Digital art is art created using a computer. Back when I was around 7 or so, I remember first learning how to draw using Microsoft Paint. The free program takes forever to draw anything and is extremely limited with its features. In contrast, programs like Photoshop CS4 can create nearly perfect lines, blend together pixels realistically, fade several images together and distort an image in thousands of different ways. However, programs like Photoshop CS4 come at a price that almost reaches four digits. You can also use less expensive programs like Corel Paint and Photoshop Elements, which are just as useful but lack many of the nice features found in Photoshop CS4. But luckily, some really nice programmers have taken it upon themselves to create free versions of the expensive Photoshop programs. Both these programs I used for years before I finally broke down and bought Photoshop. Also, these programs are 100% spyware free (as long as you download them from the links I provide).

Click to read more …

Tags: Alex, Art, artist, Artists, brush, brushes, computers, digital, digitally, draw, drawing, Drawings, edit, Expensive, features, gimp, image, lines, links, Love, Money, paint, Painting, Paintings, Photoshop, photoshopped, realistic, tools, Work

Photomash 1

Photomash 2

*Collapses*

Wow, Marisol here, back after a short hiatus to work on a new tutorial. It’s been a busy few days here for me, and I am tired! I’ve been working on the tutorials and studying for my psychology final and tying up some loose ends with things. I have great news: I got an A on my psychology paper! Psychology is one of my worst subjects, and I’ve never done well in it–until now! It takes me to get an A now. Yay! That makes me happy.

Alex and I also updated our “About Us” page; we’ve added images of ourselves. Also, please send a warm welcome to Tala, our newest member to the Sketching House family! Tala was suppose to be with us to begin with, but work and school come first. She will be contributing shortly and her profile will be posted in the About Us section in a few days.

Okay, as I have mentioned, I created a new tutorial. After a long wait, I finished the third part of the Photomashing tutorial and the Photomashed outline drawing, so now, after you reach the end of this, you can forget how long and monotonous this tutorial was. I’m kidding, I hope you don’t forget because many of the techniques you learn here can be transferred to other projects. So, without further ado, Photomashing Part Three: Coloring! Click to read more …

Tags: Art, burn tool, Color, coloring, digital, Digital Art, digitally, guidelines, lines, Photomashing, Photoshop, photoshop elements, shading, tools

Creating hair digitally has proven to be a headache to many people, but trust me, it’s not as hard as some folks think. I had to learn through trial and error—I had more errors than triumphs, but I finally learned. I think I draw pretty well, not to pat myself on the back or anything, but when I first started draw digitally, I had stick hair! Straight lines, no depth, no definition: That was the type of hair I drew. I still have trouble drawing hair digitally, but I am improving every day, well every day that is not filled with writing English and psychology papers and reading dull material (Percy Byssthe Shelley, anyone?). However, I do have a fairly simple tutorial on digital hair techniques. I’ve created this tutorial in five steps, and it uses Photoshop Elements 5.0. If you have an image that needs hair, follow along with this simple tutorial. Hopefully, your character’s hair will look better than mine. Today, I’m going to use Tala’s character, Kotou, for my hair tutorial. Click to read more …

Tags: brush, Color, digital, digitally, draw, drawing, drew, gimp, hair, midtones, opacity, paint, paintbrush, Photoshop, photoshop elements, tone, Tutorial

Tags: Art, artist, cartoon, digital, digitally, draw, drawing, drawing tutorial, guidelines, manga, sketch, sketching, stylus, tablet, Tutorial

What do people consider art? When art comes to mind, many people usually just think about stuffy portraits in museums. Remember Cameron from Ferris Bueller? Who can forget that scene when Cameron is staring at Seurat’s “Sunday in the Park on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” and he later tells Ferris that he “saw nothing good?” When art comes to mind, many people have the same response Cameron had: “nothing good.” Well, art isn’t just about stuffy portraits, soup cans, and “Starry, Starry Night(s)” (which just happens to be my most favorite painting EVER), but it’s so much more! Click to read more …

Tags: 3-D, 3D, anime, Art, cartoon, content, digital, digitally, draw, manga, paint, sketch, sketching, traditional Art, Tutorial