Tuesday
Jan242012
How to Hold a Stylus
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 8:36AM If you've been digital painting for long, odd are you use a stylus. Have you considered what grip you're using? This video will introduce a new hand position, and encourage you to give some thought to the way you grip a stylus.
Reader Comments (54)
Hey Matt,
Nice video, I liked it a lot. I hold my stylus... my pencil my pen with my MIDDLE FINGER on it
So i have my index and middle ON the pen/pencil/stylus and its resting on my ring finger like it rests on YOUR middle's side.
i've noticed to some people they do this when they want precision and they can go to the normal finger arrangement but I never stray from my weird ass grip lol. Idk..
Your suggestion for the grip is pretty out there... but i'll give it a try as for button shortcuts i personally use:
STYLUS BUTTON 1 (CLOSEST TO TIP) = RIGHT CLICK
STYLUS BUTTON 2 = ERASER
hope that helps some people... Thanks Matt for the vid! keep posting!
-Shahan
Hello, thank you so much for sharing this.
I've always been watching CTRLPaint for awhile and I appreciate that you share everything to us all.
About holding the stylus is now a big problem for me.
It's surprised to see you updated this video, since I just try to changing the way I hold recently.
The main reason is because I started to get pain from my fingers, especially from index finger.
I usually hold my pencil or stylus by using thumb and index fingers, and that makes me have trouble to click the stylus buttons.
Because I like to pick the colour all the time while I'm drawing, so I set them like this :
Stylus button 1 - Pick colour
Stylus button 2 - Right click
The strange thing is that I've used Intuos 4 for about 3 years and I have no problem about it at all, then I changed to Intuos 3 and this problem happens. However I personally love Intuos 3 more with many reasons. So I will try to adapt the way I hold to your way since it seems to be more convenient to click both stylus buttons too.
Again thank you so much!
Not a bad suggestion. ...Sadly, I'm actually missing the tip of my middle finger (no joke; it was ripped off when I was 7) and so that doesn't quite work for me, though I do like the idea of holding it more like a Sumi-e brush.
That said, I just hold the stylus a bit higher up, so my first finger is on the rocker. I've mapped the higher rocker button to right-click... I have to roll my first finger up awkwardly high to use it, but I haven't found it a problem yet.
I map the lower rocker button to alt, however, and this is actually amazingly useful in both Photoshop and Painter, since I can sample colors super-fast and with minimal thought.
I do recommend trying that button combination for a while. It might speed things up. ...I mean, maybe you really do switch monitors more often than you sample colors... but I would find that surprising. :)
Cheers.
hehe, this is an odd setup (to me), but I dig the main idea of the video.
Here´s another tip and maybe - a big reason - to use more of your stylus button:
Google for a little app called StrokeIt and install it. It´s a mouse gesture software, so you can use movements of the mouse (in this case, the stylus) to control any program and their functions.
I always love how Apple UI controls work in the latest gadgets, so I though I can "simulate" this with my Tablet - there are multitouch Wacom products, but this is another situation...
Here´s what I´m using for years in my rig:
1. In Wacom properties, I set the Middle Right button to the Button1 (Closest to tip). The Middle button doesn´t have critical functions in most softwares, so it´s safer to me.
2. In Stroke It I change the option to trigger the gestures only when I´m holding this stylus button.
3. Then I set up some shortcuts in StrokeIt to be used in my drawing program (actually you can store different configs for various apps). In my case I tried to emulate the "slide" thing of Iphone, so I set some shortcuts like this:
- Holding the pen1 button + a quick slide (lifted tip) towards upper right direction it zoom in; the opposite direction zoom out. The TRICK here is to setup various key presses (eg.: Ctrl+ 3 times) in StrokeIt, so you got a faster zoom effect. Zoom out (or step back) of your work is crucial for drawing/painting, so any help to make it faster it´s valuable.
Another ones I found useful are:
- ...sliding back (left direction) fit the entire image on the screen.
- ...a circled gesture flip my image in X axis.
The zoom trick can be used in almost any software, you just need to link the shortcut in a new StrokeIt config.
That´s it. Hope this adds to the video.
Heres a picture of how I grip the pencil... my grip is the one on the right the quad...
http://www.hwtears.com/files/grip(1).jpg
is that normal? will this lead to hand hurting? anyone else have the same grip??
^^
I hold my pencil in a similar way, except only using my thumb, pinky, and ring finger. Using the 'normal' grip feels like trying to write with your non-dominant hand to me.
Luckily because of this I never find myself accidentally pressing the buttons on my stylus. But I'm also interested to know if this will lead to problems. I've always had more control in my pinky and ring finger and 'grip correctors' never seemed to work for me, so I wonder if it has something to do with the actual anatomy of the hand.
Thanks for all the fantastic videos Matt!
