# The Trouble of Digital Art



## AcerbicSeth (Dec 21, 2018)

A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with another member on these forums.
They suggested a drawing tablet for me to get, and it was pretty affordable.

I decided to try out drawing tablets for a second time, and ordered it. It got here today, and well...




The learning curve is steep. ;-;



...I swear I know how to use writing utensils...


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## Fallowfox (Dec 21, 2018)

Make sure your tablet isn't at an inclined angle to your screen; that might be confusing you.


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## AcerbicSeth (Dec 21, 2018)

I had it just sitting on my lap.
My desk is tiny, so I had to move the keyboard, but putting it there helped a bit. Still confusing to me though.

It's mainly the texture of the tablet, if that makes sense.
It's just so different from like... paper or something. The way the surface of it is smooth, and the way nib of the pen compresses a little is wildly confusing to me for some reason.

It'll just take some getting used to. That's why I returned the last one--didn't feel like dealing with any learning curves, 'cause I'm lazy.


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## Fallowfox (Dec 21, 2018)

AcerbicSeth said:


> I had it just sitting on my lap.
> My desk is tiny, so I had to move the keyboard, but putting it there helped a bit. Still confusing to me though.
> 
> It's mainly the texture of the tablet, if that makes sense.
> ...



Oh okay. 

When I fist started drawing with a tablet I didn't realise that I didn't have any pressure sensitivity enabled.


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## AcerbicSeth (Dec 21, 2018)

Fallowfox said:


> Oh okay.
> 
> When I fist started drawing with a tablet I didn't realise that I didn't have any pressure sensitivity enabled.


Pressure sensitivity is something else I'll have to get used to...

I draw really lightly usually, and if I draw as  lightly as I normally do it doesn't even make a mark.

But I figured there was some comedic value in that it took me 56 tries to draw something _almost_ resembling a circle.


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## BunBunArt (Dec 21, 2018)

Hahaha this brought me memories of my first tablet... it's not easy at first you just have to get used to it, the tablet must be totally lined on the desk with yor screen just like Fallowfox said, because if it's slightly moved you paint like if you were drunk :'D It's still worth it after you get the trick ♥


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## thiivdan (Dec 21, 2018)

It's definitely a bit of a learning curve. It's just something that most people haven't ever felt before. I had the same issue when I started with a tablet and it was a bit disconcerting, but once you pick it up, it becomes like second nature. I've found that orienting your tablet differently really helps.I hold mine at an angle, resting the top half on my desk so it's diagonal in my lap.


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## Fiorabeast (Dec 22, 2018)

I noticed you said that the surface of your tablet bugs you due to the smoothness of it. 
As someone who also is more use to drawing on paper, place a piece of paper on your tablet and draw directly on it! That's what I'm currently and always doing with my (very ancient) graphire 4 tablet when I do work on the computer!
I have mine flat on my table, but now that I see some people hold it at an angle while drawing, and I think I might try that...

And as everyone says, drawing on a tablet DEFINITELY takes getting use to because you're using a totally different art material then what you usually use. It does take a while, so don't give up but don't stress yourself out too much in learning to get use to it!


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## TeruTeruPonzu (Dec 22, 2018)

How funny! 
I got my first tablet almost ten years ago. I had the same trouble at first, because it takes some time to build up that muscle memory and hand-eye coordination. 
Now, I use my pen tablet exclusively, even for clicking in the internet and microsoft word, because I'm so used to it that a mouse feels clunky. 

You'll get it! Rather than drawing from scratch, you might have an easier time using it to trace over scanned pencil images and coloring those. 

Good luck!


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## thiivdan (Dec 22, 2018)

TeruTeruPonzu said:


> How funny!
> I got my first tablet almost ten years ago. I had the same trouble at first, because it takes some time to build up that muscle memory and hand-eye coordination.
> Now, I use my pen tablet exclusively, even for clicking in the internet and microsoft word, because I'm so used to it that a mouse feels clunky.
> 
> ...


I agree that tracing is a good exercise to help you develop a specific technique for using a tablet that you're comfortable with and it's a big thing I did when I got started


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## Fallowfox (Dec 22, 2018)

RoxyHana said:


> Hahaha this brought me memories of my first tablet... it's not easy at first you just have to get used to it, the tablet must be totally lined on the desk with yor screen just like Fallowfox said, because if it's slightly moved you paint like if you were drunk :'D It's still worth it after you get the trick ♥



When I draw I may as well be drunk anyway. ;D


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## Misha Bordiga Zahradník (Dec 22, 2018)

It's bassicly a different medium altogether. Not worse, but as different as sketching is from painting.


