I have a bout 25 minutes of very drunken loud video. People doing 30 second caricature drawings from reference. Id like to post things but I need to edit out certain things that got said so no ones feelings get hurt. None of it is terribly bad but out of context (like the conversation 5 minutes before recording started) it can be.
What program can I get to chop things up-elimenate audio tracks and overlay music?
Hi folks. I'm in need of a logo designed for a website/business I want to start. What can I expect for a ballpark price to have someone do it for me? I'd like to make sure I don't get taken as I'm not sure what's a fair price to pay. For reference, it's probably going to be a single color on a solid background (transparent, if possible), and not too detailed that I couldn't also use it on letterhead, business cards and perhaps stitched onto a t-shirt.
Branding can be a lot of work. Or it can be a quick shit something out.
You are going to get what you pay for. If you are only paying 25 dollars. Dont expect the best solution.
A personal anecdote. I got paid 1,000 dollars to do some branding. But I propably came up with about 30 completely different ideas then explored permutations of all of those ideas until finally a few different solutions were landed on for different circumstances. I was also did more than just a logo. Did a little layout stuff as well.
It was a lot of work.
Ive also Done 200 dollar quick jobs. 3 ideas. You get to pick one to explore. You get unlimited changes so long as they dont contradict previously approved stages.
If you dont sign a contract expect shit to go wrong.
Well, windows movie maker should work fine, it's nothing special but it SHOULD get the job done. Failing that Adobe Premiere or Vegas are prosumer programs.
I could probably save you some hastle and do it for you if you want, I've got Final Cut on my comp already and I'm quite well versed in how to use it.
Branding can be a lot of work. Or it can be a quick shit something out.
You are going to get what you pay for. If you are only paying 25 dollars. Dont expect the best solution.
A personal anecdote. I got paid 1,000 dollars to do some branding. But I propably came up with about 30 completely different ideas then explored permutations of all of those ideas until finally a few different solutions were landed on for different circumstances. I was also did more than just a logo. Did a little layout stuff as well.
It was a lot of work.
Ive also Done 200 dollar quick jobs. 3 ideas. You get to pick one to explore. You get unlimited changes so long as they dont contradict previously approved stages.
If you dont sign a contract expect shit to go wrong.
What should I be sure is(n't) in a contract I sign? Is it reasonable for me to expect to get the original Photoshop file(s) after the job has been completed (so I can edit in the future if necessary)?
I've never had to contract someone to do artwork for me and I want to make sure I have all my bases covered and make no assumptions that could come back to bite me in the ass later.
I mean im sure that could be arranged. But really that mentality is like going to a resturant and ordering a meal. Then having the chef give you all of the ingredients and his implments so you can cook it yourself. Just pay the chef to make it again.
I understand if all you want to do is teak the spices then sure or incase the chef quits- but really just get your designer to do it.
Regarding the contract- pretty much that. Make no assumptions. Everything should be in writing. There are sample contracts around the net. You just have to look in the right places. Creative googling will get you there (hint- Googling the legalese will pull up documents not under "Contract for my first time art job" . IF you cannot understand the legalese go to a lawyer.
A few things to bear in mind regarding design work & contracts:
Designers aren't like loan-sharks or banks - they're not all out to make a fast buck with the small-print. Designers actually want to deliver high quality work for their clients; it's very much in their interests for the whole process to go as smoothly as possible because a lot of a designers' income relies on repeat custom from clients with whom they've built up a good relationship.
The contract is there to ensure the deliverables are fully understood and agreed by both parties; to ensure that the designer's work is protected appropriately (by granting appropriate copyrights to the client), and so the designer can expect to be paid on time.
As for whether you would be provided the original PSD files... It's not usually the done thing, as Ken aptly illustrates. My own contract has a section outlining that 'alterations cannot be made to the delivered artwork without the designer being offered first option to make the alterations.' This is not in place so that I have my clients 'over a barrel' - it's mostly there so that I can protect the quality of my work and how it is used in the future.
The other thing for you to bear in mind is that the cost of branding/logo work isn't based on simply how long it takes the artist to design it -- the size/budget of the client and the level of usage required are also taken into account. Branding and logo design are both huge assets to a company and the pricing should reflect this. However, it's obviously not in the interests of the designer to price everything impossibly high -- there's a discussion to be had there with your chosen designer regarding your budget and requirements.
