Someone please help me in PS CS

[o01234o0]

Hello everyone thank you for reading this topic. I'm new here and this is my first post so at first I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Alex, I just turned 16 on December, and I just love drawing. I have searched for a site like this for quite a while (hard to find such good site :P ). I have seen some of the projects people are working on and I'm amazed, especially the coloring of the pictures, and such realistic looks. I just started using PS CS, I'm familiar with most of the stuff but I still don't know how to digital paint :needle: . I scan my images and play around with them in photoshop but never succeed, one time i stayed up for 2 days trying to color with shades and stuff. What I used is smudge tools, brush tools at 100 opacity. Unfortunately I don't have CS2, and I don't have a WACOM either :x . So could anyone just please point me in the right direction, of where should I start with digital painting, what tools should I use (GOD IM SUCH A NOOB :x ). Please anyone I'd really appreaciete some help here. I'll check back on this topic later. :eyeloss: :up:

[Datameister]

First of all, welcome to the forums. Awesome site, isn't it?

There isn't a right or wrong way to paint in Photoshop, but there are ways that are a lot more likely to produce better results. If you really intend to get serious about digital painting, buying a Wacom is ALMOST necessary. (Yeah, it's possible to go without one, but it ain't fun and it ain't easy.) The smaller sizes are less expensive but function just fine; even a 4x6 should be sufficient for all painting purposes.

You'll be using the Brush tool for 99% of your work when you paint. Once you have a tablet, you can use the stylus pressure to dictate the opacity. This makes it much easier to control the amount of color; press harder, and more color comes out.

Avoid using the Smudge tool for a while. It has its uses, but don't use it for now. Look at the "Digital Painting" thread in this Photoshop forum; it explains alternate ways to blend your strokes together and still preserve the painterly look. That's also a good thread to post your attempts.

Keep in mind that the process of digital painting in Photoshop is actually very simple. All you NEED is a blank image and that brush tool. Everything else is just there to help things along, and you really don't need the other things for now. It's more important to develop an understanding of color, shade, form, and composition first. And these things can all be accomplished with very simple tools.

By the way, CS2 offers virtually no advantages over CS for painters. CS should be fine. PS7 would be fine. Even the versions 6 and below could be used for painting, although they were less versatile.

If you'd like to see my process for digital painting, you can check out my tutorial (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/27509948/). I'm by no means a great artist, but I'm learning and this tutorial is fairly thorough.

The biggest thing is KEEP PAINTING. Do it every day, even when you don't feel like it. Paint all sorts of things, using reference whenever possible. If you don't have access to your computer, sketch with pen or pencil. All the foundation skills carry over.

[o01234o0]

Data thank you very much for the warm welcome I really appreciete it. Also thank you for providing the tutorials for me and taking time to give me some advice... ;) EVERYONE RESPECT THIS GUY

EDIT:WOW I checked out your tutorial dude that is brilliant :o and BTW do you happen to know how much WACOM's go for?

I got new question, i have been looking around this site and noticed some tutorials on how to blend 2 colors, but i just don't understand them, like i know that you need to set different opacity and sketch over the middle with one of the colors but then you get these lines that you don't want there. How should i blend them?

[Datameister]

Hey, no problem. I know that when I first started painting (not too long ago) I felt like I needed every bit of help I could get! Still do, as a matter of fact...

Tablet prices vary depending on the quality and size. I have an Intuos3 4x5. I used an academic discount and got it for about $200, if I remember correctly. If you go for a small low-quality Graphire, it'll be under $100. If you go for a large Intuos, it can be as high as $500 or so. Then there are the thousand-buck Cintiq monitors that function as tablets...but those are so expensive that most of us amateurs can only dream about them. ;)

That blending technique is pretty effective, although a little tricky to get at first. It's easier once you have a tablet and you've done it multiple times. The idea is this: once you have basic colors laid down, you sample colors and lightly layer them on top of each other. (Sampling is simple; you press ALT and click whatever color you want from your canvas.) You can use either reduced Opacity or reduced pressure on a tablet. The latter is easier and more intuitive. Then you repeat this process many times--alt-click, paint lightly, alt-click, paint lightly, etc. After many repetitions, those lines you're talking about vanish for the most part. The colors get "averaged out," so you end up with only a little bit of visible brush strokes. It's nice to have a little grit to the image.

There are other ways of blending, but this is a good way to start out. It reduces the need to switch tools, etc. And it's not too hard to control, once you get used to it.

Good luck! Post your results so we can do our best to help.

EDIT: Also, keep in mind that a lot of things just take time. For a long time, I felt totally helpless with picking colors. Everything was oversaturated and unrealistic, with soft edges and ugly scribbles. I did some Internet research, but the only thing that really got me through that difficulty was lots of practice. Slowly, things start to make sense. Still, I would have appreciated it if someone had told me that going past 50% saturation is almost a bad thing!

[o01234o0]

Hey, I decided to stick to drawing and sketching for now since i don't have WACOM. Anyways I'm going to save up for one :wink: and hopefully a good one 2. I need to work on my human figure sketches I'm having problems with anatomy
Hope to see you around :p

[Datameister]

Cool! Same foundation skills cross over between the media, so this'll help you whether if you end up painting later or not.

Good luck, and make sure to post your work.