of rapid,four fingered, one handed, hunt and pecking. Still, tablets aren't a problem.
How often do you do observational drawing? Might help.
edited 2nd Dec '10 2:03:11 PM by Roman
| DA Page | Sketchbook |
o hai
The only time i've done something close to that was looking at my hands to (try) to draw them more properly. I ended up failing and just went screw it.
If people learned from their mistakes, there wouldn't be this thing called bad habits.There aren't really any short cuts around observational drawing if you want to make lifelike drawings. I'm not talking about realism per se, but capturing the feeling of movement, or the precise and suddle changes to a character's face that really make an emotion become subtle or clear.
There are a few exercises, though,if you want to reduce observational drawing to a few basic elements,and relieve some frustration. Gesture Drawing
and Contour Drawing.
edited 3rd Dec '10 8:50:28 PM by Roman
| DA Page | Sketchbook |
Using a tablet isn't that different from using a mouse. It took me about a couple days to get the hang of it.
I'd say drawing lineart in pencil and then scanning is the best practice to start out with. Once you practice that a lot it gets much easier.
The Golden Girl
It only takes a couple of days, really, to get used to not looking at the tablet and the screen instead.
Although it honestly took several months for me to be able to draw things in the same quality on tablet as on paper. It's just really, really different.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
And this is definitely a good way to deal with it. Sketching, I find, is way harder on the tablet than painting, so colouring in painted sketches is the way to go!
Hmm, I guess that's alright, then... I like sketching on paper, I just don't like how dirty it ends up looking. If I can ink it nicely on the tablet, then discard the sketch, that should be nice... I guess that would still leave my software as a problem, but even for Linux, there should be good options... or maybe GIMP is just being a jerk again and not letting me know what it's capable of...
The Golden Girl
If everything smudges really badly, try using a lighter pencil, and not pressing as hard.
Also, you can get blue sketching pencils that don't really smudge like regular old graphite does. When you scan it in, blue lines are super easy to ink over because you can see the black lines over them really well.
The last time I used GIMP was on 2003, and I've used quite a bit of other software since then. I remember it being enough for what I needed, but I don't know how it would compare to photoshop and others at this point. XD All I know is, to make a doujin, you need your program to do layers, you need a rectangular box tool/line tool for drawing straight panels, pressure sensitivity to go along with your tablet, and that's about it. I'm pretty sure that if I were too make a comic in photoshop, the fanciest feature I would use would be filling some area with a pattern, if I were to use tones. GIMP should be enough for all that, if it's comfortable for you.
I don't know how long you've been using it, but myself, I find that all you need is practice with the program. Once you feel comfortable with using it, it won't seem even half as bad.
ShineRecommend Sketchbook Pro. Roundbrush, Opacity, Brush Size Adjuster right on the screen so you don't need to go through brush menus, Layer, Undo, Redo, Color Picker and eyedropper, Rectangular select, Zoom, Move. That's all you need. No filters, no crazy transparency effects, or endless fooling around with the marquees, no textures, no distracting custom brushes. No tools you won't understand a year after you've bought the damned thing.
Much cheaper than Photoshop and much more manageable while you're getting used to your tablet. Also, if your disposition allows for it, just as pirateable.
If you insist on using Linux, then the closest Linux compatible program is Art Rage, which is somewhere in between Skectchbook Pro and Painter. Instructions here.
edited 5th Dec '10 12:17:17 AM by Roman
| DA Page | Sketchbook |
It didn't take me long at all. Trust me, it feels quite natural rather quickly; it feels very similar to drawing on paper.
If you're looking for a moderately inexpensive, but quality tablet, I can recommend a Wacom Bamboo Fun. It's what I use, and it's pretty reliable, not to mention only $100.
I've been using my tablet for years. I still prefer to draw with a pen or pencil, though. If not for convenience, then for tactile response. Drawing with a plastic pen-nub on a smooth plastic surface doesn't give the right feedback or resistance that a pencil or pen on paper does.
Plus, I find I can't draw lines at certain angles. With a physical picture on a piece of paper, I can rotate the page and do lines at an angle I'm better with; with a tablet, that's pretty much impossible due to the disconnect between the action and the response. You have to get used to drawing lines at bad angles.
Almost every dedicated painting program has a rotate feature. It takes a while to get used to, though.
With an undo feature, making lines at bad angles isn't nearly as stressful and that's what I ended up doing.
edited 8th Dec '10 5:47:28 PM by Roman
| DA Page | Sketchbook |
I want to produce a small doujin anthology. I want to really publish and sell it at a convention, like a proper independent comic thingamajigger. I also want it to be good, which is evidently the biggest problem.
I've been thinking that if I'm ever gonna get serious about art, I need to get a tablet, because drawing on paper and scanning it in with my subpar means just doesn't cut it. But tablets also take a long time to get used to... I have no idea how long it would take for me to be able to draw just as good on a tablet as I do on paper. The convention I want to publish it on is in March. And until then, getting some artistic experience is far from my only worry...
It had to be pointed out to me that if I draw the doujin on paper, I don't actually have to scan it in in order to have it copied, so that skips a step that would've probably cost it a lot of quality. Paper still isn't terribly ideal for this sort of thing, I would imagine...
What do you think?