Wow, Gaderath, That's quite a post. I'm gonna see what I can do to help you out.
First off, the picture itself. It's obvious to me, from looking at both this picture, and the MS paint pic you did of the same toon, that you understand some of the basics of creating a work of 2-dimensional art: the use of shading, and of perspective. However, like many beginning artists, I feel that maybe you're not sure how to apply them, and others, in a way that lends itself to a dynamic composition.
Judging by your two pieces, it seems to me that your concern right now, is being able to to create a figure drawing that looks believable, "real", and like it has a tangible place in reality. That being said, I think the number one thing you could do would be to invest some time and money in a "drawing from life" class, or similar books. These can help you begin to understand the finer points of how to make a character look "real", such as proportion, and the physics of how the human body works. If this is not an option, then your best bet is just to draw, draw, draw.
If you're in school, and in an art class, take advantage of it. Pick your instructor's mind. If you're not in school, sketch on your lunchbreak at work. Sketch the people in the breakroom, go outside and sketch the building, draw anything and everything that you have access to. When you get home from school or work, ask a friend or family member to let you sketch them. This doesn't have to be a fancy schmancy modelling thing, where they dress in a bedsheet, and then lie on the couch in an uncomfortable position, just sketch them doing whatever it is they're doing at the time. The important thing here is that you're consistently exercising the connection between what you see through your eyes, what you perceive in your mind, and then pencil (or stylus) in your hand.
I feel it's important to note, that the human body is a very complex machine, and understanding how it is put together will go a long way to making it easier to draw a lifelike image of it.
Now then, moving on to your concerns with Photoshop. PS is a complex tool. Like any artists tool, there are many things you can do with it; some you'll find useful, others you wont. My number one recommendation is that you experiment with it often. Make note of the things about it that you like, or find usefule, and explore those further.
You had mentioned using PS for layering. For me, I find that to be probably the number one most useful aspect of it. Imagine painting on several separate sheets of glass, and then stacking those on top of each other. If you were to look down on them from the top, the paint on each sheet would obscure anything on the sheets below it. By creating a picture this way, it allows you to edit each layer independently of the others, making it easier to control the look of each layer.
Trying to explore all of the uses of PS in a post like this probably wouldn't be especially useful, as it would take so much text that the post would just be cluttered, and I think the end result would be too much info at one time, and would just be confusing.
For useful PS help, I recommend that you look into online tutorials, like the ones I'm listing here.
Sketchpad.net
Webmonkey.com
Good-tutorials.com
As time goes by, if you find yourself using PS frequently, then I might suggest purchasing a tablet for use in your work. This is drawing tablet that you plug into your PC, and you use a stylus on it, like a pencil on paper. Probably the most well known and respected brand is Wacom. I find that using a tablet greatly increases the usefulness of PS.
Boy, I've kind of rambled a bit here. I hope that you can find some use from all of this. Regardless, I hope you continue drawing, and develop a passion for it! 
Get the book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". It teaches you how to see things as an artist sees them. Which is critical.
Another piece of advice I can give is get a book that teaches you how to draw people using basic shapes to start. There are inumerable tricks to drawing humans, but they all seem centered around the head so they are easy to remember.
Look at the great masterworks by Da Vinci and such. My favorite is Prud'hon.
Finally, draw from real life a lot and never trace. It makes you worse.
Well, I have "the Art of Drawing" from Pogeny that came highly recommended, and it hasn't helped much. Granted, I haven't had it w/ me or open most the time I've hand drawn things.
My school doesn't have much in the way of drawing classes, and at least this semester they were filled long before I had a chance to register for them.
As for Dandy's observations that the pic's aren't very dynamic... well since I didn't expect to get far enough on either to bother hitting save, I didn't focus too much on that. As I got going on them I just wanted something that looked fairly reasonable/realistic/believable.
Blood-Wolffe, I've seen your art since I started posting here, and you've gotten better and better I must say. I didn't see anything from you for a while, and then I saw the pic you did of my main (the one I'm attempting to draw most often and here, and that I can't thank you enough for) and I was wowed. And you're newer stuff is even better.
Quick question as well, I said Paint Shop, Dandy said Photoshop, they're not the same are they? A big difference? Virtually no difference? All preference?
Thanks so much for the advice guys, though I've heard a lot of the "Draw from life" stuff before. I guess since I've been getting frustrated with hand drawing and was enjoying the new stuff (which I've only been doing for a few days) I'd hoped that you'd have more advice in regards to drawing w/ a mouse/computer/paint shop, or were the "Draw from Life" recommendations taking this into account?
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Get the book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". It teaches you how to see things as an artist sees them. Which is critical.
