Happy Hobbytist time

Pash

Hi All,

I dunno if anyone is in to arts a graphics at all but this is an old hobby of mine that I am rekindling currently. I just got a wacom A5 Intuos 3 graphics tablet for £175 inc delivery brand new (RRP £220) and I have been playing with is since last Friday.

I used to do commercial web graphic design for some freelance projects but I probably wasnt good enough to get a studio job or anything like that and I kind of went down the systems engineer route.... Here is some old work i did a few years ago, not great but great fun at the time!

http://www.privateer-online.com/images/

I often frequent the below sites for inspiration and draw dropping jealousy (see what I did there)-

http://forums.cgsociety.org/

http://www.24-7media.de/forum/

Im kinda after advice from any amateur photographers on the site as well to gather as much info as possible. What would be the best DSLR camera to get for a max of £500? My mums finance is a semi pro photographer but he has very good kit and I can't afford the level of camera he has (nikkon one not shy of £2k).

Anyway just trying to find fellow IT techies who may be rekindling hobbies in arts and graphics!

Peace!

undomiel

I've got an Intuos 3 and I absolutely love it! Too bad the Linux drivers don't include the wacom control panel for per application settings but that's ok. I don't get much time to paint with it these days but I do have some projects that I'm currently working on. I'll finish them one of these days.

tiersten

The Canon EOS Rebel range is pretty good and has a fairly low price for a nice SLR. You can get a 450D + 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens for under £500. You can get a Nikon D60 + 1-2 lenses for about the same as well if you prefer Nikon over Canon.

Pash

undomiel wrote:

I've got an Intuos 3 and I absolutely love it! Too bad the Linux drivers don't include the wacom control panel for per application settings but that's ok. I don't get much time to paint with it these days but I do have some projects that I'm currently working on. I'll finish them one of these days.

Hi undomiel,

Yeh that seems a shame about the nix drivers, i didnt have any trouble so far with vista 64bit ones. This is my second graphics tablet and my first wacom one, i can honestly say i cant beleive I didnt get a wacom tablet before, its really really nice. Becuase I havent been drawing for years ive literally just been drawing the same shapes again and again and again to get fluidity back and practicing the same strokes again and again.

I guess I will also use it to draw out sketches that help me with study. Memorable doodles will help me remember key facts.

Pash

tiersten wrote:

The Canon EOS Rebel range is pretty good and has a fairly low price for a nice SLR. You can get a 450D + 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens for under £500. You can get a Nikon D60 + 1-2 lenses for about the same as well if you prefer Nikon over Canon.

Thanks tiersten,

I was looking at that camera a few weeks ago. Looks really good. I guess ill have to visit several websites before I can decide on the best one. I know that the size of the picture "chip" is very important to get the best full frame picture with any lens. Ill probably need to weigh it all up.

undomiel

Surprisingly enough I'm no good at drawing with the wacom. I have to do all of my sketching on paper and then scan it in and start painting. Painting is easy breezy with the wacom though! Just don't ask me to draw with it. I also prefer the feel of paper under my hand when sketching. I have heard of people putting a plain sheet of paper over their wacom and then using it that way. I haven't tried that out yet, it might be worth it. I've been using only wacom tablets so far so I don't know what any others are like. Started out with the smallest serial connected wacom intuos 1 and have been loving it ever since.

dynamik

Anyone using a Cintiq? Those are sexy!

undomiel

I want a Cintiq! Too bad about the price.