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## Misha Bordiga Zahradník (Dec 22, 2018)

Misha Bordiga Zahradník said:


> It's bassicly a different medium altogether. Not worse, but as different as sketching is from painting.


Though my only good medium is generic photoshop, and I'm not that good. It's good enough for memes though. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.


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## redfox_81 (Dec 23, 2018)

Unless you’re using a Cintiq, the biggest hurdle to overcome is the disconnect between drawing as normal but looking at a screen instead of where your drawing hand is. It just takes practice, so get ready to put some hours in! Re: tablet sensitivity, play around with the settings to see what works best for you. I also find it easier to reset the size of my screen area on my tablet. In other words, to shrink the tablet’s useable area so that that a smaller surface area corresponds with the whole of your monitor screen. That way you won’t kill your shoulder trying to cover the entire tablet and can make smaller wrist movements to make marks. Good luck!


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## Sunburst_Odell (Dec 23, 2018)

Wow, it's funny because for me it's kinda the opposite.
I suck at traditional art, my lines are never as good and I don't know how to make it look nice like most artists are able to do. I can't stand not having ctrl z, or layers, or move tools, etc. I end up not enjoying it nearly as much either. As a matter of fact, I don't think I'd even be any good with a drawing tablet due to how sucky I am with drawing with a stylus or pen. I personally use my finger on my touch-screen laptop to draw...


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## Tiago (Dec 24, 2018)

I have a draw tablete, and I dont have no problems if my tablet.
     My tablet is a ‘wacom intous S’


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## AcerbicSeth (Dec 24, 2018)

Tiago said:


> I have a draw tablete, and I dont have no problems if my tablet.
> My tablet is a ‘wacom intous S’


I had an Intuos at one point.
The one I ordered is a Huion Inspiroy, which is basically their version of the Intuos.


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## RailRide (Dec 25, 2018)

The disconnect between drawing where you're looking and drawing on a tablet while looking elsewhere is one of the first hurdles to be overcome when drawing with a tablet.

But ask yourself this--how many regular computer users stare at their mouse in order to click on stuff on your computer desktop/web browser? Usually your tablet can be used as a regular pointing device, and it takes up less room than a mouse since the entire screen is mapped to the active area of the tablet. Using it this way can help you get used to handling the stylus outside of your field of vision. I've been using a tablet as a pointing device since Windows 3.1, and am pretty sure it helped even though I spent _many_ years drawing on paper then scanning and coloring digitally--I only started doing fully-digital pics maybe a couple of years ago.

Something else to think about...how often does drawing a circle on paper the way you were attempting to do it onscreen come out perfectly? The one advantage you have with digital is...the undo button. Watching artists drawing digitally on livestreams reveals that even experienced digital artists make countless mis-strokes that get zapped and re-done as the image comes together. Same idea as a picture on paper that starts as a pencil sketch--the vast majority of lines you put down that way don't make it to the final picture.

---PCJ


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## quoting_mungo (Dec 25, 2018)

redfox_81 said:


> Unless you’re using a Cintiq, the biggest hurdle to overcome is the disconnect between drawing as normal but looking at a screen instead of where your drawing hand is. It just takes practice, so get ready to put some hours in! Re: tablet sensitivity, play around with the settings to see what works best for you. I also find it easier to reset the size of my screen area on my tablet. In other words, to shrink the tablet’s useable area so that that a smaller surface area corresponds with the whole of your monitor screen. That way you won’t kill your shoulder trying to cover the entire tablet and can make smaller wrist movements to make marks. Good luck!


I'm amused at how different perspectives on tablet use can be.

I hate drawing on touchscreens now, because my damn hand keeps obscuring part of the drawing! It doesn't bother me when drawing directly on paper, but for some reason when my drawing is on screen it just irritates the hell out of me if I can't see what's under my hand.

For me what made drawing on a tablet click was getting an A3 Intuos (back when Intuos and Graphire were Wacom's pro and hobby products), as having a drawing surface smaller than a postcard represent the whole screen gave me too little control of where my cursor was going. If I want to draw less with my shoulder I just make my canvas window smaller.


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## Sinclare Lovelace (Dec 27, 2018)

I find sometimes just keeping my tablet within eyesight of my monitor helps with the disconnect. I have no peripheral vision in either eye though so sometimes I still have to look away from my tablet. If you're used to drawing on paper you could try having a sketch to reference near the tablet and do just a rough sketch in short,quick strokes of the pen,then lower the opacity and draw over it on a new layer. That way your base is already done and you can focus on the monitor.

