Learning Center

On behalf of Digital Scrapbook place, presented by Suzanne C. Walker

Raise your hand if you’re a doodler! In school, were your notebooks and other papers filled with scribbles, doodles, and fun little touches? Mine were, even though I’m this crazy perfectionist who has to have every line in the exact right spot (or I do break out in a cold sweat, you know). I never wanted anyone to SEE my ugly drawings, but I sure did keep busy creating them. Years later, I’ve rediscovered the fun and artistic release of scribbling. And now I have a Wacom Tablet and Adobe Illustrator to help with the obsessive-compulsive-perfectionist stuff!

Scribbles and messy lines can add such panache to your scrapbook pages and digital art; you can quickly take something from ordinary and cute to spectacular with a few extra touches! Let’s quickly walk through going from this:

To this!

We’ll add a scribbly border to the lettering.

First, open your document in your favorite editing software (I’m using Photoshop CS2), and create your lettering, frame, or other embellishment to which you’d like to add some scribbles. I’ve got the text “follow us!” I used multiple fonts in varied sizes to create an irregular, funky feel. Then I created a single layer on which the text was flattened. I saved the individual layers (just in case) in another file.

First, you’ll create a border, slightly larger than the text (or other element). Use your magic wand (unclick the “contiguous” option to get all the element selected) to select the entire element.

Then on the Select menu, choose Modify>Expand. You can choose the size of your border; I expanded mine by 15 pixels from the outside edge of the text.

After you have an area selected that is slightly larger (outside) the original element, create a new layer beneath your object and fill it with the paint bucket (play around with different colors if you’d like to change up the look!). I used a nearly-white fill for the example here.

This is the layer on which you’ll be doing your scribbling. Let’s get rid of the portion of the border directly under your original text/element so that we have a nice, finished border or large stroke around the element to scribble on. Go back to the layer with your element and select the entire element again with your magic wand, then click back on the border (just below your element) layer and delete the “inside” of your border layer. If you “turn off” your element layer above, you’ll see the outline/border. I usually leave my element “turned off” so that i can better see the border on which I’m scribbling. De-select the object after you’ve cut the hole in the middle.

Creating a clipping mask will keep things neat and tidy by hiding the “outside the lines” scribbling. So, create a new, blank layer ABOVE the text/element layer, right click on the new blank layer and select “Create Clipping Mask”.

Now, on this masked layer, we will scribble! I use a plain, round brush, between 4-6 pixels in diameter, in black. Set the spacing to 1, and if you’d like, you can play with the pen pressure features to achieve a distinctly authentic and irregular scribble. See the Tutorials for more information on using the pen pressure features of your Wacom Tablet.

Here’s the fun part! Grab your tablet and the pen, and just start scribbling! Tell yourself that it’s okay to be sloppy; we don’t WANT this scribbly border to be perfect! If you’re having a hard time seeing your cursor on the screen (because the brush tip is small), you can change your preferences to use a “brush icon” curser.

Scribble to your heart’s content! When you’re finished scribbling on your layer, you might like to flatten the entire object with its scribbled border and add texture or pattern to it. Play around with the layer modes too, and you’ll be amazed at the different looks you can create. This is just one option for scribbling on your digital project – I am sure you can come up with a million other ways to add panache and a personal touch to your scrapbook pages using the Wacom Tablet!