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I want to get a giant photo print, like A20 size, to go on my wall. I'm just wondering what the best material would be for such a thing? I don't think I'd like a canvas that big. But regular paper would probably be too flimsy. Any suggestions?
Most print shops (online or in person) will let you select a paper from their range, so specific papers depends a bit on where you get it printed, but just in general I really like the Hahnemuhle photo range, especially their photo rag.
I just want to know if this thing is going to look ok as a giant poster before I waste the money on it. It's currently a CR2 file if that is relevant.
It basically comes down to how many pixels you've got to work with versus how close you are meant to view it- for books/magazines and such, meant to be viewed close up, the standard is to have the source images be at least 300dpi.
For a 'giant poster' meant to be viewed from further away, you would be able to get away with a lower dpi and have the viewing experience be fine, even if it's blurry if you get really close. (Maybe I'm wrong, but I assume McDonald's isn't working with a 20TB .psd file for every billboard it puts up just to have a 300dpi 10 foot tall Big Mac by the side of the I-75.)
If the source image just isn't big enough resolution-wise, there's gonna be blurring no matter what- printer software/Photoshop/etc. won't be able to add data that's not there in the first place. (I suppose there might be an AI solution out there now to fake in a bunch of data to upres the image, but you're on your own if you want to try to figure that stuff out). How much blurring is acceptable for your use case is kinda up to you/(your client, if there is one).
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So, before I buy yet another box of pencils JUST to replace the damn blacks, is there a way to buy just one specific color of coloring pencil online anyway? I just need like, 24 A016 Onyx Black pencils and then I can buy other colors as I need them in sets.
Any thoughts?
(Scroll down past the sets here and it'll let you order any color you want individually.)
https://www.dickblick.com/products/prismacolor-premier-colored-pencils/
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Look at that! Black colored pencils
5 months ago when I started on my little drawing journey I hemmed and hawed about arteza vs prisma color and only ended up with Arteza because I liked their graphite pencils, but either will be awesome.
Ha, most pleased to not have to work with a tiny nub of an onyx black pencil
Going for/all I can achieve
https://www.dickblick.com/categories/drawing/colored-pencils/
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Anyway a long time ago I saw some witchcraft with a string or rubber band and a hook that the guy used, but I haven't been able to find that again. When I Google, the results are either "Buy Our Overpriced Plastic!!!" or "Here's how to do it in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop" which isn't what I want.
I have a monoprice tablet and a copy of Photoshop CS4. Though if there's any nicer (free) software geared towards drawing I'll gladly take a look at it.
Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
Forget it...
https://krita.org/en/
【DRAWING】 Let's Learn Krita Together!! 2:22:16
Looking forward to seeing your art! I can't help with techniques since I am learning too so hopefully someone more qualified will appear to answer your questions
This will be here until I receive an apology or Weedlordvegeta get any consequences for being a bully
I don't have any experience with monoprice tablets, but I doubt that you need anything different from what you've already got to produce good work. (PS has worked for me for the last 23 years, it'll probably serve you just fine.)
In terms advice, steering you towards something immediately helpful would be a lot easier if I knew what sort of work you were looking to produce (like an example picture of some artist's work that you'd like your work to look like), since the process involved is going to vary pretty differently if you're trying to produce superhero comic ink+color work, versus something very textural and painterly, or something more abstract graphic design-y, or something else.
Without getting into any specific technique or process, I'd say learning photoshop for a time is mostly going to be playing around and just having fun digging into it. Making a bunch of layers and seeing what all the blend modes do, screwing around with all the brush settings and see what they all do, what changes when you change the numbers in the boxes, trying out everything on the toolbar and see what they do, etc. etc. Don't worry about producing great professional work right away, just have some fun learning what the tools do first. (I guess I'll point out you should looking up "clipping masks" because unlike most PS features, I don't remember them being easily discoverable, and they're very helpful.)
Once you have familiarity with the tools, it's easier to break down how other artists use the tools/figuring out which tools have to be applied in what way to navigate from your starting point to your desired end point.
Having taught myself a number of intimidating art software packages (Blender, Unity, etc,), I get a lot more success by throwing myself headlong into something I'd like to do, and then experimenting and/or shouting at google and youtube asking how to navigate through any specific feature/issue/problem that I need to along the way, than trying to find a one-stop-shop tutorial or lengthy, school-style class, but YMMV.