Another piece of advice I can give is get a book that teaches you how to draw people using basic shapes to start. There are inumerable tricks to drawing humans, but they all seem centered around the head so they are easy to remember.
Look at the great masterworks by Da Vinci and such. My favorite is Prud'hon.
Finally, draw from real life a lot and never trace. It makes you worse.
[/ QUOTE ]
quoting this post for emphasis. this book teaches you a bunch of tricks to practice just for observing alone making you 1000 times better faster.
Paint Shop and PhotoShop are different programs, although they are designed to do about the same things. I don't know much about PaintShop except to say that my brother likes it better than PhotoShop for his photo editing needs.
Now for my advice...
Using a computer to do artwork is just an extension of all artwork, and so almost all the same rules apply when it comes to creating a piece digitally. This is why people tell you to "Draw from Life" and to take drawing classes. The better you can draw with a pencil (or chalk, or whatever) the better you will do on a computer. Just remember that the computer will not make you better because it is only a tool, and will only be as good as you are at using it.
Drawing with a mouse is actually pretty hard to do effectively. I know that there are some people out there that are real pros at it, but for most of us it is just not natural enough to use effectively for painting in programs like PhotoShop and Paint Shop. I would still suggest drawing by hand first and then scanning it. Use the lasso tool to create major blocks of color. You can then create layers, use the magic wand tool to create a selection of a color block, and do your shading on the new layers so you don't mess up the original blocks of color. This will allow you to use the mouse to do all your painting without too much trouble.
Again, I don't know if the tool names I listed above are what they are called in Paint Shop, but I am almost certain they are available. And with a little practice you could be creating some nice arts using just a scanned image and a mouse in Paint Shop.
Actually, that soulds like something fun to experiment with... making a digital painting without using my tablet, and only using the mouse... hmmm, I will have to look into this.
50 Fire/Kin Cont
50 Fire/Axe Tank
50 Spine/Inv Scrap
50 Eng/Dev Blast
50 Claw/SR Scrap
50 Emp/Dark Def
50 Eng/Elec Brute
50 Fire/MM Blast
My DeviantArt Page
I found this: Paint Shop Pro Tutorial
It has information about the brushes, layers and other things that you may need to know. I think it could be a very good resource to help you get started with the program and get you familar with the tools.
50 Fire/Kin Cont
50 Fire/Axe Tank
50 Spine/Inv Scrap
50 Eng/Dev Blast
50 Claw/SR Scrap
50 Emp/Dark Def
50 Eng/Elec Brute
50 Fire/MM Blast
My DeviantArt Page
[ QUOTE ]
Using a computer to do artwork is just an extension of all artwork, and so almost all the same rules apply when it comes to creating a piece digitally. This is why people tell you to "Draw from Life" and to take drawing classes. The better you can draw with a pencil (or chalk, or whatever) the better you will do on a computer. Just remember that the computer will not make you better because it is only a tool, and will only be as good as you are at using it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thats it though, I'm terrible at hand drawing, and it's really been bugging me that even though Ive practiced a ton, it hasnt gotten any better, or even easier. Thats why I've taken so much to doing it on the computer, even though I have a *long* ways to go, this is more fun because its something new, and doesn't look nearly as bad, and so isn't as frustrating. I've been hand drawing a lot since March, and only computer "drawing" for a few days, and it's so much better looking.
As soon as I get back to *my* computer, and I start dinking around with it again, I'm going to try out your info and that guide, it looks and sounds very very useful.
The only way to become good with photoshop or any digital program is to know your fundementals first.
So, drawing with a pencil, with charcoal, etc, drawing objects you can see in front of you, is essential to build the skills you need to tackle the drawings you're trying to do.
[ QUOTE ]
The only way to become good with photoshop or any digital program is to know your fundementals first.
So, drawing with a pencil, with charcoal, etc, drawing objects you can see in front of you, is essential to build the skills you need to tackle the drawings you're trying to do.
[/ QUOTE ]
This has been my thinking since before I started with anything, and I'd still much rather do art by hand than mouse...
Also remember this: Every artist has at least a thousand bad drawings they needa get out of their system. So just keep drawing, you'll get there eventually As much as folks would like to think it's an overnight process, or you get bitten by the drawing bug... it's a very long road.
Sayterras totally right about the thousand bad drawings that need to get out I have sketch books full of them !
When im work I doodle on post it notes while answering phones , when im at school i'll doodle in the margins of books and such and I can look at sketches from months back and see differences .
