[Dekard]

Would it be a good idea for me to take some painting classes?

I mean I can color, but coloring something does not equal painting.

I've been in awe of alot of the speedpainting stuff and I think alot of people confuse drawing and coloring as the same thing as painting.

So, am I off track?

Is it just a combination of the two digitally?

Craig Mullins is awesome as we all know but is a good example, you can look at his images and see the brush work because he has given us some nice hi-res work but if you sit back from it you could be fooled into thinking it was a photograph or a 3-dimensional object. (there are tons more on the board with the same effect)

My question is I have a tendency to draw and color. (keep within the lines, etc..) and tend to have to 'draw' objects I'd like in my image instead of just putting a lighter tone of blue and a lighter blue right there to make your eye see it's another ridge of a mountain.

So, am I smoking crack?

[Dekard]

Also might it be helpful to me start off by trying to paint images in black and white before trying to tackle color? Because that way I would tackle shade and highlights prior to tackling the same with color? Below is an example I did last November in Photoshop, as you can tell I colored it. Not painted.. just dropped solid color shapes in there and then added highlights and shadows. Just wanted to know there is a difference right?



[ August 14, 2002: Message edited by: Dekard ]

[xXxPZxXx]

Hmmmmm good question. I don't know if a painting class alone will bring that out though. I know from my experience, say you are doing an oil portrait. Most people I have seen will start with a charcoal sketch, spray it and then do a few light washes while still retaining the sketch. Then add highlights and shadows thicker until its done. It does resemble coloring quite a bit.

I think what happens though is after a while of experimenting you become tuned in to what works and what doesn't. Then you can "take it outside the lines". I wouldn't know as I haven't gotten there yet though.

99 times out of 100 though a painting class is going to help you so get on with it.

-PZ-

[Chthonic Divinity]

ahh! i know exactly what your talking about... i am definately a 'drawer' and not a painter! its aggravating

[Storm Crow]

Here's something to consider when wondering whether to take ANY kind of art class:

Expanding your skills always helps rather than hinders your progression as an artist.

[Duckman2]

My painting teacher never let us do a drawing first. Everything is done with a brush. It helps you correct your vision by getting rid of the outline where it doesn't belong.

[Frog]

I've been struggling with a similar problem my self for a few months, but it's suddenly clicked and I've finally got it. When I draw I think of lines mostly, and then shades of light and dark whithin those lines. So often when I try to paint up a drawing it looks like I'm just colouring between those lines. When you paint, the critical things to be aware of are light and form, how the light is interacting with and defining the form, forget the lines. I'm not saying that edges aren't important, because they are, but if you are in a "drawing" mode you can only really see the lines and edges, whereas when you are in "painting" mode you should be thinking about light and form, edges are just a subset of the form.

Use your sketch as a guideline but don't be a slave to it, try not to be too aware of it even. Just use the lines you've drawn as boundaries for hard edges.

If you want it explained better than this, go and read Ron Lemmen's tutorial on painting with light and shade. You may well have seen this tutorial before, but read it again slowly and try and take it all in. Then go and try Don Seegmiller's apple tutorial, really basic but that's probably exactly what you need. You should have no trouble doing the apple in either PS or Painter and then you can extrapolate that knowledge into more complex subjects.

If you read both those articles and do the tutorial you should be able to learn in a couple of hours some very fundamental things about painting that personally took me months to get before taking these very simple steps