Can I use AI to enhance my own original artwork?

[Oriflamme]

Question: do you do a rough sketch before jumping into doing the lineart?

I was looking at the screenshot you’ve posted and I didn’t see any sketching/rough layer so I was curious.

If not, then it’s the easiest change you could do to improve your art. It goes beyond medium paper, tablet, mouse or phone.

[JWZagst]

Which screenshot? If you mean the ones with CSP, I was using a background layer with figures from JustSketchMe to help guide me. When I draw on paper, I do it in pencil first, then do the lineart with ink, and then colors. Like, here is an older version of my initial hand-drawn image where I tried out giving Kai Hexum round ears and a different nose and jaw line. I kept erasing and changing it until I was happy, and then inked it. And sometimes I just draw straight without framing, I'll post some of those too.

[JWZagst]

If you mean the screenshot of my phone, I just drew that up in like 20 seconds with no framing or guide or anything. I decided to take a few extra seconds and do a slower one in that same app on my phone. Of course, my big fat fingers made it slightly difficult, but using a pen on the Kamvas will solve that particular issue XD. As with the other one, I did not use any framing or rough sketch, I just did it from memory. Not meant to be solid art, just another test for using the touchscreen to draw, but taking a few extra seconds and going a bit slower.

[Kelheor]

The non-screen tablet definitely has a pretty big learning curve, and depending on how good the tablet itself is, sometimes it is really hard to use it. I struggled with my first non-screen tablet so much I decided it's not for me. Granted, it was more than 10 years ago and even at this point the tablet was already old, so technology became so much better since then. I didn't have much problem with all my non-screen Wacom tablets after that, but then I switched to Cintiq and every time I need to use Intuos, it's a pain.
So yeah, I'd say using a screen tablet is definitely much easier, so I am not sure why people are trying to say it's not is it the same as using a pencil? No, not really. But it's definitely much closer to using a pencil.
If you already have a tablet I would still recommend trying to get used to it, but if it's really hard and it's a pain to use after a few weeks of trying, no harm in waiting for a screen one.

[Oriflamme]

Your sketches on paper are too dark and you’re pressing too hard on the paper. I recommend drawing lightly with a 2H pencil so you can easily erase the lines without leaving a mark.

The justsketchme thing is not a rough/sketch layer, It’s an anatomy and pose reference. You need to do another layer in between those two. The sketch layer is where you make all of your mistakes and then correct them, You don’t need to add every detail, nor does every line have to be perfect, You just need enough information to guide your final line.

For example:

Sketch:

Lineart:

Please note that in the example, the sketch was done over a screenshot of a 3d model. It is also a little bit cleaner than usual due to some quirk of the production methods.

Edit: Forgot to include the original sketch, to avoid making you think that “real” artist can draw something like as a first step.

[JWZagst]

The Wacom Intuos is top tier as a pen tablet, the issue is that I am not good at using it to draw XD. People have said it's the same as using a mouse, but for me it's quite different because pointing and clicking with a mouse is not the same as trying to draw anime-style images. Trying to draw anime faces without looking at the surface I am drawing on is so difficult for me and takes the fun out of art. Most of my experience is on paper and back when I was a teenager, I could draw Goku almost as well as Akira Toriyama himself, but then I switched my focus to writing and my art suffered over the years. I've only recently decided to get back into art seriously again, still rekindling those old flames XD.

[JWZagst]

Well, those drawings were originally done with the intention to use colored pencil, and also before I had inked them and then used the eraser over it more. And as you can see from the colored pencil version in my original post, the original pencil lines have been sufficiently erased and then colored over XD. But I see your point.

[jwabeasley]

Well I hope you find the method that works for you. Good luck.

[JWZagst]

Thank you! I really do appreciate everyone providing feedback and insight beyond the scope of my original question. It warms my heart to see so many artists lending a helping hand XD.

