How long did it take you to adapt to tablets?

[PokketMowse]

I've tried. Lawd knows I've tried, but my poor Graphire sits gathering dust as I reach for the pencil and paper every time. I know I need to just sit down and practice, but it's still so alien to me to try and make the move to digital. And while I know I don't necessarily HAVE to try digital, I'm at some weird phase where I really want to experiment with it, but am frustrated by the lack of control and clickclickclickclickclicktochangetoolsandbrushescl ickclick...

So...how long did it take you to acclimate to using tablets and digital media? Does it become second nature after a while? Any thoughts?

[Infinit]

It's not about adapting to the tablet (that happened in an instant)
it's about adapting to the painting program
PS Painter open canvas whatever
all of them need a certain ammount of time for you to learn

tutorials helped me a whole lot
http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/index.htm check the "how I work" and the "art tutorial" on this page
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=42 there are a lot of good tuts here

in the end it took me about a year to figure out that the best way to paint digi for me was to paint with the same techniques I used traditionally O_o"

[Mitze]

When i got my tablet tried it for a week and hated it and went back to pencils. About two or three months later bought a scanner and scanned the pencil pics in and found the tablet wasn't that bad if i had a drawing under neat. Two years later i am ok with the tablet but i still go straight for the pencil first.

[mordecaidesign]

2 days. The first day I learned how to move the wacom pen around on the 4x6 graphire I have, and on the next day I learned how to change my brush settings in photoshop so that I could work easier with the wacom tablet. But I'm a web designer so I was already working digitaly.

If you're click click clicking with the tip of the pen then you're not using your brush settings correctly. You can also get alot out of using the hotkeys on your keyboard. That makes things much faster and fluid.

I'm using a 4x6 graphire currently and I'm ready to move to an intuous. I've talked to alot of guys/girls on other forums and only about 1 in 10 people hates their graphire. Most people have made the move to intuous and will attest that it's really the size of the tablet that makes the biggest difference. Another matte painter that lives in my city created a matte for one of this year's summer blockbusters. He uses the 6x11 and likes it more than his 9x12 because "it's easier to carry around" and is big enough that you can make broad strokes, resting your elbow on your chair and not have to fight with the tablet. Most matte painters have said that they didn't even know or never use the tilt function on their intuous but most concept artists I've talked to said that they can't live without it. But what everone says is it's learning how to use the brushes in your program that's most important.

Try out M@.'s brush set and then make your own. Making your own brushes while you paint is really fun and gives you more insight and new methods.

[dose]

Something that helps a lot- tape a piece of good drawing paper with some tooth over the active part of the tablet. I was always frustrated with the slick surface of the tablet with that plastic nib until I did this.

I'm still faster & more accurate at drawing with pencil & paper- not sure that will ever change. But putting the paper on made all the difference for painting & coloring.

[llothcat]

<~~still adapting

5 yrs and counting

[KassurinReiChan]

Strangely enough, I adapted immediately. o.o Probably because of my pixeling fun that I used to do before I got it. X3 Got used to watching the screen instead of my hand while drawing, I suppose.

[Idiot Apathy]

about a week.
Try a sheet of paper over it perhaps, I liked that less though :P

[MrBobMarley]

Had mine since oct 05 and still not too comfy with it. A cintiq or tablet pc may be in my far away future. I do prefer mine with paper over it for the control but it wears the nibs down way too fast.

[Randis]

i still can't paint with a tablet as well as on paper and i do it for a while already...

[Darktwin]

I'm very much comfortable with paper and pencil, and am trying to make that adjustment to the tablet. Not to really replace the paper, but to get better at digital painting. Right now its a tough grind, but I know I'll improve as long as I stick with it. Just have to keep at, Never give up, Never surrender!!!

[Inkjexion]

interesting, im still stuck on the paper and pencil but i also wanna try digital. Thats why im saving up for a tablet. I just dont have any idea how long it'll take me to be comfortable enough to draw in a speedy way. oh well we'll see.

I think Infinit has point though that it is the software program that takes a while for a person to get comfortable with. They just have too many options and concepts to consider i guess. =/

[BANNED_For_POOPY_PANTS]

I've rarely ever used traditional brushes.. only pencils.. so getting used to the Wacom pen and tablet weren't that big of a deal. That said, it takes a while to get Painter and PS down, as well as understanding the properties of each medium and how they work with each other -- especially on a digital canvas.

One thing though.. is it just me or is that button on the Wacom pen a pain in the ass?!

[StarrTheInsane]

I'm tainted by Wacom. I prefer my tablet to anything now. I find myself running into things with paint or pencil that a few years ago I wouldn't have had trouble with. The problem now is that I've adapted so well to the tablet and software I'm using, that I sometimes forget how the real world works. I'm a smudge tool fiend. I've been using the tablet since December '05. I used to have trouble with the right-click/double-click thing, but stopped trying to use the stylus for that because my mouse works perfectly fine. I agree with the others that have said the program being used is the hardest thing to adapt to.

[Flake]

I still can't draw with the thing. Painting and colouring, well, it's easier than a mouse but for drawing I'll take a pencil and scanner any time.

[Yuki H.]

I got used to mine the second I brought it home, but at the same time, I'm getting used to how it feels. (if that makes sense) As in doing swift strokes (I can't do that in pen either, but my strokes look a bit shabby when I try it with the tabby)
Not everybody likes the tablet, so it's okay if you prefer mouse/pencil+paper..
I like pencil+paper!