I drew up a new step by step on using a digital tablet for sketching. Of course, it's geared towards Adobe, but if you're interested in trying this approach to drawing, it shouldn't be all that difficult to adapt the ideas to your favorite drawing program.
The link to the tutorial is at the bottom of the page.
(Not sure what that means...but had to use one of the new BB gremlins! )
[ August 16, 2003, 12:10 PM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
I think it "what the heck was that" or something along those lines.
Ain't life grand?
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6464 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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I had no idea it was that easy to create vector based drawings. I realize that it would probably take lots of practise but it sure makes me want to get a tablet.
I think the newer versions of Corel have a similar feature to turn outlines to vector paths.
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Easy? EASY???? Who said it was easy? hahahaha
Seriously, if you can draw, the tablet is the way to go. You learned how to draw with a stylus many years before you trained yourself to draw by pushin a bar of soap around your desk.
posted
Thanks so much Don - a real "Letterhead" post. That's what I thought this site was all about! I keep coming back looking for this kind of stuff - unfortunately there isn't enough of it to keep me satisfied. I definately will look into one of these!
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5278 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Well done Don. Now I know how you did the Palm collection without losing your mind .
I used a Wacom tablet pretty extensively for a while when I was doing lots of photo editing. They are really great once you get the hang of them.
If anyone has cash to burn, you'd do well to check out the Cintiq tablets from Wacom. These things are so cool you can't even imagine. They are basically a touch sensitive LCD screen, so you draw right on the monitor. Very Sweet.
posted
Yeah Don, I guess that was a pretty big reach... You had to have lost your mind well before hand to even think about putting that collection together !
That's beautiful stuff by the way. I've been trying to scrape together the cash for the set.
-------------------- Jon Androsky Posts: 438 | From: Williamsport, PA | Registered: Mar 2002
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Thank you for the post. I have been trying to get the boss to get back to using his fantastic art skills again. Has lost the taste for pencil against paper. Have tried to get him to get a good tablet for over a year. This may be a way to get him motivated to "get back at it'. NOTHING he does by computer alone matches any of his original art/sign work. This may push him into getting his good stuff into the puter and out on the street again.
Thanks again.
-------------------- William "Irish" Holohan Resting...Read "Between Jobs." Marlboro, MA 01752 email: firemap1@aol.com Posts: 1110 | From: Marlboro, MA | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
I think I should add a note to this step by step. Though the example is of a ribbon, I want to emphasize that using your tablet in this manner is a perfect way to lay out a sign! Sketch out your elements and refine the sketch, darkening and thickening the lines as you proceed. Then when you've got the layout where you want it, switch to pen drawing tools, ellipse, rectangles and add in your fonts...using the underlying "thumbnail sketch" as your guide.
What makes this so great is that by using the stylus/tablet to do the actual layout, YOU are designing the sign, NOT the computer! One rut most all of us can fall into is to let that computer design for us. As my late, great friend Jay Suhm once dismayed over...there is NO button on the keyboard called "Design me a sign".
And Jonathan, thanks for the comp! I put alot of my heart and soul into producing that stuff.
posted
One more thing...I was speaking with Raymond Chapman the other day, and he mentioned that this tablet surface is too slick for him to get the natural feel of paper and pencil.
Try taping vellum over the tablet surface. You'll likely wear out your stylus point quicker, but those are very inexpensive to replace.
Also, if you are an "eBayer", do your search for the word "wacom", not digital tablet. I'd recommend at least a 6x8, (that's what I use and it works great). Typically, you can find a tablet on eBay for around half new retail. I picked mine up for $60, but was just lucky.
[ August 17, 2003, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
And William if he doesnt take to the tablet the old pencil and paper still work when scanned in and locked in Omega you can vectorize right over the drawing.
There is no excuse for NOT doing what once made him what he is today.
Edited for lack of brains on my part lol
[ August 17, 2003, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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I've been using my Wacon tablet for better than 5 years now and couldn't do without it.
Although I've owned Adobe Illustrator for a few years, I've never really used it, favoring instead Adobe Photoshop and bitmap images for my work, along with some work in Painter.
