# No tablet No drawing No life



## Kairuk (Jan 10, 2010)

Hey, looking for some help... Well here is my problem.
I can draw... but not on the computer because of my mouse.
I have no money so I can't buy a Tablet.
All I have is...

Photoshop CS4
Macromedia Flash 8 Pro
Sony vegas 8.0

And i want to be able to give back to the fandom.
Oh yeah. And I cant write for the life of me. Only comics. Which is what i WANT TO DO! But I cant draw on my computer like a stated earlier.
Thanks.
*Kairuk
*PS: I dont have a scanner, but one of my friends does. But he lives across town.
PPS: A nice simple tutorial might be nice.


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## blackedsoul (Jan 10, 2010)

seems like your screwed...


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## Unsilenced (Jan 10, 2010)

blackedsoul said:


> seems like your screwed...



This. ^


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## Kairuk (Jan 10, 2010)

*sad face*


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## Sinister Exaggerator (Jan 10, 2010)

Pen and paper.

Shipping envelopes and postage.

YOU ARE NOT EXPLORING YOUR OPTIONS, OP. I AM DISAPPOINTED IN YOU.

edit:

This is a totally serious post. Use mail. Make friends. Share pictures.


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## Kairuk (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks,  i think this is my only option until I get money for a tablet.


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## Vaelarsa (Jan 10, 2010)

Learn how to draw with a mouse.
It's really not that hard.


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## Fuzzle (Jan 10, 2010)

Vaelarsa said:


> Learn how to draw with a mouse.
> It's really not that hard.




Its actually pretty infuriating. Drawing with a mouse makes me want to gnaw my arm off. Coloring with a mouse is even more infuriating.


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## Aden (Jan 10, 2010)

Kairuk said:


> I have no money so I can't buy a Tablet.





> All I have is...
> 
> Photoshop CS4
> Macromedia Flash 8 Pro
> Sony vegas 8.0



Hmmmmmmmmmmmm


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## Korex (Jan 10, 2010)

reminds me of an artist that can't live without a pencil


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## Vaelarsa (Jan 10, 2010)

Fuzzle said:


> Its actually pretty infuriating. Drawing with a mouse makes me want to gnaw my arm off. Coloring with a mouse is even more infuriating.


Once you get used to it, it isn't so much.
"Getting used to it" can take years though.

Like I did this with a mouse, and MS Paint to boot (except the background, which was Photoshop or something):


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## Zseliq (Jan 10, 2010)

Buy a cheap digital camera and take pictures of your sketches to upload. Thats what I did before buying my cheap tablet.


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## RailRide (Jan 10, 2010)

I did a full-color pic based upon little more than what one can accomplish with a mouse. Let me preface by stating that I've been using graphics tablets as primary pointing devices since the days that Windows 3.1 was current.

I did a pic for someone at Anthrocon last year. I took a photo of the pencil drawing, in poor light (The 'Zoo' for those familiar with AC). Later on, I took that pic, and traced over the linework using Inkscape, a free vector graphics drawing app. With vector drawing, you establish a separate, transparent layer atop the original scan (or photo, in this case) and roughly trace lines over your pencils. Then, you go back and use the control points the program establishes on every line and pull,push, stretch and bend those lines till they match the pencil lines under them exactly...

Oh wait...you said you have Flash. Well, you can _do the exact same thing with it_. 

In the absence of a scanner, the advice above about using a cheap digital camera is right on target. You could even use a cheesy cell-phone camera. Just as long as it produces an image that you can get into your computer, you can load it up, zoom in on it well enough to trace over the pencils (or inks, if you think they'll be easier to see). And with your original traced into vectors, you can then export a bitmap of any size to color in Photoshop (or color it in Flash if you know it well enough)

Point to remember is, with this method,you aren't attempting to draw with the mouse like you would a pencil or pen. You are instead re-creating the picture one line at a time in order to get an image that can be processed without the aid of a tablet (while you wait for the necessary funds to get one).

