Drawing directly on a Wacom

[Rebeccak]

Skullforger,

It can take some getting used to. :) Try checking out this thread, it has a good exercise that will help you to get used to a wacom tablet:

Digital Painting: Tips and Techniques for Beginners (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=199&t=369421)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=199&t=369421

[Skullforger]

Thanks for the information and the useful link! And for all the time and effort you put in this wonderful forum. I'm sure literally thousands of people over the whole world benefit from it.

[Rebeccak]

Thanks Skullforger! That means a lot. :)

[PhuongDPh]

hic hic there are too many things I must study :cry: life is short :cry:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Darktwin]

hic hic there are too many things I must study :cry: life is short :cry:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/images/icons/icon10.gif

My sentiments exactly :P

[b1_]

Nobody has answered the OP's original question: how many of you draw directly onto a tablet? I am also interested in this question because I'm currently teaching myself figure drawing and am wondering if it would be easier to do everything on the computer, rather than producing the line drawing on paper, scanning, then rendering over the scanned image in photoshop.

I know that it is difficult to draw anything freehand with the mouse but drawing directly with the tablet would not be easy either. I'm thinking of when I'm jotting a telephone number down off the TV and it's flashing up so fast I can't look at what I'm writing, and when I look down at what I've written my handwriting is very bad. Drawing is hard enough with out the added challenge of not being able to look at your sketching hand when using the tablet. If you could draw directly on the screen this question would be irrelavent but you can't, so, how many of you have adapted so well to the tablet that you've been able to throw your sketch book, pencils, and scanner out the window?

[SoniaNotRed]

I haven't tried to draw with a tablet in a long time but, if I remember correctly, my problem wasn't loosing track of space - that really doesn't matter since you're still seeing what you're doing on the screen - it's just that the tablet somehow distorts what would be a proper line on paper. It doesn't bother me much when I paint (= broad, scattered color brush) or do small lines, but it's a pain when I try to draw. I never got around to train my perception to work with the tablet's "view" of my hand's motion.
I suppose it's just a matter of practise, though... :shrug:

[Cnecktor]

Hi there it can be hard drawing on a tablet it was for me at first. I bought a graphire at first this was small and very hard to draw with. I ended up braking it some how?! I then saved up and bought intuos 3. It felt alot different but, I still didn't draw any better with it. It took a lot of time to get use to it ,and I think also what ever program you are using to draw in has to be configered for the wacom tablet thats comfertable to you. Now when I draw on my table it feels a lot more like drawing on paper. I still draw on paper I just like drawing on the computer more.

[shapemaster]

strange ... i never had problems with drawing directly on my tablet. only issue is that the surface is to smooth, so its a little hard to draw a straight line. but otherwise ... its just like drawing on paper for me, i mean, the hand movement is the same, u just have to look at the screen to see where the cursor is going. :shrug:

[Kanga]

One visualising agent I did a course with demanded sketching be done on a cintique or at least with a wacom. We had to do pages and pages of digital sketching after first doing it traditionally. It felt wierd! Digital painting has alot of advantages but it isnt compulsory. If you sketch grandly and paint well as an illustrator and then digitalise the work who would know, I dont think your clients would care:) . Scanning your sketches in and then painting them with a wacom would be a great way to step over.

I hate to do 3d without a wacom and wont use a 3d app without tablet support,... it just so much more fun!

Cheerio Chris

[maissan]

I draw directly on a wacom, it takes a while to get used to it, plus the way your pen grip is also affect the result of your line, the shape and size of your brush and most important thing is do a very quick sketch then zoom in as much as possible and put on another layer and refine your lines.

[b1_]

After seeing some of the Gnomon instructional DVDs I think it's a case of don't limit yourself either way. Most of the Gnomon instructors use a mix of digital and conventional; mostly it's a process of conventional to start then digital to get the nice finish. Doing quick sketches and thumbnails and being able to lay them all out on a desk would have it's advantages; you could improve your digital skills by studying/practicing conventional methods as well. I doubt any of the top digital artists would suggest throwing your sketch book away no matter what.

It seems to me that you should have the means to use both. Find a system that works for you and is suited to what you're doing with maximum efficiency in mind.

[SquirrelEmperor]

I haven't tried to draw with a tablet in a long time but, if I remember correctly, my problem wasn't loosing track of space - that really doesn't matter since you're still seeing what you're doing on the screen - it's just that the tablet somehow distorts what would be a proper line on paper. It doesn't bother me much when I paint (= broad, scattered color brush) or do small lines, but it's a pain when I try to draw. I never got around to train my perception to work with the tablet's "view" of my hand's motion.
I suppose it's just a matter of practise, though... :shrug:

You don't happen to have a widescreen monitor by chance do you?

I ask because I had a distortion problem when I got my widescreen, but fixed it by simply changing the resolution. (I had to download the latest video display driver to get more resolution options). My circles would look like elipses, which isn't cool.

[Venuscia]

Hi there,

I draw directly on the Tablet. It's a little tricky in the beginning but slowly you get the hang of it. That's why I am trying to do all my head studies directly on the table without scans so I can get some practice.

[Firetentacle]

I've been drawing on the tablet more frequently these days. I find pencil and paper way easier, but I'm improving with practice. It depends what the drawing is for. If I am drawing a rough for modeling purposes I find no need to bring paper and scanner into the deal. If I am doing a nice drawing, the pencil is my tool of choice.

A note about aspect ratio:
I use a 4:3 wacom on 2 widescreen monitors. In the tablet properties under mapping I set the screen area to full, then I turned on the "force proportions" option. This makes the top 1/3 of the tablet "live" so that there is a 32:9 section of it mapped out to 2 monitors.

[lewisliu]

hi,Skullforger.
I usually draw directly on a wacom.
When I first used it I felt very very hard just as you .
but now I like it.
you know, to draw directly on a wacom could save much more time.

I just want to tell you that if you practice useing your wacom every time.you 'll make it.
so come on friends.

[Saschi0815]

Concerning acpect ratio: It's quite important to buy a right sized wacom equivalent to the screen. This means a widescreen tablet for a widescreen monitor. I use two intuos3 - one A4 regular size (4:3) in conjunction with a 20" monitor 1600x1200 (4:3), and a A5 wide with a 24" 1920x1200 (16:10)screen. It works perfectly, no distortions...


just my little note to this thread :)

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