New to digital art

[leela4]

I've been drawing and painting the traditional way pretty much all my life, but now want to learn digital painting. I got this software along with a Wacom Intuos Tablet and I have to say I'm amazed at how hard it is to draw on the tablet as well as I can on paper. I feel like I'm back in kindergarten. So, I'm wondering if this was everyone's experience when you were starting out with it? Any advice on getting better at it?

[copespeak]

Welcome! Just work at it, practice certainly does improve your skills.

[hildee]

It is a bit of a weird experience syncing your hands and eyes from tablet to screen but you get the hang of it after a while. All the best and best of all, have fun

[markw]

Welcome to the AR forums leela4.
Yes it takes a little getting used to. But to be honest I think I might prefer using my tablet to paper now!
When everything is flowing, looking at the screen, I'm completely unaware of my hands. Lines and paint just seem to appear in front of me as I think of them. It's almost magical!

[D Akey]

You got it! Like learning to ride a bicycle. Once you find the balancing point, you never worry again about staying upright. Have fun!

[Bertrude]

My only advice to keep at it.

That said you don't get that same sort of tactile feedback from the tablet surface. I've 'slipped' god knows how many times when trying to draw stuff but you just get used to it and there's plenty of advantages to working digitally, like 'undoing' that slip .

[hildee]

Also, forgot to say that a pen tablet is very handy when your wrist gets sore from using the mouse. I switch from mouse to tablet when that happens, although I rarely get a sore wrist nowadays since I use both equally because you can browse icons and programs and internet with the pen - everything you can do with a mouse...and more.

[Someonesane]

I suggest starting with the basics. By this, I mean you should do a lot of simple exercises, before trying to complete a major work of art, because it'll be easy to get discouraged when you're trying to achieve something digitally that you know you could pull off easily doing it traditionally. So just take time out of every day to do digital gesture drawings and quick paintings where you won't get down on yourself for not sticking the details. You'll slowly train your muscle memory in the process to the point where you won't even realize you're using a new tool and then you'll be good to go into more detailed work.

[Gms9810]

You can find quite a bit of help on youtube too.

[Liquid Len]

Make sure that your tablet is set up correctly so that you are getting the best from it. I had problems drawing with my Intuos3 until I realised it was set up for right-handed use - I am a 'leftie'! Even something as basic as that can make a profound difference to how you take to digital painting.

Get as much practice as you can and, above all, have fun! If you find yourself lacking in inspiration at any time, just come back and visit the gallery and peruse the forum, it will work wonders!