Help: Which Drawing Tools?

[AlphaKong]

Hello all,

Ive been doing a few simple projects lately just by using the pen tool. Ive been getting frustrated lately because some of my artwork that has a lot of details doesn't seem to come out the way I want it to. For example, I want to draw ocean waves or face portrait but there is so much details in those images that I feel like a pen tool can't execute. Is there a technique or is it a good idea to buy a drawing tablet to use instead of the pen tool? If so, what is the inexpensive yet efficient to buy?

Thanks in advance!

[tromboniator]

Without seeing your work it's difficult to say what might be the right tool or tools to accomplish what you want, but a tablet is not a replacement for the pen tool, it's an alternative to the mouse for drawing with the Pen Tool, Pencil Tool, Paintbrush Tool, etc. A tablet may allow you to make use of pressure or tilt sensitivity, among many other possible features, which may or may not accomplish what you are looking for. Some people love tablets, others have no use for them.

Try the Pencil Tool, try using stroke profiles, the Width Tool, experiment with brushes. If you find it clumsy to use a mouse to draw as you like, then a tablet may be useful to you, but the Pen Tool will still be the Pen Tool, and one of several choices you have, with a tablet or without.

I know this is vague, but it's a very broad question, and it sounds as though it is based on a bit of a misunderstanding.

[Myra Ferguson]

I second Tromboniator's comment and would add that if you try the Pencil tool you can easily modify a line you draw by redrawing over a portion of it. You can also use the Smooth tool to smooth out sections. Here's a link to more information on using the various tools for drawing How to draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool in Illustrator

[JETalmage]

For example, I want to draw ocean waves or face portrait but there is so much details in those images that I feel like a pen tool can't execute.

It sounds like you are new to vector-based drawing in general and just having the usual conceptual struggles. If so, just take your time, read the documentation, and keep at it. It's an entirely different world from painting with pixels so you have to get your head around it. But rest assured you can create detailed drawings, including ocean waves, faces, or anything else. Just don't expect the process to be anything like painting in a raster imaging program.

A large part of the "art" of vector-based drawing is exploiting the functional elegance to achieve the appearance of detail with deceptively small object counts (kind of like water color as opposed to oil paint).

Just an example drawn entirely with the Pen Tool, using a mouse (in another vector-based program, but that really doesn't matter; the principles are the same):

The paths of the above drawing:

It's very worthwhile to open some of the demo files that ship with the program and contain what appears to be "detailed" artwork. Tear them apart and study the stack of objects from which they are constructed.

JET

[jane-e]

Thank you for sharing the outline view of your truck, JETalmage, it's beautiful. Out of curiosity, how long did it take you to draw it? Did you draw it by hand first or start the project in the drawing program?    

[Bill Silbert]

I agree with Jane. Awe inspiring work!

[AlphaKong]

Thanks Jet. Loving the artwork by the way!
And no, i was introduced to vector back in high school. Im just starting to use it now because I want to place my artwork onto shirts and having illustrator would help me with that. I guess I need to practice more on it. I usually see people on youtube with a drawing tablet thats why I assume it would be much easier.

[JETalmage]

...I usually see people on youtube with a drawing tablet thats why I assume it would be much easier.

I've occasional bought tablets over the years, including the very first model Wacom (with a serial bus connection). But throughout the intervening decades, I never use them beyond the occasional "natural media" emulation (Painter). I find them awkward and inaccurate, and long ago got over the novelty of "emulating" physical paint on a computer. Digital media is its own media. I don't try to emulate watercolor using oil paint. If I want to paint a watercolor, I'll use watercolor.

My first-gen Surface Pro has a Wacom-based stylus. I haven't used it since Microsoft "took back" the Journal app that was bundled with it.

I'm not a caveman, so I don't need a stick to draw with. And I gave up finger painting before kindergarten. And I hate fingerprints on my monitor.

But that's just me. My son does very nice work painting in raster programs with Wacoms, and he's not a caveman either.

😉

JET

[JETalmage]

how long did it take you to draw it?

Several days, working on it off-and-on in my free time.

Did you draw it by hand first or start the project in the drawing program?

The rat truck is an actual one built by a co-worker. He usually carries home a trophy when he shows it in the local and regional auto shows. (I'd like to have him build me a street-legal "rat dirt bike" some day.)

I shot some reference photos of it in the parking lot one day (yeah, he actually drives it to and from work), because I thought it would be a good test subject for getting acquainted with Xara Designer. (It was my second drawing with that program.) I especially wanted something different from the usual glossy-paint reflections of most vehicle illustrations; so I liked it a lot for the rust and splotchy paint. 😉

I sometimes sketch very loosely on paper and scan the sketch. But I more often just do my "construction" in the drawing program. I find it curious when I see newcomers to vector drawing, who routinely and naturally do a lot of sketching very freely and lightly on paper, but then act almost "afraid" to create temporary paths in the drawing program, where "erasure" (hitting the delete button) is perfect and instantaneous.

That's one of the things I stress when I have opportunity to "coach" newcomers: Do all the construction you want. It's not going to break anything, and you can delete it without a trace.

JET