Multi Media Noob

[shonen]

Hey Guys,

Now I know most of you are networking, programing guru's and such but I have seen some great art work floating around hak5 and from memory digip does this sort of thing.

I finished my previous networking course and was going to do a diploma in comp sys engineering but wanted to have a break from the tech side of things and do something a little more creative and enrolled into Mutlimedia printing and graphic arts, just finished my second week back at tafe.

Now when it comes to using adobe products such as illustrator and photoshop I am not to crash at it (only just recently worked out how to use the pen tool thanks to my teacher). I was wondering if anyone could suggest any good sites, books that are worth reading and basic concepts and foundations I should be aware off.

I was also handed an assignment last week to design a character which is to be ported over to illustrator for a final copy. Below is the 1st rough which came out ok considering I aint put pen to paper in over 5 years. Anyways was also after some critique, color suggestion etc etc.

Also I would love to see what graphic art work others have done on here.

[Charles]

That's really good. I'm trying to remember which sites I used when I did PS and AI.

Might try googling for "photoshop tutorials" or "illustrator tutorials" that should get you started.

[digip]

Watch all the Pixel Perfect stuff on Revision 3. Burt shows you how to use Photoshop and Illustrator and does them usually in real time so you see how it was done. Also, check out http://psd.tutsplus.com/ and their related sites. Some of it is for subscribers only, but most of the public stuff is pretty top notch tutorials. deviantart.com is also a great place for tutorials and even stock photos to work with. Those are the main ones I work with for inspiration and tuts.

my dA page: http://xxdigipxx.deviantart.com/

[shonen]

Watch all the Pixel Perfect stuff on Revision 3. Burt shows you how to use Photoshop and Illustrator and does them usually in real time so you see how it was done. Also, check out http://psd.tutsplus.com/ and their related sites. Some of it is for subscribers only, but most of the public stuff is pretty top notch tutorials. deviantart.com is also a great place for tutorials and even stock photos to work with. Those are the main ones I work with for inspiration and tuts.

my dA page: http://xxdigipxx.deviantart.com/

Thanks Digi, completely forgot about pixel perfect, I watched an episode a while back and they are guy does a great job at explaining stuff. Also thanks for the link mate, much appreciated.

I had a good look through your deviantart account and all I can say is WOW, you have done some pretty funky stuff, great website templates, photo manipulation and the anime stuff you have done is pretty freaking mint.

looks like I have a lot to learn. XD

[h3%5kr3w]

Wow dude, you'r pretty bad ass with the freehand. I was never able to come close to that. Now if anyone knows how to use Maya3d....

[dr0p]

That's pretty good ^_^ Cute character too. I'm jealous... no artistic talent at all.

[shonen]

Thanks guys glad you like it and thank god it looks cute, I was aiming for that whole cutsey neko type thing =D

Took me a good day and a half to get that far due to being really rusty. lol drawing a basic circle for a guide for the face took a good 20 minutes *shakes head* was not a good idea busting my hand up a few years ago when I lost my temper and punched a hole in the wall and fractured my knuckle from a metal work bench on the other side. Ever since then my right hand shakes every so often. 0_o

I have to do 3 characters for the assignment so I decided to cheat a lil and use one I did a 5 years back (supplied below). I have a few drafts for the 3rd but nothing so far that makes me wanna do a final copy.

Jealousy works both ways dr0p, you can actually code unlike a certain someone. XD Speaking of programming a dude I was chatting to in another forum showed me computation art the other day. Its pretty awesome stuff.

Hopefully I wont complete suck at using illustrator to color the images.

also did a version in ascii art for a laugh, used a generator but it still needed a good 5 hours of editing before it started to look reasonable.

[h3%5kr3w]

Illustrator isn't too bad, matter of fact, after importing it's just touch up I believe.

[digip]

Illustrator is one thing I wish I had. I only have Photoshop at the moment. I took a graphics art class in like 1992, but it was shit crap apple paint programs, the equivalent of Microsoft Paint, and I only had one semester of it before I got bored with it. Years later, i discovered photoshop, somewhere around version 4 or 5. A friend showed me some stuff he had made for work while interning at a marketing company, and thats where I got started with photoshop. Im 100% self taught with it though, and always learning new stuff it can do. Photoshop is one of those programs that I think no matter how much you use it, someon always comes up with a new way to do something since there are so many combinations of steps you can do to somehting to get the desired effect you want.

For me, its down to how much you like to play and express yourself, and how much you ignore conventional techniques to doing something different in photoshop. To me, art isnt about following the rules, its about doing what you want and forging your own path. In my opinion, its very similar to computers and true hacking, making things do what you want them to do, instead of what they were intended to do.

Edited February 23, 2010 by digip