Pre-tablet (2010) art class has always required paper. Desktop PC art has existed for many years, so Photoshop skills are somewhat ingrained into a young person's knowledge base. I'm not talking about Photoshop skills, my angle is more aimed at the stylus and drawing. For me as student, I liked art class. I would use the corner of my history book to draw "flip book" animations. The hard part was flipping the pictures. If I had a tablet and a simple animation program I would have been elated.
When I draw in a regular paper sketchbook I like using a mechanical pencil and turn the sketchbook to attain desired shapes. That is where the method of drawing on a drawing pad and looking up at the screen caused a disconnect for me while drawing. The tablet changes that. The average guy doesn't know that you can use a stylus like a pen. For a fraction of the cost a 7" tablet, a stylus and a shield creates an art platform that would have blown my mind in younger days.
The Smartphone made non-technos realize they could figure out the logic of the phone. The same holds true for the tablet. For artistic purposes it is completely possible to sketch, paint, write, storyboard and animate. This is not over the head of today's consumer. Digital drawing can be just as free form as paper but there are different rules. The easiest transition is if you like drawing on bristol board in pen & ink. Bristol is smooth, so is glass. One big, no HUGE difference is "Undo". In real life, how many times would you hit, "undo". A lot I would guess. Especially if you just stubbed your toe.
Art is a struggle between ideas and execution. When you know what you do stays for good you make different decisions than when you can hit "undo". Lets take airbrushing as a technique. In real world airbrushing you have to plan your layers and mask off an area for a hard line. You have to use friskit paper and an exacto blade. While you are cutting you are planning. How you will blend the colors has everything to do with your success. Make your decision and go. Live with the results. Let's do the same thing on a tablet. You can paint and draw in layers making friskit paper as necessary as post-it notes.
Here is the next adjustment... size. Drawing, what size paper would you grab? For me, I like 12" X 14". That is much bigger than a 10" tablet screen, so what do you do? Your effective drawing area on a 10" tablet covers 5"X 8". It sounds small but there actually is a lot of room to create. The
best method is to sketch overall concepts then zoom in to add details. Many programs allow for exporting work as Photoshop layers. A character can be drawn on a tablet and e-mailed to back to be included in a Photoshop creation on your desktop. Some apps record your drawing session, output as a quicktime movie and can be shared with a click. I have combined tablet drawings with photographic backgrounds then animated in After Effects, anything goes.
What I see is going to be a gap between teachers and student when it comes to the creation process. The tablet is only three years old, so teachers can only know so much. It takes time to learn these techniques and how you can interact artistically with a stylus and a tablet. The other issue is "palm rejection". When the stylus and your hand meet the screen it stops all the fun. There are three ways to deal with the physics of tablet / stylus interaction.
1) Lift your hand and write like you are painting
2) Get a high ticket stylus that as palm rejection settings
3) Use a Drawing Shield
For painting, hand up is good, but drawing requires leverage. The average Joe or Jody has a non-powered, capacitive stylus with a rubber tip. The shield is a simple solution for a complex problem, plus it takes care of screen smudges. By hooking your pinky in a loop, your hand glides across the screen without making contact. The idea is to act like a pen, but what if you have never drawn with pen & ink or an airbrush? The experience is new and digital and actually doesn't mimic something if you haven't tried it. You have no pre-conceived notions about how an airbrush works if you have never used one. It would be interesting to be in the position to only use my finger or a stylus for input. Tactile drawing has always been part of growing up. The tablet is an opportunity to use a super sketchbook. It doesn't mean pencils will disappear but look what's happening to newspapers.
One thing I know is that Art Class will never be the same.
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