UPDATE SUMMER 2012: This tutorial is obviously a little bit out of date. My how the technology landscape changes over time! We now have a vastly different lineup of Cintiq tablets, all new Intuos 5's, and tablet PC's are going the ways of the dinosaur! Windows 8 tablets are going to be having real digitizer pen input! This is going to be some exiting times for the future of a digital artist! So please take what information I provide here as BASE value -- it can be applied to newer products as well!







STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
Check out this journal post for a little more info:
[ FAQ #1: WHICH WACOM SHOULD I BUY? ]


--------------- EXTENSION OF "GRAYSCALE UNDERPAINTING" -----------------
I know the last section about grayscale underpainting is a little short. I had to suddenly end the tutorial a little early because I didn't realize I had reached the end of my 18,000 pixel max allotment. (DA can't take more than 18,000 pixels at a time.) I might fiddle with that section a little bit to squeeze slightly more relevant information, and make it feel less "cut-off."

There's not a lot I can add to it, anyway, though. Painting the grayscale layer is no different than just using the technique explained above it. This is also not exactly relevant to the actual use of the tablet, but more of a technique of Photoshop or another program. I only mention trying grayscale painting because it's easier than straight-up color painting, and can provide good practice on blending shades together. (Grayscale is like drawing something in 2D. It's easier because you're only concerned about two aspects of the process. Color is like 3D. It's harder because there's more to consider along the way.)

However, I will touch lightly upon adding color to the grayscale layer is a matter of either painting over it intuitively with appropriate values, or use a layer above the grayscale set to something like "Overlay" or "Multiply" and paint flat colors on it. You'll find that the layer will blend the color with the grayscale, combining all the appropriate values automatically. You shouldn't use this as a method to finish a piece, however. Touch-up work will have to be done on additional layers or your work will appear somewhat lifeless and "paint-by-numbers-esque."

*Omar-Dogan has a great tutorial speaking more about coloring grayscale art here: [link]



------------------------------ Original Description --------------------------------

I know, it's not P&C part 3 -- but I really wanted to put this one out. My old 2008 wacom tutorial is my most viewed, and I felt it really needed a massive rewrite talking about all kinds of aspects about things to CONSIDER, rather than things you should just "do" in a normal tutorial skill-building sense. I mean, the old 2008 tutorial doesn't even have any mention of the bamboo or intuos 4 or latest model cintiq, so yeah, it was time to update.

Man, another article 18,000 pixels tall.

It's a lot to read, I realize that, which is why I call this an "article" more than a tutorial. I also state more opinion in this than my previous tutorials, also lending to that "article" name.

Give it a read if you think it will benefit you. I want to try to help as many people as possible learn about those scary unusual things called Graphic Tablets.




Anyway, this is only like version 0.5 of this tutorial. There will be edits made to certain parts to better clarify, and some parts potentially rewritten because of the sudden lack of space to continue writing. I haven't fully proofread it yet, so there are some spelling and syntax errors. Bear with that for now