As for the picture I did, it's marked 'mature', and since several hints suggest you can't view such pics anyway, I'll give an example of a (general audience) pic that I inked entirely with a straight line tool in a Windows 95-era graphics app that could have been done just as well with a mouse: Happy HalloWHAM! 2009. And here are the original pencils.

---PCJ


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## Kairuk (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks for all the help, i'll try the Inkscape thing.
I found a tablet around the same price as a camera, so i'm getting that instead =D
But while i'm waiting for it to arive. And my next paycheck i'll do that.
^^
Horray for resolved issues!!!


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## Arshes Nei (Jan 11, 2010)

Fuzzle said:


> Its actually pretty infuriating. Drawing with a mouse makes me want to gnaw my arm off. Coloring with a mouse is even more infuriating.



*shrugs* I was able to do it for years, with my non dominant hand. If you got a will you got a way. I used to even oekaki with a mouse.


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## Fuzzle (Jan 11, 2010)

Arshes Nei said:


> *shrugs* I was able to do it for years, with my non dominant hand. If you got a will you got a way. I used to even oekaki with a mouse.




Oh I had a will baby, I had a will. I'm honest when I say that its a physical feeling in my arm that was so unbearable I wanted to beat the crap out of it.


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## Amethyst (Jan 11, 2010)

I dunno if ps has it but Gimp does, use the 'Paths Tool'. 

similar to the Bevier Curve thing in MSPaint. If you can't draw with mouse and you want nice smooth lines go with that.


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## Gnome (Jan 11, 2010)

what the heck.
no one know what a scanner is anymore?!?!!!
...thats ALL i use.
then photoshop 

ok draw something...go get a ~$30 scanner and scan it
color it with the CS4  you have
BAM

why does seem to think they need a tablet?!
BAH


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## KashakuTatsu (Jan 12, 2010)

I prefer the old ink on board routine to art to digital... I know, old school traditional artist... 

In lieu of a printer you can use a camera (digital or cell) and just note that it's taken with a cam and will be scanned when you get a scanner.


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## ZareonianWolf (Jan 13, 2010)

You have Photoshop CS4. Use the Pen tool to do lineart and then use the magic wand tool for filling in color. *shrug* It'll work until you get a tablet.


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## Hellivina_Khaos (Jan 20, 2010)

I admit that drawing with a tablet does make it easier...but drawing with a mouse isn't so bad...I've even done a drawing or two with nothing but the scrollpad on my laptop.  It just takes practice and patience.


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## Stormslegacy (Jan 20, 2010)

Cheap scanners are CHEAP.  Digital cameras on craigslist are even cheaper, hell I have one I am selling for $30 that I was using until very recently.  Pencil and cheap paper is all you need.  Tablets =/= to better artist, it's just a tool. If you can't draw without it you'll probably be sorely dissappointed when you get one.


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## mapdark (Jan 20, 2010)

Arshes Nei said:


> *shrugs* I was able to do it for years, with my non dominant hand. If you got a will you got a way. I used to even oekaki with a mouse.



Arshes I'm affraid I have a similar problem. With a mouse it feels like there's a MAJOR stiffness going on in my hand that I can't overcome no matter how much I try.

I'm much better at drawing with my wacom.



That said , OP , you should invest in a cheap scanner and draw on paper ^^;;


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## Arshes Nei (Jan 20, 2010)

Don't misunderstand me, I am not saying it's easy with a mouse. Your dedication however will make you do art regardless of hurdles.






 example.


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## krisCrash (Jan 30, 2010)

How much "no money" do you have?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Wacom-Bamboo-Pe...ultDomain_0?hash=item414c934552#ht_500wt_1182
36USD


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## Moonstarsun (Feb 4, 2010)

Furry Graphic Design? Not to diminish the quality of those who design, but it is possible to do so without a "precise drawing tool" if you know how to use ur resources well.


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## krisCrash (Feb 9, 2010)

Well there is PAPER and there's VECTOR art, which is great for graphics design


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## mystery_penguin (Feb 12, 2010)

I'll take Vegas 8.0 Pro off you- I mean, save up to buy a scanner!


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