Self-healing cutting mat makes your Wacom Tablet feel better than paper!

The drawing surface of a new Wacom Intuos4 is coated with a textured surface that unfortunately rubs off quickly with use. Worst of all, it rubs off where you draw the most - so you get a glasslike smooth surface in the center and a resistive, paperlike surface as you draw further out. Inconsistent!

Texture is important because the slight resistance gives you control over your pen - like drawing on paper.

Here's a solution that makes your Wacom feel better than paper and even better than when it was new: Put a self-healing rubber cutting mat on top of your Wacom and draw through it!

The resulting surface feels great to draw on. It's smooth enough that it feels better than paper - yet you get the same level of control as if you were drawing with a pencil on paper!

Wacom Intuos4 Large

10x16 Green Self-Healing Cutting Mat

The self-healing cutting mat sits (upside down) atop my Wacom tablet for a better drawing surface.

Try it for a day and you'll never go back. It feels so good it's the reason choose a Wacom tablet over a Cintiq (which feels like drawing on glass.)

These cutting mats are $15-$20 and they last forever. I have an Intuos4 Large and the 10x16 self-healing mat fits perfectly (although it does obscure the buttons which I don't use. You could trim it if necessary.) Use the BACK side for drawing - you can feel the painted lines with your pen.

How To Fix Jagged Lines in Photoshop & Sketchbook Pro in Windows 7

Many who use drawing tablets like Wacom / Intuos / Cintiq in Microsoft Windows (especially Windows 7) are having problems with "jagged lines" when drawing or sketching on their tablets. It can happen in Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, Corel Painter, etc.  Sometimes it happens in one software but not the other...

Symptom:
When you draw a line slowly you get a jagged, stairstepped edge.  These look like little stairstep glitches in your line, rather than the smooth continuous like you expect.

Problem:
The probem is Windows 7's native Tablet PC support.  To get full professional results out of your tablet you need to completely remove this from Windows.  (Disabling in services.msc isn't enough!)

Solution:

1. Go to Control Panel and click on Pen and Touch settings. Disable both the Press and hold action and the Start Tablet PC Input Panel. Basically disable everything.
2. In the same window under the Flicks tab, uncheck the Use flicks to perform common actions quickly and easily. (Disable everything you can.)  Press OK to save and close.
3. Next go to the Programs and Features option in the Control Panel. Select the Turn Windows feature on or off option on the left of the window. A new window will open with all the Windows features.  Scroll down to Tablet PC Components and uncheck the option. Apply the changes. Windows will do some configuration and then ask you to restart for the changes to take effect. Restart. (Windows prompted me to restart twice, actually.)
4. Click the Start Button(Windows icon) and enter "services.msc". (Or use WindowsKey+R and type "services.msc.") The "Services" tool will pop up.  Scroll down to Tablet PC Input Service. It should be disabled! If not, right click on it and select STOP.  Oncedisabled, right click on it again & select Properties.  Under General > Startup Type - make sure it says DISABLED.  Click APPLY and reboot windows.

Tablet PC support (which interferes with Wacom's intuos/cintiq driver) will now be removed from your computer!  This will also get rid of that annoying animated circle / radar animation that happens every time you click something using your tablet.

Results? You should now get a smooth, continuous line in your drawing software! No more "jagged edges."  The problem was bad for me in Sketchbook Pro, but my line work in Photoshop improved, too, after doing these steps.

Thanks to Kris Robinson for this post at Oinkfu.com 

Super Bombadon

Super Bombadon is a superhero of Spanish descent.  He always loved soccer but was never very good at it due to overly focusing on his upper body at the expense of his lower.  Bombadon is good with the ladies.  In fact, he refers to everyone as ladies.  "Hey ladies!"  His goal in life is to rid the world of terrorism, but sadly he isn't much better at fighting terror than he is at soccer.

SUPER BOMBADON

His suit is adorned with a lowercase "b" for "Little Bomba," as his mother used to call him. (As well as his prison mates when he was doing time for spray painting 'Super Bombadon' graffiti on a police department in Mexico.)

