I just got a Tablet (and that's kind of a bad thing)

[Bardic-Dragoon]

Please Note: this is not a thread asking for help in using a tablet, this is not to say I am averse to said advice, especially if anyone can tell me how to constrain input to one monitor in a multi-monitor set up (i have two side by side widescreen monitors, one of which is also my TV). I just wanted to say this to avoid people linking me to the no doubt countless threads on here asking for advice on using a tablet.

So, i just got an interesting and kind of awesome gift. Which is to say someone got me a a Tablet as a gift. I am all at once excited/overjoyed and somewhat, well worried is the best word i can come up with for my mood. you see, the thing is i haven't drawn in ages. This is not really a problem in and of itself, more so the why of that is; long story short drawing tends to stress me out, sometimes to the point of rage, and though it would be a fallacy to say I don't enjoy drawing that enjoyment is outweighed if not drowned by the aforementioned stress.

This has not really been a problem as though i have never really found a solution, ignoring it and not drawing hasn't done me wrong outside the occasional bout of feeling down that i don't draw and/or how useful (though not wholly essential) a skill it can be for many of my ideas and ambitions. but now i have this fancy piece of tech sitting on my desk (upon which space is at a premium) and though i have been using it in my general web browsing (love the handwriting recognition if only because it actually can read what i write, most of the time) but really a tablet is a tool arguably built for one primary/sole purpose, well maybe more a broad range of purposes with a common theme...

now than let me clarify that this is not a purely "OMG I HAVE THIS FANCY GIFT I HAVE TO USE IT" nor are the gift givers in question staring over my shoulder bothering me to use it. I have in general wanted to get back into drawing for a while; as i said i do enjoy it and it is useful for many of my ambitions and ideas. thing is i'm sort of in a 'once bitten twi...OH DEAR GOD I MUST GO HIDE IN THE CORNER OR IT WILL CONSUME MY SOUL" state, and the lack of drawing over the last 4-7 years (note: this is not an 'i have not drawn at all' situation, but if i get 5+ sketches/doodles out in the span a year it's just short of a miracle) has probably not helped matters.

So anyways, it may be an odd (it sounds odd to me) situation, but i'm (obviously) looking for help on this and would appreciate it if i got some.

[GunZet]

You don't necessarily have to use it for drawing, and I know you want to, but it seems like you're forcing it. What it is, is a tool, and functions like a digital piece of paper with the option to do more than just write things down, which you explained when you said you were using it for your general browsing.

It's best you just continue what you've been doing, and maybe doodling with it every once in a while to get yourself warmed up. If you haven't been drawing for as long as you say, chances are that having this tablet won't magically regenerate your will to increase frequency of drawing.

Earlier this year in September, I bought a brand spanking new Wacom Intuos4, knowing I was in the middle of a massive art block, but I was so happy to have it, thinking it would make me draw. NOPE. I got back home, installed it, plugged it in, doodled for a minute or two, and put it back in it's box where it stayed off and on for the next 8 months. I've only just now started using it again, after using my old Bamboo Pen for so long.

So take your time, and just chill.

[Rubisko]

As for the technical advice you ask for with the multi-monitor setup, if you have a wacom do something like this (if it's not a wacom it may still be something similar to this, but not necessarily): Plug in your tablet, and then open the properties screen for it, this function was probably installed alongside the drivers for the tablet, so try to search for it in the place you usually install things if you can't find it. On my intuos I click the tab "mapping" and there I get the options for input and output. If the interface is somewhat user friendly you should be able to find the settings you want from here

And then what Gunz said; you've been talking about this many times before, and as before I think you're more concerned about the results than the creative process. I think it's fair to say that we're all terrified when and if we have a commission to do and a blank canvas in front of us, but you don't need to feel that stress when you're doing personal stuff. Just draw whatever you like however you like, and you don't even have to show it to anyone. But if you do it may turn out that they like your art anyway, just because it is your art with your personal touch.

So I hope you have fun with your tablet, and if not that you just have fun doing something else

[Bardic-Dragoon]

Rubisko:

My Tablet isn't a Wacom (it's an Adesso) and sadly the more general take on your advice hasn't turned up much in results. the closest thing i can find to the properties screen your talking about is this program called MacroKey Manager (which from a little internet research is not proprietary to Adesso it would seem) which just lets me adjust basic settings (what the buttons on the side of the pen do, and click pressure) as well as bind and set up some hotkeys the tablet has on it. if it did install another one i can't find it in the usual areas (program files/) so if you have any other ideas i'm all ears.

as for the later half of your post well...

as before I think you're more concerned about the results than the creative process.

this right here, I've had people tell me this (well obviously as you seem to insinuate that you've stated this before, though i can't say your name rings a bell though it could have been on the old forum and my spotty memory is at work here) but to the best of my memory/knowledge never explained or expanded on it, at least until what you just said. And though i understand what you're getting at (well i'm at least 90% sure i do), i'm not sure i get it, or perhaps more accurately it leaves me with some unanswered questions. most prominently; so I don't need to feel that stress when i do something for myself, fact of things is i do. I have my own theories (a major has to do with the fact i don't actually doodle) but really those theories have turned up nothing that has been of any aid or just general use.

[Rubisko]

I'm very sorry, but I don't know anything about Adesso, I tried to google on the settings I had in mind but couldn't find anything.

So what do you want to accomplish with your art? If you feel stress there's a high chance that you fear to fail. But really, what's the worst that can happen. Find out what your sword of Damocles really is, and you are very likely to find that it's nothing bad at all. That's what I do whenever I feel stress over something (although I've never thought about Damocles before, an unexpected stroke of poetic genius no doubt :P)
I did it last week when I couldn't sleep because I hadn't finished a report for school, but had to sleep because I had a presentation to do early next morning. So I analyzed it and realized that it wasn't worth worrying about the report as I could just write it next year, but I only had one shot at the presentation. And so i was able to sleep and since then I've lived happily ever after

[toast]

Just wanted to add that my first tablet was an adesso tablet, and it's cool to see I'm not the only one in the world who's owned an adesso product. Lol