pattern making

[Keefie]

I took the plunge and bought a graphics tablet, an Aiptek 14000U Media tablet. It's a pen only not a touch tablet but I didn't especially want a touch one. It's a fairly big one at 420 x 300 x 16 mm total size with a working area of 305 x 185 mm in widescreen or 242 x 185 in standard mode. It has 34 programable macro keys and 5 preset "hot keys".  It took me 3 mins to load the driver program then when you plug it into usb it worked straight away in Gimp, Inkscape and CorelDraw  (and it comes with full version of Photoshop Elements 10 ) It's the first time I have used a tablet and found it so easy to use it's unbelievable. It was on special offer at Amazon.co.uk for ?66.50 instead of the ?79.50 they wanted for a Wacom. I played with it this afternoon for 3 1/2 hours using Coreldraw and made my first pattern. There is loads of room for improvement, but I was pleased with the outcome for a first attempt.

Keith.

[jrpeteo]

Nice job! Pretty much cuttable just like you have it. Keep playing.....
Pete

[Marcellarius]

nice job Kieth, promising first pattern!!
can't wait to see more.
have a graphic tablet myself, but don't use it often.
some how I'm used to the mouse more.

[rob roy]

Lovely photograph Keith. Afraid I can't comment on the drawing, as I have difficulty drawing straight lines with a ruler. .
Rob Roy.

[Keefie]

Me too Rob lol.

[daveo]

Keith
nice job keep going
Dave

[wombatie]

That's great Keith.  I've had a tablet for about 3 years and I think I've used it half a dozen timesjjust can't get the hang of it, still that's me, lol.

Marg

[ShadowB6]

Nice job Keith. I bought my Wacom tablet for exactly that purpose. Your first effort is bang on. In using Old Crow's advice and wise words, "PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND PRACTICE."

I found using the mouse to be quite tedious and probably cut down the computer time by 50% using my tablet. Let's face it, we all would prefer more time on our saws.

Here's my latest portrait attempt that was completed on the weekend. It's strange how different people have different perceptions as I didn't originally like my attempt and asked on here for help. Mahendra came up with what I believed to be a much superior version but when showing it to my customer, they preferred my version. Go figure, to each their own.

Mike

[EIEIO]

It seems it is most important in a couples pattern to make the woman look great. The guy gets a kick out of anything close, but if you bugger up the woman you're a trouble. Your rendering of this woman is very realistic and attractive, so I'm not surprised that "they" liked it.

I would have removed the background and just concentrated on the faces, but that's just my preference. You did a nice rendering. I hope they are happy with the cutting.   

[Tomsunnu]

Keith, congratulationon your new toy you are doing great! Just keep playing around with the different tools and options and ofcourse,practice is the key word.

Mike, great looking pattern made by you and the cut portrait looks excellent, I sometimes try to make it less difficult patterns by not including unrequired details, as long as the subject looks realistic . I guess each one has his own take  but well done on this order,looks very nice.

Thanks for sharing.
Mahendra

[ShadowB6]

Thanks Mahendra & EIEIO. In keeping with what Mahendra and Old Crow taught me, I actually preferred your version Mahendra as there was less background which meant more focus on the people. But the customer wanted as much of the background as possible. Again, go figure. The customer was the sister of the female in the portrait, and that's what she asked for.

Mike

[Keefie]

Well I cut out all of the background in my pattern, not to bring more focus on Sharon's portrait, but to give me less to worry about in my first pattern lol. Mike, I think you did marvelously with your pattern, you captured the likeness very well.