If I want to do something I'll load up the first 3 results on youtube, put it on double playback speed, skip the first 3 minutes of logos and the "LIKE COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE" speech or whatever, find the one 25 second segment of actual useful information, and then shut that tab down, never to be seen again. If you know what you want to accomplish, and are then ruthlessly efficient and immediate about hunting down each little issue you need to solve along the way, you'll probably get yourself up to speed with everything you need to know pretty quickly. (And it's more fun. Well, I think it is, anyway).
That said, just learning the software is not all of what it takes to learn how to get tasteful/artistic results out of it- and if we're taking color as an example, you don't need to be looking for specific "photoshop color advice", you can get color advice from anyone working in any medium, the knowledge will still apply. My go-to resource on color is James Gurney's book Color and Light (his blog is also a treasure trove of free information, but you have to dig through a lot of more trivial stuff to get to the meat sometimes. Clicking the tags for posts on specific subjects helps http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/ ). Even though he's working primarily in oil and gouache, the same color theory principles and principles of light and lighting design will apply equally to any medium.
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Game dev thread in G&T maybe?
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/206950/game-dev-i-dont-have-a-publisher-what-i-do-have-are-a-very-particular-set-of-skills/p1
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Stephen Bauman
(1.45 mins)
Scott Waddell
(54:37 mins)
Bauman has a lot more videos on his channel.
They both also have patreons where you can pop in for a month or two and absorb some of their longer videos.
Scott Waddell also has a website where he sells videos on painting and such.
What Most Artist NEED To Hear About Lighting. 22:21
This will be here until I receive an apology or Weedlordvegeta get any consequences for being a bully
Animating in Clip Studio Paint, 19:19
Very cool breakdown of Hue/Saturation/Value, which is a concept I'm struggling a bit to understand.
What brush 'type' would you recommend a beginner start out with to get the basics down? There are.... a lot of options. A LOT of options. My art thread demonstrates my complete inability to pick one and stick with it. I need to practice super basic blocking and shading, I think.
It ultimately comes down to what you want to accomplish in terms of look, but personally for most of my work I rely on for painting:
3 Basic Photoshop round brushes, all with pressure sensitivity set to control size:
-One without pressure sensitivity set to opacity, 100% hardness
-One with pressure sensitivity set to opacity, 100% hardness
-One with pressure sensitivity set to opacity, 0% hardness
Then another set of 3 with these same settings, except with the roundness on the brush set to 20%, and the angle set to pen tilt, to give me some nice flat brushes good for blocking in planes.
For most things, this simple stuff can accomplish a a major bulk of it by themselves.
If I want a more brush strokey look. I'll use a brush shape I made applied to those flat brushes (basically an erratic series of dots), and if I want something more oil painty I'll use the Mixing Brush too rather than the standard brush tool.
For inking I use a basic round but use a scattering setting set to pen pressure at a small amount/high count, which basically has the effect of giving you a bit more of a range with your pen pressure. For a pencil I use the same settings except it using one of more toothy default brush shapes, with a gray color and set to 'multiply'.
I know a lot of people swear by a ton of great brushes and brush set- but having downloaded a ton of them in the past, my tiny pea brain can't usefully memorize all of them. So by the time I need one, I probably won't remember it exists anyway, and thus does me little good.
If I need something specific I'll either make it myself or go looking for it at that time, otherwise I'll just have too much clutter in my brushes and it'll just wind up annoying me while I look for the handful of brushes I actually use all the time.
The one brush set I do use consistently is Sam Nielsen's blending tool presets (specifically Smudge Nice), which actually makes PS's smudge tool useable and useful, which by default it really isn't.
http://artsammich.blogspot.com/2013/03/photoshop-brushes_11.html
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The inking/ linework options I think I have a better handle on.
Edit: INDIA INK, the brush that behaves the way I'm looking for is India Ink on the 'smooth' option in CSP. I'm sure I'll find use for the others types with neat blending and layering effects later on, but for now the simplicity of this one is perfect.