I have lots of experience doing design work and specialise in working with new businesses or people who are new to the process of working with a designer. If you're interested in me providing a quote or in discussing your requirements, feel free to drop me a line.
JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
edited July 2010
So guys, I'm new to the AC but I need your help. I'm going to be taking my artist friend shopping today and we need a recommendation for a tablet. He's a fine artist who wants to get back into paying commercial illustration work so we're going to want something reasonably heavy-duty and versatile, and we have a budget of about $500 although that can stretch upwards a bit if need be.
So guys, I'm new to the AC but I need your help. I'm going to be taking my artist friend shopping today and we need a recommendation for a tablet. He's a fine artist who wants to get back into paying commercial illustration work so we're going to want something reasonably heavy-duty and versatile, and we have a budget of about $500 although that can stretch upwards a bit if need be.
A suitably sized Intuos is good. Make sure you get some spare nibs. The intuos4 goes through them faster from what I've read.
MKR on
0
JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
edited July 2010
Wait, spare nibs? Do they get worn down or something?
Wait, spare nibs? Do they get worn down or something?
Yep. The 4 has a rough surface to simulate paper, so the nibs wear down as fast as the felt tips for the 3. Fortunately, the 4 comes with a nib holder and remover.
Stupid question - Using the eyedropper tool and I'm only grabbing colors for the background color.
I've used the hotkey (x) and I think this is what messed it up, no matter what I do the eyedropper will only update the background color, so I have to constantly keep switching to paint with the color I want to use...how do I change it back so only the foreground color updates?
Edit: Not sure how but it randomly switched to doing it the proper way...freakin' odd.
Durrrr how do I color line art in Photoshop without setting the ink layer to "multiply"? I want to be able to color the lines themselves without making them semi-transparent.
It's probably something to do with masks, and I saw a post somewhere around here that explained it but I've searched for a good half hour and can't find it :?
Durrrr how do I color line art in Photoshop without setting the ink layer to "multiply"? I want to be able to color the lines themselves without making them semi-transparent.
It's probably something to do with masks, and I saw a post somewhere around here that explained it but I've searched for a good half hour and can't find it :?
Select by color (not sure how it's done in photoshop), and choose the color of your lines. That'll constrain it to the lines.
MKR on
0
BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
Durrrr how do I color line art in Photoshop without setting the ink layer to "multiply"? I want to be able to color the lines themselves without making them semi-transparent.
It's probably something to do with masks, and I saw a post somewhere around here that explained it but I've searched for a good half hour and can't find it :?
The easiest way to do it is to take the black levels down just a little bit using the "levels" window.
Then use "adjust hue/saturation" with "colorize" selected to change the line color to what you want.
That'll work, as long as he doesn't then want to color in behind the image, or would have different line colors in the same image without doing it with selections/sliders.
What I'd suggest is this:
1. Use this Photoshop action to remove the white of the lineart layer so you can color behind it cleanly using "Normal" instead of "Multiply". Note that the lineart layer has to be named "Layer 1" for it to work.
2. Create a new layer above the lineart layer. Leave it set to "Normal".
3. With the new layer selected, hit Ctrl-G. This sets the new layer to use the underlying layer's transparency as a mask automatically. (This is the case in PS7-CS2 at least, I don't know if they've changed how this works in recent years).
4. Paint your lineart colors on this new layer. Viola, clean linework that can be colored as you wish, without effecting the underlying color layers.
So guys, I'm new to the AC but I need your help. I'm going to be taking my artist friend shopping today and we need a recommendation for a tablet. He's a fine artist who wants to get back into paying commercial illustration work so we're going to want something reasonably heavy-duty and versatile, and we have a budget of about $500 although that can stretch upwards a bit if need be.
Not to be a whore (I totally am), but I am selling a 12x19 Intuos3. It's the biggest model they make, and it's in your price range. Mine in particular is also in such good condition you can see your pores in it's reflection, and it's also the cheapest listing I've found yet.
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
I'm trying to teach myself to draw/colour on the computer and would really appreciate some tips or suggestions. Decided to have a go at colouring an old line drawing, but it didn't look like it was going to turn out any good so I thought I'd stop and try to get some advice.
For reference this is the drawing I''m working from, just doing this guy's head
And this is how far I've got
I'm using photoshop. All the different areas of the pic are on different layers, and I've been trying to shade by blocking out areas of shadow/highlights with the pen tool and then using the blur tool to soften the borders. Is that a totally insane technique?