[wolflu66]

Perhaps for artists from the generation who started learning digital art when screen tablets weren't available (or weren't common) in the market, using a screenless graphics tablet isn't difficult at all XD.

While the generation who already had screen tablets available when they began learning digital art would be less accustomed to screenless tablets?

I'm thinking, in some ways it's like manual transmission cars versus automatic transmission cars?

[wolflu66]

I think what everyone means is not to deny that "screen tablets are easier to use," but rather that "screenless tablets" aren't really that difficult. They're indeed not as intuitive and simple as screen tablets, but this doesn't mean they're difficult to use.

Personally, I use a Wacom Intuos and iPad for drawing, and sometimes I have to switch between screen and screenless tablets several times within a day. I'm already very used to it XD

[JWZagst]

In my case, it's just that all my drawing experience is on paper and using the screenless tablet feels odd because I'm used to drawing on the same surface that I see my artwork on. I'm used to looking at my pencil as I draw on the paper. As for the two generations you mentioned, I think predate both because I developed as an artist in the late 1980s and most of the 1990s and very early 2000s. I switched my focus to writing around like 2002 or something and only recently started getting back into art seriously, so prior to this year, I never really dabbled in digital art at all other than occasional drawings with a mouse.

[Humbug]

Sure, a display tablet is technically "easier", but I don't see the point in transitioning for a couple of reasons; tiny Wacoms are dirt cheap these days, and probably last longer. I've found the more complex the device is the sooner it breaks down.

At my age, my back does not like me hunching over for long periods of time, and it's impossible to set up a display tablet at eye level when I need to keep my back straight. But these are issues that don't effect you young-uns, so do what feels best for you.

[JWZagst]

I think the first character I ever drew was Michelangelo when I was like 6 or 7, so that would have been in either 1988 or 1989, I forget exactly when I became obsessed with Ninja Turtles lol (I was born in August 1982). In 5th grade when I was somewhere around 10, I used to draw Sonic a lot from the SatAM cartoon:

By that point, my artistic skill had earned me a special kids summer program at an art museum. My elementary school paid for it like a summer scholarship thing and presented the certificate to me at my class's 5th grade graduation. By the time I got into high school and my late teens, I could draw anime characters like Goku with great accuracy. But then I discovered Harry Potter, and it ignited a desire to write fantasy novels, and so I mostly abandoned my childhood dream of becoming a cartoonist and embraced my new adult dream of becoming an author. Only very recently started taking my art seriously again.

[wolflu66]

Well, it seems like you were born earlier than me XD. When you have time, please share more of your artwork so we can exchange ideas with each other.

[Humbug]

Born is 84, not middle age yet, but I'll get there. I can share more art, I just haven't thought of the right thread.

[JWZagst]

Here are some random things I drew very recently. Obviously these were just for fun, so I didn't really worry about how good they looked:

I don't have any drawings left from when I was at my peak, but here are a few from over the years where I just drew stuff randomly without any intention of taking it seriously:

[Kelheor]

I am sorry, I am almost 35 and I broke my back and set my eyesight on the path of going down with comics for the first two times while being in comic competitions with my two screenless tablets 🤷‍♀️ I then repeated it with Cintiq, but that's a different story. Slouching for 10 hours in front of the monitor will weaken your health one way or another.

[Kelheor]

And what I mean to say is that people are different, and if someone decided that a screenless tab is not for them, well, maybe it's just not I also have a friend who just cannot use the pen tablet at all, I suppose it heavily depends on an individual brain processing hand to head information.
Does it mean that OP will most definitely get used to the screen tablet quickly? Maybe not. Maybe they will be just as unsatisfied with it. But I suppose they tried what they have for a few times before deciding it's just not great for them and not just throwing money away

[JWZagst]

I'm pretty sure I'll be quite happy with the screen tablet XD. I messed around with a drawing app on my smartphone and using the touchscreen to draw is waaaay easier for me than using a screenless pen tablet.