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Digital Artwork Gear (1 Viewer)

timwootton

Well-known member
Hi Guys - I know all of this has been covered, primarily in Ed's and Dave's excellent threads, but necessity makes me ark for some serious advice and input.
I've recently 'returned' to illustration for a few projects and have found it almost impossible to get my style back (I'm not unhappy about this as it means my 'painting for myself' style and approach has now become the dominant way of working for me). But I need to develop a different illustration style and I feel that the distinct difference that digital artwork has to offer may be the way forward.
So - the question is - What's available, from where, regarding digital 'tablets' and pens???
(Bet you thought I'd never ask- didn't you!!!!!)
 
Tim, I've always heard that Wacom tablets are the ones to have. We used to have a couple at work. Personally I preferred the A3 sized one but many folks would rather stick to A5, kinda like a mouse mat I guess and perhaps more familiar. I find that drawing on screen whilst moving the 'pen' on a totally different plane quite unnerving but I use a mouse with no trouble so I guess it's just something to get used to. One really useful feature of the larger tablet was the 'tracing paper' overlay built in, it was easy to put a drawing under the overlay and 'trace' it onto the screen, bit tricky with the smaller jobs. No idea where you'd get one from, being in the wilds as you are!

Anyway, good luck with it and let's see some of the results when you get them.

Woody
 
Hi Guys - I know all of this has been covered, primarily in Ed's and Dave's excellent threads, but necessity makes me ark for some serious advice and input.
...

So - the question is - What's available, from where, regarding digital 'tablets' and pens???
(Bet you thought I'd never ask- didn't you!!!!!)

Interesting times..if it is serious advice you are after that probably rules me out, but in case helpful, another vote from me for the Wacom Intuos A3 tablet and pen combination.

http://www.wacom-europe.com/int/products/intuos/tablets.asp?

While there, enjoy Wacom's splendidly Germanic slogan ("efficiency can be breathtaking"). Hard to know whether to laugh or cry.

I think that's a pretty much amrket leading choice for this kind of work, so I haven't looked into alternatives.

If you can bear it and haven't already done so, it is worth getting into the geeky side of how to crank up your computer so there is enough memory to run Photoshop (or AN Other paint program) ultra-fast- so that the on screen image keeps up with the moving hand. In particular running Photoshop via a separate scratch disk.
 
Thank Guys - a fine start to my dgi-career!!! - I suppose, like all things, the A3 would be my prefered option, but there'll be a proce to pay, I'm sure.
I'll begin my investigations . . . .
Oh! - Does the tablet HAVE to be connected to the Mac/Pc whilst working????
 
Tim,

Go for the biggest tablet you can get, unless you draw in fine detail at a small scale.

Draw your original on paper in pencil, scan it in, then colour in layers/channels your picture.

You will find that like sable brushes there are different quality of pen tools.

If you like to draw with pen line, again scan in and use as a template for your wash, then use your pen line as the final 'key' to the illustration.
 
Thank Guys - a fine start to my dgi-career!!! - I suppose, like all things, the A3 would be my prefered option, but there'll be a proce to pay, I'm sure.
I'll begin my investigations . . . .

Oh! - Does the tablet HAVE to be connected to the Mac/Pc whilst working????

On price, there may be second-hand market for Wacoms. I've not looked, but worth thinking about- the tablet surface, if scratched during previous use, is readily replaceable as are other moving parts.

As for your Oh! question, the standard tablet has no inbuilt memory (I think) or power source so needs to be connected. But for a price you can get wireless Wacoms. However I don't think they will transmit from clifftop to your computah back in the house if that's what you are wondering...

pe'rigin's point about starting with a scanned in drawing is one to reflect on- some animation houses insist upon a hand drawn first draft, to ensure maximum artistic flourish in the drawn shape. But if Tim you are after a fresh style, then I guess starting with familiar pencil in hand runs counter to that...

The tablet has quite a skiddy feel compared to paper, which can have a bad (or good) effect on drawing style. I think I heard suggestion that this can be mitigated by sticking a sheet of tracing paper over the tablet. The tablet can still detect the pen and you get a bit more of the familiar drawing feel.
 
Oooo! - Keep it up - it's VERY interesting. Cheers.

I diagnose an emerging case of techno-lust here!

To fuel the fire still further, I think the tablet and pen option may be particularly suited to illustration work, espcially if you're doing plates of similar species in 'id guide poses', in that you can save a lot of time by copying and pasting the standard poses and then modifying them to suit the individual species, rather than starting from scratch.