You've officially gone to where no tutorial has gone before :)
Thanx for elaborating on this small, yet important area.
BTW, what is the command to switch screens? I hate it that I have to map the Wacom to 2 screens and then the cursor moves twice as fast as my stylus.
@Shahan, I use the Quadropod while writing and the Tripod while drawing.
Anyway,
Wow, its quite interesting that you hold your pen that way. The button rocker did cause some trouble when I was getting used to a tablet. But I hold the pen like anyone would traditionally except that I leave a gap between my index finger and thumb where the rocker lies. With that I can just quickly shift or turn my Bamboo pen so that the rocker touches my thumb whenever I want to click.
Holy yikes, that's a crazy grip! Also, you got a big ol' thumb there!
Me, I just settle the switch between my thumb and index finger. I can hit it with whichever is closer. And hey, I like the eraser!
I hold ye olde stylus with the rocker switch opposite my index finger, in the gap between thumb and middle finger. This way a minor dextrous twist counter clockwise runs button one on my middle finger. The other way runs button two into my thumb. a very minor movement and I get to keep my pen grip.
Hmm, never really thought about this, for me, the stylus just seems to work fine with a normal grip.
The way I do it is to hold like I would a normal pen for writing, and the two buttons rests between my forefinger and thumb. Whenever I want to press one of the buttons, I just twist the stylus by pushing up with my thumb so the buttons come into contact my my forefinger. I can then hit button 1 (closest to tip) easily and hitting button 2 (I've assigned as double click for navigation purposes though I may look into screen switching) is a case of sliding the finger up to it (while the stylus is stabilized by my thumb and the second knuckle of my forefinger).
That said, when I was much younger, I was one of those "special" children who couldn't hold his pencil correctly, so I had to be taught how to hold it specifically (they put a little rubber triangle grip thing on it to promote correct pencil holding skills... or something) so I've never strayed from that, even while drawing (never drawn or sketched the way you do Matt, I just taught myself to do it using the basic pen grip).
But it's comfortable for me and it works, even when I want to use the buttons, so I won't complain.
Cool, finally someone tackling that topic!! I have my tablet (wacom intuos 4) for more than a year now and I have to say that I do not agree on all parts of this video. The eraser for example is a really important tool for me, because it allows me to change tools without pressing any button. Although that sounds really efficient, I must say that this differs from person to person.
I use the tripod grip to hold the stylus right at the thickest part (below the buttons). The two buttons are located on one axis with my thumb so I don't have to move any finger to push one of the buttons. I have rightclick and move canvas (space bar) assigned to the buttons.
But with all those ergonomics topics, it is very useful that someone points out the importance of them to you. In the end you will have to find you own settings and favourite grip positions.
Greetings
drawingcode
It would have been great if you just recorded yourself saying "You hold it with your hand, DUH!" and then the video ends ;)
Great video as always!
I tried your grip and it just doesn't feel right to me because I've been using mine for years.
I hold mine between my middle and ring finger and hit the buttons with my thumb.
Bottom button is right click and I never use the other button.
I hold my stylus in a modified traditional grip, as Matt described in the first part of the video— with the stylus held between thumb, index and middle finger. However, I shift my grip down further on the stylus so that:
1) My index finger rests below the button. (I can feel the button resting just behind the "pad" of my index finger.) This means that I only have to shift my finger backward to activate the buttons; and it's very easy to feel the difference between the two of them. The grip allows me to move my index finger without ever shifting the grip on the pen. (the pressure being supplied by thumb and middle)
2) My middle finger rests below the "flange" of the stylus, where it begins to taper. This allows me to give the pen a little lifting support, for starters, but more importantly, by shifting my middle finger slightly down the taper, I can hover with GREAT precision.
The thumb, incidentally, rests just above the flange— so that it provides almost a pincer action: the thumb pressing downward as the middle finger presses upward.
I find this very freeing, actually.
I had hoped you would talk a bit more on stylus modification. I know for myself I learned to paint with the old graphire 3 pens (http://www.rubbermonkey.com.au/ProductImage/Large/10017.jpg) which has a slimmer profile than the intuos pens. I now have had an intuos 3 for about 5-6 years and have used the newer fatter pen grip which comes standard, but have begun to notice that after an hour or so of painting I get annoying dull pain inside the knuckle of my middle finger (I use the original tripod grip, I find this has the greatest amount of freedom since I constantly slide my pen out for a very loose paintbrush like grip.) I began to realize that this pain was from the fat format of the latex around the end of the pen, and so I simply ripped it off. I've also unscrewed the widening stop at the tip of the pen. Now my wacom pen is as slim as a pencil, which when I hold never gives me this dull and annoying joint paint, which I believe is somewhat generated through over-gripping.
