Drawing old school with pen and paper... I can't do it anymore!

[carloswebcomic]

Ever since I started doing comics digitally, I've noticed that if I flip one of my drawings, it just looks wrong.
Before I had a tablet, I would sketch on tracing paper so I could flip the image over and fix mistakes.
Now that I have a tablet, I follow the same process but digitally. This is an issue that has not improved with practice.
So the short of it is, I cannot draw with pen and paper as it simply looks rubbish but I cannot see it until I flip the image over.

Am I the only with this problem?

[Luie]

No I also have this problem. Except on to of this I draw more naturally with a pencil than my tablet stylus. So I'm stuck in this infinite loop of sketching traditionally and fixing stuff digitally. The reason it looks different is because your eyes get super lazy warp the image you draw, so it looks correct until you flip it. For practice, I've been tracing over the work I fix digitally so that I can train my eyes. I also work with simple shapes so that the details don't warp. But now I can see when my drawing is warped compared to the digital fixed ones.

[SpavVy]

I went digital for about a year and when I first started doing traditional work again my hand was vary wobbly while holding the pencil. Drawing with a tablet is vary different because you need to look up at the computer screen while you draw and when you do line strokes it's often larger on the computer than how you originally did it on paper (or maybe it's just me?) When I started going back to traditional I decided to try and even things out like some of my art will be full digital and some full traditional even if the traditional would suck. Eventually I got used to doing both, I now have a light pad to trace my sketches and refine my work so it makes it a lot easier.

[ashriott]

Considering I draw and ink my comic traditionally, I have this problem like 99% of the time. The other 1% is when I actually get things right on good drawing days, which is like almost never. But I do constantly try to fix things traditionally by flipping it over so it's right. If I'm having too much trouble fixing it, I'll most likely fix it digitally once I scan the page in.

I get really frustrated when this happens and it drives me nutssss. It makes me feel like I'm not improving at all =_= Oh well, practice makes perfect!

[getsuart]

When drawing traditionally, I always have a mirror for multiple things, like checking my face for an expression, or flipping my image.
Then i point out where the errors are, change them, check again, etc, etc. it takes longer than on a program, but it worths it
And when something issssnnn't right at all, I just... scan and arrange it on Photoshop. XD

Otherwise, I use the flipping on Photoshop, everything's good, yay!

[Doubtcent]

I try to keep it mixed between the two as much as possible. I'm not always working on comics, so when I have free time away from my computer, I sketch. Then if I so desire, I take a picture of the sketch as either reference or for plans to digitize it. And for a lot of obvious reasons, digital is easier to make what I want while pencil and paper often just... makes me feel like I'm a preschooler. But that's why I keep mixing it up.
Usually whenever I have an idea for a comic, I sketch it out on paper, (mostly for layout purposes) and continue from there to digital. If I stay away from paper for too long both of my digital and traditional art starts to lack.

[AnnaLandin]

I lost a bit of my edge traditionally when I went mostly digital, but I've worked it back. I still get a bit more shaky when I sketch with a pencil - I mean, I've always been a messy sketcher, but it gets worse now, because I'm so used to having re-sizing tools - but it's something I've learned to work through.

Other things I miss while working traditonally: layers, layer styles (overlay, multiply, etc.), the undo-button.

However, working traditionally is pretty nice. I like getting a bit messy - paint stains on my hands, pencil smudges on my fingertips, etc. And I like how I sometimes have to work around my mistakes, because there is no undo-button. And that's a nice challenge - I learn more about art on the way.

[Luie]

No you guyz, knowing when we make mistakes is a sign of improvement.

[Menbung]

I'm a tradish artist and I can say some mistakes are hard to spot, so as it was mentioned before, a mirror is a goog friend to have, I always have one near me to check my drawing constantly, if you wait till ur done you can have multiple errors and u don't even notice (like an eye lower than the other), and you'll have to erase like crazy D:

Other good thing to do if you don't have a mirror is to flip paper your working on and face it to a source of light, so you can see a mirrored image of your drawing on the back of the paper.

But what I do have to say is, the more you draw the easier is to spot mistakes without the need of flipping or a mirror.

Oo.oO

[PotooGryphon]

I feel I draw better digitally, mainly just because their more options and tools to get the exact line I'm intending. However, if I practiced enough I'd be able to draw that perfect line without digital tools.

The undo feature is also a lovely tool while inking, however again, if I practiced enough with traditional tools I wouldn't need undo and would probably be slightly faster because I wouldn't undo line strokes so much.

It's a bit of a catch 22, I went digital to be faster so I wouldn't have to scan in pages and all the files are already digital and ready for online posting/formatting for print. However, in going pure digital I think it sacrifices some of the skills drawing traditionally gives an artist

Digital has spoiled me some, and I've become some what dependent on it. :/
Oh well, Manga Studios eraser tool makes it so worth it <3

[AnnaLandin]

No you guyz, knowing when we make mistakes is a sign of improvement.

True! You can't fix what's broken if you can't see what's broken.

[SkipperWing]

I have this problem but in a different sense.

So many digital devices have some sort of pen/touch functionality that carrying a sketchbook is more of a novelty than a necessity. My main work device is a Microsoft Surface Pro 2, and before that, several tablet laptops that allowed me to untether from a desk and work wherever I want. When you have a mobile workstation, that you can carry in the same space as a notebook, and can fulfill all the same functions of that same notebook (and more), why do you need the notebook?

Even on a portable level, the idea of using the Nintendo DS and its successors as a sketchbook was what allowed me to convince my parents to get me one back in highschool (even if pictochat was the best there was at the time) Nowadays, if I want to doodle on the go, I just pull out my 3DS, boot up Colors and go from there!

That's not to say that there aren't advantages to the traditional approach; for one notebooks don't have battery limits or solar interference from glare, but when most of my time as an adult is spent indoors with ready access to a plug, those disadvantages are negligible.