# Sketching?



## whatthefur (Apr 6, 2010)

I've been lurking FA and others for a while now and i'm just getting into actually drawing stuff. I don't have a tablet or anything, just a sketchpad, a pencil, my trusty scanner, and......Gimp 

So I'm wondering, do most of you guys draw everything on the computer, use a tablet, or go from sketches? And if you start from sketches, what do you use to get good, clean, smooth lines for cleaning up your sketch? Cause just tracing the lines with my laptop's touchpad isn't yielding the best results


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## Fay V (Apr 6, 2010)

I use a mix of tablet and sketches. 
If i wanted to go from sketch without my tablet I would use the line tool where you can bend the little lines. it takes forever but the lines are cleaner.


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## Zydala (Apr 6, 2010)

I naturally just am anal about lines and so usually my lines are in decent shape, but if you need some clean lines to bring into gimp, try inking the picture with pen - a lot of people like to use archival ink pens (like microns, staedler pens), but you can easily take a fine sharpie marker or a ballpoint pen and make some nice linework too.

scan it in, adjust the levels so the back is white and the lines in front are dark, and then go ahead and bring it into gimp! There's tutorials on levels and how to paint on lineart without going over it around FA and DA, so use those search-fu skills! :>


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## FireFeathers (Apr 6, 2010)

I used to do a lot of sketching in the computer, but I think it's just nicer to stand away from the screen and sketch in hand.  So a little of both.


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## kraine (Apr 6, 2010)

I use everything. I just play around. But if you're not confident in your drawing abilities, step away from the computer. The computer makes bad art look worse. D: You have to be comfy with how your art looks on paper before you come to the programs.


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## SpartaDog (Apr 6, 2010)

I hardly ever do digital work.

Most of my stuff is just 0.7 mechanical pencil on good old-fashioned computer paper. For color I use colored Sharpies, with colored pencils for the colors I don't have in Sharpie.

Every now and then I get creative and do either acrylic paint or oil pastels on posterboard.

I'm absolutely horrible at digital painting XD


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## Taralack (Apr 6, 2010)

For most things, my main medium is digital. I sketch digitally for practically all my commissions and other concept art, as well as animations. 

I do however have a sketchbook that I draw in on a very regular basis, usually when I'm without computer access (on the train, in class etc.) and if I really like something in the sketchbook, I'll scan it in and finish it up digitally. That's generally how I do my comic pages - sketched out on paper, scanned and then finished digitally.

I do also have a set of Copic markers I use to colour traditionally from time to time. ^^


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## Zydala (Apr 7, 2010)

Novaluna said:


> I hardly ever do digital work.
> 
> Most of my stuff is just 0.7 mechanical pencil on good old-fashioned computer paper. For color I use colored Sharpies, with colored pencils for the colors I don't have in Sharpie.
> 
> ...



a bit off-topic but WOW you got some great stuff for having such a small array of materials! I'm really impressed! Sometimes simplicity works really well! (I'm sort of a whore for art supplies haha :V)


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## Wasabi (Apr 8, 2010)

It's good to see what fits.

Digital can be problematic for me because I can't have my tablet everywhere I go and jot down ideas like I can a sketchbook and pen. I find I can do better work traditionally as well, because it feels more tangible to me. I would also refrain from becoming dependent on your tablet, as it tends to make it hard to transition back to good ol' pen and paper. At least in my experience! 

Good luck!


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## Ilayas (Apr 8, 2010)

whatthefur said:


> Cause just tracing the lines with my laptop's touchpad isn't yielding the best results



If you are going to do any work on a laptop for the love of god get a mouse at the very lest. Even a cheep one will be better then the touch pad.  Just make sure you get a mouse with a usb connection (they aren't rare in fact that's what they are switching to for an industry standard). 

I sketch with paper and cheep mechanical pencil (I'm to lazy to sharpen it).  When I want clean lines I used a program called inkscape.  Because I can't ink by hand cus my hands shake too much. (seriously everything I ink by hand turns out looking like ass). It's free to use but it's a vector program so if you don't know what you are doing it's kind of a steep learning curve.  If you've used adobe illustrator before it's a snap to pick up though.


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## heresydarling (Apr 12, 2010)

I pretty much only draw digitally. I haven't drawn anything on paper (beyond doodles when on the phone) in years. DON'T FALL INTO THIS TRAP! Now I can't draw without crop, rotate, resize


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## Kangamutt (Apr 12, 2010)

heresydarling said:


> I pretty much only draw digitally. I haven't drawn anything on paper (beyond doodles when on the phone) in years. DON'T FALL INTO THIS TRAP! Now I can't draw without crop, rotate, resize



Hahaha, it's like a drug, isn't it? XD

You're doodling with a pencil on paper at the desk, make a mistake, and instead of flipping the pencil over, you go and mash CTRL+Z.

This is the reason why I never traditionally ink anymore. I'm too used to being reckless on the tablet. D:


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## ZiggyTheWolf (Apr 13, 2010)

I prefer to draw str8 into a digital format however for my classes i still need to do work even if my final outcomes will be digital so i sketch traditionally in class and draw digitaly at home, It helps to not be a slave to either way of drawing.


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## Asher_Tail (Apr 13, 2010)

I sketch digitally since I don't have a scanner anymore (broke) D:


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## Princess Rei (Apr 14, 2010)

Considering you don't have a tablet, what I used to do a long time ago was draw and ink traditionally. I was very picky about the pencils and erasers I used, specifically to get the crisp, clean inked art ready for scanning.

After I scanned it at a high resolution, (300dpi), I learned how to adjust the lines to fill in the proper colors. I had some weird no-name photo editing software, but its how I learned.

Once I got my tablet, it was a little easier to jump into full-digital art because I had already practiced coloring with my scanned lineart.


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## kraine (Apr 14, 2010)

Since you don't have a tablet, don't line on the computer. Just finish the sketch on paper with a darker pen. Then scan to the computer, and you should be able to find some kind of selection tool or layer property you can use to make your lines colorable.


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