Wacom Digital Stylus Art, trying to learn it Options

[Ibis]

W.I.P.

This is an Altmer girl sitting on a couch that I'm attempting in Photo Finish and it is an easier program to use than Paint ... everyone was right about that. I've used it for year to change my retextures for Morrowind mods so I'm trying it now since I'm familiar with all it's functions. I'm still planning to try out all the programs kindly suggested by people here for digital art.

So, what do I do with her now? To make her more realistic? That is the reason my digital art looks so childish, I lack the knowledge of giving more digital detail. I know how to shade & shadow & blend & highlight with traditional methods ... but I will have to figure out how to do all that digitally.

I may try some of the Blend, darken/lighten functions of Photo Finish but the thing is it changes the whole picture at a time. I really have to learn this layering thing.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g144/Ath...girloncouch.jpg

[treydog]

First, I am not an artist nor do I play one on TV (pop culture reference). However, I am married to an artist, so--

Although you seem most interested in figurative art, I think that is the hardest to master in any medium. Might be worth stepping back to landscape, still-life, and/or architectural to develop techniques for digital. Work on expanding your palette and blending colors to develop more depth. Definitely explore layers (for depth, but also as a way of testing concepts). The great thing about layers is that you can do some work, merge the result temporarily and decide that it isn't what you wanted- no problem. Save lots of stages so you don't have to repair too much if something isn't working.

Also, see if you can find Digital Character Design and Painting: The Photoshop CS Edition by Don Seegmiller. That is a very good resource for how to create fantasy/game characters using Photoshop. Another possibility (more general reference) is The Photoshop and Painter Artist Tablet Book: Creative Techniques in Digital Painting by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis. Books are teh expensive, so you might want to browse at a bookstore and pick something that matches the results you want.

Bottom line- with your traditional art background, you are actually ahead of the curve. Get the tools (software, brush plug-ins, etc.) to achieve your goals and the only limit will be your imagination.

ETA- A way to make the particular picture easier would be to use a photograph of an appropriate subject as a baseline. Get someone to photograph you or someone else on a couch/chair, etc. and then begin to modify the image to get the effect you want

This post has been edited by treydog: Aug 22 2006, 05:48 PM

[Ibis]

Again - Thank You Mr. Dog married to Rabbit!

Yes, I see what you mean. I think landscape would be a good place to practice and until I learn to layer properly with a digital program ... it just occurred to me while reading your post that I could build a landscape in the traditional way I was taught ... make the farthest back background first and blend/shade/etc. it and then put my closer and closer object upon it 0 while digitally rendering the image in stages as it grows. That way the foreground could be criisp & immediate. I will try that!