Bamboo

I've always liked the idea of controlling a computer via some other method than the conventional ways. (Mouse and keyboard) I have always imagined that using a tablet to interact with the digital media on the screen would somehow make computing "cooler" or at the very least allow some of my latent artistic skills to show up. (Because, quite frankly when I draw on the computer using a mouse it kind of looks like I had a bit much to drink or I am suffering withdrawal from some type of drug.)

I had read a couple of places on the world wide web that getting a tablet doesn't make you a better artist. Kind of saying to me, "If you could REALLY draw you'd be using a mouse." Having my hopes dashed by such words as these I watched a couple of times as some comic artists I read, draw their stuff on a tablet. I thought to myself, "That looks like a lot of fun, and something I think I could do!"

The biggest drawback to getting myself a tablet was of course the price. Until recently they started in the low 300's and went up. (to over 2k) I didn't think that was worth the cost of me poking around and possibly having some "fun". (I mean, I could build myself half a new computer with that money.)

When I purchased my Mac I began to wonder again... maybe this was the time to try the tablet... maybe... When Beth and I were at the Emerald City Comic Convention we saw the leading manufacturer of tablets, Wacom, there and we looked around at their stuff and I was pretty impressed. Then I checked out their website, and while they do push their higher end models first, they do have some pretty cheap models. "Cheap enough," I thought, "to allow me to buy one and use it to 'play around' on."

So, I bought one. It's little, about the size of a stand photo (about 4x6) but I have to say that it is REALLY cool. It is very much more intuitive than using a mouse and frankly it's a lot more enjoyable. I'm excited to let my sister play with it a bit (artist that she is) I think she'll like it a lot as well. The picture you see on top there is something I drew this morning after playing with the tablet (and gimp) for about an hour. (The picture took about 15 minutes) It was fun, and an I am sure you'll probably see more attempts at creativity as time goes on.

(BTW: The server move has gone well and there shouldn't be anymore interruptions.)

~B.