I've tried colouring before just using the airbrush and the same method I would use if doing it on paper, but it came out looking really bland and smudgy and annoying as you can see
I'm wondering how much of the difficulty I'm having is down to using the wrong tool or method, and how much is just me having no concept of shading, which I do have a lot of trouble with. I can shade fine if I'm practicing simple forms but as soon as I try and do something complicated I dunno what's going on. Even if I try cel shading I have real trouble figuring out what to do.
Anyway I thought I'd ask as I've read a bunch of tutorials and not figured it out yet so thought maybe if someone could make suggestions after seeing my attempts it would be more helpful. Sorry for the epically long post.
The biggest problems I see most people have with digital is that most them simply haven't spent enough time drawing by hand, or simply just not enough drawing experience in general. Learning to draw/paint on a tablet/photoshop imo is one of the worst ways to learn art as there are way too many shortcuts involved. I know that doesn't really answer your question directly, but that is the long and short of it. Drawing simple forms with a pencil and paper is always a great place to start. Then ask yourself what are the simple forms in the more complex subject? How can the subject be broken down into those forms? Then work from that basic thought process.
That'll work, as long as he doesn't then want to color in behind the image, or would have different line colors in the same image without doing it with selections/sliders.
What I'd suggest is this:
1. Use this Photoshop action to remove the white of the lineart layer so you can color behind it cleanly using "Normal" instead of "Multiply". Note that the lineart layer has to be named "Layer 1" for it to work.
2. Create a new layer above the lineart layer. Leave it set to "Normal".
3. With the new layer selected, hit Ctrl-G. This sets the new layer to use the underlying layer's transparency as a mask automatically. (This is the case in PS7-CS2 at least, I don't know if they've changed how this works in recent years).
4. Paint your lineart colors on this new layer. Viola, clean linework that can be colored as you wish, without effecting the underlying color layers.
Oh sweet, this is exactly what I needed. For the record the default shortcut to create a clipping mask in CS2-CS4 is Ctrl-Alt-G.
Raneadospolice apologistyou shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
So anatomy
what's the gold standard for anatomy books these days?
is it still grey's?
I have the Loomis collection already, but i have a little bit of cash to kick around and really drawing people realistically has always been on my list of "I always wanted to ___"
The Bridgman book and Vanderpoel books explain anatomy through drawings, so they are useful as sources to copy from and learning how to draw anatomy effectively. Bridgman is also heavy on explaining the basic mechanics of the body, but doesn't go into huge amounts of detail of every individual muscle, but breaks them up into functional groups.
The Simblet book is all about explaining with photographs, so it's good source for photo references to draw from.
The Goldfinger book is heavy on text explanation and diagrams to explain them, and goes into a lot of detail about anatomy, but it isn't quite as heavy on giving examples of how to draw the anatomy effectively in the context of a piece of art.
The Richer and Hale book I actually don't have so maybe someone else can come and give a brief of it and how it compares to the others.
Unfortunately none of these books can be considered totally complete or perfect, so you may find after starting with one, you'll need to pick up another (one, or two, or three) to round out its faults.
Also, if you goal is to draw realistically, anatomy knowledge is somewhat secondary to gaining a lot of life drawing experience, and really being able to nail down construction and lighting. After that, anatomy knowledge starts being really useful as a way of taking your observations, and building on them to make a stronger drawing. For the non-anatomy part of realistic drawing, Classical Drawing Atelier is alright (though a little light on the actual drawing exercises for what I'd like), and the Charles Barque drawing manual, which is obscenely expensive most of the time. (There are probably better suggestions to make here, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Really getting into a good drawing course is really the best option I can think of.)
Raneadospolice apologistyou shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
yeah I'm not looking to straight copy+paste from the book
I mean i have the tablet now, so there's literally no excuse for not practicing any more
the only art books i've ever owned didn't go into much more than sausages + blobs and then BAM fully detailed and stippled creation without telling you about shit for shit
I'd like to say that I'm planning on drawing daily but you know how those kind of promises go
thanks AoB, bookmarked your post
Raneados on
0
The_Glad_HatterOne Sly FoxUnderneath a Groovy HatRegistered Userregular
Thank you for this post. I have been looking for a breakdown/ comparison of the most popular anatomy books. Very difficult to get a clear comparison through the amazon reviews.
