First off, I apologize if there is already a thread on this topic. I am new to the forum and there may very well be a thread exactly the same as this. If so, lock it, delete it, do whatever you want, I sincerely apologize.
With that out of the way, I will get to the main point (which is pretty much evident from the title).
I recently starting drawing manga style, and I have only done work with a pencil so far. When I scan the image onto my computer, though, the colors come out very hard to see and it's kind of a pain in the neck to have to darken the lines in the drawing, let alone I don't have a new version of Photoshop to help me with that. I've been considering switching to tablet drawings. I already have a tablet (Bamboo,4x6) so I'd be set to go.
So, what do you think? Should I stick with the pencil and scanner, or go with the tablet?
Thanks for all responses, and once again I apologize if this has been done already.
You should stick with whatever you're comfortable with and settle for nothing more and nothing less than that.
That being said, traditional skills can help a lot when doing the leap to digital, and it's definitely a good idea to not simply drop traditional completely, because it's a skill worth having.
The only thing that digital offers more than traditional is a lot more convenience and options.
^Yes! Definitely do what's most comfortable for you.
Though, if the only thing you're really having trouble with is the coloring transition from the page to the computer, I'd recommend doing the lineart traditional and the coloring digitally. It's all up to you though
Originally Posted by Demonfyre
^Yes! Definitely do what's most comfortable for you.
Though, if the only thing you're really having trouble with is the coloring transition from the page to the computer, I'd recommend doing the lineart traditional and the coloring digitally. It's all up to you though
Yep, that's what I've been trying. I just outlined everything in pen and then scanned, and colored/shaded what I needed to in Gimp. This is probably what I'll end up doing, it seems like the best solution. The one problem is that if you mess up with the pen even once, it can mess up the drawing. Sikashi (hahahaha Japanese is fun), you could just erase that on the computer so I suppose it cancels itself out. I guess that's what I'll be doing! ^_^
I fuckin' suck at digital so bad I almost ragequit when I draw. But I just power through it and train my balls out so that one day I may actually become good.
I agree, it can be very frustrating. It's one of those things you just need to get used to. I used to be better with my tablet, back when I used to make flash animations. But I haven't done that in ages so I'm out of practice, and now when I draw with it, it ends up looking like I drew it with my eyes closed. I suppose it has it's ups and downs.
PROS:
-Convenience (no need for scanning, easier to erase mistakes, etc)
-Graphic Effects (that come with the program you're using to draw)
CONS:
-Takes some getting used to.
-Can be expensive.
Drawing on a tablet or drawingwith pen and paper uses exactly the same skillset. Digital is more powerful, and it allows you to work much faster than you can do traditionally. But you won't be able to draw better with a tablet than you are when you draw traditionally. So do as jj suggests and mix and match the two, everything you learn in one medium will benefit the other. I would recomend that you stay away from fancy ps magic and the like though because it really isn't as useful as you would think.
PS and the tools it offer can be useful, but that all depends on if you know what you're doing with it.
If you don't, either practice, or just stay away from it.
For years I'd just do pen and ink w/ screen tones sometimes & scan that into PS as line art. This is a cool method, but now that I have a tablet..I can see how useful it is to that same process. You could scan into your art program (PS, GIMP...WTF ever...) as line art & use the tablet to 'redo' your line art. In PS, I've discovered if I do that & import the line art into AI, I can do a live trace & make my lines smooth & vectored. Then back to PS for coloring or adding screens.
Maybe it seems tedious, but I just started doing this on a recent project & my stuff looks way cleaner than before.
By the way, PS effects are for noobs. Do all your shading & highlights yourself.
I both agree and disagree with that last statement.
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