THIS KIND of Sketch Pad is unfamiliar to me; it’s the virtual Corel Painter version, Sketch Pad 4, which was available as a free download when I registered my Intuos 4 wireless pen tablet. Having worked out how to pair the tablet with my computer via a Bluetooth connection, this is my first attempt to draw with it wirelessly.
Thanks to Bluetooth, I can now rest the tablet on my knees but relating the angle of my pen strokes to the angle that will appear on the screen is going to take a bit of practice.
Some users report being able to work as far as 50 feet from the computer, so I could take the tablet down the garden. It would be interesting to see whether the resulting drawing bore any resemblance to reality. It would be like the blind drawing exercise in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
This sketch of Netherton Hall, a little to the right of the pylon in my view across Coxley Valley was made using the tablet in Autobook Sketchbook Express. It shows how far I have to go until the techniques become second nature. Choosing colours from the various on-screen palettes and slider controls is an awkward process compared with mixing watercolours from the pocket box of Winsor and Newton’s that I use daily.
Hope you’re having fun with the new gadget. I have to say, I’m heartily tired of the digital art craze. I mean, I have no problem with others enjoying it, but I really love “hands-on” art with “real” art supplies. I guess I’m just burnt out on too many computerized things in my life! BUT, I’m still glad to see that you’re having fun. 🙂 I know you’ll get the hang of it!
Well you’ve got to try these things! I’m impressed that having spent hundreds of pounds I can get, for instance, an effect that exactly mimics children’s wax crayons – responding to the angle and pressure of the stylus – but then I realise that I could simply have used the wax crayons in the first place. Hopefully it will encourage me to try traditional media afresh.