On Obtaining a Tablet...

[Linkara]

So, as I continue to produce my poorly-drawn webcomic, I find a lot of my time goes into the initial penciling and the inking parts. Since I ink digitally, I've started to wonder if I couldn't speed up the whole process by obtaining a tablet. The problem is that as I've looked at tablets, I find that essentially all a tablet is is a mousepad-sized rectangle that I draw onto while looking away from where I'm drawing at the screen.

...So, essentially, it's like using a mouse only holding it differently.

And really, that's not what I want. I want something where I'm actually putting a stylus onto a screen and inking over my pencils. I want to look directly at where my hand is going. Does such a tablet exist or does it exist only in the realm of Tablet PCs?

[Joel Fagin]

They do exist and they are expensive. I don't know any model numbers, mind, but Wacom is the company you want so just check their site.

However, a normal tablet is probably better than you think. Yes, you have to get used to them, but it only took me a couple of weeks and I have a piece of rubbish tablet with a postage stamp sized drawing area.

Optimally you should find someone you can borrow one off. I nicked one from the college where I work to see how I went before I bought mine.

- Joel Fagin

[Mercury Hat]

Cintiq and it's about $2k. Tablet PCs aren't good for drawing on at all, from what I hear. Not as much pressure sensitivity as even a basic Wacom tablet would have.

[Ataraxia]

...So, essentially, it's like using a mouse only holding it differently.

Actually, once you get used to it, it's nothing like holding a mouse. I had the same concerns as you before buying my tablet (a Wacom Intuos; cost around $150) but I quickly found that drawing on the tablet while looking at the screen isn't a problem. Your muscles learn to coordinate with the mouse pointer.

If you need a further demonstration, try taking a lump of plasticine about the same size as a mouse, stick a pencil in the bottom, and try drawing a picture with it. The way you hold the drawing tool makes a big difference to the ways in which you can use it. Plus, mice don't have pressure sensitivity, and pressure sensitivity is what is good in life.

[CaptainClaude]

lso i'd work on getting better with a pencil before investing that much cash in gizmos

[Paul Escobar]

The Wacom Cintiq comes in three models: one is small and costs $1000, two are big and cost $2000. It's an awesome but expensive tool, so a normal pen tablet is recommended unless you've got those $1K or 2K to spare.

Like others said above, the lack of hand-eye coordination on a pen tablet is just a matter of getting used to. And it's nothing at all like using a mouse; it is, in fact, very much like using a real pen. Much better for your hand. At any rate, after a week of using a pen tablet I had gotten used to it, and hardly ever use my mouse anymore. Trust me, compared to a pen tablet, mice really suck, not just for digital artwork, but also for operating the computer in general.

Pen tablets come in many sizes, from tiny to really big, but the really big ones aren't necessarily the most comfortable ones for drawing.

So I'd recommend that you find a shop that has a showroom for the things and try the different models out. Even better if you can borrow a tablet from someone for a week, because they do take time getting used to. But hey, so did using a mouse way back when...

[Jekkal]

I use a Wacom Intuos 2 for my comic, and have reached the point where almost all of the production is digital except maybe pre-script sketching and character design. A good tablet from the Wacom family should clock in at about $100, maybe half that if you try eBay.

Speed is relative; the longer you do it, the faster you'll get. I would not try to jump straight into all-digital until you feel comfortable with it, though.

[McDuffies]

Yeah, tablet is nothing like a mouse and thanks to good old hand-eye coordination you don't notice that you're not looking where your hand is.

[Metruis]

If you find this is a problem and you've TRIED a tablet to determine it's just a 'pen shaped mouse', I have four words for you:

Do. It. By. Hand.

