Painting in Photoshop

I came upon this completely sweet site about painting in Photoshop, so I figured I’d link to it. I’d been just testing out brushes in Corel Painter, and my conclusions were not too far off from what other people do. I was wondering how the heck they got everything so nice, but just as I suspected, they actually lay the colors down all messy at first and then gradually blend everything together.

So far my technique is some awful rudimentary process of laying down swatches of color where I see fit and then blending with the palette knife. Is this seriously how it works in real life?

Painter Is Hard

So I finally tried out Corel Painter 9, and I have to say that the brush replication is soooooooo cool. There are so many brushes, and the way they blend and paint is inspiring. Unfortunately, the interface doesn’t seem as friendly as Photoshop (which is kinda sad when you think about it…), so I am totally lost in this program. I had to put down the base colors in Photoshop and then lock the transparency in Painter just to paint in the lines. Still, I get the feeling that the brushes will make all the hassle worth it.

Tablet Needs Love

Uggh, I know it’s been a while, but I have recently been feeling the itch to draw again. Ok, so I have totally been slacking off, and I’d like to get a good sketch or two in before the holidays. There are a few ideas floating around in my mind, that I eventually want to do:

• I want to do some Suzuka fanart. How is it I haven’t done any yet? The need for a Miki camouflage ninja calls out to me.
• Naruto + Super Mario Brothers: Sasuke with a Fire Flower and Chouji with a Mushroom are merely the opening act for Tanuki Suit Gaara. I wish I was better at the SD style.
• On the one hand, I wish that Photoshop could emulate real media better, but on the other, I’ve never used most types of real media! I want to try some coloring using the different blending modes in combination with different brush modes. I would hope that this could turn out really cool, but I have a feeling it won’t work. Also, cleaning a sketch up for coloring is by far the worst part of finishing a picture.

Fresh

I was going to skip this theme, but I totally saw the light on the way home. Prepare yourselves for PUNishment!

Next one is a bit easier: “Float”.

Things to Draw

So I don’t forget, I want to draw the following this week:

• Escape: It’s gonna be a Gundam Seed Destiny one, I’m pretty sure (I have the bizarre idea sketched out in my mind)i>
• Felicia: From Jubei-chan 2, in Spade-eyepatch mode (not sure on pose yet)

Escape

This week’s theme is “Escape”. Or is it next week’s theme? I get so confused, but I have an idea. GSD again, because I can’t help myself.