I know there are tablet-type tools that essentially allow you to hand draw with a stylus and have it show up directly on the screen, but I don’t know anything about them. Does anyone have any experience with them? How they work, what they can do, how expensive they are, which ones are good, where they can be found, etc.
I’m considering starting a basic “talking heads” type online series, but drawing everything out on paper, scanning it all in, cleaning up the lines, and so forth is a pain in the ass.
Yeah I’m more familiar with the ‘pain in the ass’ route. I know some artists like Shinkiro don’t even use paper anymore. Aron McGruder for Boondocks did all of his inking and lettering on PC. There are ways but I’m not familiar with comic book specific programs myself. You may want to ask in the Fan Art Forum too.
Don’t bother with any besides a Wacom. There’s just no comparison. Any Wacom is fine, even the cheapest ones (Bamboo). Just make sure they have what you want (not all models have pressure sensitivity, not all have tilt sensibility). It’s better to buy a model with pressure sensitivty (so the line thickness will change with pressure).
They work like a mouse, but they are a pen instead. You can set them to be universal positioning or not (as in, they’ll follow you movement exactly or they’ll reset the position when you take the pen out of the tablet). You can adjust pressure (if you have a light hand or not). You can add shortcuts to the buttons on the pen and the tablet itself.
Personally, i still pencil and ink on paper (i use the tablet to paint, select, browse, etc - i don’t use a mouse):
But thousands of people like using them to draw and ink too. It will take a while (anything from a couple weeks to a few months) until you’re 100% comfortable with it, by the way.
There are some who are extremely skilled with a tablet, but I find that the “pain in the ass” route is so much more rewarding to the artist and the viewer. It’s nothing against those who create digital art, just my personal preference.
I would also like to have my own online strip someday. I have used my sister’s Wacom tablets occasionally, while she uses it almost daily. I would agree with Frankfurt and recommend their Bamboo line, they run pretty cheap and fairly easy to adjust to. She’s been talking about bigger and better tablets, but I think they are excellent for beginners. The real trouble is switching to a new tablet, be it brand or model.