FOR SALE: WACOM Intuos3 6x8 + Painter IX

[ElviratheCat]

LittleFenris, please don't give up yet, you haven't given the tablet a fair trial yet! Be a bit more patient. One thing to try to help you get a better feel of the the tablet is to use a peice of paper over it to give the pen something to grab though after awhile this won't be neccesary.

Painter is a complex program with more brushes than one will ever use, pick one of two and just play with them, many find starting with the chalk and pastel ones the most satisfying to begin with.

It is a new medium and it does take time to get use to the feel and sense of it, it took me a number of years before I was happy with my freehand results. It won't replace your paints and brushes but it is a new tool for the tool box.

If you are finding the interface of painter intimidating there are some online courses that will familiarize you with the tools and they aren't expensive. As well there are a number of other forums where you can learn from many other users as well, it realy can be fun!!
Elvira

[drounding]

I agree - give a bit more time. I am also a traditional painter, have been for many years. I found it hard at first to get used to the tablet. I started just using the artists oils, wet oily brush (in fact I still use that more than anything else) because I was overwhelmed - there was so much to learn. I have still have so much to learn but at least now I feel I can use the oils in a way I feel comfortable.Digital painter (for me at least) will never take the place fully of the traditional way. The feel of the brush, in fact just getting dirty and involved, but digital has opened up new avenues of interest and methods for me.

Do give it another try. You'll find so much support on forums around the internet. If you want to know of other forums that you might find useful just send me a PM or ask around.

Duncan

[crossbones]

You can't give up that easily. the feel a canvas is easy to simulate put a piece of paper over the slip.

[Fahrija]

I agree to the others.

It´s just another sort of tool you´re using there. Try to experiment a while. My hint is:
At the beginning I would disregard all the digital complexity of the program and paint like you are used to with two or three different brushes. When you get the feel for it you will enjoy all the other options. (Layer, copy and paste, resize, .....)

It took me a couple of weeks to feel comfortable with a tablet. At the beginning it feels quite unnatural to get the result of the things you do not at this point where you made the stroke. But half an hour is not really giving things a chance. Maybe you "check-in" in the daily sketch group? The prizes of wacom boards are comparativley stable to other peripheral devices. You still can sell with less minus if you really think it will not work.

Well, we are much more interested in watching your progress in digital painting rather than buying your great wacom.

Don´t give up.




best regards
fahrija

[Sequent]

My two cents here too... don't give up just yet. Unless you know absolutely that you will not be pursuing this... and unless perhaps you need the money.

It takes time to adapt to a different medium, which the computer is. I know... it's frustrating to have to learn how to walk again when you're used to running. There are plenty of people on here who I'm sure will be willing to help with questions as they come up. And there are plenty of resources out there too.

[Lunatique]

I was a traditional artist professionally for 10 years before I started doing digital paintings. You can't just give up so quickly like that--NO ONE just "gets" digital painting right away--we all spent a bit of time getting used to it. Let me ask you a question--did you just "get" traditional painting in the first 30 minutes that you tried it all those years ago? It took you a while to master the various mediums, right? This is exactly the same thing. Fortunately, all the knowledge you've gained in composition, color theory, perspective..etc will immediately carry over to the digital realm since art foundations don't change with the medium.

[SpeccySteve]

I agree with everything posted so far, half an hour is nothing, I'm yet another guy coming from a traditional background and it's only now 3 months later that I feel I'm starting to get anywhere, I still struggle to do line drawings on the tablet though and prefer to scan pencil sketches then paint over tham just because I'm about 10 times faster that way.

I think a lot of your problems might stem from the bewildering selection of brushes / options in Painter, what I found worked a for me was to open a large canvas and just play around with loads of brushes, when you find one you really like drag it off to a custom palette, once you have a palette with two or three variants just stick to them until you get more of a feel for the program.
Also, get rid of as much of the interface as possible, I have colour swatches, colour wheel , layers and a small palette with my most used brushes, everything else hidden / accessed via keyboard..

Obviously only you can decide if you want to stick with it or not but even if you are 100% sure that you'll never do digital painting again, there may well be a time when you want to colour scanned line drawings or similar and that's no fun with a mouse..

[LittleFenris]

II think a lot of your problems might stem from the bewildering selection of brushes / options in Painter, what I found worked a for me was to open a large canvas and just play around with loads of brushes, when you find one you really like drag it off to a custom palette, once you have a palette with two or three variants just stick to them until you get more of a feel for the program.

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone.

