tips for drawing with a mouse?

[daniela]

I have scanning a picture into the computer and then coloring it with a mouse in Paint Shop Pro down fine. Now I want to draw directly in PSP with my mouse. Are there any tips or tricks you can give me? I would appreciate some links for tutorials if you have any.

I know a lot of you are probably going to tell me to go out and buy a wacom, and I have plans to do so in a few months. I want to draw with my mouse in the meantime.

[Kortez]

Originally posted by daniela
I know a lot of you are probably going to tell me to go out and buy a wacom, and I have plans to do so in a few months. I want to draw with my mouse in the meantime.

well... spot on :rolleyes:

[Elwell]

You can practice by learning to draw with a bar of soap.

[daniela]

Thanks for the tip Elwell. I read that on a website somewhere a few weeks ago. I have even gone so far as to stick a pencil lead about where the mouse ball would be. It helped some, but I still have trouble getting used to the drawing appearing on the computer screen instead of underneath my hand. Another question that I thought of to pose to everyone is: what kind of mouse is better for drawing on the computer? I was thinking of going optical until I got my wacom since they don't cost very much.

[jwo]

i cant give you any tips, but i did use a mouse for drawing for years, and it sucked hours of my life and time away. once you go wacom or any tablet, your life will be changed and you will never go back....unless your a complete sadist. :chug:

[egerie]

OR you can try and do some vector art, try comic book colouring with the lasso, do pixel art, be very patient.

Having a tablet usually means that it speeds things up. And THAT'S IT.

post your work ! :)

[Signature]

Exactly POST YOUR WORK.

I can't get used to the tablet.
But I don't try to draw with the mouse.
Better learn a more painterly approach.
If you still want to create lineart then make sure the resolution is high enough.

Any tutorial will do.
The one more or less important thing that a mouse doesn't have is pressure sensitivity.

These tutorials show a pretty good approach IMO:
http://www.robertocampus.com/n_tutorial_digital_portrait.shtml?type=tutorialdp
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/arth/artisticprocess/process_01.htm

And this is a good way to practice:
http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/tut_learn.php

[daniela]

Signiture: Thanks for the links!
egerie: Thanks for the tips!
jwo: I know drawing with a mouse takes a long time, but I'll just have to cope until I can afford a wacom.

As for posting my work, there is no way I would subject anyone on this site to the awfulness that is my digital pieces. I will hopefully be posting something soon, maybe in the LIFE DRAWING, LEARNING, TECHNIQUES, & TUTORIALS section. It's just hard to get the confidence to post my stuff when I come on everyday and see such awesome stuff from other members. Still, if I want to improve I need to post and get REAL opinions of my work from strangers, not just from family members who think I am an art goddess:p. In the next few days look for some of my studies from Figure Drawing for All Its Worth by Andrew Loomis. I am not promising greatness, but I do promise that some effort was put into them.