I need some rant space. Bear with me.

Lately I've been trying to teach myself to draw in Photoshop so I can save some time in getting art online. I've been doing okay with Photoshop... it's a little time consuming, but the results are decent. In order to get anywhere with learning it, however, I had to develop a style akin to what I use when working with charcoal. The problem?

I hate charcoal. Absolutely loathe it. I would be overjoy to hear it had been outlawed as a drawing material.

But there's no mess or coal dust coating your sinuses with Photoshop, so I can set my dislike aside long enough to be productive. So now I've got this new style and can draw directly on the computer. Yay for me. But now I've got a new problem. I started an internship providing illustrations for a learning strategist's handouts. Now, I can churn out sketches for these strategies without much problem, so I'm at the point where I've run out of rough work to do. Great! Now we can just make a digital version and get paid, right?

"No!" my left hand shouts. "This was far too enjoyable for you! I curse you to draw like a third grade child without motor skills when in proximity to your tablet!"

"Well... fuck," the rest of me groans.

I've spent a very frustrating chunk of my day trying to draw on my tablet. I seem to do fine if I draw out of my head or go back to pen and paper, but heaven forbid I be able to draw a straight line if I'm duplicating something. I need something physical to destress with...

Why does my girlfriend have to be so far away?! We could be having angry sex right now!

I digress. Maybe I'd have an easier time if I could get my brush settings to mimic a pencil better. Anyone out there have a clue? I certainly don't.

Alright, I think I'm done. Bear gone now.