What SpeccySteve said is the case...I just get tired of having to spend months learning a new program and still not be able to use it as well as I can "real" acrylics, watercolors, colored pencils, etc...I just get so lost in all the brushes and options for each brush that I get frustrated. It's not really the tablet that I don't like, its all the stuff in Painter that I get lost in. I just feel it might be a waste of time learning to do digital painting since in the months and months it would take to learn, I could have probably done a few traditional paintings and have something to show for all that time. The other thing is if I do digital paintings I would want real copies of it, which cost at least $100 a pop (printed on canvas). I'm not the type that would want my art just sitting on a monitor where it can't be enjoyed by people that come into my house. I guess I'll try what has been suggested about finding a few brushes that I like and learning how to use them, and Painter and I'll go from there.

Thanks everyone,

Shaun

[SpeccySteve]

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone.

What SpeccySteve said is the case...I just get tired of having to spend months learning a new program and still not be able to use it as well as I can "real" acrylics, watercolors, colored pencils, etc...I just get so lost in all the brushes and options for each brush that I get frustrated. It's not really the tablet that I don't like, its all the stuff in Painter that I get lost in.

Yup, know what you mean, I think the problem is that Painter attempts to emulate every traditional medium that exists but most traditional artists never use more than the few they are most comfortable with, makes for a lot to wade through until you find something that suits you. I know when I was doing trad painting I used about 4 brushes with varying amounts of turps/oil/water over a pencil sketch. Sounds simple enough but it's actually a fair bit of work to find the equivalents in digital.

For me another problem was that I found sometimes the brush descriptions bore little resemblance to what I would consider "dry brush acrylic" or whatever but frequently something I'd never thought of trying was far closer to what I'd been after, granted a lot of that was likely due to my lack of understanding of the brush controls but I still found it confusing.

I just feel it might be a waste of time learning to do digital painting since in the months and months it would take to learn, I could have probably done a few traditional paintings and have something to show for all that time.

Yeah, you probably could but if you actually got comfortable with digital you than have to weigh that against the possibility of infinite variations on a final colour scheme/composition, layers, endless opportunities to mess freely with something that took you a week to paint without trashing a weeks work and of course the magical undo button.

Like others said, it's not a replacement, just another tool. Go scan/photograph some of your traditional work, play with it, see how you get on.


The other thing is if I do digital paintings I would want real copies of it, which cost at least $100 a pop (printed on canvas). I'm not the type that would want my art just sitting on a monitor where it can't be enjoyed by people that come into my house.

Try printing a few on good quality photo print paper, you might be pleasantly surprised how they turn out..

This is of course just my opinion, go with what suits you best, good luck with it.

-Steve

Edit: rambling post, sorry, too much coffee I fear..

[LittleFenris]

Try printing a few on good quality photo print paper, you might be pleasantly surprised how they turn out...

Yeah, I've printed stuff from my Photo printer (Epson R200) and they look great, but nowhere near as big as I would want them to frame. It will only do 8.5" wide, thats why I mentioned the much more pricey alternative of having it professionally printed on canvas...then its just like one of my traditional paintings, canvas and all. :) You are right about the endless color tweaking, layers and the magical undo...thats the whole reason I decided to try digital illustration.

[kraal]

also let me add .... i have used painter for years and could careless about all the bells and whistles the only reason i update is so one day i am not stuck one day if it stops working with my computer....

i only use 5 brushes and dont even change them much just size and opacity.... one day you will be using painter and your wacom a lot more.... i even do my pencil sketches with painter now which is something a month ago i would say i would never do

[LittleFenris]

i only use 5 brushes and dont even change them much just size and opacity.... one day you will be using painter and your wacom a lot more.... i even do my pencil sketches with painter now which is something a month ago i would say i would never do

Yeah, I've been trying just one brush for now (detail oil brush) to get used to the wacom (which I'm liking more each day). I don't know that I'll ever replace a piece of paper for doing sketches though, it just seems wrong. :) I will most likely add this to my arsenal of illustration and painting tools. Thanks for the encouragement everyone, it has truely helped me get over that initial hurdle of trying out a totally new tool.

Thanks!

[jbw]

Yeah, I've been trying just one brush for now (detail oil brush) to get used to the wacom (which I'm liking more each day). I don't know that I'll ever replace a piece of paper for doing sketches though, it just seems wrong. :)

Good work! I believe it's in your interest to stick with Painter too. I come from a traditional art background and was blown away by painter on 'first-launch'. I'm now becoming quite versed with certain brushes (captured bristle) and loving some of the things it can do. The potential for mixed media techniques is astounding!
But I will always prefer the 'feel' of the traditional tools and techniques. To some degree I used to feel more connected to my artwork when I was using those tools. :sad:

ta,
jbw

[VectorWrecktar]

hey your not the only one who wants to sell one, im selling a4 brand new, its because i have a house full of them..lol...i have 4 3 of which are wacom a4,a5 and a6

[motoxpress]

Forgive my lack of conversion chart info but, Is an A4 a 6x8?


gl

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.