I'm wondering how much of the difficulty I'm having is down to using the wrong tool or method, and how much is just me having no concept of shading, which I do have a lot of trouble with. I can shade fine if I'm practicing simple forms but as soon as I try and do something complicated I dunno what's going on. Even if I try cel shading I have real trouble figuring out what to do.
Anyway I thought I'd ask as I've read a bunch of tutorials and not figured it out yet so thought maybe if someone could make suggestions after seeing my attempts it would be more helpful. Sorry for the epically long post.
There's no one right way to do light and shade, although there are plenty of wrong ones. Most of it comes down to what effect you want to produce. Cartoony or realistic? Hard or soft light? etc. Probably your best bet at this stage is 1) find paintings, digital or otherwise, which have the lighting effect you want, and see if you can figure out how the artist achieved it, and 2) look through Ikage's thread for her lighting/shading notes, because they're adorable and also very helpful. There's also this classic tute which gets linked a lot; it covers a few of the basics.
You get 2GB of space and you can install an application that syncs a folder on your computer with the server automatically. You can share folders with other Dropbox users and there is a Public folder that anyone can access. The directory/folder is not accessible itself, however, you have to link each individual file for someone to download them.
If the brushes get a lot of traffic, they might hit that mystery limit.
The thing about AppEngine is that you can say "this is the most I want to pay," and only be charged for actual usage. Traffic to the brushes probably depends on whether or not it's been linked somewhere recently.
MKR on
0
SarksusATTACK AND DETHRONE GODRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Yeah I don't know how much traffic they'd allow but if it's just for the forum it might not be a problem. In any case there's no way for them to charge you, they'd just shut you off. Perhaps try both solutions and see what works.
Yeah I don't know how much traffic they'd allow but if it's just for the forum it might not be a problem. In any case there's no way for them to charge you, they'd just shut you off. Perhaps try both solutions and see what works.
If it were just the forums, I don't think it'd be an issue. abr files aren't particularly big. If 1,000 forum users hit a 2MB file, that's only 2GB of usage. Most basic hosting packages these days give you 100GB or more a month.
Links like those in the OP tend to spread.
MKR on
0
Raneadospolice apologistyou shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered Userregular
yeah I'm not looking to straight copy+paste from the book
I mean i have the tablet now, so there's literally no excuse for not practicing any more
the only art books i've ever owned didn't go into much more than sausages + blobs and then BAM fully detailed and stippled creation without telling you about shit for shit
I'd like to say that I'm planning on drawing daily but you know how those kind of promises go
thanks AoB, bookmarked your post
If it can be helped, I suggest you do your study work with pencil and paper. There are certain elements in digital work (e.g. undo button) that can lead you to develop sloppy habits.
Posts
What program can I get to chop things up-elimenate audio tracks and overlay music?
Thanks in advance.
You are going to get what you pay for. If you are only paying 25 dollars. Dont expect the best solution.
A personal anecdote. I got paid 1,000 dollars to do some branding. But I propably came up with about 30 completely different ideas then explored permutations of all of those ideas until finally a few different solutions were landed on for different circumstances. I was also did more than just a logo. Did a little layout stuff as well.
It was a lot of work.
Ive also Done 200 dollar quick jobs. 3 ideas. You get to pick one to explore. You get unlimited changes so long as they dont contradict previously approved stages.
If you dont sign a contract expect shit to go wrong.
I could probably save you some hastle and do it for you if you want, I've got Final Cut on my comp already and I'm quite well versed in how to use it.
What should I be sure is(n't) in a contract I sign? Is it reasonable for me to expect to get the original Photoshop file(s) after the job has been completed (so I can edit in the future if necessary)?
I've never had to contract someone to do artwork for me and I want to make sure I have all my bases covered and make no assumptions that could come back to bite me in the ass later.
I understand if all you want to do is teak the spices then sure or incase the chef quits- but really just get your designer to do it.
Regarding the contract- pretty much that. Make no assumptions. Everything should be in writing. There are sample contracts around the net. You just have to look in the right places. Creative googling will get you there (hint- Googling the legalese will pull up documents not under "Contract for my first time art job" . IF you cannot understand the legalese go to a lawyer.
