[MrAsh]

I'm only loosely familiar with the capabilities of my tablet and photoshop 7. I did manage this dragon after watching numerous videos off youtube. I enjoy watching the digital paintings, but they're all sped through and overlayed with some wild techno music. Ideally, I would like to see some videos that break things down and are explained step by step. A couple of my key issues right now are:

1. Need more variety with my brushes

2. How to affectively incorporate a background with an image (my art is notorious for lacking backgrounds both on and off the computer)

3. Some basics for using "layers" (do you put your lineart down on the "background" and then build color up over it? etc)

4. Some interesting use of filter options or brushes for texture (subject/backgrounds)


I think answers to these questions will be a good start and I'm always welcome to other input. Thanks


Mr. Ash

[~Maximiliaan]

1: check out our resources, there is an awesome pack of custom brushes in there.

2: make a color pallate that matches your character and background, and learn perspective. (not very good at it myself)

3: its what you prefer, some people perfer to paint on 1 layer while other have lots of them. Just by trying and experiment you'll finde out what you think is best for you art. Ofcourse you can always try to paint without lines but just shapes and tones.

4: experiment with the filters, even if you were told everything in words you still won't know what it really looks like. Ofcoruse you can search for some tutorials but you'll get the most out of experimenting with the program. And if it doesn't look good to ya, you always have ctrl+z
For textures I usely use a photo and put it on overlay (layer shizzle)

basicly it all comes down to experiment with the program until you find your own way of painting.

And about the dragon. to me the lower jaw seems to big. I'm asuming it should fit in tthe upper jaw. Other than that its looking cool.

I hope this was of use for you,
~Max

[MrAsh]

Max, thanks for the feed back. I'll be sure to jump on those brushes. Just quickly though, could you or anyone else explain that overlay technique you mentioned? I'll look into it myself of course, but always good to have multiple points of view.

As for the dragon, I'm aware of the issue with the lower jaw, but I decided to leave it. I was more concerned with colouring and background.


I've a background in just traditional pencil/paper and some fun with watercolor and some other media, however, pencil and paper doesn't leave me very good with colors, tones, etc. Anyone know of any good sources for getting a better grasp of colors? (i am writing this before finishing with digging through the sites material)

[dasAdam]

first of all i do agree with Maximiliaan

but man!
all i hear is people talking about brushes brushes and layers ^^°
just take it easy. you want to learn painting. so do! all that fency stuff with textures and effects can come later on =)

i started with the round and the edgy brush and i still use just these to create my stuff. thats all u need to get started. play around. doodle, shade some objects.

get a feel for the colours and the blending. custom brushes wont help you with it. they can just speed up a certain creation process when you are able to use em efficiently.

as for the layer options: just do as Maximiliaan says. try it out on your own. its not a question of which layer option to use but rather a question of how it should look like in the end ;)

photoshop is just a tool. nothing more. i bet you'll get rid of the unsureness about everything when you start using it more often and feel comfortable with it.

and the most important part!: paint paint paint =) dont think about layers and brushes. take it easy dude =)

greets
Adam

[MrAsh]

Alright look, thanks for the advice, but I don't bother to post things and ask questions just to walk away with: "just keep painting".

I can call my mom for that. I do keep painting and messing around with basic stuff, however, if I would like a little feedback on how to maybe achieve a desired affect, I would be thrilled for someone to actually say "hey! try this out!" and then I can take that and toy with it and run away with that idea and actually learn something. I would have gained something.

Otherwise, why bother posting a reply just to say "hey, i'm sick of seeing people ask about brushes and layers and techniques, _I only do this_", and tear me down or make me feel foolish for even daring to ASK something.

I'm not here for you, I'm here for me and I would just appreciate my questions getting answers, not criticism on how I'm cheapening my experience by looking for new ways of using my tool (photoshop).


So far, thanks Mull for the bit of feedback on your Dino Tut. The overlay technique has really come in handy.

[seili]

I'm hardly an expert (just starting out myself, actually) but I did notice in your dragon drawing that the brushes you used to color were primarily soft-edged. When I learned to use the default brush in hard-edged mode and tweak the brush settings to make opacity change with pen pressure, my feeble efforts took on a new life.

I've also found for myself that less seems to be more as far as brushes are concerned. It's probably unconventional, but I picked up this set at Imagine FX and keep finding great use for it, tweaking the brushes to my needs. Brushes are great, but too many choices make my head spin when I'm trying to concentrate on the expression of my work.

I've found it useful to have line art on a separate transparent layer so I can paint above and below it at need. To have it on the canvas itself is frustrating when I need a quick change. It's also useful, when painting, to separate broad areas (sky, character, foreground objects) on separate layers so that once you have the shape defined in a solid block of color you can lock the transparent pixels on that layer and paint within the lines.

At first I thought I had to learn all of the filters, too...then I learned the trick of using texture brushes and adjustment layers/layer masks to get much more natural effects. The eraser, too, can be an amazing little tool for subtle effects.

Like I said, I'm just learning too! But hopefully some of this might help.

[koshime]

To be honest though,

I am a simple painter relying on two brushes mainly. A hard square brush, and a thin pallete knife for 99% of work. The rest are just basic form rendering and contrast detail

But some folks, love textured custom brushes for diferent purposes. Try it all out and see what works best for ya. There isnt really a magic bullet but good basics will stand you in good stead for sure

[dasAdam]

Originally Posted by MrAsh

Alright look, thanks for the advice, but I don't bother to post things and ask questions just to walk away with: "just keep painting".

I can call my mom for that. I do keep painting and messing around with basic stuff, however, if I would like a little feedback on how to maybe achieve a desired affect, I would be thrilled for someone to actually say "hey! try this out!" and then I can take that and toy with it and run away with that idea and actually learn something. I would have gained something.

Otherwise, why bother posting a reply just to say "hey, i'm sick of seeing people ask about brushes and layers and techniques, _I only do this_", and tear me down or make me feel foolish for even daring to ASK something.

I'm not here for you, I'm here for me and I would just appreciate my questions getting answers, not criticism on how I'm cheapening my experience by looking for new ways of using my tool (photoshop).


So far, thanks Mull for the bit of feedback on your Dino Tut. The overlay technique has really come in handy.

dude thats quite a shock seeing you behave like this. you dont have to insult me and you certainly didnt get the point either. you are asking basic questions so i got you some basic answers.i just wanted to motivate you to be more adventurous. if you dont like the truth then you really should seek your mummy and ask her for some advice from time to time.maybe she'll start to teach you some manners too