That said, here's what I would consider a minimal set that will let you try everything.
https://www.dickblick.com/products/fredrix-pro-series-belgian-linen-canvas/ These are expensive, but you can scrub them with gamsol after working and then re-use them the next day. Each color leaves a faint stain, so start with the lightest color, but you can get 4 to 5 "uses" out of a single canvas for practice.
https://www.dickblick.com/products/gamblin-gamsol-odorless-mineral-spirits/ Gonna need this for diluting and scrubbing
https://www.dickblick.com/products/gamblin-1980-oil-colors/ I use gamblin paints, but there's plenty of alternatives. Note that the cost tends to be by color more than brand. Burnt Umber is the cheapest. Burnt Umber + Titanium White + Cadmium Yellow Light + Cobalt Blue + Cadmium Red is enough for experimenting; can always buy fancy colors later. (Alternatively, you can look into something like the Zorn limited palette)
https://www.dickblick.com/products/robert-simmons-signet-bristle-brushes/ For brushes, get a Flat 6 or so (can use it as a "pencil" by tipping onto its side); a Round of about the same size; and one big flat or fan brush for large areas. Maybe get one blending brush (ie, a synthetic).
If you want to go really minimal, canvas + gamsol + burnt umber and titanium white + a flat and round brush.
That help?
I can’t remember if you’re new to physical painting in general or just oils, so this may be old news- but another cost that can add up quick is canvases, esp. when you’re starting out and needing to get a lot of practice in.
A cheaper way to go is to instead paint on board- go to a Home Depot/Lowes/Lumber yard and see if they sell big sheets of Masonite (AKA HDF, or smooth hardboard).
https://www.lowes.com/pd/47-75-in-x-7-98-ft-Smooth-Brown-Wall-Panel/3014304
You can get a big 4’x8’ sheet of this for the price of a couple of small canvases, which you should be able to get cut up into more reasonably sized pieces in store.
Then there’s a bit of a DIY step in prepping the board with gesso before it’s ready to paint on:
http://deadoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/08/materialsstudio-painting-part-2.html
You can buy already gessoed/cut to size boards like this from art stores as well, but they’ll be more expensive and not really any different then DIYing it.
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I've been very inspired by Will Rochfort lately.
She's using it for fun as a hobby, but she does draw full characters on the daily. She hates Apple and doesn't need multi-touch. Any hot (and/or lukewarm) takes to persuade or dissuade her from the Wacom One?
Tutorial thread, I have a question! Does anyone know of a decent tutorial for how to pair sound with animation clips/ gifs? I've got accessed to Clip Studio and Krita, and could probably seek out a different program if needed.
Hmm, I know you can do this in Photoshop, I have no idea what Clip Studio or Krita offer on that front though.
I was going to say you could probably do this in DaVinci Resolve (it's free), but apparently there's no native gif support in that program, so you'd have to either convert the gif to a video somehow first, or export the individual frames as images & then import it as an image sequence. That might be a pain (and Resolve is a big heavy program for doing such a simple thing, and might be overkill unless you're doing other video editor stuff).
You could also do this in the Blender video editor, but again there's no native gif support so you gotta use the same workaround.
There's also a bunch of online light video editors that can do this quick and easy according a google search, though I haven't used any of them so I don't know what terms/conditions/sign ups/etc. you're looking at for these.
https://www.google.com/search?q=add+sound+to+gif&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS896US896&oq=add+sound+to+gif
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https://www.youtube.com/@FlippedNormals/streams
Caved and bought Photoshop since my 'rah rah Clip Studio' mindset has kinda been dampened by some of their recent shenanigans as a corporation. :P The advice is much appreciated, I'll play around with this!
I'm currently mired in a bit of an art block after having just emerged from an extremely stressful and all-consuming period at my workplace, so it'll probably be a slow thing...
This is really helping me visualize how to draw hands—Also very cool to see how Blugh thinks through drawing a hand from imagination.
I experienced this when I bought a pen display monitor and had to move it around every time I used it. Move it into the right position, get it in a comfy angle, do the work and then put it back. It was really awkward and annoying so I stopped using it and went back to traditional for a while. Eventually I got a pen stylus tablet instead and that takes seconds to setup and now I draw every day. It took a few days to get used to the disconnect of not looking at the pen and looking at the monitor but it wasn't that bad.
I guess what I'm saying is do whatever is easiest and gets in the way the least. If you want to digital do digital and make it as easy as you can to just pick up the pen. Reducing friction also helps in learning sessions even if it's just having a rough idea what you're going to focus on for a bit. I'm kinda hopeless with that so I pay someone to keep me focused by giving me new projects every two weeks.
I kind of answered my own question here, from reading through drawabox it's highly suggested to do blank paper and fineline 0.5 pens. Fortunately I still have both from my old art days so I'm ready to go without spending a cent. I figure the structure of that site is really good and am going to follow that as best I can!