The 50 YearOld Virgin

[Rawhaed]

Hi all,
I'm 50 years old and never drawn a map I'm UK based, in the East Midlands.

So i've been tabletop roleplaying for 37 years now, and maps have always fascinated me. Apart from some pretty shoddy dungeon maps for D&D and the like i've never really looked into the art properly. I was Christmas shopping for a firend of mine and came across Fantasy Mapping by Wesley Jones and thought it would make a good present for him. Well it arrived, i flicked through it, and now i have to buy another copy for him because i'm keeping it

As well as world maps, i'm also going to look at settlements, dungeons and encounter maps for VTT's like Roll20.

I'm happy to do some freehand sketching, but i think computer based is my path - i've been working with computers pretty much all of my life. I want to start up on the cheap, lest the wife accuse me of jumping in on another fad (that's her speicality actually ) I've done some goolging and Krita seems a good software choice, but the plethora of tablet & stylus kits at around the £30 mark is pretty baffling - is this the right forum to get a steer on starter setups please ?

Cheers, Rawhead

[Redrobes]

Welcome to the guild. Yes this is a great place to get advice on these kinds of things. We had a long thread about tablets a long time ago which I will try to find. I have a Wacom bamboo which is the budget one in their range and its really good. It has a fairly small drawing area but you can always zoom up the map or pan it over to the place where you are drawing and its no bother. The options rise all the way up to very expensive indeed where the tablet is a display as well with high resolution and low lag then you need deep pockets.

Krita is great - sounds like you might be on linux there, in which case Gimp is also very popular. There are some more very artistic style of editors for tablets where the emphasis is on freehand painting and spraying type of actions instead of mouse driven. Many people here dont use a tablet but for some operations a tablet is a boon.

It appears that this question is so popular its been stickied in the forums:
https://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=552

also this one:
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=47676

If anyone knowledgable about tablets comments - has the wacom "bamboo" been replaced by "one" ? Is the "one" any good ?

[Rawhaed]

Krita is great - sounds like you might be on linux there, in which case Gimp is also very popular.

Not a linux guy, just plain old Windows 10. I briefly tried GIMP a few years back on an unrelated project and just did't get a good feel from it. I read an article on Tech Radar for best free art packages, Artweaver Free had too many disabled options, Adobe can bite on their own subscription model and MyPaint seemed to embedded with Linux. That being said, i'm not wedded to Krita yet, so happy to look into (free, still go to keep the missus happy ) alternatives.

[Tiana]

Welcome to the Guild. There's always Photopea, an online photo editor that has some pretty decent functionality. Krita is also a decent choice for digital art, though I don't use it myself. I like Clip Studio Paint. And I've been using Affinity, also on sale for Black Friday right now.

If you think you may be serious about digital art, save yourself the trouble of upgrading in a year and get a 6x8 instead of a 4x6 tablet to start. You don't need to go huge, but the smallest size will probably cramp your style. I never went with the smallest one when I got my first tablet, I went with the second smallest, and that tablet was a Wacom Graphire 6x8, it held up for years and years, well worth the investment. Huion is a strong contender now though, if you're feeling the budget. I've only used Wacoms myself... I upgraded later to an Intuos3, and then a Cintiq13HD and then a Cintiq24HD. So, that is why I suggest going as big as you can afford. I have never broken a tablet, it's always just been that I personally wanted a bigger one, heh. Well, my Intuos 3 no longer seems to work but wow, it lasted around 12 years and I carried it around a lot too and the computer I tested it in last had never had the right drivers so it might still work and I just forgot the drivers. Not that it matters, because I use the Cintiq mostly now... of course you don't need a tablet monitor to start, and it would be excessive unless you're certain, so I'd just pick the medium sized base model to start and see how you like it. It's probably the Bamboo for Wacom, though I think they have a few newer fun sized ones I would generally steer clear of the itty bitty sized ones if you like to do sweeping strokes at all ever again. Seriously, they will CRAMP you, not just your style, but your hand, trying to achieve these tiny grand sweeping gestures that you'd normally do with your elbow or shoulder.

I don't know if the 'One' is any good, personally I thought the Bamboo felt a bit cheap compared to the Intuos, I tried my sister's so again, the Goldilocks decision might be to go one version up from the 'entry level'. Maybe not straight to the Cintiq One which I assume is good... I'm thinking of getting one for travel, but y'know, travel plans were all crashed this year. xP Obviously the 24 inch tablet stays where it is, so don't get one that big if you have goals of moving your workstation. It is nice if you like to do big motions when you draw, though. Really, it all comes down to how you move your arms and wrist, what size is best. Look at what you do on a page. Do you do little drawings in tiny notebooks, medium drawings in an A4 notebook, large drawings on a 11x18 notebook, tiny napkin sketches, huge canvas paintings... whatever the size of PAPER that you like best... is probably going to be about the size of tablet you like best.

