Intro & salutation + a question

[Solidarnosi]

Hi all. I used to be an artist, way back before I went to school to be a nurse. With current technology & my love of computers, I see that digital painting/etc has caught up with real life techniques.

Seeing just a sample of the artistic ability on these forums has me overwhelmed. So many of you are just fantastic in design & techniques, I'm stunned by the talent.

My favorite stuff is the sci-fi landscapes, crafts, armor & all. The DSG on "alien-inspired landscape" was awesome, for instance. I'd love to know how you guys create the misty lighting effects, that is amazing.

As far as starting out, Painter 8 + a tablet of some type would be the way to go?

Thanks and hope to meet some nice people around here. If I ever get off the ground with illustrating, I'll be happy to start contributing. For now, I'll lurk around & learn what I can from you all --- Solidarnosi

[Isis]

Hi sold!
I'm new too, and getting the jist of everything. Where we aren't sharing a commonality is that I'm all about this new 3d and photoshoppy digital art. hee hee. :evilbat:
Once i get set on a nice free image server I'll show you what I mean.
For some response to your question, I'd try to get my hands on some software like PaintShopPro or PhotoShop, Illustrator, etc. They can be expensive though. uggg.
3D Studio and Lightwave are the big trend, that's how most of us do our 3D shibbles and bits.

[thomasaurus]

Welcome! If your serious about it, getting a small Wacom tablet ( Graphire2 sells for under 100$ anywhere), and a traily version of Painter or Photoshop will help you get off the ground.

Looking forward to some artwork in the future!

[amphex]

Though jnorish said to go for a small wacom, I think everyone here would agree that the bigger the wacom the better..so if you can afford a big one, like 9x12 (or whatever the actual size is around there..=\ lol), then Id say thats the way to go.
You can also download a trial of painter 8 at www.corel.com/painter8

have fun! =)

[Solidarnosi]

Thanks everyone! I have the trial version now, it's pretty complex. Mostly I'd love to develop acrylic techniques to get that nice layered look for sci-fi buildings/armor/alien landscapes and all....Got a lot of studying to do!

Also will look in to getting a tablet. Not only does the mouse behave terribly, I'm left-handed when I draw (right-handed w/mouse)!

Thanks again, and look forward to digging through this wonderful site --- Soli