Cintiq
Here’s one of my first digital sketches on a Cintiq, which is essentially a monitor that is directly drawn on with a stylus. I’m quite impressed by the natural feel of the whole process and see it as a big improvement on a tablet.
Also impressed by the software I’m trying to teach myself; MANGA STUDIO EX. It offers much better control of the character of the ink line than I’m able to get with Photoshop. Unfortunately it uses a different set of tools from Photoshop and has a badly translated manual so the learning curve has been steep.
If you use Windows, you should also try AzDrawing 2.02,a free japanese software exclusively focused on sketching and inking. i´ts so easy to understand (i´ve been trying manga studio aswell, and i couldn´t get it) and the appearence i´ts very similar, maybe identical. you´ll be surprised. take it from an artist recently submerged into the digital inking issues. greetings from argentina.
Don’t have a cintiq yet, but I’ve being using Manga Studio for years now and can testify to it’s excellency. It’s a great software. Keep it up with the learning, cause it’s woth it.
Leandro, is there a good Manga Studio on-line community?
Rick, not that I know of. Much of what I’ve learned about the software was via this guy called Ray Frenden, who is a great artist. http://frenden.com. (youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/rayfrenden) He has some videos, tutorials and numerous customized brushes all about manga studio.
Hiya, Rick!
I’ve found that “Paint Tool Sai” in combination with Photoshop CS4 hits the sweet spot.
Sai is awesome for inking. PS is good for selection-related tasks (like applying grey tones, for instance) and various pre-press jobs.
Personally, I found Manga Studio cumbersome and crashy, but maybe I was just not giving it enough of a chance. Whatever tool gets you through, I guess.
Cheers!
Mark, thanks for the tip. I’ll check it out. Manga Studio has been a beast to master, but now that I’m getting the hang of it, I’m thinking “Where have you been all my life?”