Those who look at my drawings can't understand that although my work is done almost exclusively on the computer these days, it is still very much hand drawn with the stylus & tablet. The output is digital and allows me to effortlessly put together some awesome presentations for my clients.
But like you explain, the process is very much like the many layers of tracing paper we used to use when developing an idea in the days before computers.
Thanks again for the tutorial, I may just reload my Illustrator & give the vector program another try.
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8761 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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I went to e-bay, and immediatly got confused (nuthin new about that.....eh?? )
Which model and size would you recomend....?? Timi keeps telling me I need one of these things, and drawing on my screen with my Stabillos is startin to be a hassle......
Also.........All I have is Corel 8, are these things any good with corel ?? I've never tried Adobe or any other progrgams........just my pencils and paper........
Thinkin about gettin into the 20th century........although I don't have a clue why......
Thanks.........cj
[ August 18, 2003, 01:15 AM: Message edited by: CJ Allan ]
-------------------- CJ Allan CJs Engraving 982 English Dr. Hazel, KY 42049
posted
Hey CJ....I'd recommend the Wacoms. Stay away from anything smaller than a 6x8. 6x8's work real well...I've been told that larger ones are even better, because you can put more "wrist" into the drawing.
The tablets will work with Corel.
Of course, like our good friend from Massachusettes says, you can scan a drawing into your computer. The difference is that when you draw directly onto your computer, you get the same natural feel, while being able to edit as you go...much better than an eraser. Since the drawing is vector, you can select lines or groups of lines and change their thickness and color with a couple taps of the stylus.
I'd say more, but my check from Wacom hasn't arrived yet.
[ August 18, 2003, 06:42 PM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
posted
I have a Waacom Graphire 2 which is the cheaper one & I'm starting to use it. It's cool.
I use an older one here at the paper to do cartton stuff for the kid's page with Adobe Illustrator.
There is a guy here at the paper that does lots of cartooning & Illustration with his tablet. He's really good & uses Macromedia Flash. He says that he draws & sketches exclusively in Flash now. He said the tools in Flash are simply more condusive to working with the tablet than any other program. I've watched him do it & it's amazing. Really fast and accurate. It seems really intuitive. I havn't tried it yet, but I recently got Flash & I will soon.
-------------------- Glenn S. Harris
....back in the sign trade full time. Posts: 293 | From: Baton Rouge, LA, USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I bought a tablet 2 years ago and man I love it. I have problems with jerking in my hands and using a tablet helps me. I use it in Photoshop when I am cleaning up a picture.
-------------------- Cynthia Pack 246 Diamondview Loop Galax, Va. 24333 Posts: 659 | From: Galax, Virginia USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
Well, Don found me a great deal on e-bay for a 6"x8" tablet. Originally, the Buy Now price was set at $100 and I passed on that. When I saw the bidding had stopped at $60, I couldn't resist!
It showed up yesterday and I love this thing! Man, is it fun to play with.
Big problem, though. I don't see how it is possible to work in Corel Draw like Don shows in his tutorial. I have Corel 10 and there aren't too many properties to adjust in the freehand tool. The problem is, as soon as you draw a line segment, it selects it. You can't just sketch away.
The tablet works great in Photoshop, but it's the creating a vector drawing that I'm interested in.
Does anyone have any experience sketching in Corel Draw?
posted
Steve, far as I can tell, they all work pretty much the same. (wacom's, that is). So newer ones will basically only have more bells and whistles. I own a couple ArtZ ll tablets by wacom, which are older models....and they do the job well for me.
I would recommend getting the largest tablet you can afford, and no smaller than a 6x8. As far as the particular model, I'd keep my distance from graphire. Those are 'amateur' models and not really for art.
Terry, I'll check into the Corel thing for ya. Not an expert with that program, so can't promise I'll figure it out.
[ October 04, 2003, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
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The link to the tutorial is at the bottom of the page.![[Dunno]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
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That's what I thought this site was all about! I keep coming back looking for this kind of stuff - unfortunately there isn't enough of it to keep me satisfied. I definately will look into one of these! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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