Need advice about digital drawing.

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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby spiritmoon » Thu Jan 21, 2016 8:26 pm

Uh... I wouldn't be much help but the version you linked looked effective... the only problem for me is that its not in my price range XD... Over 100$ gets hard for me....

But idk... I have tomorrow off so ill see if i can do some research on it :D
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby ElementalInsanity » Thu Jan 21, 2016 8:51 pm

spiritmoon wrote:
Uh... I wouldn't be much help but the version you linked looked effective... the only problem for me is that its not in my price range XD... Over 100$ gets hard for me....

But idk... I have tomorrow off so ill see if i can do some research on it :D

X3 There are some that are better for that price range like what Sphye linked. I was just asking some questions myself honestly for anyone who felt like answering them.
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby Silverhart » Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:01 pm

I just got a tablet for the first time for Christmas, and am having a lot of fun with it. ^^ Many, many people have recommended the Wacom brand to me over the years, so that's what I went for. I didn't know anything about them either honestly, (I probably still know a lot less then most people) but once I got everything hooked up and started drawing I picked it up easily, and I've had friends offer me great tips and advice, so that helps a lot. I'm still working on getting the hang of it, and learning everything it's capable of though. I was worried the learning curve might be a long one, and that I would go back to working with the mouse and not use it, but I haven't had that problem. I think it helps that I've been drawing like mad with it for the last month. XD

I will say it cuts down a lot of time in the lining and coloring phase, and sketching is so much more fun and fluid. Where it might have taken me two or three days working bit by bit to line and color a simple sketch by mouse, now I can whip one out in a single few-hour drawing session. Tablets don't tend to be cheap though. But considering how much good canvas, paint, and brushes cost, it's probably more then justified. Now I don't have to buy all those things to practice painting (nor do I have to deal with the mess).

I continue to use Firealpaca, which is a free program and which you can find out more about here: http://www.everythingfirealpaca.tumblr.com/

It's a great program in my opinion, simple and easy to use, and it works great with my tablet!

The thing to remember about tablets and drawing programs is that they're tools, just like pencils, brushes, charcoal, pastels, or even a mouse. The better the tool the more efficient you can be, but the best tool in the world is worthless without skill. A tablet won't make you any better at drawing or painting.
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My name is Silverhart and I am here to collect pets, draw fanart, and geek out over Eld related things. And all while simultaneously searching for the truth behind the very many excellent questions. I am a stamp enthusiast, a loyal minion to my Lord Sullivan, partaker of muffins, and a shipper of apologies.
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby ElementalInsanity » Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:14 pm

Coming from an artist from this site I'm glad to hear all this advice. X3 Heaven knows I need it.
I've heard a ton about Wacom too and so that's the brand I'll be going with, would you mind me asking what tablet you got? Also how easy/hard is it to use how to use the Wacom? Does it feel natural using it? Or is it kind of hard to get use to?

Oh a free program, that's always nice to know about. I can't quite afford to buy a program what with how much I'm considering paying for a tablet itself, definitely worth the money for the tablet though.

I've been hearing a huge ton about Paint Tool Sai though. >_< Has anyone used that? How do you think it compares to other programs? Because that Firealpaca one looks really nice. There seems to be so many many features to Paint Tool Sai and any other drawing program, does anyone recommend certain tutorials?

I'm full of questions galore hope I'm not irritating anyone eheh.
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby spiritmoon » Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:16 pm

Okay so my problem is... I live in an area where everyone is just expected to know everything about anything digital.... Which is terrible for me since I don't even know how to work the modern TV. (Seeing as I don't watch TV what so ever ^.^)

Thus, why I come on here for help. How do you set up a tablet? Can you set it up to an Apple?
Last edited by spiritmoon on Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby spiritmoon » Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:17 pm

ElementalInsanity wrote:
Coming from an artist from this site I'm glad to hear all this advice. X3 Heaven knows I need it.
I've heard a ton about Wacom too and so that's the brand I'll be going with, would you mind me asking what tablet you got? Also how easy/hard is it to use how to use the Wacom? Does it feel natural using it? Or is it kind of hard to get use to?

