[Uracle]

Hello all I'm new here as you can tell. I was directed here by another artist who told me about some good painting tutorials here. Well, at the time I was struggling on how to color well in itself. Anyway after looking at some of the tutorials here I have one thing to say. I don't get it. Seriously. I don't get digital painting and the use of the air brush. i want to get but it's very confusing some times. I know that I have to know how to do some digital art. I'm about to enter grade 12, hoping to go into the gaming industry as a concept artist. I seen some of the awesome art here and by seeming them I'm guessing that a lot of people in the industry digital paint instead of other methods.

Anyway, the point of this topic is there any tips or advice to help me get started on digital painting? Some of these tutorials aren't really helping. The tools I currently have is Photoshop 8 and Painter Essentials 3.

[med]

Hello and welcome Uracle.

I�m not sure what you don�t get about digital painting�but I�ll take a stab at this. First of all, you may already know this; digital painting/drawing [usually] requires the use of a graphics tablet. Some are better than others. Wacom is the leading company in this industry. These are what pen tablets look like:



(includes regular tablets and cintiqs, where you draw right on the screen.)

You do not always have to be extremely skilled at using computer programs to understand digital painting. If you have a decent background at traditional painting and/or drawing, you already have the basics down. I�ve seen really experienced painters try out digital for the first time, and their works resemble the brilliance in their traditional media.

Digital work is continuously growing in the entertainment business, mainly because it is efficient and gets the job done successfully in a smaller amount of time than that of traditional methods. Sometimes the result of traditional work is more pleasing, but it�s up to you to decide upon the medium.

When using a graphics tablet, you have control over brushes with a pen in your hand. If you�re not one of those kids who gets a Cintiq for their B+ in chemistry, you�ll probably be using a normal tablet. It may be confusing at first, but after you get used to the coordination it becomes second nature. I find myself using my pen as a mouse all the time, like right now.

Once you�ve got the tablet mechanisms down, you need to understand painting in general. The world contains an endless library of learning resources. Such as, painting books, painting videos (youtube is your friend), studying other painters� work, painting from life (can�t beat that), painting from photos (not recommended until you understand the fundamentals of painting, but do what you want), practice, practice and more practice. It�s ideal to study drawing, because without drawing your painting will lack accurate measurements and proportions (unless you want that).

To understand the fundamentals of painting, try considering it as some kind of science. Every painting has drawing in it, whether it�s contour lines under the painting, or by the brushstrokes themselves. Some people like to work in layers to get things �right�, others will brush the �right� brushstroke without underlying guidelines. The important elements of painting a subject include drawing, value (darks/lights), color (color harmony as well), and edges (sharp/faded/lost). If you do the right research, you�ll understand what I�m talking about.

Digital painting�Is doing all of the above with a digital pen. It�s not as messy as oil painting, that�s for sure. You can customize your brushes, change the pen�s pressure sensitivity, quickly create your own forms/color schemes/compositions, and much more.

Photoshop vs. Corel Painter!
A lot of people prefer one over the other. With Photoshop, you will discover that you can manipulate your works in a more technical fashion, while still using semi-realistic brushes. I personally prefer photoshop for most of my silly doodles. Corel Painter on the other hand, has a more natural-paint feel. It has brushes that resemble a ton of different kinds of paint (oils�acrylic�watercolor). Photoshop has yet to offer as realistic effects as Painter. Both programs give you the option to utilize layers, I�m sure you can find tutorials on those quite easily.

So before you try doing fancy video game concept art, it is ideal to learn and practice techniques and methods of communicating the elements of painting. You can always seek inspiration, check out artist�s work. Once you obtain the necessary skills, you can vary the content of your paintings to your likings.

I hope I answered your questions, and I hope I didn�t say anything incorrect.

Good luck and don�t stop asking

[Uracle]

Huh...You know I've been drawing for years and I never thought of it like that. I was pretty much self taught and learned about proportions from anime...Okay, thanks for your advice. I found some books on the web which I heard are very helpful written by some named...Andrew Loomis. Are his books good? I guess I'll find out soon.

P.S: So if I wanted to make images like this:


or these:



would it matter if I used painter or photoshop? I think all of them were made in painter but...?

[yuk.]

No software makes theses images, men make it.
You can uses Photoshop or Painter or other, but I think your examples have been done with Photoshop.
Loomis is a good start, I think, you can find lot of other examples on the net.

[Uracle]

......
"No software makes theses images, men make it. "
Good point.

[yuk.]

I wanted to say, that you will sweat a lot before making images like this

[Uracle]

I know. I justed wanted to know if it could be done on which program...I'm worried that some companies might be picky on what programs you have to use and the method of how you paint...

[Joe84]

program is fine, but its not going to define your work. 1st learn how to be a good draftsman and painter, the program is just a sophisticated tool

[Ranath]