There was a little bit of a bummer with my tablet – it doesn’t work with Krita, the free art program I downloaded to work with.
There was much flailing, but the cheapest alternative I could find was the subscription for Photoshop. Painter was way expensive (ignoring the fact that I only know the basics), GIMP has a horrendous learning curve, and I didn’t feel like the other options I found would be a good fit for what I wanted to use the program for.
I haven’t used Photoshop since… 2009? I used to be pretty good at it, but it’s been a while, so there was a lot of learning the program going on. Plus, I’m learning to use the tablet.
So, here are some terrible doodles I did while working with it.
The first one I tried – her eyes got a little out of hand.
It’s terrible, and I was struggling to figure out how to use the transform tool. I did figure out how to mirror her eyes though. But I didn’t realize that the shade layer needed to be on multiply, and the colors are awful.
The second doodle was more of an attempt at LavenderTowne’s art style:
Really unhappy with the character on the right, but I’m pleased with the one on the left. Still struggling with the transform tool.
LavenderTowne has a tutorial that makes good use of the transform tool and some other tricks, so I was trying to make them work.
The final one, showing that my line weight is AWFUL, but I managed to use the transform tool to edit the underlying sketch and copy and reverse items.
I stopped at the flats though. Really out of practice, ya’ll, and it shows.
I was working on a cohesive set of flats so the colors work together well, and the above listed tutorial had a trick for it. I don’t know if I’ll finish this one though. Also, those hips, SO NARROW. No babies for her I guess!
So, these are my attempts so far. Not great, and I’m looking at taking a class on portraits… but that’s a story for the future. And you know me – I love learning, and I love taking classes, provided they’re on MY terms. I hate deadlines because my health ebbs and flows, and I hate being graded. Still love the learning part though!
Do you do any digital artwork? Have you taken any good art classes that you would suggest? Inquiring minds want to know!
