How To Get Good At Drawing With A Mouse
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Creating digitally gives astonishing possibilities. You become so many colors, then many materials, every fault tin be fixed easily and information technology'southward all in a friendly, clean environment - you just need to turn off your computer later. All these advantages are the reason why so many artists effort their easily at Adobe Photoshop.
This software, although so popular and powerful, is designed to work with a graphic tablet. Drawing with a mouse is possible, simply information technology'south hard, time consuming and very frustrating. On the other hand, there exists some other product of the same visitor - Illustrator. And while Photoshop (and every other raster cartoon software) favors tablet users, Illustrator doesn't mind creating with a mouse. Do you want to learn why?
Vector vs Raster
Let's offset with nearly obvious difference. Photoshop (and Gimp, Paint.NET, PaintTool SAI, Microsoft Pigment) are raster editors. It means the picture is saved as a abiding set of pixels. This ready tin't be changed without whatever loss in quality - when you resize a raster film, every dot becomes bigger also. Later on resizing information technology'southward non a pixel anymore - it's a foursquare with visible, hard edges. Hence, a "pixelated" result.
Vector programs (like Illustrator, Inkscape, CorelDRAW) relieve their files equally a set of rules. We can say a line is saved as showtime betoken, end betoken and its width. When you move one of the points, the line is rendered once once more without any loss. Vector graphics are scalable. Newer versions of Photoshop accept some vector options too, but you can't hide it wasn't really designed for this.
What Does it Change?
The different methods of saving the content lead to dissimilar ways of drawing too. In raster editors you describe with dots - no matter if information technology's a line, a square or a hyper realistic portrait of your cat, it's all dotted.
With every stroke you're creating a splash of pixels. Later these pixels tin can but be removed one past 1 (with an eraser) or covered with some other splash, existence lost forever (if it's the same layer). Take the layers and undo'south, and you've got a method identical with traditional drawing.
What does it hateful for usa? To draw digitally in an editor similar this, we need a tool created for traditional drawing - with its digital equivalent existence a tablet pen.
It's totally different with vector editors. Hither pixels aren't constant, they're re-rendered whenever you lot alter something. Therefore, you draw with objects. You can draw a line, then cover information technology with a square, and put a cat on the peak without creating any new layer, and what happens? The line is still there, unharmed, and so is the square.
Vector drawing is more like building - every object is a block that can be removed and modified at any time without affecting the balance of the moving-picture show. While raster editors are based on a natural, complimentary movement of your hand (that can't exist imitated as well well by a mouse), vector ones don't need it - all they're interested in is you give them points to base of operations on. That's the reason why vector drawings are usually very clean and refined - they're not based on fast, pressure-variable strokes, but on precise clicks.
There's another advantage of vector files. Even the biggest of them are really small in comparison to big raster files. The reason for this is simple - vector files are total of mathematical rules instead of huge arrays of pixel coordinates.
So, are you ready to larn what advantages Adobe Illustrator can give a mouse user? Continue on reading!
You Can Draw With Paths
Do y'all remember paths from Photoshop? The ones created with the Pen Tool, that allow yous create curves and can exist modified without problems? Well, in Illustrator everything is a path.
Seriously, every shape, every line is based on ballast points. You can employ the Pen Tool to draw paths, but the about interesting thing is that every line drawn with a brush is a path too. Does this band a bell? That's correct! When your clumsy mouse will lead the line somewhere else that you wanted, you lot don't need to undo or erase it. You lot just click the points it's made of and fix the shape.
There'south an even improve thing! Ladies and gentlemen, permit me introduce you to the feature that attracted me to Illustrator in my "tabletless" times: Line Fidelity. That'southward something that can help simulate natural movements of the paw, fixing all the mistakes coming from an unprecise mouse (of form, the level of precision can exist adjusted). Looks like it will be all you need, huh?
What Nigh Pen Pressure?
