My friend's digital portraits lost all their grit after he switched to a newer tablet

He used to draw on an old Wacom Intuos 3 from 2010 and his faces had this raw, sketchy energy that made them pop. Three months ago he upgraded to a Cintiq Pro and now everything looks too smooth and polished, like digital plastic. Has anyone else noticed their style change when they switched drawing tools, or is it just a matter of getting used to the new gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

gracecarr9d ago

Is it possible he's just holding back because the new tablet feels too expensive to mess up? I made a similar switch a couple years ago and my stuff looked terrible for months because I was scared to draw loose and scratchy. Those older tablets force you to work faster and accept mistakes since you can't see the screen. The Cintiq makes everything feel precise and careful which can kill that raw energy if you're not careful. Tell him to try drawing with a bigger brush and not zooming in so much. It took me a while but I finally got my messy style back once I stopped treating the new gear like it was fragile.

matthew_baker9d ago

Oh MAN that is EXACTLY what happened to me too, I couldn't draw anything decent on my new tablet for like six months.