And to be honest, from this perspective, I didn't NEED the 24 inch tablet, but my 13 inch one was starting to show its age. My favorite paper to draw on is 11x18/legal sized, I admit I tend to use only about half of the drawing area for my big tablet if I don't intentionally plan to do large gestures... I got very used to my 13 inch tablet for the movements I make, and that size represents the paper I used to use most... the standard printer sheet. I almost never drew on large papers and felt overwhelmed doing an artwork on a huge page. But I like the extra space because I store entertainment over in the unused area, music or videos or whatever, and sometimes reference photos off to the side, or the brief from my clients, in the area my gestures don't usually get to. So, my reserved working section of the screen is usually around 12 inches... it hasn't gotten a lot larger when I went up in tablet size... but I still use the additional screen space on the monitor tablet for the same things I used to use multiple monitors. I do not have a multi-monitor setup now, because the amount of space on my screen always contains what I need if I am clever about it, and I sacrificed the space for monitors to fit Beefy the Tablet.

So, while in the end you might love to have the biggest tablet on the market, I truly have no regrets about getting this one... I'd just really consider what you draw now, and use that approximate size to pick which tablet to get. Go with the entry level (a Huion) or the entry level Wacom, or the mid-tier Wacom, for a starter tablet I would personally aim for around $100 to get one that is decent quality. So, a little higher than you're aiming. At your price point, tablets exist but they're beginner/novice models and likely to wear out faster. But, they will work all right, just not survive the high intensity needs of art as a profession. If you just want to see if you LIKE tablets, pick the cheapest one in the size that, based on your sketching habits, you think will best fit your typical hand motions. Seriously, do not go smaller than you draw on average. When I picked the 6x8, I mostly drew in printer paper sized sketchbooks, and I did comic-page sized drawings that only occupied part of the page, sometimes filling pages in with many smaller drawings or sequential events, or sometimes using a lot of negative space. So I knew I wasn't going to run out of space, my average artwork would fit neatly onto the tablet if I wanted to trace it. It turned out to be a very good comparison.

If you go ahead and get one smaller than you naturally draw, you may have to learn to use 'mouse mode', which will remove the lock of the tablet's drawing area to your screen shape, and you'll have to learn a new way of drawing, where you mostly move your hand, but not your shoulder or elbow, doing fast flicks to do big gestures. There is contention as to which is better. Many people prefer 'tablet mode' where it's mapped, 'mouse mode' allows you to get the illusion of large gestures in a tiny space though, larger than theoretically is available to you, by exploiting the increased speed present in one motion. Mouse mode may make more sense if you've done any digital art with a mouse. Tablet mode however, is the only way with a tablet monitor so if you have dreams of going all the way to the Cintiq or alternative art monitors, it's best to not get too used to Mouse Mode, or reserve that for browsing.

Because the tablet is an ergonomic alternative to a mouse, you will likely find yourself using it for more than just art, so tell your wife it's for your health! XD

[Rawhaed]

Welcome to the guild.

Thank you

Krita is great - sounds like you might be on linux there, in which case Gimp is also very popular.

Actually i'm just a regular Windows 10 guy. I read an article on Tech Radar about best free art packages, and Krita seemed the best for the job. I tried out GIMP on an unrelated works project a few years back and couldn't get a good feel for it. That being said, i'm not wedded to Krita, if there's something better out there (free, go to keep the missus happy ) i'm happy to check it out.

Many people here dont use a tablet but for some operations a tablet is a boon.

I can't imagine freehand drawing with a mouse, it just doesn't feel right - are you saying some folks are cool with a mouse for freehand drawing a map ?

It appears that this question is so popular its been stickied in the forums:
https://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=552

also this one:
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=47676

Thanks, i'll check those out.

If anyone knowledgable about tablets comments - has the wacom "bamboo" been replaced by "one" ? Is the "one" any good ?

So would you say Wacom is the standard for tablets for map making ?

Thanks Redrobes, appreciate you taking to time for on an old newbie

[Rawhaed]

Welcome to the Guild.

Thank you

There's always Photopea, an online photo editor that has some pretty decent functionality. Krita is also a decent choice for digital art, though I don't use it myself. I like Clip Studio Paint. And I've been using Affinity, also on sale for Black Friday right now.

Thanks, I'll check those out.

If you think you may be serious about digital art, save yourself the trouble of upgrading in a year and get a 6x8 instead of a 4x6 tablet to start...

ThaIt's a fantastci reply, thank you so much. I hadn't seriously though about the size of tablet, you set the principles out there really well - it deserves a sticky

Thanks Tiana

[Tiana]

Yeah, some people freehand with a mouse. The trick is to use keyboard shortcuts for opacity and size changes. You can even paint, especially if you use gradients as bases. Wacom is the standard for most digital artists... in all fields. They were the first so they gained a lot of trust.

You're welcome.

[Rawhaed]

Looking at the current Wacom portfolio, the Wacom One Medium looks like a fair bet, i'd get i directly from Wacom but its a penny under their free shipping threshold and that's hits my peevish nerve.

[Azélor]

Hi and welcome to the Guild.

Even a cheap tablet is a massive improvement over using a mouse.
I have a Wacom Bamboo and I can second what Tiana said, the 4x6 is too small. I always end up hitting the sides or the deadzone around the drawing area and it can get annoying.

[Josiah VE]

I second the others. Any tablet will be a great tool. Like Azelor, I've been using a Wacom Bamboo for years and years and years. To be honest I haven't really thought of the size too much, but if I do upgrade sometime I'll probably get something a little bigger. I also still use Photoshop CS2, so you can definitely still do a lot without the latest, greatest tools.