LadyJudgement

Movie Star... that way when I die, and my grandkids are hard up for money, they can't sell the song I wrote about killing a bus load of nuns to some detergent company because it just happens to have the line in it, "smells like heaven in my house..."

And as a movie star I get to have dolls made out of the action characters I portray, my movie becomes a video game, perhaps I play a key part in the first mmorpg movie... and angelina jolie has it in her contract that she must be nude in the scene were doing, even though my part as the bell boy is only a walk on.

Though most of you probably know me from my blockbuster sleeper documentary called, "I slapped Leonardo Dicrappio across the globe"... in which a crew follows me around, as I take off my flip flops and smack Leo in the head at various Hollywood premieres. In the final scene, the security gets so tight, I have to air drop a flip flop right on to his head by remote control plane.

Since forgetting everyone else would include forgetting my wife, I wouldn't give a flying fig about remembering who I was...

3) Prison! Free meals, camaraderie, I could learn a trade, cable tv, free computers... weight training, conjugal visits, clean clothes, free health care, keep up on current events as supposed to being asleep and oblivious... also I get to go to jail for stealing all of TA's artz...

4) LJ is already 8ft, so being 11ft wouldn't be a stretch.

My first tablet was a Graphire 3, 4x6, 512 lvls in 2002... I wore that puppy out for 3 years, then upgraded to a Graphire 4, dabbled with a Bamboo, and then went to the Intuos 3, 6 x8 - 1024. Your kid's gonna love it, and I don't think it will go the way of the drums. Photoshop 6 is also what I started on, while CS3 has a lot of nice features, he won't need them right away. I would upgrade maybe after a year of really knowing 6, or depends on how fast he progresses.

Check out my DA favorites gallery for tutorials - there's a folder named Art Tutorials, some are inspirational images, but if you go back far enough, there are a lot of good ones for digital coloring.

Here: page 1, page 2, page 3, and page 4.

Might be some NSFW stuff there, it's a wide variety of things... also the pages are labeled backwards, while page 1 may say page 4, it really is page 1 of the earliest stuff I favored. Page 4 has some great videos, and there maybe more in there on page 2 or 3, I forget where, but again, these are all at varying learning curves, so while maybe interesting to learn, you might want to look at the earlier stuff first.

Gimp Tutorials - scroll down OR go to this page: Here.

Whoa.... I have a speed paint to do later... hope yer having a great night!

I have B. I almost went with A, only cause I too needed night lights, since my old set up was in the bedroom, and I use to play while the wife slept. Now I have my own studio far enough from the bedroom, to close the door and turn on lights. Though now my illuminated keyboard thinks I punked out on him... my mouse also glows blue, being a death-adder...

CR - this is the site I used last year, could you build me a mock sky's the limit one with their "pc builder" and send me the link, I'd just like to see what you would choose, since you know what you're looking at... my local pc guru and I argued for days to get a system under $1500, in the end it came out to $1949 with taxes and shipping. All I can say is I love my wife, best Xmas present I ever got!

The finish... (click for larger version)

thanks dude, did you see your wip doodle?

No two headed... but thanks for the input...

It's funny how all his picks are like toys. Color coordinated, so he can say he has a blue one, and a green one and the red one, which is hard to find, but I have it.

I use references for mood, light, shading. I copy other artists ONLY if the piece merits it (Classic Comic Cover), and I always give credit for both models, reference and it goes without saying other artists. I don't do the latter often but if I am doing a classic comic cover, or pose, or style, I will always post my reference. I use to use references for poses, but it's very hard to find a full figure to do what you envision yourself. So sometimes I will change limbs, add on or correct what I need from a photo, that is to say merge two together in some extreme cases. That's only worked out for one occasion, and it was a royal pain, in the end I ended up drawing it from scratch.

I have had some great success with the stock art people from DA, I always send the owner/photographer/model a private note asking their permission or in some cases saying I have used their shot. I always link their credits, and in every case will take the piece down if they ask me to.... thankfully no one's asked, and they've all been supportive to have art done.

I am a portrait artist at heart, so when I ask a client if they want a celebrity likeness, I almost always try to use one regardless, as "that" is what puts me in the mood. With my own characters however, I know them so well I don't need reference to draw them.

I draw the line at doing a copy that is spot on and saying it was all me.

I also draw the line at photo manipulation.

While I know some great photo manipulators, who can make you believe space ships have landed in your living room, those artists are very skillful at what they do. When you see a bad photo manip and the artist is taking full credit for creating something valid out of "nothing", that just makes me want to puke. My point is if you're going to use a program, use it better than well, and don't brag about turning Madonna into Powergirl... cause you didn't invent that.

I believe every artist should draw from observation first, imagination next and when in doubt look it up!

Superman, cause then I could fry those bees before they even try... and also they'd never be able to penetrate my kryptonian skin.

And CR if you call me Auntie again, you're getting drawn in a tutu...

if the gift isn't going to be a surprise, try to find a display model hooked up to a computer, OR go over to someone's house you know may have one, and try it out. then you can see if it's enough, not enough... I still feel that 512 levels is throwing good money after bad, but then it's only $70, so that's up to you, for 30 more you don't have to cheat yourself.