I hope Scott McCloud likes cooking crow, because I’m in the mood to eat some.

I love the Cintiq. More than I thought I would. I’m not sure that it’s going to improve the quality of my art, but it has already improved the quality of the time I spend making my art. First and foremost, it’s fun to draw on. It feels natural. I’m looking down at what I am drawing, as if I were using pen and ink on bristol. My posture is better and I’m able to spend more time at the “drawing table” than when I was using a regular wacom tablet. I can see now how this helped Scott McCloud cure his wrist ailments.

I remember when we all first started drawing with tablets. We would end up at a convention, sketching away and someone would quip that they needed an “undo key” for sketching. Using the Cintiq feels like you’re drawing for real, on paper, and you get an undo key.

The trick to using this, I’m finding, is finding the proper position for the tablet, and yourself. Posture is key. I thought for sure I would have this thing almost flat and draw down on it. But I’m finding that when it’s propped up more like a painter’s easel, it’s much more natural to draw on. When I was in Seattle, there was a Wacom rep at the show. He let another show patron, an animator, use one of the 21ux Cintiqs at his table. This animator had it turned vertical instead of horizontal and told his mack to make the appropriate rotation adustment. This means he had the proper proportions of a comics book page to draw on. That might be interesting to play with for my next PvP cover art.

I wish I could say more at this point, but I feel I’ve barely started using it. I would like to spend more time with it before I talk in more detail. But at this point, I say it’s a big improvement over my previous working conditions. Once I learn to better deal with hotkeys, keyboards, and the built in Cintiq side buttons, I think my speed will improve as well. I’m not speedy yet, but I can that coming in the next week or two.

Next week, I’ll broadcast on Ustream with two cameras: One for my desktop and one over my shoulder so you can watch me work and see what I’m drawing at the same time. I think that would be pretty cool.

If you have one of these, and have any helpful tips or accessory recommendations, I would appreciate it. I really would like to find a decent carrying case for it on the rare occasion I want to carry it somewhere safely and conveniently.