Just playing around a bit with a demo version of Sketchbook Pro…

It even seems to smudge like real pencil.  But that was all done in the computer, using a Wacom pad.  I’m getting a better feel for using that pad to sketch with.  It still doesn’t feel quite right…I’m so use to the feel of real lead on paper…but I’m getting to the point now where I’m feeling comfortable enough doing this, that I want to settle on a good all around tool for it.  Photoshop really isn’t it.  At least, not for me.  And the sense I get is that’s not what Photoshop wants to be.  Photoshop doesn’t even try to emulate what real artist’s tools behave like on paper or canvas.  It’s just a really powerful bitmap editor.

There’s a bunch of tools out there like Sketchbook Pro that try to emulate the tools.  Coral Painter even goes so far as to emulate many different kinds of artist’s papers.  So far I’m finding that they all have their good points, but they’re all missing something too.  I love the way Coral Painter emulates charcoal on paper.  But I’ve never been able to get it’s pencils or brushes to feel right on my Wacom tablet. 

I’m downloading a trial version of Manga Studio next.  It’s the only tool I’ve seen that lets you turn the "paper" this way and that as you draw on it (as opposed to actually rotating the image On the paper).  It also allows you to create perspective grid layers you can adjust the horizon line and vanishing point(s) on.  Manga Studio also lets you convert bitmap layers to vector layers…which makes resizing line artwork much, Much cleaner.

But I really like the way Sketchbook Pro lets you select and adjust the tools you’re using with tablet pen gestures.  It’s quick, and less concentration breaking.  There’s a floating tool for resizing your brush/point that’s perfect.  It works like you’re dipping your brush or pen or pencil point into a well and then dragging the point in or out to whatever size you want.  It’s a snap to do while you’re busy drawing.  I wish they all had that.

One of my co-workers, who is also a cartoonist, is involved in an open source artist’s tool project, Inkscape.  It’s a vector based drawing tool along the lines of Adobe Illustrator, and it looks really nice.  Alas, as of now it’s still lacking Mac tablet support.  But if you’re using Linux it’s worth a look.