Have You Ever Questioned Your Sanity?

Have you ever done something that seemed like such a great idea at the time, then you start on your little quest and later wondered what he heck you were thinking?

That's me.

Right now.

Okay, so after years of pining for a drawing tablet, God smiled down on me and gave me my hearts desire. I couldn't have been more thrilled. Finally, I thought, I'll be able to color my pictures and learn how to digitally draw my art like all the other artist I admire do. Sure, I've been warned there's a learning curve, but I can handle it. It can't be much different than drawing traditionally, right?

... Yeah.

I started a thread on a forum about a week ago to get me some help in figuring out what tablet I should get. My budget was extremely limited, and not a number that I put out there when I started out. I didn't want people to get caught up in the number and not mention all the feature that I should look for.

For those curious, I only had $150. 

Drawing tablets, as I later found out, had gone up a lot since I last went looking for one. I was expecting to find either a used, or older new model of Wacom for somewhere in my price range, and have a fair few options. And to be fair, there were quite a few options, but most of them were at a minimum of $200. So... I was stuck. I'm not in a position where I'm able to sit back and save my money. If I want something, then I have to spend the cash then, before I'm forced to spend the money later on something else. Usually bills. So what was there for me?

All the good people that tripped over my thread helped me a lot. And finally I thought I had a good idea of what I should get.

Then someone on my thread mentioned their wonderful drawing program, and how much fun they were having with it, and my heart sank. I hadn't even considered a drawing program. Didn't the newer models of the Wacom drawing tablets come with programs? I knew that some of the older models that I looked at a few years ago did. Apparently, no, they didn't.

I nearly resigned myself then and there to just reinvesting in my traditional mediums. At least there I knew that I could grow into my craft unhindered by "progress".

I'm old fashioned, in case you haven't figured it out, as much as I like computers, I hate that they become outdated so quickly. I like things that last. Probably why I enjoy traditional drawing so much.

Open source programs like GIMP, I already heard, were having trouble with pressure sensitivity and lag for all the newer tablets, and fishing for an older version came with it's own hazards. I didn't want my computer to come down with a virus. I also wasn't familiar enough with anything else that had been put out in the last few years to be able to tell what was safe for my computer.  

The nice people in my thread came through again. The name Krita came up no less than three times from three different people. All of them having been using it for a fairly long time with no problems.

So... Krita. Yay!

Still, I was fifty dollars shy of my mark, and beginning to wonder if I was biting off more than I could chew. Then I remember the Bamboo Series. They had been discontinued as far as I had heard, but were people still selling them? They had everything I would need for a startup, tablet and programs... 

...I love Amazon.com.

$130 brand new, never opened with free shipping.

I could have danced.

And now, here I am, sitting with my new baby, with a vague sense confusion.

This is not like traditional drawing. 

My first efforts at drawing even the simplest of things were comparable to me having a messed up hand and having to relearn how to use it. Yes, it was that bad. A couple hours later... better, I will admit, but nowhere near with the detail I'm used to. And Krita? I knew drawing programs had come a long way since I last looked into them, a very very long time ago, but what were all these options? Brushes? Filters? What does that one even mean?  

Learning curve indeed.

What did I just sign myself up for?