Saturday, January 15, 2011

Wacom wipeout

Okay. So. For Christmas, Gordon gave me a really lovely Wacom tablet. However, the learning curve is steeper than I anticipated.

Here's a picture I drew with coloured pencils, for the children's book Katie of the Sonoran Desert
(feel free to buy yourself a copy --see details on sidebar of blog-- since it ain't making me rich yet! I need more sales so I can earn more royalties, as thus far I have earned about five cents an hour for my work. However, it has won two awards!)

This happens to be my favourite illustration in the book. Took me about 40 hours to do it, and I think it turned out rather well. Katie is a Western Diamondback rattlesnake who lives in the Sonoran Desert.

Anyhoo! Tonight I decided to start learning how to use my Wacom drawing tablet. For those not in the know, it's a tablet with a pressure sensitive pen that you hook up to your computer. With practice, you should be able to do draw as well with the tablet as you can with an actual pencil. 

As you can see from the following impromptu portrait of my hen, Chicky, I have a long way to go...


 



A long, long, LONG way....

Reeeeeally long.


7 comments:

  1. Oh that reminds me of way back when I was about 12 - I was always drawing, so my parents thought it would be fun to buy me Mariopaint for the Super Nintendo.... while it was fun, I still spent much more time with my pencils.

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  2. Anonymous11:27 pm

    I love the gorgeous detail and blend of color. You are one talented artist, Natalie. I wish I had your talent but the next best thing is enjoying it. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Umm,

    I had my Wacom back in the day. I sincerely doubt it's any better now than it was back then.

    I just use Illustrator, or if I want funky effects, I just use real Prismacolor pencils.

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  4. I love Chicky. She's never looked better!

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  5. Anonymous11:12 pm

    Chicky is one wild gal! I think you captured her essence perfectly.

    (Is she still wearing her chastity saddle?)

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  6. I got a Wacom tablet for Christmas as well. I haven't used it yet. I hope I can draw as well as you!
    Chicky is awfully cute!

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  7. Wanderingcat, I am clearly lots older than you, since I lived my childhood in the original Etch-a-Sketch days!! :)))

    Cog-Dis, I love working with coloured pencils. I need to do more of it! I have plans for chicken portraits. :) Thank you for the compliments.

    Chef Nick, that's a BEAUTIFUL drawing you linked to! Obviously that was inspired by your time in Japan? And I swear by my Prismacolors!

    Ronna, CHicky thanks you for your love and loyalty.

    TTPT, in that rendition Chicky was running free without her chastity saddle.

    Elisabeth, the tablets have really improved and I think it has a lot of potential but I have to practice!!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!