Designers aren't like loan-sharks or banks - they're not all out to make a fast buck with the small-print. Designers actually want to deliver high quality work for their clients; it's very much in their interests for the whole process to go as smoothly as possible because a lot of a designers' income relies on repeat custom from clients with whom they've built up a good relationship.
The contract is there to ensure the deliverables are fully understood and agreed by both parties; to ensure that the designer's work is protected appropriately (by granting appropriate copyrights to the client), and so the designer can expect to be paid on time.
As for whether you would be provided the original PSD files... It's not usually the done thing, as Ken aptly illustrates. My own contract has a section outlining that 'alterations cannot be made to the delivered artwork without the designer being offered first option to make the alterations.' This is not in place so that I have my clients 'over a barrel' - it's mostly there so that I can protect the quality of my work and how it is used in the future.
The other thing for you to bear in mind is that the cost of branding/logo work isn't based on simply how long it takes the artist to design it -- the size/budget of the client and the level of usage required are also taken into account. Branding and logo design are both huge assets to a company and the pricing should reflect this. However, it's obviously not in the interests of the designer to price everything impossibly high -- there's a discussion to be had there with your chosen designer regarding your budget and requirements.
I have lots of experience doing design work and specialise in working with new businesses or people who are new to the process of working with a designer. If you're interested in me providing a quote or in discussing your requirements, feel free to drop me a line.
Good luck!
A suitably sized Intuos is good. Make sure you get some spare nibs. The intuos4 goes through them faster from what I've read.
Yep. The 4 has a rough surface to simulate paper, so the nibs wear down as fast as the felt tips for the 3. Fortunately, the 4 comes with a nib holder and remover.
They're not too expensive.
edit: https://direct.wacom.com/stores/5/Standard_Nibs_10_pack__P1828C149.cfm
$1/nib if you get it direct from wacom.
I've used the hotkey (x) and I think this is what messed it up, no matter what I do the eyedropper will only update the background color, so I have to constantly keep switching to paint with the color I want to use...how do I change it back so only the foreground color updates?
Edit: Not sure how but it randomly switched to doing it the proper way...freakin' odd.
It's probably something to do with masks, and I saw a post somewhere around here that explained it but I've searched for a good half hour and can't find it :?
Select by color (not sure how it's done in photoshop), and choose the color of your lines. That'll constrain it to the lines.
The easiest way to do it is to take the black levels down just a little bit using the "levels" window.
Then use "adjust hue/saturation" with "colorize" selected to change the line color to what you want.
What I'd suggest is this:
1. Use this Photoshop action to remove the white of the lineart layer so you can color behind it cleanly using "Normal" instead of "Multiply". Note that the lineart layer has to be named "Layer 1" for it to work.
2. Create a new layer above the lineart layer. Leave it set to "Normal".
3. With the new layer selected, hit Ctrl-G. This sets the new layer to use the underlying layer's transparency as a mask automatically. (This is the case in PS7-CS2 at least, I don't know if they've changed how this works in recent years).
4. Paint your lineart colors on this new layer. Viola, clean linework that can be colored as you wish, without effecting the underlying color layers.
Twitter
Not to be a whore (I totally am), but I am selling a 12x19 Intuos3. It's the biggest model they make, and it's in your price range. Mine in particular is also in such good condition you can see your pores in it's reflection, and it's also the cheapest listing I've found yet.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220637026630
For reference this is the drawing I''m working from, just doing this guy's head
And this is how far I've got
I'm using photoshop. All the different areas of the pic are on different layers, and I've been trying to shade by blocking out areas of shadow/highlights with the pen tool and then using the blur tool to soften the borders. Is that a totally insane technique?
I've tried colouring before just using the airbrush and the same method I would use if doing it on paper, but it came out looking really bland and smudgy and annoying as you can see
I'm wondering how much of the difficulty I'm having is down to using the wrong tool or method, and how much is just me having no concept of shading, which I do have a lot of trouble with. I can shade fine if I'm practicing simple forms but as soon as I try and do something complicated I dunno what's going on. Even if I try cel shading I have real trouble figuring out what to do.
Anyway I thought I'd ask as I've read a bunch of tutorials and not figured it out yet so thought maybe if someone could make suggestions after seeing my attempts it would be more helpful. Sorry for the epically long post.
Oh sweet, this is exactly what I needed. For the record the default shortcut to create a clipping mask in CS2-CS4 is Ctrl-Alt-G.
