Drawing Tablet For Animation - A Must Have Tool For Cartoonists

If you’ve ever got a big image-retouching job or want to be a digital cartoonist, working with a mouse generally renders it a less-than-precise and laborious effort.

There are better tools than the mouse out there to make the picture editing simpler, easier to work and gives notably better performance.

Working with a mouse can be tiring while using cartoonist’s software  since your wrist is flat and you can only work with harsh dragging gestures that include your whole side. Typically, the mouse is imprecise and clunky in your palm, and after extended use, your palm begins to cramp.

A mouse is perfect for browsing the internet, scrolling, or doing basic jobs, but a drawing tablet for animation helps you to complete  detail-intensive things   more easily.

Developing drawing skills while being a digital cartoonist takes time and practice, but it can inspire your creativity much as it did in childhood. To achieve that point, it’s worth taking the time to learn the fundamentals of how to catch the human face and how to draw flora and fauna.

From there, you can build up character illustration, comics, manga and animation, or whatever style you find suits your aesthetics.

Drawing Tablet Opens Up The New Empire of the Imagination

Once you get up to speed, learning digital cartooning drawing techniques is another enjoyable way to improve your artistic production. Think about cartooning art, interactive painting and animation using a dedicated  drawing tablet, pen displays and apps.

There is no limit to how you will show yourself. All that’s needed is some creativity and a desire to place a pencil on paper or rather a stylus on tablet.

A drawing tablet normally comes with a stylus that is closely similar to the shape of a marker. They are usually much simpler and more convenient to keep in your hand than a mouse and allow an amazing degree of precision in your work.  

Drawing tablets for animation and digital cartooning have up to 8192  different degrees of exposure to pressure. Whereas Mouse only has two degrees of sensitivity to the pressure; clicked or not clicked.

This gives tablets a huge advantage over mouse , particularly for thorough image editing. When using Photoshop, the sensitivity of the pressure spreads to the brushes as well. This makes it much easier to mix colours, incorporate effects, and apply cartoonist’s tools.

With a stylus, you can rotate the pen and shift your hand and wrist to a normal drawing position. This helps you to have a lot of control on  the strokes you’re making. 

You can digitally paint with your stylus within Photoshop, and your work would look more realistic, simply because you have a natural range of hand and finger dexterity.

If you want your digital cartooning to come alive and look organic, realistic, competent, then the drawing tablet is the perfect tool for your design work.

Benefits Of Using Drawing Tablets For Cartooning

Using a drawing tablet for digital cartooning is very helpful if you want to create cartoons and figures digitally in a way that looks comfortable and aims to enhance your digital speech. 

Cartoons made with tablets use tools to render the pen of whatever instrument you choose it to be: paintbrush, marker, pencil, chalk or eraser. Using digital copies of all these tools and colours means you don’t have to purchase actual things.

Creating online also ensures that you can quickly upload your new works with your friends and social media followers without having to search for them.

The most important thing to remember while learning about drawing tablets is that you don’t have to be “artsy” or a great artist to use one.

A lot of people think , “I don’t know how to draw, so why do I need a drawing tablet? “You will also enjoy all of the rewards of a drawing tablet even though you cannot draw a stick figure or a circle.

When you have a drawing pad, you don’t have to get rid of your mouse. They work well together, so it makes sense to have both of them.

Certain tasks are more mouse-oriented and others are simpler to complete with the stylus, it all depends on what you do.

- Handy

Some of the general advantages of drawing tablets for digital cartooning are that the stylus does not need any batteries and you can never run out of paint!

Tablets are now available in several sizes, ranging from lightweight, more compact ones to bigger options for creative digital cartoonists.

Another advantage is that  the smaller tablets are lightweight and simple to bear. They can be conveniently thrown into a suitcase or briefcase. 

They even have rubber grip at the bottom to keep it in place so that it doesn’t fall on the desk when you’re using it. Most of the drawing tablets are attached to the device using a USB cord such that they are compatible with laptops and PCs (Both Mac & Windows) .

The drawing tablet may also be used in all applications; it is not exclusive to Photoshop, Illustrator, Paint or any other software that might be used by animators. It could also be used to sort files on a desktop if that’s what needs to be done.

- Efficient

One of the great things about having a drawing tablet is that being a digital cartoonist, you can increase your productivity a lot.

Absolute placement is the principle of drawing tablets, which is where the location of the stylus on the tablet appears at the same spot on the panel. There are 4 corners of the screen on the tablet so you can travel around faster.

Using the stylus, similar to moving the mouse around to get your cursor where you want it, takes less time. In an instant, you will be exactly where you want to be.

The use of tablets and stylus also influence the workflow of digital cartooning. It’s going to feel different from using a cursor, but once you get your workflow going, it’s going to become more effective.

You’ll be unstoppable, particularly if you end up programming your fast keys!

- Natural

Drawing with a pen or pencil is quite straightforward compared to having to do it with a mouse. Have you ever attempted  a signature or drawing  of some kind with a mouse?

It’s uncomfortable, and it still turns out to be awful. By getting a drawing tablet, you’re going to be able to do just what you’re doing with pen on paper right on your computer screen. 

No more fooling about drawing on paper than scanning it in and tracing it out, which is double or triple the amount of effort for digital cartoonists! Now you can draw digital cartoons just as you want it to be, and you only have to do it once.

The stylus makes the creation more effortless and convenient as everyone is used to keeping a pen or pencil in his or her hand. You’re going to be able to draw nice straight lines exactly as you want and waste less time redoing them to look right.

If you’re excited about the value of getting a drawing tablet, you’re going to enjoy working with one!

- Detailing

Using  drawing tablets for cartooning will also help to provide more clarity in the designs and figures. Since it’s just like using a pen or a pencil, you can draw outlines or curves lined up very specifically.

No more wondering when things start going to happen when you use a mouse for digital cartooning. Alternatively, you can zoom in and pinpoint the stylus just where you like it.

Your creations will now look 100% like you want them to and you have complete power over the stylus and drawing tablet.

- Shortcut Keys

Shortcut keys are also a great feature that comes with most of the drawing tablets. It minimizes the constant use of the keyboard for the basic functions like undo, zoom in, zoom out, change of brush size etc.

You can customize the shortcut keys as per your requirements and you’ll notice that you’re not juggling on your keyboard that often to complete your drawings.

FAQ's

1. Do animators need drawing tablets?
- Animators can benefit from drawing tablets, but they're not always a necessity, especially for 3D animators.

2. Do 3D animators have to draw? Which is best for animation?
- 3D animators typically use computer software and 3D modeling tools rather than traditional drawing, but some drawing skills can still be helpful for concept art or storyboarding.

3. Which is best for animation? Display tablet or laptop
- The choice between a display tablet or laptop for animation depends on personal preference and budget. Display tablets offer a more direct and intuitive drawing experience, while laptops provide versatility and portability.

Conclusion

Overall, as you can see, the advantages of using a drawing tablet for animation, cartoons outweigh the benefits of using other devices.

They will make your life as a digital cartoonist so much easier, particularly when you’re working in Photoshop or Illustrator! Stylus pens will make you feel more natural and you will be able to get more information about your projects.

Shortcut keys and pressure sensitivity  functionality will carry the job to a different level, and you’ll be able to do more in less time!

Do let us know if you’ve been using any other tools for your creativity in the comments section and we can write about the same in our upcoming articles.

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