For starting with a tablet,it's no rush,you shouldn't try to draw as quickly as you normally do on paper until you've had some time to get used to the feel.

Make it a marathon,not a sprint my friend,you'll do just fine.


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## Fallowfox (Dec 28, 2018)

I'm about to move over to a *new* tablet. Just, wow it's difficult to set tablets up.


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## AcerbicSeth (Dec 28, 2018)

I haven't used mine in 3 days.
I will eventually, but my desk is cramped and I'm having to contort in weird (and often painful) ways to draw certain lines...
That might be 1/2 the problem. >.>


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## FuzzleTheMintyDog (Dec 28, 2018)

*This is a case of muscle memory and coordination. Trust me when I tell you that you want to stick with the tablet. Also, make sure in the settings that its only sampling one monitor, turn on constrain proportions and make sure you get a tablet that is closer to the size of your monitor. A smaller tablet will translate smaller movements in to much larger movements on the screen. A larger tablet will have a more natural translation between your physical movement and the movement on screen. It was strange for me starting out too, but its an absolute necessity. *


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## quoting_mungo (Dec 29, 2018)

Another good tablet tip is, if your tablet has programmable buttons, bind one of them to Ctrl+Z. God it's nice to have a way to undo without reaching for the keyboard or moving my cursor over to menus or the action history thingy in Photoshop. I'm fine with reaching under my tablet for the space bar (the way I lean my tablet against my legs/desk puts my keyboard under it) to temporarily bring up the pan tools, and hitting _just_ Ctrl, Alt, or Shift (for things like selection) isn't too bad, but hitting key combinations is just a pain in the ass IMO.



FuzzleTheMintyDog said:


> A smaller tablet will translate smaller movements in to much larger movements on the screen. A larger tablet will have a more natural translation between your physical movement and the movement on screen. It was strange for me starting out too, but its an absolute necessity.


Just want to note this is very individual - my tablet is if anything larger than my screen, and tiny ones don't work well for me. I know other people who prefer the smaller ones because they prefer the feel of only making slight movements to make stuff happen on-screen. For me the transition to a larger tablet after my first teensy Wacom Graphire was pretty painless, and resulted in something that felt more natural for me personally to work with; the big hurdle was getting the hand-eye coordination down, not exactly how big a movement I needed in order to make things work on screen.


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## FuzzleTheMintyDog (Dec 29, 2018)

quoting_mungo said:


> Another good tablet tip is, if your tablet has programmable buttons, bind one of them to Ctrl+Z. God it's nice to have a way to undo without reaching for the keyboard or moving my cursor over to menus or the action history thingy in Photoshop. I'm fine with reaching under my tablet for the space bar (the way I lean my tablet against my legs/desk puts my keyboard under it) to temporarily bring up the pan tools, and hitting _just_ Ctrl, Alt, or Shift (for things like selection) isn't too bad, but hitting key combinations is just a pain in the ass IMO.
> 
> 
> Just want to note this is very individual - my tablet is if anything larger than my screen, and tiny ones don't work well for me. I know other people who prefer the smaller ones because they prefer the feel of only making slight movements to make stuff happen on-screen. For me the transition to a larger tablet after my first teensy Wacom Graphire was pretty painless, and resulted in something that felt more natural for me personally to work with; the big hurdle was getting the hand-eye coordination down, not exactly how big a movement I needed in order to make things work on screen.



*What I'm suggesting is that a tablet that is more proportional to your screen means a closer to 1:1 physical movement to digital movement. I'd say thats a more natural place to start, certainly what you're used too makes all the difference and individual cases are ultimately left up to preference. *


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## Lopaw (Dec 29, 2018)

If you have a choice of multiple nibs to put in your stylus start with the basic standard one and move on to the rest later once confident.

Make sure you have the pressure sensitivity set right. If it’s too high you will have poor control with brushes and things set to use it, if it’s too low you’ll subconsciously compensate by putting excessive pressure on the tablet which wears out nibs faster and can scratch the tablet.

Before starting your drawing session make sure the driver for the tablet is running.


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## Sinclare Lovelace (Dec 29, 2018)

Can't disagree with above,though thise size tablets can get pricey. Another method is actually to adjust your program to a smaller size on your monitor,which also conveniently opens up space for reference pictures or information. 

Adjusting the size of the program also can help with the disconnect but maybe more for some than others,just something to try.


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