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HiddenxWolf — Tablet doesn't mean skillz
Published: 2011-11-23 04:07:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 5653; Favourites: 284; Downloads: 24
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Post made by *KrisCynical
Why are so many younger deviants so vehemently against the idea of using a tablet for digital art? Are they trying to justify not progressing in tool use, or what? There's no point in being proud of which tool you use no matter what it is, really, but there's even less of a point in being proud of NOT using a tablet. You mind as well be proud of drawing with a potato instead of a pencil. Just because you're comfortable with something doesn't mean it's the best tool to use. Yes, it takes a lot of practice, but you're doing art. What else is new.
As a precursor, I'm a professional digital illustrator and I also teach drawing and digital coloring to high school kids, and that is where I'm coming from in the rest of this comment. I'm not attempting to convert anybody, but rather explain WHY tablets are important to digital media.
The message in your stamp is absolutely correct. Simply owning/using a tablet doesn't mean you're automatically going to be Super Artist, but if you want to get your work past a certain skill level, you NEED to use a tablet (and practice with it a lot in order to master it just like any tool or medium) and there is no way around that fact. It's the nature of the medium. You cannot draw as well with a mouse or touch pad as you can with a tablet. As I've said on other deviations like this concerning tablets, it's like cheap paint vs. expensive paint. Let me explain what I mean:
In all art supplies there's the cheap stuff and the expensive stuff (duh). Cheap paint is cheap because it's full of tons of fillers with very little pigment, so it goes on thin and the colors don't look all that great. Expensive paint, on the other hand, has tons of pigment in it with very little filler, so it goes on thick with vibrant color. If the same artist uses both kinds of paint, they will never be able to get the cheap paint to look like the expensive paint because of those differences. The same principle applies to Crayola markers vs. Copics (the ink behaves in an entirely different way), Roseart/Crayola colored pencils vs. Prismacolors (the cheap ones have lots of wax and very little pigment, Prismas are the other way around), and cheap brushes with plastic bristles vs. expensive brushes that are made of different types of animal hair according to which kind of paint you're using them for. Basically:
Certain tools and supplies have limitations to them that cannot be surpassed no matter how skilled of an artist you are. Touch pads and handheld mice are the cheap digital tools that have very specific limitations to them, and those limitations will not let you create your best work. Touch pads and handheld mice have no pressure sensitivity, which means you have absolutely no variation in line width. They're also severely limited in fluidity when drawing, so your work will always have a certain stiffness to it. Because of that, it's always extremely easy for experienced digital artists to tell when something was made with a touch pad or mouse.
Now, again, a tablet by itself won't make you a better artist, but if you want your work to improve past a certain point in skill then you MUST use a tablet. Using a mouse or touch pad doesn't mean you CAN'T draw on the computer, but you will be working under a handicap in capabilities. You will never be able to draw as well as someone who is skilled/has practiced a lot in using a tablet. It's not physically possible. My work, for example, could never in a million years be accomplished with a mouse or touch pad. That's not to diss touch pads and mice, that's just the way it is when it comes to digital art.
So you may not be meaning it this way at all, but with what I'm getting out of your artist comments, don't automatically ignore tablets just because you're stuck in your comfort zone with a touch pad or mouse. A beginner's DigiTech tablet is $30 brand new. If you have any interest in getting better at digital art, you will eventually need to get one.
- LEMME GO BUY THIS TABLET!! I'LL BE A GREAT ARTIST THEN!!
-buys-
- I CANT WAIT!!
-later on at home-
- OMGOMGOMG!!! ITS INSTALLING!!!
OMG ITS DONE! SHITZ GOIN DOWN!!
-few minutes later-
- Wtf is this... WHY I NO GREAT DRAWER YET!!
- Practice bro~ You need it.
- wut...
- Practice~
- .....
- U mad?
- FUUUUUUUUU
-
Practice makes perfect, right~
I use only my touchpad on my laptop to draw. I mean look at my art, it's not perfect but just because you don't have a tablet doesn't mean you can't draw on the computer.
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Comments: 140
This. This is awesome. This.
I totally agree with you. A lot of people expect to have their ass kissed because they use a tablet. I think they do that because not many people in Junior Highs and High schools don't normally do digital artwork, so they expect to get all popular.
I like this stamp.
