#also I don’t like drawing on my iPad I prefer photoshop but I can’t afford it lmao

[isopodcore]

ok it’s an art blog now

[halorvic]

Hallo! I want to give digital art a go and I was wondering if you could answer me some questions: Which tablet do use (ipad, wacom, or other)? And why, what has been you experience with it? I ask because I just can’t decide which one I should get! And also: which software do you use for your drawings? Thank you love your art bye 💜

I use Wacom’s older Bamboo models! I have two different ones on hand — the CTH-460 and the CTH-470.

CTH-460

Pros:

Small and portable

Not as expensive as some of the other models

Cons:

Lower pressure sensitivity than other models

Might be too small for people who prefer working on larger surfaces

Had to replace this a couple of times before because the connecting cord stop working properly (probably due to regular but pretty normal bending/twisting when packing it away) and over time it couldn’t be recognised by my computer

——

CTH-470

Pros:

Small and portable

Not as expensive as some of the other models

Removable cord

Optional wireless connectivity

Cons:

Lower pressure sensitivity than other models

Might be too small for people who prefer working on larger surfaces

You have to purchase the battery/little connection device separately from the tablet if you want wireless capability

Sometimes the wireless connection has trouble establishing itself – usually it’s fixed if I remove the battery from the tablet, reinsert it and turn it on again, but it can be annoying

I like to have the CTH-460 as my home tablet whereas I keep the CTH-470 in my backpack for use when I’m out. The CTH-460 is the second tablet I started using when I initially picked up digital art. The very first one I used was an old Wacom Intuos 4, which was about double the size and much heavier. It worked fine and it had a higher pressure sensitivity rating than these but portability is important to me and I personally prefer working with a smaller tablet. I’ve even grown to prefer the lower pen sensitivity, especially when it comes to doing paintings (though I still put it as a “con” above since I think most people want higher sensitivity).

So my experience with the Bamboo has been positive overall! Mind you, I have never purchased any of my tablets at full price — I’ve always gone to places like eBay to obtain them second hand at a far more affordable cost (they may be cheaper than other models but they’re still not cheap).

As for the program I use: Photoshop! Used it long before I took up digital art so it was easy for me to jump right in with it. The newer versions now are only offered as a subscription so unless you don’t mind and can afford shelling out $$ to Adobe regularly, I’d recommend searching for an older version somewhere if you want to use PS (I currently use CS6). The internet is your friend...

[callistochan87]

Well, the experiment seems to be going well. Dunno if @erinhime83 has any thoughts about it 😂

This was mostly done because I’ve grown to really like drawing on the iPad--something about using the Apple Pencil on the screen just makes it so much easier. I’ve used a non-screen tablet for years, a Bamboo and now an Intuos , and it’s fine, but I haven’t done nearly as much art since I’ve moved, and certainly not complex art. I keep saying oh, it’s because my desk is so small and too high for me to be comfortable, or the little Tobias chair I have isn’t comfortable to sit at for hours--and, I mean, it’s true, but I have to wonder if I’ve just...shifted.

Long story short, I was looking at display tablets. The Huion Kamvas is probably the closest competitor to the Cintiq, and at $500-600 is way more affordable than a Cintiq. But man, oh man, I found someone selling a used Cintiq on eBay. Looks to be in good condition, had some parts replaced 3 years ago, and!! They’re in Canada! Canadian dollars! Free shipping!! I cannot describe to you HOW MUCH OF A DREAM THAT IS! Paying shipping is the worst, especially on eBay (I saw another Cintiq ad that was like, $70 for the Cintiq...and $368 for shipping to Canada from the US 🙃)

And they’re (fairly??) local (BC-based). They’re asking $320, and I am tempted. I know I shouldn’t. I keep telling myself that I don’t like feeling like I have to penny-pinch, and I wouldn't have to do that if I didn’t make big unnecessary purchases, like $300 Cintiqs on eBay. I don’t need a Cintiq like I need food or rent.

But I am so tempted. I keep going back to that listing to stare at it. eBay says there’s 19 days left? I worry one day I will go there and the listing will be gone, someone will have bought it.

