I'm trying to learn how to draw, and I noticed that it's MUCH better to draw with proper tools. I went from using a regular pencil to a 0.5mm one, which made things much easier.
I was thinking of getting myself some kind of drawing set but the problem is that I have no idea what kind of pens people use to draw with..

So my question is, what kind of tools should I get? All I'm having right now is said 0,5mm pencil and an eraser.

My girlfriend recommends a graphics tablet. She thinks it's helped her a thousand times over with her art. You can pick up a good cheap tablet (Wacom Bamboo) which should last you for quite a while - I know people who are qualified illustrators who still use it.

Also, welcome back. :D

Hey Spik! It's good to see you're still here too. :)

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add that to my wishlist for Santa.


And hey it's offtopic, but have a look at this:




I can't remember what the hell that was about. Do you suppose you could remind me? Something about the Game Development forum. xd

Use softer pencils. People don't realize the lush contrasts they can achieve by just simply purchasing softer pencils. A set like 8B - HB would be wonderful. It's what I have.

If you're going for pencils, don't disregard 50% of the product by buying shitty paper, or lined ones.. i recommend getting thick paper unless you want to scan it and work it up in photoshop or something at a later date, they really catch alot more of detail that way

Does these softer pencils have a specific name or could I just go to the store and ask for a set of 8B - HB pencils?

As for scanning.. That's what I'd rather like to do; scan and smooth the lines/color it in Photoshop. The problem is that I have no idea how it's done. I read a couple of tutorials about it, but they pretty much just told you to make an additional layer and start brushing/penciling by hand. Is that really how you achieve those extremely smooth lines you see in webcomics for example?

I was hoping there would be an automated way to do it.

You can make pencil lines sharper in Photoshop by using the Image -> Adjustments -> Levels option, but webcomic artists would probably start a new layer and trace the lines by hand. It's the best way I've found to get sharp, clean lines from a pencil drawing.

I attempted to do that but my lines are anything but sharp and clean. I guess I have to practise it, but I'll save that for later. First I want to get comfortable with drawing in general..

I only have Adobe Elements on this computer anyway.

Hahaha. That picture looks like it's going something to do with the Game Dev form. I think we were short an moderator and everyone was voting for the new mod/s. Can't remember exactly, but I do remember that picture. Haha.

This is how i do it, to color or edit lineart
(This assumes you've already gone through cleaning away bad lines with a white brush)

1. Make sure the image is in RGB Mode in "TopMenu>Image>Mode>RGB"
2. Duplicate your scan layer
3. Go to Channels and press the dotted circle icon at the bottom (Load Channel as:Selection"
4. Go back to the layer view, and press the "Lock:Transparent Pixels" button, and press delete. This will delete everything that isn't black, and lock the transparent pixels
5. Select the brush tool and paint the layer black, and you'll notice how the lines get a bit thicker and crispier

After this, you could play around with the contrast/intensity in "TopMenu>Image>Adjustments>"


Edit: (You could basically take any scan you want and do this, it would just get alot more time-consuming cleaning the lines up in photoshop, but using an ink pen is usually a good way to define lines before scanning into photoshop, and then use intensity to get rid of the thin stencil pen lines)