Keep this stamp.
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I use the mousepad too ;_;
Probably will be another few years until I'll get a tablet, if I even wind up getting one. Art isn't my 100% priority.
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I just got a tablet, but I still prefer traditional artwork. :3
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I want a tablet to help practice my art...Mouse sucks for digital art. Like, seriously. (._.)
I'm not a pro with tablets yet, but that's what practicing is for.
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I would like a tablet, since I'm better with a pencil than a mouse
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Oh! At first I saw this and thought "why are they against tablets?" *reads this* OHHHHHhhhhhhhhh! I get it! *insta-fave*
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agreed a tablet does make digital drawing easier but it does not increase your art skills
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I started skimming the description on this stamp and thought "Wow, this sounds just like something I'd say", then I saw the reference to me up at the top there. Hurr.
I'm flattered that you liked my yammering on the subject enough to use it that way! I have this stamp posted in my shout box. ^^
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Thank you!
I have a tablet because I want to do digital art and I felt that having something that at least somewhat resembles a pencil and paper might make my life easier than using a mouse or whatever.
I prefer to draw with pencils and paper and I can actually draw quite well. I know I will not be a fabulous drawer right off the bat with a tablet, and truth be told my first attempts with it are all rubbish compared to my usual standards. But I am improving and slowly learning.
I just hate it when people assume that having a tablet will give them super-drawing-powers or something. Its not that easy! It takes effort and practice and you have to have some sort of skill in drawing to begin with if you want to produce something half-way decent on your first go!
My sister borrowed my tablet once and she took to it like a fish to water. Jealousy ensues.
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I suck at traditional art.
I am just really bad at it, even though, yes, I do practice. I was doing purely traditional art for years.
The only traditional art I'm good at is pen drawings and pencil sketches.
So I went digital, and it was just so much easier and better. But I still wasn't that good because I could never get the same level of control that I can with a pencil or pen with a mouse and a touch pad.
So tablet.
And it was awesome.
I'm not saying it made me an amazing artist because I'm not. It just provided me with a way to draw easier on the comp, gave me better control in the medium I'm best at using.
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Some artists are just better suited for some mediums than others, yep. I'm the same way: I don't care for traditional media save for graphite and my trusty little mechanical pencil with blue lead. My media of choice for coloring/finishing out my illustration work is digital (Photoshop and Illustrator in my case) because I am a digital artist all the way down to my core.
When I was in school for my illustration degree I had to take a required class called "Illustration Media" which was basically a class that covered traditional media techniques of all kinds like oil pastel, scratch board, pen & ink, watercolor, dry brushing, etc. I was "eh" in that class, hanging around the middle as far as skill went. I wasn't amazing, but I wasn't terrible. When I got to the required "Digital Illustration" class, though? OHMYGERD. Duck to water on a jet ski.
I had the same prof for both classes and he noticed that as well. He once told me that he'd observed how I was "middle of the road meh" in Media but now that he was teaching me in Digital he understood why -- I was a digital artist. I still needed to take that Media class, though, in order to expand my boundaries and learn things that I later applied to digital media. You really have to master pencil and paper before moving on to digital, and it's a shame that so many kids don't realize that fact.
So long story short, I'm in the same boat as you. Some of us are just better suited for one media over another, and they're all just different but equal tools in the ArtBin to choose from.
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I've been using a mouse for the last two years, and I personally love it. You can do things you wouldn't believe with just a mouse. The only thing I'd ever want a tablet for is pen pressure that doesn't look jumpy like it does with my fake pen-pressure brushes.
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I use a tablet, and I got used to it a week later. :T
I never liked using the mouse for hand-drawing stuff.
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agreed i tried to use it well similar thing 
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I know that because I use a tablet and my "art" is terrible.
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i feel like it is definitely easier, but it wont make you a better artist xD
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I learned this the hard way
Now I'm doing more traditional art and it's not perfect but it feels (and looks) so much better :3
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I have a tablet, I usually use it more for careful editing and clean up than I do for actual drawing. I'm too inexperienced with digital artwork to upload anything drawn with it yet.
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I have a tablet, and i can draw. o.O
But i still suck. ;;
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I had to learn this the hard way when I got my Bamboo Fun tablet. I only got it so I can draw smoother lines in my digital art.