Granted my practice drawing has mostly been since I started CoX and a few months before that with Neopets but constant practice does help alot ((I started drawing for two reasons 1:tons of nervous energy so my hands need to be doing something . 2: I wanted art of all the ideas in my head ))
Well, I got around to uploading one of my handdrawn sketches, I think it looks pretty good. Its way better than most/all my other sketches. Unfortunately this was one that I started on the back of my graded lab report, so when I scanned it the stuff kind of bled though. I'm going to erase it digitally in the morning. Oh, and it's not CoH related really, just a portrait.
http://gaderath.deviantart.com/art/R...ketch-65456558
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The only way to become good with photoshop or any digital program is to know your fundementals first.
So, drawing with a pencil, with charcoal, etc, drawing objects you can see in front of you, is essential to build the skills you need to tackle the drawings you're trying to do.
[/ QUOTE ]
This has been my thinking since before I started with anything, and I'd still much rather do art by hand than mouse...
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My sentiments exactly bud.
I hope this site can help anyone interested in viewing, posting or creating art.
Elfwood
[u]"Elfwood is the worlds largest home to SciFi/Fantasy art and fiction..."[u]
F.A.R.P. General Tutorials
but please note this is only one section of tutorials. There are also tutorials/hints on....
Scanning Printing
Legal and Business
Writing Stories
Wish I had more time to . draw ... but .. must, ..must, .. PLAY! 
see you!
Bah! Traditional medium is for dinosaurs! COME TO THE DARK SIDE OF DIGITAL ART!!!!! Muahahahahahaahahaha * cough, cough weeeeze, cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze,cough, cough weeeeze...*
Okay, maybe not.
Oh man.
I love traditional materials. I love pencil and new sketchbook paper. I love watercolours and acrylics and oil paints (oils are my favorites!). I feel, often times, that using non-digital methods are easier to manipulate. I can predict what it'll do.
Of course, I am a big fan of digital. Lately, I've been using it more than traditional. Why? Well, a few reasons - One that I'm broke and can't buy canvas as regularly as I'd like, another because I want to learn my programs better... Most of all :
"Undo Last Move"
I have an admission to make... Sometimes when I'm near a keyboard and sketching with pencil and paper, I'll go to push the CNTL-Z function instead of erasing 
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I hope this site can help anyone interested in viewing, posting or creating art.
Elfwood
[u]"Elfwood is the worlds largest home to SciFi/Fantasy art and fiction..."[u]
F.A.R.P. General Tutorials
but please note this is only one section of tutorials. There are also tutorials/hints on....
Scanning Printing
Legal and Business
Writing Stories
Wish I had more time to . draw ... but .. must, ..must, .. PLAY! see you!
[/ QUOTE ]
Elfwood is awesome! I've been a member there for nearly ten years. The people are genuinely interested in helping everyone achieve the best results they can.
The only drawbacks are that it takes a while to get new art approved to post, because it has to meet a thematic criteria. Granted, they're fairly lenient on what qualifies as "High Fantasy and/or Sci-Fi" and Superheroes are definitely acceptable.
I haven't posted anything new there in a while, but my Elfwood gallery is linked in my sig.
Ok, as most of you around here don't know me, except for the occasional pop up in free art threads, I'll start w/ a quick background.
I first stumbled on this section of the forums (and the forums in general actually) when I got some altitis in March, and was repeated told on one of my alts by lots of different people that I looked like someone who is around these boards a lot. Finally I checked it out, and was absolutely floored by all the wonderful art here.
Since March I've been drawing on and off, hoping to be able to draw even half as good as anyone here. Lately (last few months) I've been getting a bit frustrated, not that my art stinks (I'm ok with that...) but that it hasn't improved really in 6 months. So just for the heck of it a few days ago I was scribbling in MS Paint and was having fun doodling for the first time in a while, having no expectations really made it more fun when it started to look not-super-horrible. My housemate lent me a copy of Paint Shop Pro and said if I was going to be doodling on the computer instead, I might as well do it with something other than MS Paint. And so I'm working on something now that I think is even better than my Paint picture (how could it not be?) and thought I'd show it off, get some critiques.
Its clearly not finished, and some areas (head, arms and lack of feet/hands) require lots of work, but I was hoping I'd still be able to get some advice/objective opinions on it. I know its no masterpiece, and I can take whatever criticism I get, don't be afraid to be too harsh (too many people so far have just said "Its great!").
I should also mention I have no clue how to use PSP (I think I have version 6, and thats old now), I'm just using the paint brush and the retouch tool (lighten/darken/soften). I know it can do a LOT more, and would love any help/info I can get on those and other tools I should know about as well. Someone mentioned layering to me, and aside from what my common sense is telling me, I have no idea what thats about.
Work in Progress
For reference, this is the character I'm working on ingame: Picture and Reference shots
EDIT: And I should mention I want critques/opinions on the parts that more refined as well as the obviously unrefined parts.