Drawing with a tablet?

[Grey Nightmare]

So I was thinking of picking up a cheap (Cheap, but not 'cheap, cheap' ) tablet for digital drawing.

One thing holds my hand.
I can't help but feel it'd be awkward to draw on something, but look elsewhere to see the image... Has anyone else found this transition hard and does one get used to it?

I'm so used to seeing that image underneath my hands ^^

Also if people know any good/reliable makes of tablets that'd be nice to know, I'm not looking to spend a bomb, I don't draw professionally or even to any AMAZING standard, it's just a bit of fun, but it would be used frequently so a dirt cheap paste together job won't cut it...

$180ish max, I guess

 

[fladdermasken]

Wacom has some pretty neat and cheap ones. Here's Wacom CTH461 Bamboo Craft Pen & Touch Tablet - Silver: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5574661&CatId=140
$129.99 and it's supposed to be quite neat.

 

[Deleted member 157129]

Don't go for anything else than Wacom.

I painted with brushes, drew with pen and pencil on paper and painted with a mouse for roughly 15 years before I purchased my Wacom, and it took me only a week to get used to painting on one surface while looking at the other. It might not be that easy for everyone, and my experience with using a mouse to paint with might've helped, but either way, I'm not going back!

Anyway, as long as you go with Wacom, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

 

[Grey Nightmare]

Thanks guys =)
Just what I needed, cheers.

EDIT: I presume you don't need specific software, they'll work for any program?
Dumb question I know... but I'm not going to have the chance to test any before I buy.

 

[Deleted member 157129]

The Wacom comes with drivers and some software that enables settings (so that you can make the surface represent the screen rather than letting the stylus move the screen like a mouse). It should work with all software. However, I had to adjust some settings to make it function properly (pressure, tilt and so on) in GIMP. If it doesn't work properly out of the box, there's plenty of help to be found on the internet.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll love it.

 

[Grey Nightmare]

Ah very nice, I'm sure I will! thanks again ^^

 

[Skycraft]

Everybody likes drawing!

 

[Nudl9]

I would recommend the same thing as Shiik, get wacom - bamboo is fine if you only draw a little, however if you draw alot you might wanna considering advancing to intuos series and A5 size.

Takes about a week to get used to, and maybe a bit more time to fully adapt the useability of it.

 

[HQCosTheta]

My Wacom tablet is essential for my comic. Without it I would be lost. The pressure sensitivity and pen feel are amazing. It took me a few hours to get the hang of it but get the hang of it I did. I even bought one for my mom. I have placed some of my comic examples in my album.

 

[kola]

Yeah take a wacom. You will need to draw a bit more for like a week so you can get used to the tablet. (it's kinda weird to draw on a screen and check what you draw on an other screen).