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Trust me, having a tablet means you need a very steady hand as you would when using a mouse. I have a tablet, but I usually only use it for sketches and other details. My hands are too shaky most of the time.
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If you adjust the pressure sensitivity to as firm as it will allow, it makes it much easier to sketch with because it behaves a lot more like a pencil. I'm a professional and I can't draw a flat out curve or line in one stroke without it being wobbly. It's why I use Adobe Illustrator for my final line work. : P
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Tried a tablet, but I sucked at using it. I still can do good art, so I know that every artist have a own way to do art, it doesn't matter what tool you use, just what works better for you.
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I'd personally rather use a tablet than rely on my touchpad...I'm terrible with my touchpad and (when I used it) mouse, though I suppose being a lefty doesn't help much with that xD I think one of the hardest things for me to get used to off the bat would be resisting the urge to look down and see if I'm messing up; almost every other problem would be after that, though I could be wrong...
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No-ho-ho, it doesn't!
If anything it makes it harder!
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Before I did have a tablet I draw on MSpaint using only straight lines. Ok the character was a bit polygonal but they weren't horrible
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Its true that you can create awesome gloried art in MS paint with a mouse, but patience and experience is needed, which many lack.
When I got a tablet it inspired me to get into digital art, regardless of my abilities.
Of course, if you can't draw well on paper, you can forget about a tablet.
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That's not entirely true, I mean, I couldn't draw at all on paper because I don't have the tools I have on the computer. Such as undo, rotating, moving stuff. Basically, I can only draw through cheating. 
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Well, that it very interesting. I figured it would be naturally easy for everyone to draw on paper since we first learn to write on it and start any artistic desires in relation to paper.
Thanks for telling me, I don't want to jump to conclusions.
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I seem to be some sort of anomaly. I've never met anyone like me in the fact that I started out digitally, and didn't have years of drawing on paper beforehand. I mean, I doodled every so often, but it was like once every few months, and I'd not been drawing consistently at all by the time I learned on the computer. Sooooo, it could just be me.
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Oh I see, that makes sense then. Since you started drawing on the computer, you are more likely to be the most comfortable with it.
My brother started drawing on the computer, but he doesn't like drawing..
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I don't want a tablet so I can draw better, it's just I don't know how to scan. I mean it's not like I can draw all that well I mean I have trouble w/ everything! But I figure if I get a tablet I can at least try to get good at art of course it will take practice.
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I agree I use to use a mouse and I drew really good I see no difference when I draw with mouse and when I draw with tablet my art looks exactly the same
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Although I'm not an artist I can agree with this, a tablet is just a tool (to a degree), it all depends on how you use it. It's just like people who buy photoshop, illustrator, or some other "professional" image editing/art software and they think it will automatically make them a great digital artist with little to no effort on their part. Like KrisCynical said, yes you need certain tools if you want to advance to being a truly professional artist, but it's still a tool to help you get there, it doesn't automatically make you a great digital or traditional artist. On the other hand, I've seen great art pieces done with open-source and inexpensive art/image editing software (like GIMP, Paint Tool SAI, Blender [for 3d art], etc. I've seen too many people who diss good artwork just because it was made in a cheap or free program ) It all just depends what you want to do as an artist, if it's a hobby you don't take super seriously, then expensive software (for digital art) or expensive traditional mediums is overkill, if you take art seriously and/or want to make a career out of it, than yes the expensive tools will help you progress. Sorry for the slightly rant-ish comment.
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I can vouch for this stamp. I got a tablet. I suck at using it. But I still love it. And one day... Far off.... I will not suck at using it.
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I thought drawing with a pencil is like drawing with a tablet.
Is it? Sorry to ask. (the description is too long to read, I'm lazy)
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I've only used a tablet once and it seemed to be like that. But it takes awhile to learn and adjust to, especially if you're to it.
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Ahh... I was just wondering.
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Why are so many younger deviants so vehemently against the idea of using a tablet for digital art? Are they trying to justify not progressing in tool use, or what? There's no point in being proud of which tool you use no matter what it is, really, but there's even less of a point in being proud of NOT using a tablet. You mind as well be proud of drawing with a potato instead of a pencil. Just because you're comfortable with something doesn't mean it's the best tool to use. Yes, it takes a lot of practice, but you're doing art. What else is new.
