Drawing With A Mouse!

I have been drawing and painting for almost half a century and didn't learn this method of drawing

until a few years ago! Being an old fashioned girl, I've used pencils, coloured pencils too, as well as pastels and markers, not to mention acrylic paint, for yes, painting! Drawing with my mouse was

something I played around with years ago but never took it seriously. But, about three years ago or more, the thought came to my mind, "I wonder if there are any drawing devices for the computer?"

Lo an behold, I found a Bamboo Wacomb drawing tablet on Amazon.ca and used the basic Corel program that came with it. 

Back to Kindergarten

However, when I first started with the more serious attempts at drawing digitally,  it was like being

An Unfinished digital drawing...I might finish it some day.

five years old again. Five is great, but I am in my late forties and drawing is something I have done most of those years. So imagine picking up a pencil for the first time and having a shaking hand? That is what it was like. It took a lot of frustration and trial and error to discover software that could make my lines straighter.
If you have downloaded apps or software like Sketchbook Pro or iDraw, you may already have discovered what I did. I couldn't draw circles or straight lines, it was far too wobbly. Believe it or not it was easy to do with a pencil, but not on the computer. That was why at first, I would draw out the basics in pencil, then scan it and then draw over it with the mouse or tablet. See the picture to the right? See the pencil lines? That is real, good old fashioned pencil.
Never Give Up!
However, what kept me from giving up was being able to draw, colour and erase as many times as I wanted to. Not to mention, the fact that it was just easier for me to look up at my monitor and not with my neck bent down for hours. And the other awesome feature, some software simulates all art media like chalk pastels, watercolour paint, pen, marker, pencil and even various canvas or paper surface textures! Super cool.
Needless to say, I was inspired to not give up.  And by the way, you don't need the Bamboo drawing device, you can just use your mouse. In fact, some times it seems like you have more control with the mouse. Most computers come with paint programs that are free, so try it out.
Sharing Some of My Digital Drawings...

This drawing was drawn just for this blog to illustrate a topic  By Anita Berglund

I was trying to show a feeling - what does this drawing make you feel? By Anita Berglund

Illustrations communicate messages, what is this one saying? By Anita Berglund

This is another drawing in a cartoon style to communicate a message.   By Anita Berglund

Always Learning...
As, I am with all art forms, I am still learning the world of drawing digitally. Since this blog is intended to inspire creativity as well as offer up some lessons, I wanted to share some of my digital drawing attempts so far. I want to encourage you to try it if you haven't already or if you experienced frustration like I did, to say, don't give up! I would love to see your drawings. Message me if you have something you want to share. Remember to save your pictures so you don't lose them if your system crashes. Mine crashed when I didn't have enough RAM. Which is memory. If your computer slows down, every now an then save, and reboot. It will clear the RAM (Random Access Memory) and hopefully, give you some more drawing time.

The Bamboo by Wacomb device comes with a small flat surface that plugs into a USB port and a pencil like device. The programs I like to draw most with, as a beginner is an app called iDraw. For some reason the original software doesn't work anymore. With iDraw, you can control the steady part. Meaning you can make adjustments to help your line making, anywhere from 0-100% control.

This is A cartoon of Craig doing laundry that I drew for another blog

This one was made as a digital card using the photos as a base t work from.

 Illustration by By Anita Berglund