For a big touch screen like that, I thought surely it would function well as a tablet or a note taking tool, and it does. However, there’s only so much detail you can get using your finger on the iPad.

Thus, I purchased my Pogo Sketch. Am I’m very happy with it.

Pros:

• Light and solid feeling
• Nice aluminum design
• Clips onto pockets, etc.
• Has a hole on end of clip which could be useful for attaching a string, maybe to put around your neck for quick access to the pen.

Cons:

• Wide, non-precise tip.
  However, I later found out the reason for this is because of a somewhat large touch area on Apple products is required to prevent accidental input.
• Pocket clip seems a little flimsy, may break easily.
• A little pricey. (About $15)

After weighing the pros against the cons I’ve determined of the product, I hardly think the cons are anything major.

Writing with your finger can start to wear on you, not to mention your finger won’t always glide on the screen so easily and you’ll get that annoying “traction”. This stylus makes it feel almost as good as the old pen and paper, and even though it doesn’t seem like the wide tip can be very precise, it’s actually pretty easy to find the sweet spot.

For what it does, it does it all very nicely. I believe it’s the perfect companion to the iPad, especially when you want to take notes or draw anything with any bit of efficiency.

You can get your own Pogo Sketch right here from TenOneDesign. (Wow, look! An advertisement!)

Now for some photos. ;D

Sketchbook Pro with Pogo Stylus(ignore my terrible art skills)

Penultimate with Pogo Sketch(I'm gonna have to use this at work! I love how I can just email these after writing them.)

Lately I’ve gotten into making simple illustrations for sites (like this one!).  I know that to most, my art isn’t amazing, but it works and it can be used to make a creative, cleanly designed website.

This is kind of a mini-tutorial, and isn’t terribly detailed, but shows the basics of how I make my humble art.

     1. Draw it on paper!

Here’s a little sample I sketched before:

This is the easiest part for me.  I am not that great of an artist, but it’s definitely easier to draw something on paper compared to trying to draw with a tablet or mouse.  Whatever you’re drawing, whether it be a logo or a potato, paper lets you be messy.  Go ahead, scribble or sketch, it’ll be refined later!

     2. Scan it or take a picture of it with a digital camera.

(Below is a Canon PowerShot SD1000; Just an example of a nice Digital Camera.)

 Instead of a digital camera, I use the iSight camera on my Apple iMac.  It’s conveniant (built in) and simple.  Just hold up the paper and snap a pic.  However, a camera or scanner will do just fine.

     3. Open up Illustrator and drag your scanned/captured image onto the canvas in a new layer.

A new layer should be used so you can adjust opacity and see what you’re going to draw over it more clearly.

     4. Pen Tool!

Using the pen tool, trace over the outlines of the things you drew on paper (make sure to keep your pen tool created lines in a new layer over the original drawing!).  Also try to connect/close your pen tool shapes so you can fill them with colors or patterns after you’re done tracing.

     5. Color it!

If you’ve closed/connected the shapes you drew with the pen tool, just fill everything with color you think would look good.  Adjust the order of your shapes in the layer if needed.  Be free and creative!

     6. Look at your finished product.

Does it look good? Is it how you like it?  If not, go back and fix or add some things.  Be creative with it.  Have fun.

And that’s it.  Yes, I know, this tutorial isn’t much better than the quality of my art, but I hope to help others learning to do Illustration like me. Good luck!  (By the way, I can probably attach pictures of using the pen tool and Illustrator, so let me know if that would be helpful to do.)