Dont' suppose there are any neighbours who have one you could try?!!
 
I diagnose an emerging case of techno-lust here!
Always been a lusty bloke, me Dave!

Dont' suppose there are any neighbours who have one you could try?!!
Hmmm, not sure about that (there are loads of 'artists' up here - not sure if that's a good thing or not?) - HOWEVER - First-class post is extremely efficient (it's actually Air-Mail, believe it or not) sooooooo - if anyone's got one they don't intend using for a week or so . . . . :-O
(Just watch this thread go REALLY quiet from now on ;)
 
I don't know if this link will work. Obviously it's a cheapo - but has anyone tried these (and what kind of results, please?)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trust-Wireles...ryZ39980QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


At that price you could give it a go and if not what you hope for, give it to kids for Christmas..

A lot of the quality in digipainting is driven by the paint program (Photoshop CS being one of the wonders of the world IMHO ranking alongside the great pyramids and white-billed divers ) and the processing speed of the computah.

But the absolute must have is pressure sensitivity in the digipen. Without that (i.e. with an on/off pen in some of the cheaper pen and tablet systems), you are not much further forward than a mouse. So that's the one to check out. For example even within £x00 world of Wacom, the relatively cheaper Graphire offers 512 levels of presure sensitivity vs 1024 levels in Intuos.
 
I don't know if this link will work. Obviously it's a cheapo - but has anyone tried these (and what kind of results, please?)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trust-Wireles...ryZ39980QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hi Tim,
I got one of those as a prezzie last Christmas. It is pressure sensitive but I'm not sure how many levels.

I'm certain it's not as good as the Wacom ones (you usually get what you pay for!), but at that price a great way to dip your toe in.

I've so far found the limiting factor to be me rather than the pen/tablet. I use it with a free package called Artweaver.

Best of luck,
Des.
 
HOWEVER - First-class post is extremely efficient QUOTE]

Hmmm - not sure I can agree there ...Was just hearing yesterday how the Royal Mail recently damaged some original plates sent by registered mail and refused to cough up compensation.

Otherwise, of course, I'd be quite happy to do it!!
 
HOWEVER - First-class post is extremely efficient QUOTE]

Hmmm - not sure I can agree there ...Was just hearing yesterday how the Royal Mail recently damaged some original plates sent by registered mail and refused to cough up compensation.

Otherwise, of course, I'd be quite happy to do it!!


Loads of the guys at work received a mailer from the royal mail recently. It was an A4 letter made entirely from a chocolate slab. The text on the 'letter' goes on about how your stuff is safe with royal mail and how careful they are and so on.

You guessed it, each and every one was smashed into a dozen bits by the time it arrived.

Well done the royal mail! ;)

Woody
 
Another quickie - Assuming one is using an A5 sized tablet - does this limit the virtual size of the artwork to A5?
What I mean is, when working in Photoshop, the size of the virtual artwork is dictated by the image/canvas size the user selects, not the screen size of the PC/Mac.
So, can one work on a vrtually larger 'canvas' than the actual A5 the tablet provides?
Thanks in advance.
Can one zoom +/- as in photoshop (or is it, indeed, just photoshop on another platform?
 
No you're not limited by the physical size of the tablet in any way other than the freedom of movement for your hand. The size of the virtual canvas is governed by things like pixel density, memory (file) size, and the processing power of the pooter n stuff. It's just a different input device for photoshop which supports the pressure sensitive technology. In fact tablet and pen is the preferred input device for almost all retouchers, animators etc. Illustrators working directly with digital media have the added advantage for the client that there's no scanning, colour correction etc to be done, although it does mean that the illustrator has to have a good knowledge of the issues that go with a digital workflow.

I reckon you should go for the cheap job first of all and see how you like it.

Woody
 
If anyones still interested in a tablet have a look at Aldi Sunday specials - they're doing a Medion one for around £30! Of course you'd need to have a store nearby ;)
 
If anyones still interested in a tablet have a look at Aldi Sunday specials - they're doing a Medion one for around £30! Of course you'd need to have a store nearby ;)
Nice one, Ian - believe it or not, we blessed folk in Orkney actually DO have an Aldi - brand new one too!!!
Amazing to get a tip off from BF about a store 12 miles up the road - POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Found one in PC world today £30 too. Didn't check the specs though so don't know how good or bad it would be.

Woody
 
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