Wacom Rules the Planet. Resistance is Futile.

There's no doubt about it now, my Wacom pen tablet iz tha shiz, y'all. It has sped up my workflow, improved the quality of my line work, expanded my digital painting capabilities, and on more than one occasion made me giggle like a little girl just from the sheer joy of drawing.

Yes, a little girl. I'm secure, I can say it.

Here's the first work I made using this patently perfect peripheral:



If you're considering the purchase of a Wacom tablet, read on...



First, the 6x8 model is the perfect size for the work I do. If you tend to use your elbow as a pivot point when striking a long smooth arc, the next smaller version, the 4x6 model, couldn't possibly be give you enough real estate to pull it off. And the next larger sizes, the 6x11 and the 9x12, seem too bulky to hold comfortably in your lap. Unless you have a lap the size of an Astro Van. Besides, Danidraws.com recommends the 6x8, and that's good enough for me.

The tablet has a total of eight buttons. They're grouped in two clusters of four, one cluster in each upper corner. Of course, they're fully programmable. And, you can specify different functions for each button depending on what application you're running. For example, a button can execute the "b" shortcut (the Brush tool) when you're in Photoshop, and the same button can activate the "p" shortcut (the Pen tool) when you're in Illustrator.

I don't know about you, but that makes me all tingly.




In the left group, I programmed the upper-right button for the "e" shortcut (Eraser tool), and the button below it for the "b" shortcut. That way, I can toggle between the two functions with my left hand while my right hand is busy layin' down the love. (Wait, that didn't sound right, did it?)

Next to each group of buttons is a touch-strip that is also programmable, but is useful only for zooming and scrolling. If you've used a touch pad on a lap-top computer, you'll no doubt have no trouble getting used to the touch-strip.

Finally, Wacom's website also has a great list of tips and tricks for Photoshop, Corel Painter, and Adobe Flash. These guys know how to do support right.

Yes, I'm glowing. This thing is fan-frickin-tabulous.

I'm not ashamed of my feelings.

Now back to the drawing table(t).

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A 1957 Chevy Bel Air and a Better Mouse Trap

I thought I'd have some fun with a 1950's Texaco ad I found on-line while perusing vintage ads for a themed restaurant in North Kansas City.



The poster is 22" x 14" and was painted digitally in Photoshop using brushes I downloaded free from Bittbox.

The entire painting was done using a mouse, which is a process akin to threading a needle with Novocain shots in each finger and wearing boxing gloves. While blindfolded. And drunk.

Things are looking up for the badger, though. I've done my part to help the global economy by making a very wise purchase.

Read on...

I just purchased a Wacom Intuos3 6x8 pen tablet for just a smidgen under $300.00. I plan on writing more about it once the two of us have had more quality time together.

But in the meantime, here are a couple of things I've noticed:

1) Wacom's customer service is stellar. The tablet had a few performance glitches pretty early on, well before I'd finished pinching all the bubble wrap. I was ready to just pack the thing up and send it back - y'know, with the bubble wrap still intact and all, it seemed the easiest solution. Besides, ever since my Microtek scanning software refused to recognize its own scanner and I had a stunningly abysmal experience with Microtek's laughable technical service, I acquired a profanity-laced Tourettes-like tic at the mere thought of contacting any computer peripheral company with questions of any kind. But Wacom suprised me. I emailed their customer support with a description of the problem, and within a day, a friendly gentleman replied with detailed troubleshooting instructions. And when that fix turned out to be only partially effective, a simple email back to customer service brought another helpful reply within 24 hours. I'm still working through the problems (the pressure sensitivity in brush-mode cuts in and out), but I'm pleased that so far, Wacom has made good on their promise to provide prompt technical support.

2) There's a little button in the Wacom control panel called "Lock Proportions." It's located in the Mapping Tab of the tablet setup. Click it on if you want to remain sane. I'm just sayin'. If it's off (which unfortunately is the default setting) the tablet maps its entire surface to your monitor screen. That sounds fine in theory, but if the tablet and screen are not the same proportion, then you'll see an ellipse whenever you try to draw a circle. Talk about a brain-boink. Sure you may lose a bit of usable tablet space, but unless you feel like retraining your visual cortex, I suggest you turn it on.

3) The tablet's drawing surface and the heal of my hand have a relationship to each other similar to Naugahyde against a sweaty butt-cheek. As a result, I tend to get jumpy lines as I drag my hand across the tablet and it sticks. I'm going to try cutting the fingertips off of a cotton glove and wearing it on my drawing hand, Michael Jackson style, so my hand can slide easily across the tablet. I'll let you know if that works.

4) I reprogrammed the front rocker switch on the pen to act as {alt}-{ctrl}-z, which in Photoshop means "Step Backwards" through the undo history. This is slick because my first attempt at drawing a line is seldom my best one. Somewhere around attempt number eight or nine, I either get the line I want or I simply lower my standards a sufficient level to call it good. With this switch setup, marching through each attempt is as easy as draw, click, draw, click...all with one hand.

I'm working on an "ink" drawing with the pen tablet now. Should be done in a week or so, and I'll post the results here. So far, the tablet experience is so superior, it makes using a mouse feel like trying to draw with a crayon taped to your elbow.

Now back to the drawing board.

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