Super Bombadon: Fighting terrorism one bomb at a time! (Trying to, anyway.)

Self-portrait. (haha)

For years I've been torn back & forth between drawing on paper & drawing in Photoshop or Painter.  Yesterday I discovered Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and it's now my home!  It's technically less powerful than Photoshop & Painter, but it's faster & more intuitive... and since you can do less, it means more time having fun making art & less time getting lost in endless digital possibilities.

Here's a sketch from tonight:

An Open Letter to LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa regarding OccupyLA

Antonio Villaraigosa,

You sent the protesters raincoats when you thought it would win you votes & positive press. Then you realized this is a real democratic protest of people demanding actual change - and you turned on them.  These protesters are the few citizens who actually take an active part in our government - and you're rewarding them by using LAPD to forcibly shut down their freedom of speech.

When LAPD storms the camp, how would the founding fathers of America feel about what you've done? You should be ashamed.

I voted for you, Mr. Villaraigosa, but I'll use any social influence I have to help make sure you're not re-elected.  You failed the people of Los Angeles, and you failed your country.

Matthew Gabriel Cox
Los Angeles, CA

--

I was at OccupyLA during his press conference when he announced the LAPD will be forcibly shutting down the protesters' freedom of speech.  At midnight Sunday, the LA police will be at the OccupyLA camp with sound cannons, tear gas, batons, and guns.  This is no way to treat people peacefully seeking redress and change within our government.

I called the Mayor's office today at (213) 978-0600. Alternative # is (213) 978-0721.
I sent the above email to mayor@lacity.org
I tweeted @Villaraigosa
I'll be at OccupyLA on Sunday night.

I hope you'll do the same.

Occupy Wall St has clear goals & agenda

Mainstream news says the Occupy movement has no clear message, as though it's fun to waste our life & time protesting at Occupy Wall Street protests.  They misrepresent the movement because they know you'll likely side with the protesters if you knew what they stood for.


Just a few goals of this leaderless movement include:
1) Get corporate money out of politics. Reverse the Citizens United ruling which allows endless corporate money to influence elections.  The government should represent THE PEOPLE, not giant multinational corporations paying for legislation through "lobbying."


2) Reform the banking system to prevent the fraud, market manipulation, and irresponsible speculation that got us into this economic mess in the first place. Restore the Glass-Steagall Act (a Depression-era law done away with by President Clinton)


3) Draft laws against loopholes that allow members of Congress to pass legislation affecting corporations in which they themselves are investors.  Enact or enforce laws to prevent the rampant insider trading currently going on in congress. Draft laws to prevent congressmen & the president from receiving payment for legislation after they leave office.


4) Remove the United States from all so-called "Free Trade Agreements" which have gutted our nation of good paying jobs through outsourcing and replaced good industrial jobs with minimum wage service industry jobs... (While running up a massive trade deficit and national debt.)


Michael Moore has some additional ideas many Occupiers support.

OccupyLA October 15, 2011

The mainstream news is misreporting the OccupyWallSt movement. Specifically, they downplay the turnout at OccupyLA, OccupySD, OccupyDenver, and other locations all over the world.  I shot this photo today at OccupyLA:

HUGE turnout at OccupyLA, October 15,2011
(Click to enlarge. This is a panorama created with Photosynth, hence the seams/glitches)

It's not a protest, it's a movement.

Join us.

http://occupywallst.org/

http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

It's happening in your city, too.

Work in progress: Jax Rides A Hummingbird

I haven't disappeared... I ran into problems coloring that last piece so I put it on hold.  Lesson learned: If you aren't enjoying something and you don't HAVE to finish it - just move on.

Work In Progress: Jax Rides A Hummingbird

My dad used to get so concerned if I left a project unfinished... But if you're encumbered by something and it's bringing you down in life - it's not worth it. Start something new and finish THAT!

Besides, when it comes to art - if you have FUN it will show in your work!