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How can I take the ghosting and super imposed lines excersises and translate them to a Wacom tablet?

9:44 AM, Tuesday March 22nd 2022

Over the time it took me to complete Lesson 1, I could see how substantially better I was getting at drawing straight and confident lines. But I am a digital artist, and I used a small Wacom with a little surface to draw on, so I'm forced to draw with my wrist. In comparison to an A4 paper, my lines come wriggly, slow and shy.

For instance, I can't see both the start and the end of a line in a Wacom tablet. I have to see the screen of my laptop. And I can't use my full arm either, because the drawing surface is small (aprox 269 x 170 x 8 mm / 10.6 x 6.7 x 0.3 in)

Graphic tablet users, how do you get around this?

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1 users agree
4:30 PM, Tuesday March 22nd 2022

Firstly it helps to think of drawabox and your graphic tablet drawing as two separate things. Over time your drawabox habits will bleed into your tablet habits assuming you practice enough.

Secondly, I have an iPad Pro and Wacom 16 that I use for digital. I draw from the shoulder frequently when drawing on them, especially when doing rough sketches. For me the key thing about learning to draw from your shoulder is that you get fluid lines and you don't feel locked to the tablet. This took me a while, you have to get the muscle strength and memory, but it has been so worth it. It feels much freer and more expressive than drawing from the wrist. There is a reason why so many artists recommend that you learn to draw this way.

8:33 PM, Tuesday March 22nd 2022

Thanks for replying! Well if you say so, I guess it's only a matter of time till I get used and I pull it off naturally. I did the entirety of Lesson 1 without doing warmups, they get introduced in Lesson 2, right? After my critique I hope of learning the warm ups so I can absorb them into my daily habits.

10:51 PM, Tuesday March 22nd 2022

It all takes time and lots of repetitions. It is something that happens with regular and consistent practice over months, not a few days. When it comes to art, you have to forget about looking for very short term improvements and notice the improvements in the long term when they happen. Then onto the next skill.....

0 users agree
8:42 PM, Tuesday March 22nd 2022

Ghosting is mainly about planning out your mark before you put it down, and running through the motion a few times to get a feel for it. While in DaB we mainly use it while drawing from the shoulder the concept itself can be used even if the line is small enough that you don't need your shoulder.

0 users agree
6:37 PM, Thursday March 24th 2022

My active area is smaller than yours by about 20mm each way, and I use my arm!

How large is your monitor? A smaller monitor gives you less space to work with. Mine is 24" and I feel like that helps. This might be out of your control - then unfortunately you will end up only able to use your wrist for most strokes.

It seems impossible right now, but you CAN ghost on a non-display tablet. You need to follow the motion of your cursor using your eyes while you make the movements, using all the same fundamentals that Uncomfortable outlines (heh) in his markmaking lessons. Confidence and precision. A bigger screen also helps with this.

Allow yourself to fall on your face and keep sticking to drawing with the arm. Practice practice practice.

If your machine and can handle it and monitor can display it: Don't draw small. Your arm is allowed to start and end outside of the active area. You can do a big swipe over it. These movements will eventually feel natural!

I still rely heavily on the wrist. The same way you need the wrist to draw small detail on paper, you need the wrist for small details on screen. It's around 30/70 arm:wrist ratio.

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