What tools does everyone use?

Hey everyone, long time reader/admirer, first time poster in this forum.

I really like the work everyone does here and I was curious as to how you make such beautiful work. Do you draw the stuff by hand, then transfer it to PC and color/shade/texture digitally? What programs do you use to accomplish it? If so on the last question, are these expensive programs or can I get a trial somewhere?

I used to draw and other artistic stuff back in high school/early college years, but turning into a grown-up has limited my art time. I've recently got into photoshopping some pieces for members of CoH Gameamp and really enjoy it, but I feel like I'm still very raw. If you want to see some of my stuff, here is my gameamp profile and check out the image gallery.

Thanks in advance for the info!

Big

I hand sketch when I'm not in front of my pc, usually a mechanical pencil, but traditional work requires a lot of free time which I don't have. So at my pc, I use Illustrator to sketch, ink and then turn the finish into a jpg. I then place that into Photoshop (CS3 rocks the house) and use multiple layers to color it off.

I have tried other programs, but since I've been teaching myself the learning curve of Adobe products, it just makes sense to stick with it. There are some free trials for many programs, Open Canvas, Comic Works, which do amazing comic only things... so it pays I think to stick to one you like and try to emulate the results of finished work you enjoy.

I could give you a traditional break down if you like, since that's how I think many people start. But that would be another question...

LJ

I'm a short-time reader and even shorter-time poster in this forum. However, I guess I can still toss out a few tips.

Personally, I do everything from start to finish digitally. I start with a blank file in photoshop, do my sketch in photoshop, then color/shade/texture from there. Now that I have been doing this for while, I can truthfully say that I feel this is probably not the best way to do things. I think the fine control that the friction between a pencil and paper provides really can help the quality of a sketch. I still find doing my sketches on the computer to be very difficult and lacking in precision. My sketches usually are not pretty at all. I make them presentable by coloring them.

Why do I do things the way I do? Sketching isn't my strong point anyway. I'm a much better colorist. I think I use my sketches only as a set of guidelines. I really define the form of whatever I'm working on in the shading process. I treat my coloring/shading/texturing more like painting than I do just coloring. By the time I'm done, the sketch is 100% obscured. And, if you peel back the layers... often half of it ends up getting erased from behind the color layers in the end. I am also rather lazy. A strong part of my motivation is probably based on not having to clean off space on a table, not having to hook up my scanner, and not having to remember what I did with the pencil sharpener.

Software wise, I primarily work in Photoshop CS2. Photoshop is unfortunately notoriously expensive. They do have a free trial, but it is the variety of free trial that really prevents you from actually using the program in any way that you would want to. There is also a stripped down version of Photoshop called Photoshop Elements that is less than 1/6 the cost. A lot of the functionality you would lose is stuff you wouldn't touch anyway. Photoshop is a very... robust piece of software. The other program I really want to add to my arsenal is Corel Painter (unfortunately, also not cheap - but it does have a stripped down version too... also called Elements!). The full version of painter is about 2/3 the cost of Photoshop. If you want something that isn't priced in the triple-digits, I would personally recommend Paint Shop Pro (also by Corel). As the name would suggest, Painter is designed around digitally mimicking conventional media. Paint Shop Pro is targetting more at photo editing. I would put it on the level of Photoshop Elements.

The other thing I use, which makes a world of difference, is a wacom tablet. Using it is about a billion times easier than drawing with a mouse, I find. I've been working on one of Wacom's graphire tablets for years, but I am looking to upgrade to an Intuos as soon as I can. (As they say, bigger is always better!) Really, I do find that the graphire (the lowest-end of Wacom's tablets) is quite sufficient. I really just want a new toy.

I use to draw straight on the computer with Adobe Photoshop (currently have CS2) with a Wacom tablet. Lately, with my line-art work, I'm more inclined to sketch things with pencil on my pad, scan the sketches and ink them with Adobe Illustrator (currently have CS2 of this as well). Print them, sketch over them, and repeat [as so].

Coloring is done with a mix of Illustrator and Photoshop, though I'm moving towards using Illustrator exclusively, but need to get more proficient with the Gradiant Mesh tool first.

whoops forgot, no wacom = lots of pain...

A whip, hot irons, chains, and whatever artists I can find that won't be missed...

>.>

[ QUOTE ]
A whip, hot irons, chains, and whatever artists I can find that won't be missed...

>.>

[/ QUOTE ]

Damnit, Mantid, I told you I need that whip back tonight!

I still use old fashioned pencil and paper to do my sketches since I don't own a wacom, and know nothing about colouring.

But then I find myself improves a lot while concentrate on sketching.

Uh... MS Paint.

Thanks for the info. I found a Wacom pad at BestBuy for $100 last night, but I'm going to hold off buying it until I get back into the swing of things.

I used to use a mechanical pencil, but it has dissappeared along with my kneeded rubber eraser both due to my new cats I'm sure.

I sketch, then put it into the computer, ink over it, modify what needs to be fixed, then color.

I have a Wacom Intuos. It came with Adobe photoshop elements which has more features than I will ever use. It also comes with Corel painter basic or something like that which I have yet to use, and Wacom custom brushes.

Next year I may just get a Wacom Cintiq which would be unbelievably awesome. Only if we save more money than our current goal though.