I'm not kidding. Digitally inking is, in no uncertain terms, a pain in the ass. I do not support it. At all. I did my first two pages digitally because I was "lazy" and didn't want to get out my inking supplies. I fully and utterly regret it. You're inking digitally with a MOUSE? What is WRONG with you? This isn't flaming. This is me speaking from the perspective of someone who only had a mouse, and did a lot of digital art, for several years. I gave myself wrist problems, my art was not as good as it could have been because I was stretching 'painting with a mouse' to the max. There's two limits on art, always: what YOU can do and what your hardware can do. I'd reached the limit on both of them. Without pressure sensitivity, I couldn't do good inking, unless I used the selector tool or vector lines, which was equally a pain in the ass.

So I got a tablet. It was the furthest thing from a 'pen shaped mouse' I have ever had. I set it on mouse mode rather than tablet mode, mind, and I adjusted to it within two hours. It was basically 'why the bleep didn't I get this BEFORE?' It wasn't like using a pencil, really, but it wasn't like using a mouse at all. ALL. And I wasn't using a program with pressure sensitivity, either! (Yeah, might I mention my angst about my computer at that time. My best digital paintings a year ago were done on a 98 without a tablet, gah.) It's not quite like holding a pencil, but it's very different from a mouse. It feels more like an extension into the computer monitor... it feels very natural to assosiate the speed I'm moving the pen with where my pointer is appearing on the screen. (This is me using mouse mode rather than pen mode, which goes too slowly for me, and I have a widescreen so it's out of proportion too)

I never find myself looking down at my hand. I can scan in pencils if I really want, and ink them on the screen, without looking down. I never use a mouse for anything, the tablet is so far superior...

But yeah, there's the 1-2k one, if you really absolutely need to be able to watch what you're doing. But I just have a Wacom Graphire (6x8) and I find it serves my purposes well enough. Heck, a 5x4 Bamboo works well enough, though I'd go a bit bigger just for the sake of those large, sweeping strokes and not hitting the edge. You'd be looking to spend around... 90 bucks for a Bamboo, 200 for a Graphire. Versus 2000 for a Cintiq. And for any purchase that expensive, you'd want to try before you buy if at all possible.

But even still.

Digital inking is a pain in the arse, don't do it, india ink and brushes aren't that expensive! Or mircons, sharpies, markers, quill pens, whatever suits your fancy... there's something in the strokes and lines traditional art has that digital just doesn't have, and if you really want to watch what you're doing, where your hand is, it's your best (and cheapest) bet.

[KittyKatBlack]

I picked up a small Wacom off e-bay a while back and while I haven't used it in ages, back when I did I found that it was a lot easier to use than I first expected. I was never coordinated enough to digitally ink anything with it, but it enhanced my ability to color drasticly. You probably use Photoshop, or the Gimp, right? Basicly a Tablet is to a Mouse as Photoshop is to MSPaint. It's really that simple. You can TECHNICLY produce the same results from both programs, however the tablet makes things much more fluid and managable, while the mouse, though useful for other applications is generally horrid for anything art related.

[Nikara]

On the whole, tablets are a good solution. However, if you want such absolute control over your inking, I suggest that you stick to doing it by hand before you scan it. There are ways to digitally clean up the scanned image. For example, Photoshop lets you adjust the levels of contrast and balance of light and dark (control+L, or just look for "Levels"). You can manipulate it so that the gray splotches that made it into the scanned image disappear, leaving you with clean line art.

[Warofwinds]

I forked over 400 bucks for a Wacom Intuos 3 6x11. I do not regret it in the slightest, and I feel my art has REALLY improved. I can do stuff I'd never be able to do with pencils, inks, or paints. Totally awesome piece of technology.

[Paul Escobar]

Digital inking is a pain in the arse, don't do it, india ink and brushes aren't that expensive!

Different pen strokes for different folks. Whether digital inking is a pain or a joy is individual. A brush isn't everyone's cup of tea, either. Personally, I do prefer brush, ink and paper, but of all possible inking tools, the pen tablet is the most versatile, since with the proper software (Photoshop) it can emulate any other drawing tool. And you never have to dip it in the ink bottle.