But then I told myself that I didn’t even know how it worked. I’d never used a display tablet before, and I don’t count the iPad because Procreate is designed to work for it. I did some poking around, and found Astropad Studio. which mirrors your screen to your iPad. Apple’s Sidecar has the same functionality for free, but I tried it once and wasn’t impressed. Mostly because I’d used Sidecar so I could use my iPad as a second monitor during our last work from home period, so it was a bit weird to shift things over, and the Apple Pencil didn’t work as well. This was a 1:1 screen mirror, with additional Pencil support, AND a 30-day free trial, so I thought I’d make the most out of those 30 days.

This was also an experiment in using Clip Studio start to finish, since I got frustrated sometimes and would switch over to Photoshop, where I knew how to do stuff. But I hate subscription models and look for alternatives. Clip Studio is affordable and is a one-time payment, which I’m fine with. And O.M.G. The good news is that using Clip Studio with a display tablet is super easy! I always liked the 3D models CS offered for poses, but found position them a PITA with a mouse, or even my Intuos. But using the Pencil makes it so much easier! Makes inking easier too, although I haven’t yet found an inking brush I’m totally happy with (It could also be because I’m comparing it, in my head, to the smooth lines Illustrator generates, and I haven’t been able to mimic that 100%)

Basically any issues I had with the drawing process were more due to unfamiliarity with Clip Studio and the way the tools function. I like the idea...but I still like the idea of a Cintiq, because that was the one big downside--Astropad is a 1:1 screen mirror, so I can’t have a ref open on one screen and the program in another, I have to constantly go back and forth. I’d never used a dual-monitor setup before my current job, but now that I’ve figured it out, I do see benefits to it.

aaaaaaalso, Astropad is the dreaded subscription. Yes, per year it’s still less than what Cintiq I’m eyeballing, but at least the Cintiq would be a one-and-done thing, which is usually my preference. (There are also a couple of Astropad nitpicks that I chalk up to be being unfamiliar with it, such as the 1-finger+pencil=eraser trick that caused me to accidentally erase chunks of the image as I went, because it interpreted my resting hand as a finger, but those are minor quibbles.)

Finally, I went ahead and upgraded from PRO to EX when it was on sale (see above, re: impulse purchases) solely so I could use the “convert 3D to lines and tones” function for easy backgrounds. You can’t tell when I shrank it, but the original was just...no aliasing, jaggedly sharp lines, that were a bit too thick for my tastes, but I couldn’t thin them out no matter how I tried. So the background is a bit clunky, but it was loads easier than trying to draw one myself, so I can see an advantage there. I’ll need to play more with the settings, since there looks to be ways to smooth out the lines that I didn’t realize.

as for the colours, I keep trying to simplify my colouring, to copy comics with simpler shading, so I can put out pieces faster. It never seems to work. I keep fiddling around with gradient masks and layer masks, hoping that it might unify my colours and make shading easy, like I actually know how colours work. I tried so much to keep it simple and still wound up doing what I usually do, except painting light on dark instead of vice-versa. Still fewer colours than normal but I don’t know if it sped the process up any. Any blending was  unintentional due to the brush I used (which also didn’t consistently put down colour--it faded when I wanted solid colour, and blobbed huge blobs when I was trying to blend) but it looks okay.

For all of that, I will say that it came together quickly (I started this on Monday, finished most of it yesterday, did a couple final touchups today), although that may be because I got so focused on it that I did sketching and inks in a huge slog from like, 5-11 pm on Monday, and didn’t realize I hadn’t saved in that entire time until I tried to close it for the night and saw it was just labelled “Illustration” because I hadn’t saved it yet. 🙃

...I kind of wish the lace wasn’t there, now that I look at it. Great example at showing off some of the inbuilt lace and decoration brushes (although this one was a free downloadable asset) but...man, her butt turned out nicely enough that I didn’t want to cover it. Without the lace she looks a bit like a gymnast or figure skater, maybe it’s the leotard, but the little lace ruffle (I don’t want to call it a skirt) sort of quashes that 😂