Oh a free program, that's always nice to know about. I can't quite afford to buy a program what with how much I'm considering paying for a tablet itself, definitely worth the money for the tablet though.

I've been hearing a huge ton about Paint Tool Sai though. >_< Has anyone used that? How do you think it compares to other programs? Because that Firealpaca one looks really nice. There seems to be so many many features to Paint Tool Sai and any other drawing program, does anyone recommend certain tutorials?

I'm full of questions galore hope I'm not irritating anyone eheh.


You're an artists for this site?! I love your work! The animals/creatures are so amazing on here! Keep up the amazing work <3
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby Silverhart » Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:51 pm

ElementalInsanity wrote:
Coming from an artist from this site I'm glad to hear all this advice. X3 Heaven knows I need it.
I've heard a ton about Wacom too and so that's the brand I'll be going with, would you mind me asking what tablet you got? Also how easy/hard is it to use how to use the Wacom? Does it feel natural using it? Or is it kind of hard to get use to?


Questions are never irritating! Goodness knows I've had lots of them.

I have an Intous Pro Medium - it's very nice, though I honestly wouldn't have minded getting a slightly smaller one, but it was Christmas present so I have no complaints. XD

It took me a few hours to install and set it up, but I think that's mostly due to my general incompetence with technology. Wacom actually has videos on it's website for help with the installation and things. Now that it's all set up, I just hook it up into my computer when I want to use it, grab the pen thing, open Firealpaca, and away I go (there's also a wireless option, but I haven't used it). It takes some getting used to, but it's a lot more natural feeling then a mouse for drawing, and a lot easier to get the hang of. If you've never worked digitally I can see how it would be very intimidating. I mean, I was intimidated just coming from doing mouse work! I think you just gotta keep at it. And that's the key - just keep on drawing and drawing until you get the hang of it. I spent the whole day drawing and sketching with it when I first set it up. And I'm still doing that now - drawing and sketching with it when I normally would be doing traditional art, or doing something else, just to really get the feel of it, and get better at it.

@spiritmoon

I know nothing about technology either! Or rather - I know just enough to get by, which usually boils down to: look it up on Google. XD

I think my statement above answered some of your questions? I'm sure it's different for every tablet, but for mine, I just had to plug it in to my computer and it started the installation process, though I had to go online to download the latest driver. It also came with a CD if you had to install it offline. Then I had to fiddle around with the settings and things, and restart things, but once I got it all sorted, it was easy enough to jump into drawing. Also, as I said, if you choose Wacom there are video tutorials available online for setting it up, and I'm sure other brands have online guides as well.

I work on Windows, but I'm pretty sure it will work on a Mac. It would depend on the individual tablet though. It should say in the devices System Requirements.

Also thank you. ^^ It was all done with a mouse (so far at least). XD I'm still new to it though. Most of the other site artists use a tablet and have a lot more experience then I do with it - they've actually been very helpful to me.

I'd also recommend checking out Aaron's Art Tips (this is like the millionth time I've recommended this, and I don't care. I will keep recommending it until the cows come home). He does a lot of digital art as well as traditional paintings and drawings. Most of his videos focus on teaching art and animation skills, and not so much the technical things or features of tablets, but, if you're interested in any sort of digital painting I think they're worth checking out. He works with a Cintiq, I believe, and in Photoshop, so he can do a lot more fancy stuff then a free program like Firealpaca can, but it's helpful to watch nonetheless. He was also originally a traditional artist - and his videos also partially inspired me to try out a tablet finally. XD
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Hellooo!
My name is Silverhart and I am here to collect pets, draw fanart, and geek out over Eld related things. And all while simultaneously searching for the truth behind the very many excellent questions. I am a stamp enthusiast, a loyal minion to my Lord Sullivan, partaker of muffins, and a shipper of apologies.
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby ElementalInsanity » Fri Jan 22, 2016 2:02 am

Silver you are an ANGEL. I will say that over and over you are an angel for all this help. I've been debating for a while about getting one or not and have just in general been very hesitant about it because one, money, and two, no experience whatsoever with digital drawing other than some color in stuff with the touchpad on my laptop using Oekaki on CS. All this is kinda putting me more at ease.
The Intous Medium was actually the one I was looking at getting so yay!
Installing it sounds like it might be a bit of a pain, but I'm fairly good with technology and figuring my way around it, so I think I should be good on that end.
As you have said with anything practice makes perfect, so when I do get one I'll just have to use it over and over and over. X3
So would you say compared that when you get used to the tablet, you'll be liking using that a lot more compared to a mouse? Because currently I'm using a touchpad on my laptop and it's not terrible? I like it better than a mouse but it's still like...I can't do anything with it lol. And traditional drawing is great fun for me, but I just would like to try digital.