Pen pressure is something you may really miss when you lot apply a mouse. Luckily, Illustrator lets you simulate this effect too! At that place's a tool called the Width Tool. With it, yous can modify thickness of any point of the line. In fact, information technology's even more precise than drawing with a tablet pen!
The Width Tool, though very useful, has some disadvantages. Commencement, information technology takes away the spontaneity from the drawing procedure - you demand to create irksome, rigid lines and fix them later on. Second, this tool appeared for the first time in CS5 version, so not everyone will have a chance to endeavor information technology.
Another way to draw smooth, fast, variable width lines is to create a brush for it. It'south very easy and constructive - it's the second thing that will make your drawing in Illustrator so much smoother than in any raster editor.
Larn how to create imitation pressure by checking out tutorial on creating your ain Width Contour brushes.
What Do You lot Need Paths For?
First of all, paths are easy to modify. In raster programs, a line one time drawn, is finished. Yous tin attempt to prepare information technology past erasing parts of it and redrawing them, but in fact you lot're just creating more lines covering the incorrect one.
In Illustrator every line, as an object, is accessible fifty-fifty when y'all cover it with a hundred of new shapes. Let's give an case: you lot're drawing very fast, and all of a sudden you see you've drawn a messy looking line some time ago. In Photoshop you'll demand to spend some fourth dimension carefully erasing bad parts, trying not to touch the right lines. In Illustrator you just select the line and edit it!
And you know what information technology ways to "select" something in Illustrator? It'due south just a matter of click, no affair what layer you're on and what else there is on the aforementioned layer.
Since every line is a vector object, there's no problem if yous want to change its shape or position. Vector rotation or resize is lossless. Totally. That's nice for animation, too.
Using colors in Illustrator couldn't be easier. You lot can select an object and modify its color at any time. Also, you lot can fill the area bordered with strokes with any color in a thing of seconds, losslessly.
What About Painting?
That's a skillful question. Painting is continued strictly to traditional media, and by definition it'southward impossible to paint in Illustrator.
Merely equally we've discussed before, it's raster editors that use splashes, and what'southward painting about if non splashes of colors? So that's right, you can't paint in Illustrator. But you tin do something different, and possibly even more astonishing. Something that has no equivalent in traditional art, something between 2D and 3D. It's called Gradient Mesh.
Gradient Mesh is about changing colors of chosen points on a shape. It may not sound very interesting, but when you lot discover that at that place's colour being calculated automatically between 2 points, well... that changes everything! Just imagine you're drawing a face up and calculation a blush on the cheek. You select i point on the cheek, change its color to blood-red and voila! It's nicely blurred without any other tricks.
Most people say Gradient Mesh is hard to learn. Peradventure, but I judge that learning to paint realistically with a mouse is even harder! Moreover, "painting" with Gradient Mesh is faster once you sympathise it. Just imagine drawing those in Photoshop, even with a tablet:
What Is So Special Nigh Vector Brushes?
One word: colorful brushes. That's right! In Illustrator you tin describe with flowers, with fully shaded grass, fifty-fifty with puppies, while in Photoshop yous can create only black-and-transparent brushes. Furthermore, they're very piece of cake to create and manage. Just imagine how much time it will you save!
So Join U.s.a. on the Scalable Side!
And so is Illustrator a perfect tool? Of form not, nothing is. But when you want to create and yous're express with a universal tool - a mouse - you lot should definitely take a look at vector editors. If you're familiar to Photoshop, coming to Illustrator volition be easier, since they take almost the same interface and shortcuts. You lot can too try alternatives, like free Inkscape and see if it suits yous. Get-go using your mouse for the kind of art that it's more suitable for and you'll see it tin exist not bad besides! For a start you can have a look at one of these great, in depth guides to Illustrator tools.
Because getting a tablet? Why not cheque out our article on whether a Graphics Tablet is right for you.
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Source: https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/why-mouse-users-should-ditch-photoshop-and-draw-in-illustrator--vector-20795
Posted by: keatonpausay.blogspot.com
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