Hello ladies and gents, I just got my 1st drawing tablet, a Wacom Intuos 5, and I was wondering how I get started. Normally I am a good/decent drawer (using paper and pencil or acrylic painting), but on the computer it is much more difficult I think. I would love it if somebody please taught me how to get my ideas/concepts out of my brain and onto the canvas. Thanks! -Chris
(I have already watched so many videos and I am trying to pick up some of those techniques. I guess I just need to keep practicing?)
Just got my 1st tablet! What should I do now? (Concept Artist)
Post some of your artwork if you want critique or comments on it, maybe your idea behind it too. I don't think anyone here is going to explicitly teach you how to get your ideas onto canvas.
Practice, practice, practice.
The difficulty when using a tablet is hand eye coordination: The lines you see appear on the screen are actually being drawn on your lap or desk, on a surface and stylus combination that aren't what you are used to.
Otherwise, you would use the same process you do with graphite or acrylic.
The difficulty when using a tablet is hand eye coordination: The lines you see appear on the screen are actually being drawn on your lap or desk, on a surface and stylus combination that aren't what you are used to.
Otherwise, you would use the same process you do with graphite or acrylic.
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Post some of your artwork if you want critique or comments on it, maybe your idea behind it too. I don't think anyone here is going to explicitly teach you how to get your ideas onto canvas.
To improve hand-eye-coordination with the tablet you can play some Diablo or Path of Exile (not joking it does help without being frustrating).
Photoshop can be figured out well with trial and error, practice and RFTM. The Adobe help files are usually surprisingly helpful.
Judging by the picture you still can use some more non media specific painting basics. I recommended some books here:
http://www.gamedev.net/topic/400142-good-reading-for-game-artists/
Personally I'd stay away from all books that have "digital painting" or similar in the title because all that I know are crap. Putting the focus on the DIGITAL in the title imho is usually a sign of failing to make the correct destinction between painting problems and problems with the digital workflow.
Just my two cents...
p.s.: a few thousand hours of practice also will get you a long way, so... happy painting!
Photoshop can be figured out well with trial and error, practice and RFTM. The Adobe help files are usually surprisingly helpful.
Judging by the picture you still can use some more non media specific painting basics. I recommended some books here:
http://www.gamedev.net/topic/400142-good-reading-for-game-artists/
Personally I'd stay away from all books that have "digital painting" or similar in the title because all that I know are crap. Putting the focus on the DIGITAL in the title imho is usually a sign of failing to make the correct destinction between painting problems and problems with the digital workflow.
Just my two cents...
p.s.: a few thousand hours of practice also will get you a long way, so... happy painting!
You play Diablo with the tablet? And it's not frustrating? I would be frustrated even if I was just using the mouse that comes with the tablet, especially if it was a smaller one (the OP didn't specify size.)
Yes I sometimes play hack and slay games with the tablet (have not yet played Diablo 3 yet and don't intend to). Mine is A4 sized but A5 would work too for me. I also tried to play Quake 3 and Call of Duty with the tablet, but for that you have to switch the pen to mouse mode and it's not really an advantage over the mouse. I'd say using the pen I'm a little bit better with the railgun in Quake 3 but a fair bit worse in everything else.
For Diablo and the like I find the pen to be a bit less strainfull on my arm.
And yes, the mouse that came with the tablet is total crap and I never used it.
For Diablo and the like I find the pen to be a bit less strainfull on my arm.
And yes, the mouse that came with the tablet is total crap and I never used it.
You play Diablo with the tablet? And it's not frustrating?At my last job, a few of the artists would use their tablet/pen as a complete replacement for the mouse -- not just in Photoshop, but also in the web browser, Windows Explorer, 3DS Max, and yes, games too.
I'm not a tablet user, but I get that the biggest hurdle is simply building up your "muscle memory", so that you can naturally move the cursor around and interact with the PC without having to consciously think about it -- the only way to develop that kind of muscle memory (whether it's a new device, instrument, sport, etc) is a lot of practice.
In physiotherapy, "constraint based" techniques are often used, such as restricting a stroke-victim's good hand, to force them to re-learn to use the damaged hand. I imagine that unplugging your mouse is a similar "therapy": by you out of your comfort-zone and forcing yourself to use the new, difficult method, you're forced to get in a lot of practice and learning.
Exactly, and I'd consider it far less frustrating to miss a click in a game than to accidentally move one of your file folders into another folder without you noticing it (those things can happen).
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