Not Sure if I Should Sketch W/Paper or the Computer?

[Obscura]

Is there a recommended process for those of us who want to be better artists, but ultimately, better digital artists?

My drawings on paper look so much different than the ones I do on the tablet. I'm not talking about line quality--even anatomical proportions are different.

I'm wondering if I should quit practicing on paper to force myself to focus on using a tablet. Or if I'm losing something by doing so.

Or, in a complete reversal, just focus on improving my pen and paper sketches, & just start scanning in my drawings and drawing over them.

Of course I'd like to do both, but I'm trying to figure out how to spend the little time I have to actually practice drawing. Every time I stop there is a weird transition period where I have to relearn lots of stuff.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[chocojax]

Well, it's better to just sketch on whatever medium you want to focus on, in my opinion.

If you wanna focus on digital art you'll have to deal with your sketches looking kinda wonky (I think it has to do with the angle you're looking at, maybe) but your sketches will be fine digitally, at least. You could also just doodle/sketch for fun/do studies traditionally, so that you're still used to it.

My drawings on paper look so much different than the ones I do on the tablet. I'm not talking about line quality--even anatomical proportions are different.

This freaks me out every time it happens. :O

[Sharm]

I know what you mean! Only mine is only on the digital side, I've been doing paper for so long that I always draw better with that regardless of how long it's been. I want to do everything digitally though so I'm trying to learn to do everything with my tablet. I figure it's cheaper in the long run than buying all those sketchbooks that take up space I don't have. I agree with Chocojax, you should focus on the medium you'll actually use. If you have no intention of doing anything but digital work then there's no point in keeping both up.

[Obscura]

Well, it's better to just sketch on whatever medium you want to focus on, in my opinion.

I agree with Chocojax, you should focus on the medium you'll actually use. If you have no intention of doing anything but digital work then there's no point in keeping both up.

Thanks, guys. Yes, it's definitely spooky how the output is so different. I wouldn't say either medium is significantly better for me art-wise (though I'm a lot faster on paper); the sketches just look like they were done by two different artists who both need more practice.

[Didules]

Strangely, the transition between tablet and sketchbooks was really easy for me, I almost draw the same on both and find it really easy to switch ^^; me working digitally is only a recent thing so I tend to draw more on my tablet now (discovering a new thing is always thrilling), but I don't plan on giving up working traditionally because I have some good things to try (copic, ...), but it's another problem, if you already invested a lot in traditional art, then just leaving tradi may be even more hard!
Both have their own advantages and disadvantages, but if you want to save time then I should -as it was said previously- focus on the one you'll use for your projects.
Besides:

Is there a recommended process for those of us who want to be better artists, but ultimately, better digital artists?

Well, then, work digitally I guess ^^
About the really different style, it should disappear slowly with practise, right? I mean, if you have problems because you can't choose one, then pick digital because your aim is to become a better digital artist, and then only train on it!
Good luck!

EDIT: I corrected some mistakes and a complete nonsense >.<

[Sharm]

When you practice you're both training muscle memory and your brain, so practicing either medium will help you improve with both because of the brain training, but they'll always look a little different because of the muscle memory. So any improvement you get in any medium will help you in any other. For example, I focused entirely on pixel art for a long time, probably more than a year. I don't know that I did any sketching at all during that time, but when I got back to it I found that I'd improved because I'd been studying things like background elements and contrast and color. So don't worry too much about losing your ability to draw without a computer as long as you're improving in art in some form.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

When you practice you're both training muscle memory and your brain, so practicing either medium will help you improve with both because of the brain training, but they'll always look a little different because of the muscle memory. So any improvement you get in any medium will help you in any other. .... So don't worry too much about losing your ability to draw without a computer as long as you're improving in art in some form.

Yeah, this is my experience. I find the tablet practice translates directly to drawing on paper. I certainly haven't gotten WORSE drawing on paper since I made the move to pure digital a few years ago. Improving by drawing on the computer will improve your paper work as well.

If your main goal is digital art, I'd make drawing with the tablet your focus. It really is just retraining your hand-eye-coordination and getting used to drawing on a slick surface. It takes a lot of practice to get over those things on a tablet, but once you do, you're good. I've stated my experience with making the tablet transition before (I'm pretty sure you've read it Obscura) and I really couldn't be happier that I did, even if it did take like ... 16 weeks or so.