I'm definitely gonna check that guy out, thank you for recommending him!
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby Silverhart » Fri Jan 22, 2016 3:13 am

ElementalInsanity wrote:
Silver you are an ANGEL. I will say that over and over you are an angel for all this help. I've been debating for a while about getting one or not and have just in general been very hesitant about it because one, money, and two, no experience whatsoever with digital drawing other than some color in stuff with the touchpad on my laptop using Oekaki on CS. All this is kinda putting me more at ease.
The Intous Medium was actually the one I was looking at getting so yay!
Installing it sounds like it might be a bit of a pain, but I'm fairly good with technology and figuring my way around it, so I think I should be good on that end.
As you have said with anything practice makes perfect, so when I do get one I'll just have to use it over and over and over. X3
So would you say compared that when you get used to the tablet, you'll be liking using that a lot more compared to a mouse? Because currently I'm using a touchpad on my laptop and it's not terrible? I like it better than a mouse but it's still like...I can't do anything with it lol. And traditional drawing is great fun for me, but I just would like to try digital.

I'm definitely gonna check that guy out, thank you for recommending him!


Glad I could help. ^^ I've never actually used a touchpad, so I don't know what the transition would be like.

I honestly think the installation was hard just because of me not knowing what I was doing. XD Like I couldn't find the driver I had to download, and that was one of the main problems that took me so long to figure out.

Oh definitely - I don't think I've done any mouse work since I started using it honestly. Why would I, when it takes me twice as long to sketch and line and color something with a mouse, then with a tablet? XD I mean, it's nice that I have that skill I learned with the mouse, but the tablet just makes everything go 100% faster. And it's fun being able to work with pen pressure too!

If you just want to dabble in it, then you might want to try something cheaper? For me it finally seemed a worthwhile thing, because of the fact that I'm getting more into traditional painting (not that I want to - but it's something I need to learn) - it seemed a much easier and cheaper option to be able to practice on a computer, then on a large canvas with expensive paints. Outside of class I mostly just work with pencils, and occasionally charcoal. I have pastels and colored pencils, but I just don't use them much. Setting up (and then cleaning up) for a traditional oil painting is time consuming - it's not really worth it unless I plan to paint for at least 2 or 3 hours straight, and who has that time nowadays? XD So digital is really the only place I practice with color. A tablet for me finally made sense after that, though I was still on the fence about it for a long time. I also already do a lot of digital art - I enjoy it, and want to do more.

I mean I've only had it for less then a month. XD We'll see if it pays for itself or not. But so far, I am having fun with it. I usually set aside time in my day for drawing, so using that time to do tablet work I've been able to get a lot of practice in pretty quickly, which is nice.
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Hellooo!
My name is Silverhart and I am here to collect pets, draw fanart, and geek out over Eld related things. And all while simultaneously searching for the truth behind the very many excellent questions. I am a stamp enthusiast, a loyal minion to my Lord Sullivan, partaker of muffins, and a shipper of apologies.
Eldemore Fanfiction ~ Current Project ~ Deviantart
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Re: Need advice about digital drawing.

Postby ElementalInsanity » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:56 pm

I do want to just try it out because I don't know if I'll be liking it/doing much with it, but if I do end up liking it I don't want to pay another hundred or so for a better one, know what I mean? Hehe. There just seems like there is SOOO much to be done and had with a graphics tablet and such that I really would love to go ahead and invest in it and get myself back into doing art like that, and I think this would be a good way to do it. Now to just save up. X3 Thank you so very much for all the help! ^_^ <3
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