As a precursor, I'm a professional digital illustrator and I also teach drawing and digital coloring to high school kids, and that is where I'm coming from in the rest of this comment. I'm not attempting to convert anybody, but rather explain WHY tablets are important to digital media.
The message in your stamp is absolutely correct. Simply owning/using a tablet doesn't mean you're automatically going to be Super Artist, but if you want to get your work past a certain skill level, you NEED to use a tablet (and practice with it a lot in order to master it just like any tool or medium) and there is no way around that fact. It's the nature of the medium. You cannot draw as well with a mouse or touch pad as you can with a tablet. As I've said on other deviations like this concerning tablets, it's like cheap paint vs. expensive paint. Let me explain what I mean:
In all art supplies there's the cheap stuff and the expensive stuff (duh). Cheap paint is cheap because it's full of tons of fillers with very little pigment, so it goes on thin and the colors don't look all that great. Expensive paint, on the other hand, has tons of pigment in it with very little filler, so it goes on thick with vibrant color. If the same artist uses both kinds of paint, they will never be able to get the cheap paint to look like the expensive paint because of those differences. The same principle applies to Crayola markers vs. Copics (the ink behaves in an entirely different way), Roseart/Crayola colored pencils vs. Prismacolors (the cheap ones have lots of wax and very little pigment, Prismas are the other way around), and cheap brushes with plastic bristles vs. expensive brushes that are made of different types of animal hair according to which kind of paint you're using them for. Basically:
Certain tools and supplies have limitations to them that cannot be surpassed no matter how skilled of an artist you are. Touch pads and handheld mice are the cheap digital tools that have very specific limitations to them, and those limitations will not let you create your best work. Touch pads and handheld mice have no pressure sensitivity, which means you have absolutely no variation in line width. They're also severely limited in fluidity when drawing, so your work will always have a certain stiffness to it. Because of that, it's always extremely easy for experienced digital artists to tell when something was made with a touch pad or mouse.
Now, again, a tablet by itself won't make you a better artist, but if you want your work to improve past a certain point in skill then you MUST use a tablet. Using a mouse or touch pad doesn't mean you CAN'T draw on the computer, but you will be working under a handicap in capabilities. You will never be able to draw as well as someone who is skilled/has practiced a lot in using a tablet. It's not physically possible. My work, for example, could never in a million years be accomplished with a mouse or touch pad. That's not to diss touch pads and mice, that's just the way it is when it comes to digital art.
So you may not be meaning it this way at all, but with what I'm getting out of your artist comments, don't automatically ignore tablets just because you're stuck in your comfort zone with a touch pad or mouse. A beginner's DigiTech tablet is $30 brand new. If you have any interest in getting better at digital art, you will eventually need to get one.
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I was just trying to point out in the artist comments (with satire ) that alot of new/inexperienced artists. ( I even consider myself as such ) Alot of them go out and buy a tablet and expect to be the next Pablo Picasso of the internet without practice. You'll need lots of practice, especially on a tablet if you want to get any better and possibly make a career out of your art. It's very noticeable when a mouse/touch pad users art, if professional or not, is compared to someone else's that uses a tablet.
I'm not dissing tablet users at all. I'm just dissing the naive artists who, like I said earlier go out and buy something they think will immensely help them without practice. I'd love to get a tablet myself right now but it's not a necessity and we don't have money to spare. Plus I'm trying to find a job myself. In your comment you gave out lots of good points.
Would you mind if I reposted it in the artists comments? So that it doesn't get buried by the other comments in time.
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Sure, I don't mind at all.
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Listen for all the people who are debating over mouse vs tablet DOES IT MATTER!!!! what do you want to do in the end and right now your saying " I wanna draw , paint , edit" what ever you do.... Its not the medium ( The stick thingy
you used to draw with in art class and as a kid) Its the artist who uses it I use mouse and i'm about to use a tablet for the first time but i'll always remember i use mouse. Your Medium is Your choice NO one else's REMEMBER THAT. we are artist Not 2 hyper active squirrels fight in mid-air doing kung fu moves and using swords.
0-o Did i just say that?
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Yes, yes you did just say that xD I completely agree.
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It took me longer to learn to draw on a tablet then it took me with a mouse.
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*buys tablet*
*poof* instantly great artist
yeah... right .... :l
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