The time I save is immense, even though, yes, it takes longer to draw with a tablet than a pencil. But I don't have to do any scanning (my poor scanner is so very dusty) and there is no clean up work to make the sketch useable. I also believe getting the control to draw with a tablet has improved my coloring and painting with a tablet, since the stylus control and comfort translates directly over. Drawing with a tablet also allows me to experiment more freely. If I want to test something out, I can make a new layer and scribble over my existing sketch to my heart's content. If it works, great. If not, I can just delete that layer and try a different direction.

It seems very hard at first making the full time transition, but I was really inspired by a 90-something year old illustrator in an article I read. (I can't remember her name at the moment!) She was illustrating ads in the 1940s, and she is STILL illustrating books. But the amazing thing is that she switched over to working with a tablet in Photoshop several years ago, and her art looks the same! I figured, "Geeze, if an elderly old lady whose been drawing with a pencil for 60 years can pick up a tablet and be good with it, what's my excuse?"

[Obscura]

Well, then, work digitally I guess ^^
Aout the really different style, it should disappear slowly with practise, right? I mean, if you have problems because you can't choose one, then pick traditional because your aim is to become a better digital artist, and then only train on it!
Good luck!

That seems to be the consensus here. Thank you!

@Sharm
I can't imagine specializing in pixel art for a year. That sounds really wild. I guess that would break down color theory to essentials!

@LWR
16 weeks is no time at all! That's an really short time to become highly skilled with a new tool.
That's amazing that the illustrator's artwork looks exactly the same.

[Sharm]

It makes a lot more sense if you knew that pixel art is my job. I was very surprised to realize how much of it translates. It wasn't just color it was focusing on form and volume over details, how to study something so that I could capture what made it look like what it was instead of trying to copy it, how details can effect positive and negative space, all sorts of very useful artsy things that can be used in all sorts of mediums.

[Golden.Fleece]

If you want to better your digital art capability, it is best you do the sketches in digital from the get go. Takes practice and perseverance but it WILL pay off.

Cheers.

[Hellboy]

Personally I draw ONLY on paper, the rest is always digital.
I don't ink either, its all color over the pencils. But that's just me.

[pineapplepocky]

I work both. I know if I constantly work digitally, my traditional skills get rusty, but when I work traditionally a lot, my digital skills get rusty. Probably because of muscle memory, or that fact that you can 'undo' more with one media than another. Especially for someone like me who uses a dip pen, it can get whack. Translating a traditional drawing to a transparent .png perfectly is another thing. You'd probably have to tinker with it digitally to make it cleaner.
The advantage of traditional media is that you can always bring your sketchbook anywhere ^_^

[LateWhiteRabbit]

It seems very hard at first making the full time transition, but I was really inspired by a 90-something year old illustrator in an article I read. (I can't remember her name at the moment!) She was illustrating ads in the 1940s, and she is STILL illustrating books. But the amazing thing is that she switched over to working with a tablet in Photoshop several years ago, and her art looks the same! I figured, "Geeze, if an elderly old lady whose been drawing with a pencil for 60 years can pick up a tablet and be good with it, what's my excuse?"

That's amazing that the illustrator's artwork looks exactly the same.

I just saw this thread from a couple of months ago, and I can now tell everyone who the illustrator I was talking about is! Her name is Sheilah Beckett.

You can read more about her here.

The pertinent excerpt for our discussion in this thread:

Yes, believe it or not, for the last four or five years, Sheilah Beckett has been illustrating in Photoshop with a Wacom Tablet!

As we discuss illustrating with the aid of 21st century graphics technology, I have to pause and ask again, "Sheilah, how old are you... 96?" ... and she quickly corrects me with emphasis, "Ninety-seven!" I tell her, "Wow! I am just so incredibly impressed and inspired by you!"

"Well," says the remarkable Sheilah Beckett, matter-of-factly, "its my life and I love it."

BE INSPIRED! You too, especially being under ninety-years old, can learn to draw on a Wacom tablet with ease!

[Obscura]

Thank you for your answers, folks, and the cool link LWR.

BE INSPIRED! You too, especially being under ninety-years old, can learn to draw on a Wacom tablet with ease!

Thanks, sonny. As a 93-year-old, I'm just getting started.