Illustration Software for Students?

	Before You Splash Out on Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator Check Out Inkscape!
	Inkscape is a free award winning drawing package that is crammed with features. It is an ideal package for students starting out with computer drawing as it does not have the steep learning curve of top end packages like Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator. I use inkscape for most of the cartoon drawings on my site. I especially like the 'calligraphic tool'. It gives the lines a nice 'vector' feel that you cannot get in other free illustration software.
	Tips and Tricks - Spend a little time with some cartoon books from the library yourself before you introduce the software. - Experiment with facial shapes, different types of noses, eyes, mouths, character expression etc. -Have the children create their own cartoon characters. -Make sure they experiment with cartooning conventions rather than, 'just drawing the way you usually draw'. - If they complain about how hard it is to draw with a mouse mention, 'Drawing with a mouse is like picking your nose with your elbow'. - Have the children take screen dumps of their characters, edit it in Paint.Net and upload it to their blogs Download Inkscape NB The next release of Inkscape is tipped to have a paint bucket tool which will be a great help.
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