Tablet Art - first work

[loboloco]

here's a pic I did for my friend Krista of Tenthorbital for the Tenthorbital forum's secret santa gift exchange. This is her character Iara (her feet are more like hands than feet).

This is the first time I've used my graphics tablet for more than just unsuccessful scratches of color. It was difficult to get a handle on using the tablet, but I've had it for nearly a year and I really needed to learn how to use it effectively instead of as a paperweight or dust magnet. It's also the first time I've done lineless art and the first time I've used the dodge, multiply, and difference settings on a brush for coloring.

So, here it is...it's got some problems, but I learned a lot doing it.

[loboloco]

OK, this is just a quickie, but it's another long overdue piece of art. This is Vash wandering through the desert. She's a fan character of a friend based on the Disney's Gargoyles.

This is now officially the second piece done with my tablet.
I'm still learning how to handle my tablet, but I like the way this one came out...like my Iara pic, it too has some problems, but I can live with them... (though if you know a good tutorial site, enlighten me.)

[Dan-3DT]

Nice work. I love working with a tablet myself.

I have one little bit of advice...

There are colors within colors...Instead of using blacks to shade try shading with dark colors...example for a skin tone make the shadows purples and for the lights make them a light fleshy color...and add different variations of colors in certain areas (examples add a little redness in the face maybe a little yellow in the forhead and some blue on the legs...very faint)...experiment, but I am sure you will like the results and it would add a little more realism to your colors. Stay away from using black (except for outlines) as much as you can....but sometimes black is necessary...juat a tip...

[loboloco]

Dan - thanks, I'll do that on the next one.
It was hard enough to just get to this point. It's like learning how to draw all over again...I'm still not too proficient with the tablet but I haven't been able to do much work with it since those two pics.


[edit]Actually, there is more color in the shadows on the second one (using reds, blues, greens, browns...) but you can only see it in a close up detail view (but I tend to like dark, heavy shadows...meh). [/edit]

[sneaky_d]

HOw complicated was it getting used to the tablet? I'm thinking of picking up a Wacom one sometime soon, maybe this summer.

sneaky_d

[Tweaked verteX]

Hm... I seem to have been slow to pick up the tablet skills... maybe because I didn't have much drawing skill to begin with. I like what you've got there Loboloco. I'm impressed if thats your first and second attempt at using the tablet.

Sneaky_D - The actual handling of the Tablet is pretty simple to pick up. There are a few skills that you pick up as you go along that'll enhance the way you work. Basically, if you know your way around your painting app, then you'll be able to pick it up like a duck picks up water... erm... you get the idea.

[loboloco]

...well, for me it was pretty hard -maybe because I'm left-handed...
I had problems adjusting to the area of the tablet when drawing and to the fact that you can adjust the pressure if you want and orienting the drawing size to the screen size.

When I draw it's usually at an odd angle (being left handed and all) and when you zoom-in on an area of the pic you're working on, the stroke size on the tablet changes.

It takes some getting used to, but I was determined to be able to use it.

I'm sure it's different for everyone...

I don't have a Wacom like everyone else, I have an Aiptek 8000 (6x8 drawing area). It was the same price as the small Wacom but with a larger drawing area -Graphire 2 (3.5x5 drwaing area).
The stylus uses 1 "aaa" battery but it seems to last a good long time. oh, and it doesn't have the 'eraser' capability but that's just splitting hairs because I don't use it anyway.

I found that I had to shrink the 'active area' down to the size of the Graphire and I work better at that size...go figure...but at least I have the option to go bigger if needed I guess.
The other main difference is the software...I didn't need any so it didn't matter that it only came with some basic stuff. Wacom comes with limited versions of photoshop, painter, and something called 'pen palette'

It's a really good tablet for now, though I'd like to eventually get a Wacom Intuos for the higher pressure sensitivity levels. Aiptek's biggest (9"x12") still only has 512 max pressure levels.

I still like this tablet well enough and I think it's more the operator than the tool that makes the real difference in comparison to similar tablets...but yeah, getting used to it was like learning to draw all over again...and I had to learn to take my time and let my brain reinterpret the new hand-eye coordination it takes and the angle that I hold the tablet doesn't match the angle on the screen.




Tweaked - thanks, yeah, those are my first two works with it. I did scratch the stylus around a bit to see how it worked but not much else. I took my time with those (something I don't do much) and learned alot about the pressure of the pen and the work area best for me...but then I'm more of a traditional artist than a digital one so my techniqes are a little different maybe? I have more traditional stuff than digital on my website

[Tweaked verteX]

*nods* Those Graphire tablets are pretty useless when compared to the Intuos ones. kind of like drawing with a whiteboard marker instead of a nice sharp pencil. I've not tried the one you've got...

Oh if you're at all interested, I've got my latest tablet work up on the 2d art thread under something like 'isn't it nice whan you realise your skills have increased' or something vaguely similar.