I've always been a hardcore pen-and-paper kind of artist. I relish the simplicity of dragging ink across the page and making a mark with it. I enjoy being able to bring my drawing with me everywhere--being tied to a desk just feels to much like work. I also just prefer the look of an organically drawn line. Nevertheless, I think that the time has come for me to quit being such a Luddite and learn digital drawing. Not saying I'm going to convert, but who knows. I spend a hell of a lot of time erasing pencil lines, scanning, formatting, doing cleanup, et cetera--time that I could be using to create more art if I could just skip those steps. That's a tremendous incentive: To produce more, and possibly to produce better comics.

I've fiddled with Sarah's Wacom tablet in the past, and it's been a thoroughly humbling experience. It really is like learning basic drawing all over again. I'm reminded of the frustration of being a child trying to color inside the lines--you can see where the lines are, but somehow the crayon just goes everywhere, outside of the control of your wobbly hand. And don't get me started on Photoshop, one of the most powerful and intimidating computer programs ever created. There's millions of options, probably dozens of different ways to execute any one visual effect. Should be exciting, but it's mostly just terrifying.

Anyway, all this is to say, I did my first digital webcomic tonight. I hope it gets easier.