Ctrl-G makes a layer group
Thanks!
what's the gold standard for anatomy books these days?
is it still grey's?
I have the Loomis collection already, but i have a little bit of cash to kick around and really drawing people realistically has always been on my list of "I always wanted to ___"
I'm just gonna grab a few links from the OP here:
Human Anatomy for Artists by Eliot Goldfinger
Anatomy For The Artist by Sarah Simblet
Artistic Anatomy by Richer & Hale
Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life by George B. Bridgman
The Human Figure by John H. Vanderpoel
These are all kind of aimed at different things:
The Bridgman book and Vanderpoel books explain anatomy through drawings, so they are useful as sources to copy from and learning how to draw anatomy effectively. Bridgman is also heavy on explaining the basic mechanics of the body, but doesn't go into huge amounts of detail of every individual muscle, but breaks them up into functional groups.
The Simblet book is all about explaining with photographs, so it's good source for photo references to draw from.
The Goldfinger book is heavy on text explanation and diagrams to explain them, and goes into a lot of detail about anatomy, but it isn't quite as heavy on giving examples of how to draw the anatomy effectively in the context of a piece of art.
The Richer and Hale book I actually don't have so maybe someone else can come and give a brief of it and how it compares to the others.
Unfortunately none of these books can be considered totally complete or perfect, so you may find after starting with one, you'll need to pick up another (one, or two, or three) to round out its faults.
Also, if you goal is to draw realistically, anatomy knowledge is somewhat secondary to gaining a lot of life drawing experience, and really being able to nail down construction and lighting. After that, anatomy knowledge starts being really useful as a way of taking your observations, and building on them to make a stronger drawing. For the non-anatomy part of realistic drawing, Classical Drawing Atelier is alright (though a little light on the actual drawing exercises for what I'd like), and the Charles Barque drawing manual, which is obscenely expensive most of the time. (There are probably better suggestions to make here, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Really getting into a good drawing course is really the best option I can think of.)
Twitter
I mean i have the tablet now, so there's literally no excuse for not practicing any more
the only art books i've ever owned didn't go into much more than sausages + blobs and then BAM fully detailed and stippled creation without telling you about shit for shit
I'd like to say that I'm planning on drawing daily but you know how those kind of promises go
thanks AoB, bookmarked your post
Thank you for this post. I have been looking for a breakdown/ comparison of the most popular anatomy books. Very difficult to get a clear comparison through the amazon reviews.
Basically, where can I upload some brushes on the web and let someone else take the bandwidth hit so I can update the OP?
You can set up a simple script and download directory on Google's application hosting thing. They give you tons of resources.
I haven't worked with python or appengine in a while, and this was done in about 10 minutes, so I'm not sure if I did everything right.
Here's a guide that looks like it's probably useful: http://24ways.org/2008/using-google-app-engine-as-your-own-cdn
index.py:
app.yaml:
They give a decent amount of free resources, and extra is cheap.
There's no one right way to do light and shade, although there are plenty of wrong ones. Most of it comes down to what effect you want to produce. Cartoony or realistic? Hard or soft light? etc. Probably your best bet at this stage is 1) find paintings, digital or otherwise, which have the lighting effect you want, and see if you can figure out how the artist achieved it, and 2) look through Ikage's thread for her lighting/shading notes, because they're adorable and also very helpful. There's also this classic tute which gets linked a lot; it covers a few of the basics.
https://www.dropbox.com/
You get 2GB of space and you can install an application that syncs a folder on your computer with the server automatically. You can share folders with other Dropbox users and there is a Public folder that anyone can access. The directory/folder is not accessible itself, however, you have to link each individual file for someone to download them.
edit:
https://www.dropbox.com/help/45
If the brushes get a lot of traffic, they might hit that mystery limit.
The thing about AppEngine is that you can say "this is the most I want to pay," and only be charged for actual usage. Traffic to the brushes probably depends on whether or not it's been linked somewhere recently.
If it were just the forums, I don't think it'd be an issue. abr files aren't particularly big. If 1,000 forum users hit a 2MB file, that's only 2GB of usage. Most basic hosting packages these days give you 100GB or more a month.
Links like those in the OP tend to spread.
If it can be helped, I suggest you do your study work with pencil and paper. There are certain elements in digital work (e.g. undo button) that can lead you to develop sloppy habits.