so yesterday i got my first graphics tablet and i started doodling and practicing. i know several of you already have tablets and use them at map making so perhaps this would be good thread to talk about this and share tips and tricks. so far i've learned the following: 1. don't use black, use a dark brown. for some reason it looks much better 2. don't use the brush at 100% opacity go for 10-50% depending on what you do
so far i've only done images using one colour and it's various shades (from the pen pressure and the opacity) and i've attempted a colourful version too (that kinda sucks). anyway what troubles me the most are the shadows.i'm trying to learn how to do shadows but i can't find anywhere an answer to this question: should shadow lines be true to one direction throughout the whole image? or can i have them horizontal in one place, vertical on another? or perhaps they must follow the shape of the object? for example if i make the shadow of a ball, should i make it of round lines or can i do it however i want? i don't know, i'm torn and i feel like my shadows are inconsistent. also, how the heck do i draw a straight line. and i'm not talking about perfectly straight cause that's easy, just hold shift . nope, i want something to be nearly straight, hand-drawn straight.
“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku
Funny I always use black lines but I mostly use the tablet for less rendered/realistic stuff.
should shadow lines be true to one direction throughout the whole image? or can i have them horizontal in one place, vertical on another? or perhaps they must follow the shape of the object? for example if i make the shadow of a ball, should i make it of round lines or can i do it however i want?
There's no official "rule" but in my experience shadow lines look best when they follow the shape of the object. I think Hand 2 is pretty good about this, it would look better if the lines curved just a little bit with the finger, but that can be hard to do and be consistent about it.
how the heck do i draw a straight line. and i'm not talking about perfectly straight cause that's easy, just hold shift . nope, i want something to be nearly straight, hand-drawn straight.
Wish I could tell you I'm still trying to figure that one out
Drawing straight lines is hard with a cheaper tablet... a lot of them have a very slick surface which causes wobble. Especially as they wear down with use. Professional level tablets (eg. Intuos) often have exchangeable surface sheets for this reason.
Usually when I need to draw things with accuracy, I just place a sheet of paper on the tablet and draw through it. It gives the pen tip some friction which helps keeping the pen steady, and also gives a more natural feel for drawing.
actually it wasn't about the tablet's surface it was more about my hand. anywhere from 0 to 90 degrees i can draw perfect horizontal lines, once i get past 90 all the way round to 359 my straight lines become crappy and wobbly. but i discovered something so freaking simple it eluded me so far i can simply turn the tablet to whatever direction i want so that the line i'm supposed to draw is at the angle i'm most comfortable with. so since a horizontal left to right motion produces the best results i just turn the tablet around until it matches the position.
“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku
“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku
Nice work on these, I am always amazed by people who can draw or paint or sculpt, since I always stunk at art classes in school. Heck, I remember trying to draw from those 'learn how to draw with these easy steps' books, and things never turned out right!
i've done more practicing but it feels weird to be the only one posting
“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku
that actually looks awesome. the shading is superb. and the facial expressions. i love it. post more.
“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku
here's a banana i drew with my tablet just practicing. straight lines are always hard for me. for coloring, i learned to set my opacity real low, and sample colors using a 5 point sample with the eyedropper, instead of a 1 point sample.
Ok, here's my first try on a new software (Krita)... I'm basically in love with this program already, particularly the sketch brushes - they're just plain awesome. That's all there is to say about sketch brushes.
This is really just a doodle, I was basically just trying out different brushes and effects at random, so it's not very refined...
“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku
You know so long as this threads called "hand drawing" I suppose there's no reason I can't post some actual hand drawings done with pencil and paper. These are from when I was real into making up fictional animals for Thyseneal. Mostly just adding horns or tusks to pre-existing animals.