The other day I wrote that I was seriously considering the purchase of a Cintiq so I could draw directly on the screen. Then I read about the Modbook, a new computer unveiled today at the Macworld Expo conference. It’s not sold by Apple, but it is a Mac. Made by Other World Computing, the Modbook appears to be a Macbook laptop that has been converted into a tablet computer.

It’s got everything a MacBook would have, except the screen is where the keyboard and mousepad should be. I phoned the company and was told that if you want to use a keyboard and mouse, you have to provide them yourself and then plug them in to one of the USB ports. This seems a little bizarre to me, but if I can draw on the screen I almost don’t care. For only a little more money than a Cintiq monitor, I could have what is essentially a smaller, portable Cintiq that is also a fully-functioning computer.

The Modbooks won’t ship until March or April, but hopefully there will be some demo models reviewed on the internet before then. Apple products generally consist of very sophisticated technology and high quality materials, so the thought of someone cutting apart and rebuilding a MacBook makes me shudder a bit. But from the detailed description on the Modbook website, this looks like more than just a hacked-up Mac sold out of some back-alley chop shop. It seems they’ve taken great care to make this a durable, quality machine. They’ve even re-mounted the iSight camera so that it will point directly at the user if he is lying the Modbook flat on his desktop. And they’ve installed an optional GPS capability, something regular Macs don’t have (although why I would need that is a puzzle). It comes with a one-year warranty that can be extended to three years, just like a regular Mac. And the pen/screen interface is designed by Wacom, the same people who make the Cintiq, including low-glare glass that is specially textured to feel like paper. So one can assume that an artist could do some pretty nice drawings with this machine.

If the Modbook turns out to be as good as I hope it is, I will almost certainly buy one.

EDIT: Before I get too excited, I’m going to have to think harder about the missing keyboard thing. When I draw with my Wacom tablet, I still use a lot of keyboard shortcuts (to change tools, resize brushes, rotate and transform, etc.) because keyboard shortcuts are much faster than drag-and-click menus. One of the main reasons I want a tablet computer is to increase my speed/efficiency, but the lack of a keyboard might seriously slow me down. Then again, maybe I could navigate drop-down menus faster with a stylus than I can with a mouse or trackpad? Makes me wish there was a demo model somewhere here in Minnesota that I could play around with.

I recently completed illustrating some Sunday School curriculum for a publisher. Here’s a few of several misc. characters I illustrated for the project. I’ve pulled them out and plopped them in front of a background as a fun way to display them.

I’m seriously considering the purchase of a Cintiq. For those who don’t know, the Cintiq is a large, sophisticated computer monitor that lets you draw directly on the screen with a special pressure-sensitive pen. For artists working in the digital age, it’s a very impressive tool. The Cintiq’s I saw on display at Comic-Con were basically covered with drool.

A Cintiq is also expensive. The latest models run about $2,500.

For the last few years I’ve been using a Wacom tablet to draw/paint on the computer. Well, mostly I still draw on paper, then I scan in the artwork and color or paint it digitally with the Wacom. The Wacom is a great tool, but it really taxes my eye-hand coordination. Instead of looking at my hand while I’m drawing, I’m looking up at the computer screen. I’ve been working this way for years but it still feels klunky and unnatural, so drawing on paper is still faster for me.

A Cintiq would be nice for several reasons. First, I could draw straight into the computer just as quickly as on paper, and the computer’s “undo” command is much quicker (and less messy) than erasing. Second, I’d no longer have to scan in my artwork and then spend time cleaning up all the dust and scratches. Third, the Cintiq has special buttons off to the side that I can program to do simple but tedious tasks (i.e. changing brush sizes) without having to use pull-down menus. Overall, a Cintiq would (theoritically) make me faster and therefore increase my profitibility on projects. According to a “payback calculator” on the Cintiq website, by my conservative guess a Cintiq would pay for itself in about 8 months.

But there are drawbacks. Some say that since the Cintiq is basically a shallow box, the way your arm rests on the edge makes it uncomfortable to draw on (although I suspect this would be more of a problem for some artists than for others)(EDIT: Now that I own a Cintiq, this problem has never been an issue for me). Some say the thick glass makes a slight “gap” between the pen tip and the line you are drawing, which is problomatic when drawing fine lines and details (others tell me the gap is not really an issue). (EDIT: This is a calibration issue. The Cintiq can be custom calibrated for each artist, so that the gap will disappear for a short, left-handed artist, for example, but will still be there if a tall, right-handed artist uses the same Cintiq).

So I’m wondering, do any of you blog readers own a Cintiq? If so, have you found that it improves your efficiency? Was it worth the steep purchase price? Or is it just a nice luxury item? Let me know what you think.

EDIT: My friend Tom Richmond (who is a brilliant caricature artist for MAD Magazine) just posted a very detailed review of the Cintiq on his blog. Check it out.

How did I miss this? Mike Kunkel, creator of “Herobear and the Kid”, has an art blog. Cool!

I don’t do warm-up sketches nearly as often as I should. Here’s a few from some coffee table books that I picked up really cheap at a thrift store (mostly LIFE magazine photos, I think). I’m experimenting with using a chamois and a soft-lead pencil, so far with very mediocre results. Guess that means I need to keep doing more.

I just finished watching a DVD documentary called “Dream On Silly Dreamer”. It’s a fascinating collection of interviews with former Disney artists chronicling the rise and fall of 2-D animation from the 1980’s to the present. I’ve always had a fantasy of moving to LA and working for a big animation studio, so I was riveted by the testimonials and anecdotes of some of the people who actually lived that dream. Filmed during the massive Disney layoffs of 2002, “Dream On Silly Dreamer” gives a compelling inside look into the recent history of Disney animation, from the “warehouse” animation of the 80’s through the enormous success of the 90’s and culminating with the massive Disney layoffs of 2003. The interviews are moving and insightful. These artists clearly love the artform, and their real-life story is a compelling one.

If you are an artist or just have a love for animation, you will find this documentary fascinating, even poignant. Order a copy at www.dreamonsillydreamer.com or click HERE to watch the trailer.