That is, until recently, I now get that pain after about 40 minutes of drawing. So I now take constant stretch breaks and lather a535 on the knuckle. I am considering a different grip where the pen rests between the joint of the index and middle fingers rather than the hollow between my thumb and index finger associated with the tripod grip. I think this alleviates some sideways pressure my middle finger had to deal with. But again, i find that the loose range that I i like to use is gone. Any thoughts?
Got my first Wacom in 96 (Art Z2 6x8). I actually liked the old stylus better.
Anyways, button mapping aside, my preference is much less of a change that this. It's simple and more like chopsticks.
Close to a blend of the art and writing styles. Thumb is above the rocker. It's job is to stabilize, but also to roll the cylinder when I want the buttons.
Stylus is kept against the first joint of my middle finger. Index finger is used for additional pressure or to move up to the rocker switch when the thumb rolls it under. Overall, it's a loose underhand grip.
Kinda like this, but down near the tip. http://0.tqn.com/d/drawsketch/1/0/6/2/underhand.jpg
Next to the grip i have a question about the use of the stylus to draw/paint with.
In my analog painting i like to use a flat square brush. That way i can quickly do thin lines aswell as broad dominant strokes,or a combo. For example in a portrait start thin at the ears and end up broad beneath the chin, making the cast shadow.
I mis this a lot on digital painting. Is there a way to simulate this with a stylus? by rotating the stylus also rotating the brush?
Love to hear how some of you work around this. ( changing it in the brush properties every time is to much of an hassle)
I personally like to hold the pencil in the writing position a lot (near the tip due to the buttons) with my thumb pressing onto them. But occasionally, especially when I feel I need freedom of movement or stability, I raise the pencil all the way up so that it is perpendicular to the tablet. I basically do this by pivoting the pen and holding it between my thumb and forefinger, my middle finger underneath the tip for stability. This way, I can raise my whole arm off the table and the tablet and just use its whole movement to draw a line, while my 'tripod' keeps the tip stable and from wriggling.
I have also used a chinese brush hold (where I hold the stylus with the tips of my fiingers, in a similar perpendicular fashion), though I rarely draw like this anymore.
I hold the stylus with the button just behind my thumb and when i need to press the button i just twirl it a little and press it with my thumb.
Finally, someone else who finds the eraser on the end as useless as I do! [As my own opinion, anyway.] I always just tap E on my keyboard since its faster to do than flipping my pen over and back repeatedly, and my left hand is always on the keyboard for shortcuts to begin with.
I like the new grip, but I haven't tested it out on art yet, so I'll practice it. It feels a little better to hold it this way, too.
I hold my stylus with the normal thumb and index finger and cross my middle finger over my index finger to activate the buttons and it works great for me! Just kidding my rocker button ripped off. Go toddlers!
HAHA ive been holding pencils wrong my whole life and it just so happens i hold them all exactly like this. I never realized the advantages of using the stylus like this till now, i tried changing my grip numerous times because i thought i was doing it wrong. Thanks for the validation
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13805194/stylus%20grip.jpg
This is how I hold the stylus. The buttons doesn't get in the way ever and I use the second button as "right click" and just like JesseL I kinda twirl the stylus slightly while pressing it with my thumb. Feels comfortable and intuitve for me at least.
I pretty much hold mine like a pencil, and use my thumb for the rocker switch.
Thanks Matt
Another forum question answered :)
I never use the eraser either. Looks like it could scratch my cintiq too so I will never even try it :P
"BEAR CLAW STYLE" hehe. The good old normal style works for me pretty well without hitting those buttons on the stylus by mistake. This reminds me of Phoebe teaching Joey guitar :D hehe.
Is this really comfy when you draw ?
Eraser useless!?? Is it a bit difficult for you to turn the stylus round?? On a less sarcastic and more helpful note you can disable the rocker switch in the Wacom Tablet Properties.
I've never quite thought to change the way I've gripped the stylus, but I suppose I'll give this a go. Usually speaking, I never have the stylus gripped too terribly hard, letting it nest on top of my middle finger, and my index just above that, and my thumb on the stylus buttons. Since it's not as necessary, I have "Right Click" set to button 2, and Pan/Scroll on button one. This way I can move around the Photoshop documents incredibly fluidly, and by using the Command (Mac) key in conjunction, it becomes a more dynamic way of zooming in and out, rather than going in 10% in or out at a time with a keyboard shortcut. For whatever reason I've never found much of an issue with the buttons getting in the way, but I suppose it's all a matter of personal preference.
@Tom H
It's not difficult to turn the stylus around, but it is less efficient than simply hitting the E key on the keyboard. A lot of people, while painting, keep one hand on the keyboard for shortcut keys, hitting the E key to switch to the eraser and then the B key to switch back to the brush is much faster and more fluid than turning the stylus around (and it get's easier if you customize the shortcut keys to something a little more useful than E and B, I myself have a Logitech gamepad which I've programmed with a tonne of Photoshop shortcuts so I can change from brush to eraser with my thumb without skipping a beat), so the eraser on the end of the stylus ends up being quite useless.
