Celebrating The Old And New

You know how a picture is worth a thousand words?  Well, words can't describe how I feel about this:

<Insert hallelujah chorus>

Yup!  After two years with my old cheapo tablet, I decided to upgrade to a Wacom Intuos model!  All I can say is, it is heavenly!

Now, don't get me wrong.  There is nothing bad about Monoprice tablets.  When I went tablet shopping two years ago, I had no idea if I'd even like digital art, so I didn't want to invest a lot of money in the experiment.  While the Monoprice was a great piece of equipment to get my feet wet, I simply outgrew it.  The more art I did, the more I felt limited by the tablet's features (or lack thereof).  Throw in some recent pen reliability issues (undoubtedly caused by two years of solid use), and I decided it was definitely time for an upgrade.

I chose the Intuos 4 model 1) because it is significantly cheaper than the newer Intuos 5's with similar features and 2) it was recommended to me by numerous other digital artists.  I also downgraded to a size "Small," while my Monoprice was the equivalent of a "Medium" tablet.  I realize that may sound crazy, but so far I think the smaller tablet is much more manageable.  (Plus, it's kind of nice to not have my tablet hanging off the desk!)

Old tablet overboard!

Is there really a big difference between my cheaper old Monoprice and new Wacom?  Heck yes!  The new pressure sensitivity is double what it used to be, and the Wacom screen has a lovely, textured feel that makes sketching a breeze.  You can even tell a difference just in comparing the tablet pens:

Mmmmmm...precision...

AND I can flip the new pen over while drawing and "erase" my digital work just like it's a pencil!  (Super-cool!)  Now, I could probably bore you to tears praising all the great features (like a scrolling wheel--or hot keys--or variety of pen tips!), but I know you'd rather see it in action.  So...

TA DA!      

Ellis says, "Do I look pretty?"

I painted everyone's favorite green-scarred horse, Ellis!  This sketchy little speedpaint is the first 100% digital piece I've ever done.  It took about three hours (yes, that counts as a "speedpaint" for me) and involved around fifty exclamations of, "Ooooh!" and "Ah!" as I finagled with all the Intuos features.

So you see the "new" I'm celebrating.  But what about the old?

Well, I just celebrated the sixth anniversary of my manuscript, The Beast of Bannock, at the end of February!  (Huzzah!)

Ellis and I have certainly been through a lot over the years, and it seemed appropriate that he should have the honor of christening my new tablet.  This poor guy sat on the back-burner while I focused on writing and revising Pirate Ferret for most of 2012, but I'm looking forward to giving Ellis' story the royal treatment this year!  :)

And now you're up to speed with everything I'm celebrating!  I'm eager to see what I can accomplish with my new tablet and can't wait to start those Beast of Bannock revisions!

If I can keep up this speedy painting, I hope to have a lot more art to share with you, too!  You all like paintings of horsies, right?  ;)