Concepting on Intuos 4, *Frustated*

Artist_in_a_box

Hey guys.

I am planning out my next project at the moment when I saw D1vers Desert Conception video [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl5ocYJyLcY&feature=channel&list=UL"]Making of "The Desert": Conception and Ideation - YouTube[/ame]

(Awesome work btw, I know theres a post about it already on here already but incase you are blind or just cba to watch it all take my word for it, please do, you will not regret it)

Even though I have a good idea of what I want to do I figured I would do it properly and do some concepting as shown in the video. Boy is this a whole lot harder than I want it to be.

I am drawing using my intuos 4 and trying to create concepts and play with ideas like I would normally do on paper but it just turns into me fighting with the tablet to make it do what I want. Its more annoying because I can draw (loosely using the word) well enough for the sake of concepting ideas but this just makes the whole process a lot hard than it should be.

Should I stick with it and hope I get used to it or just give it up as a bad job and stick to concepting on paper and using photoshop to finish them up?

Also I have looked for tutorials on this but most of the ones I have found are from Cintiq users which is a different kettle of fish on its own.

Cheers

WarrenM

A tablet is just a tool, like anything else. If you're not good at using it, you need to spend more time and get the muscle memory built up and/or the eye/hand/screen coordination leveled up.

There's a chance that you just won't be able to use a tablet for drawing but I've found that's a fairly rare situation.

cw

yeah just practise - no shortcuts, sorry.

If it helps, this probably happens to everyone, and it's only sticking at it which will give you results.

Artist_in_a_box

I was hoping you wouldn't say that haha. I dont want to be a concept artist, I was only looking to use this as a way to speed up my workflow so spending ages working on this skill on its own would be a bit daft. Though ironically after I had written this I actually had a minor breakthrough, changed a few brush settings and made the sensitivity on my pen harder so now its not so much like drawing with felt tip. I am a sketcher to dark lines become muddy fast with me. Long way off being a useable skill but its a step forward at least. I reckon though I will probably just stick to doing paintovers once I have a blockout. lol cheers.

ikken

on a side note, you might want to switch your tablet into mouse mode (under pen-> mapping in wacom control panel)
it takes a lot of time to get used to the feel or working indirectly; remember that sketching traditionally and coloring/tweaking artwork later is a perfectly valid technique. use whatever you feel more confident with, not whatever is cool/and or hi-techy.
if you aren't friends with wacom right now, sketch on paper and scan stuff later. you'll certainly waste less time this way.

BlankM

I simply taped a piece of paper to my old graphire when I used it, felt perfectly natural to me.

pior

There is nothing wrong with using paper and later on coloring with the tablet. As a matter of fact, the absolute best concept artists I can think of all use paper. I am not talking about the ones "concepting from random cool shapes", but the ones actually using their mind's eye and projecting it on paper. People like Joe Mad, Grey Shuko, Bengal, and so on.

I would go as far as saying that if you stick to paper for say, a year, you would become much better at visualizing and concepting ideas than if you spent the same amount of time with a wacom

Something to consider too : concepting with a tablet is actually very different from paper. I personally find the tablet process easier when thinking in terms of "paint daubs".

Good luck!

throttlekitty

I just ran into this again this week, and ended up going for pen/paper so I could at least get my ideas down.
My biggest problem with using the tablet is that I'm used to linework with a pen, that doing looser concepts using larger and broader strokes feels awkward. needs more practice.

Clos3d

Because your pen is not in front of your eyes your linework is not 100% accurate. If you really want to go ahead and concept with wacom, you should try to draw with masses and shape instead of lines.

IDK, it might just be me but wacom feel more confortable painting than drawing some lines. You should give it a try.

gsokol

How long have you been using a tablet? Also, what size is it?

You get used to it. After using them for a few years it feels very natural to me. You just have to get over the odd coordination from drawing on one surface while looking at the other. Maybe try using your tablet as your mouse for a while...so whenever your browsing the internet or something...you can get more used to using it.

Also...for drawing in photoshop...rotating the canvas (if you have a version of PS that does that) can really help. I tend to keep my tablet stationary, but with pencil/paper I rotate the paper a lot. I still have a hard time drawing straight lines at certain angles, but rotating the tablet/canvas can help.

Artist_in_a_box

Wow guys, lots of messages lol.

I messed about with the settings ikken and have changed the mapping now cheers, I also whacked the sensitivity up a few notches so my lines are lighter so it feels more like sketching. My drawing style is somewhat messy (or at least thats my excuse and im sticking to it) so this feels a lot better for me, not as much stress to get the perfect line now.

I also think the idea of taping paper to the tablet is awesome, I havent tried it yet but I bet that will make it feel better and also save my tablet from getting scratched to hell by the nibs.

Also yea guys you are right I should focus on using paint more than relying on line art. I guess I dont because I have always sketched on paper so learning to 'paint' in psp would be a task in itself which would take a lot of practice to nail. It IS on my to do list but I've been having a year of terrible luck computer wise and desperately need to improve my portfolio fast lol. I am so jealous of the guys that can paint that way though, it really looks awesome.

Also gsokol I will give using the tablet in general a whirl, it may improve my muscle memory with the pen to screen motions. Also incidentally awesome work on the Glacier crash environment, I've been using the wip thread to help me get back into the 3D workflow as I've been away for a while.

Also its an A4 wired intuos 4 and ive had it nearly 2 years now though not used it nearly enough to justify spending so much on it......damn student loans. >.<

Anywhoo cheers for the messages, I will post some sketches up here if I get chance to do any, and if that fails Il link my devart page lol.

later

ikken

Artist_in_a_box wrote: »

I also think the idea of taping paper to the tablet is awesome, I havent tried it yet but I bet that will make it feel better and also save my tablet from getting scratched to hell by the nibs.

it's the other way around with intuos 4/5 - tablets surface eats away nibs like crazy until it eventually becomes smoother and more worn down.
paper might be a nice option, play around with it. (any material that is not metal will suffice, so you can try overlaying matte plastic/wood/thin cardboard and see where it goes)