Interesting video, I've always used the usual grip but with the thumb on the rocker switch. I use another grip from time to time to get loose marks: holding the pencil between the index and middle finger and gripping with the thumb. Maybe I should snap a picture
Thanks for the idea of using the rocker to switch display :D
I don't agree with the idea that you cannot grip your stylus in a traditional way. Pen tilt is a wonderfull feature in Photoshop and even more in Corel Painter. I use it every day with my Cintiq. The only problem could be the thick ending part of the stylus that blocks a little bit your angle. I personnally just removed it, unsrewing this last ring.
In my opinion it is really dangerous to ask people changing their grip just to be able to reach two additional buttons on the stylus. To be honest the time you will spend finding your new grip is not affordable. Better configuring the most useful shortcuts on your wacom palette or wasting one second changing your fingers position to trigger the stylus buttons. Hand and finger grip should be natural and not a crazy violonist gesture! J
Also turning your stylus for the eraser is not so difficult, come on! :)
Anyway, you are doing a great job here Matt, Looking forward to seeing more. Even as a professional there is always something to learn here.
Best wishes,
-Simon
Here is my way of holding it (like a pencil) and pressing the buttons: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4898693/pen.gif
Hey there, nice video, I have a Bamboo pen and I dont get that problem, I hold my pen like I would any other pen and draw from the tip with very little pressure so I dont damage the tip. Anyway..
Mat could you make a video about a the design and use of a color pallete for a painting???? Pretty please!!!! X3
I was completely surprised when you said that the eraser is completely useless because i use it all the time.
Then i realized that Photoshop does not support the eraser part, it has the same settings as the brush tool.
I use paint tool SAI which actually supports the eraser and it's surprisingly convenient because i can set up two brushes/tools on my one stylus, i just have to flip around literally - so i have this really light loose grip close to the middle and i barely use the buttons on the stylus as well, and people also told me that it's cool how i just flip it and draw like that. XD It's just simply comfortable to me.
Everyone: This is a great conversation! I'm thrilled to read and see all of your interesting hand positions, and especially like hearing the explanations. The comments in this video prove that stylus grip is a matter of personal preference, and I hope everyone is learning from the great ideas being posted!
@Simon Loche: First off, it's great that you bring up the 'tilt' functionality. I should have mentioned in the video that I never use the 'tilt' feature in any of my brushes, so it's quite possible that my grip doesn't facilitate it.
Additionally, I'd like to comment on your assertion that it's 'dangerous' to rewrite old habits, because of the lost productive time. I totally hear where you're coming from on this - we're both professionals, and time is money. I'd argue that a long-term gain in productivity is well worth a short-term loss of productivity. I'll use my keyboard setup as an example:
Custom keyboard / controller: (Image link)
As you can see, this has very little in common with a standard layout. I realized that my workflow could be improved by some major rearrangements, and built this controller setup. It took me many months to hone it properly, and was less productive in the process. Now that my old habits are totally re-written, I work easily 100% faster - and with less joint stress. Sure, the months were a frustrating loss of productivity - but it was a small price to pay for my current workflow and ergonomics.
Personally, I'm a little confused as to how people find the eraser on the pen useful at all. Instead of flipping the pen around to it's bulkier, less accurate end, just getting used to pressing the "e" keybind (or I suppose anything else you bind the eraser to) should in theory speed up your work flow. It has also always felt as though the eraser end of the pen has incredibly less pressure sensitivity. If the material at the eraser end is softer than the surface material used on the tablet, then it's also going to wear down, producing sharp edges that can dig into and mar the surface, and if it's harder, then it will inevitably do just the same. Mind you, I only work within Photoshop, so I can't really speak from experience on any other art program.
I hold both my pencil and stylus like chop sticks (not at the same time, though, of course!)... funny, I never realized it until now.
Nice tip. I had a hard time figuring out how I liked to hold my stylus at first, and trying to use the index finger for the buttons was a pain. So the solution that I found best for me, was to twist those buttons to be just under my thumb. (So the buttons are facing the pad, and my thumb rests to the side of them) Then when I need to utilize the functions of the button, it is a slight roll, or slant of my thumb, (hardly any pressure or movement) and I can activate the functions. Hope that makes sense.
In my case, I hold the Stylus like a normal pencil (because I never touched the buttons unintentionally, maybe I just have smaller hands). Your hold is fine too, but wouldn't work for me, because I tend to rotate the pen while working with it (I do the same with pencils) and so the buttons just change their positions.
I use the right klick button for the brush menue, and the left for the eyedropper.