It's been a long time since I saw someone painting on a graphics tablet and wanted to give it a try. It's also been a long time since I bought one and still never tried painting. It's a hesitation I've put down to that strange thing that happens to your motivation just before you try something new - you know, when you know you're going to suck at it, so you don't even try.

Well, I finally got my crap together and faced the blank page, beginning another journey of learning and creating my first digital painting. I'm excited to try the real thing, but I find the digital canvas less intimidating because it has an undo feature which saves a lot of money when you're starting out. I'll save those canvases and paints for a little later on, when I've got some idea what I'm doing.

This week, Kolín has been home, and parked up beside a handful of lakes, the views have been beautiful and the days, peaceful. The first painting is something like my view just before bed, last night.

Kolín at dusk.

For those who are interested, this was made on Krita, which I've discovered only recently. So far, I'm very impressed with it. It's a free application for Linux and it's packed with creative tools which respond differently to various interactions, depending on their properties. Good fun with the tablet and definitely a great tool for learning how to paint without spending tons of cash.