[Americangothic]

Hey Link-
I recently got a cintiq... definitely worth it if you wanna go that route. I still do 95% of my comic production on paper though. I still find traditional ink and color faster.

The one thing I can really recommend- get bigger paper and a bigger scanner. I purchased a page from Mark Texeira http://www.marktexeira.com/ -- and I gotta say... the ink looks great in black and white... wayyyyyy before the color is ever added. A used tabloid scanner (like a mircotek or Epson) is about 300.00 -- and probably a much better purchase than the cintiq.

Aggie

[Metruis]

Digital inking is a pain in the arse, don't do it, india ink and brushes aren't that expensive!

Different pen strokes for different folks. Whether digital inking is a pain or a joy is individual. A brush isn't everyone's cup of tea, either. Personally, I do prefer brush, ink and paper, but of all possible inking tools, the pen tablet is the most versatile, since with the proper software (Photoshop) it can emulate any other drawing tool. And you never have to dip it in the ink bottle.

Not everyone can afford Photoshop, comparatively it's cheaper to learn to ink.

And... yeah... even though I agree 'different strokes for different folks', I entirely disagree that 'Photoshop can emulate any other drawing tool'. No, it can't. (Photoshop is equally a pain in the arse and it takes forever to figure out how to get the effects of different medias and the right brushes for these, anyway. ><) There's a distinct look to digital art and it can NEVER, never replace traditional. If you've ever spent time with watercolors or pencils and loved them, you'd understand. Photoshop can simply not replace the look and feel of using your hands to create art. It can create some damn good art, sure. It can create a lot more variety than my choice for inking, which is the same as yours. But it can't emulate everything, and not with the same detail and gritty and accidental colors mixing together and spilling ink and ending up with cool blotches chaoticness of traditional art.

Traditional art is more CHAOTIC, I think that's it. You can't undo. But you can't dip your fingers into paint and end up with smearies with depth and large glops of random three dimensional color for a background with Photoshop either. You can't get your hands dirty there.

I agree a tablet is the most versatile tool you can get, sure. You can do a lot with it. But I'd never stop doing traditional. Too much loss...

That said, with the original poster's post, I suspect hand inking would probably be better for him than a 2000 dollar tablet. Cheaper, anyway. o_o

And when it comes to convenience... a paper can't crash. And corrupt your save. >< Whooops.

Oh well. I still looooooove my tablet.

[KittyKatBlack]

You can't undo.

This is the main reason I use the tablet for everything except the pencil work. I'd never produce anything but garbage if I tried to ink/color without being able to undo/erase.

[Linkara]

You can't undo.

This is the main reason I use the tablet for everything except the pencil work. I'd never produce anything but garbage if I tried to ink/color without being able to undo/erase.

This is what I was going to say. There are times I wish my pencil had an undo button. ^_~

[Terotrous]

You can't undo.

This is the main reason I use the tablet for everything except the pencil work. I'd never produce anything but garbage if I tried to ink/color without being able to undo/erase.

This applies to me, too. I'm also totally spoiled on the fact that you can resize things or adjust / move them around. I can't do jack with a pencil and paper.

Luckily, a mouse and a tablet provide mostly the same features, it's just a matter of which you find easier to control (I think you're a little too hard on mice).

[KittyKatBlack]

You can't undo.

This is the main reason I use the tablet for everything except the pencil work. I'd never produce anything but garbage if I tried to ink/color without being able to undo/erase.

This is what I was going to say. There are times I wish my pencil had an undo button. ^_~

It does. It's called an eraser. A pen, however, is a completely different story...

[Terotrous]

It does. It's called an eraser. A pen, however, is a completely different story...

Undoing is so much better, though, it's much faster and it can get rid of only your last brush stroke, as opposed to "an area of your drawing". Once you undo you can't ever go back (that's kind of ironic).

Of course techically you could get one of those eraseable pens or use whiteout.