Buyers Remorse
Now that I’ve gone traditional, using my Cintiq is a drag. The 1/4″ of offset between the stylus and my cursor paired with a fair amount of lag makes for a frustrating drawing experience.
I’m glad I started digitally. It afforded me the luxury of mistake making and experimentation. As my control of lines has gotten better, though, I make less mistakes and have started to want more accuracy out of my tools. In other words, my capabilities are not the problem now – it’s the tablet that is slow and inaccurate comparatively.
Case in point, a cheapie, #6, sable-round on cardboard gives me more control than a $2000 Cintiq and three $60 styluses (paired with $5400 worth of a MacPro, extra hard drives, and a 24″ secondary display).
That setup is beaten by a $5 brush. Deeeeepressing.
Aug 16th, 2009 #
I’m in the process of learning some computer stuff and thought at first that I was enjoying it because I was older…then I we hired a younger person at work who is primarily a computer artist. At first he was lost with the pencil and very clumsy with a brush. After a year he was decent at both. He was laid off about six months ago. Anyway, I had coffee with him recently and asked if was getting any work, assuming that his skilled as a graphics guy would get him some work, he told me he found it impossible to artwork on a computer, he just enjoyed the brush in his hand. I dunno, but it made me feel better that I don’t enjoy working on a computer as much as I do with even a simple cheap brush or brush pen.
Aug 16th, 2009 #
I sketch with ballpoints most of the time. Cheap, simple, portable.
I “learned” digitally. I had stopped drawing for ten-twelve years before getting a tablet at work about four years back.
A graphics tablet rekindled my interest in art, so I am in no way a technology averse luddite. I am disappointed with the current fidelity of digital art tools, though. Nothing comes close to the real thing – for now at least.
Aug 17th, 2009 #
I’m still using my Cintiq for most of my contract work, and traditional media for stuff I care about.
The extra speed the Cintiq gives me is worth the decrease in accuracy.
Aug 17th, 2009 #
I love drawing with a brush and ink and the ability to get messy sometimes. Occasionally draw digitally when I need to do something very clean and don’t want to have to deal with the scanner. But a good bristol board, brush and ink are always a win. Coloring though I like doing that digitally. more room for experimentation without having to destroy your line art.
Aug 19th, 2009 #
I have been sating this for a long time now, nothing will replace your hand and a canvas/paper. nothing. when they ask me what tablet to buy- i tell them to buy a pen and a paper and a scanner now.
Aug 20th, 2009 #
Same. And when people ask me my brush settings, I say, “Hairy and wet. With ink.”
Aug 25th, 2009 #
i have talked to a few designers out there who own a cintiq and the good ol intuos is still what they use. was going to purchase a cintiq..i think that i will do likewise..stick with my intuos…as far as the person that said “the extra speed the cintiq gives me is worth the decrease in accuracy” all i have to say is why would you want to sacrifice the quality of your work for speed?
Aug 26th, 2009 #
I have a Intous 3 frakkin’ huge tablet (it’s like 17″ by 10″) that I got instead of a smallish Cintiq. Never regretted it. Never looked back. I can look at the monitor and draw w/o looking down, saves my neck and shoulder muscles; the large surface size allows me to throw lines with my entire arm and shoulder. Love it.
Aug 29th, 2009 #
me too mike, i got the biggest the have on the market.. i do believe however that it is a little too big. was going to say screw it and get the int. four but one size smaller, i changed my mind. i might need to make a real big “swoosh” or something and might need the bigger tablet to do that. my next purchase will be a smaller one though.
Oct 20th, 2009 #
Hey Man, did you make your own brushes for photoshop? I seem to have such a hard time finding a nice brush, and your lines look so nice, it’s frustrating finding something you like.
R
Oct 28th, 2009 #
I just used a hard round set to pressure sensitivity. Nothing fancy.
I do tend to turn my Wacom driver’s pressure setting to very firm for Photoshop, though. It seems to blow out to full pressure more readily than other apps.
Aug 24th, 2010 #
[...] and a two dollar bottle of ink was more accurate than my $5400 worth of MacPro and $2000 Cintiq. (http://frenden.com/buyers-remorse/) I was making prettier lines traditionally in a week. I felt good about my progress when Michael [...]
Sep 20th, 2010 #
[...] and a two dollar bottle of ink was more accurate than my $5400 worth of MacPro and $2000 Cintiq. (http://frenden.com/buyers-remorse/) I was making prettier lines traditionally in a week. I felt good about my progress when Michael [...]
Jan 6th, 2012 #
Yup, yup. Depressing. Still trying to go the other way, here, since I’ve had a brush in my hand since I was a kid, but man…
“the extra speed the cintiq gives me is worth the decrease in accuracy”
I’m just the opposite. The brush is fast, and accurate. Another artist turned me on to inking with scripties and that’s even faster with fewer trips back to the ink bottle. Years ago I tried making an Alfredo Alcala style “fountain brush” to go even faster, but I lacked the mechanical skills to make it work (and the pen shaft had terrible balance).
On the other hand, computer software lags and forces me to slow to a creep. It takes away my ability to do long, clean, sweeping lines, and even the confidence in my ability to put such a line where I want it.
Still, I am trying to transition. Trying to overcome these problems, because digital tools do offer abilities that analog can’t beat (compare using process white to create white-on-black effects to working with virtual white ink, fi).