Sharing Some Digital Art *critique please*

Quote:

Originally Posted by satomi325

I agree with you 100%. I tried using Coral Painter a few times, but came out unsuccessful. I just couldn't figure out how to really use painter to it's full potential. Even basic stuff was difficult for me to use. (But this was years ago. I may give it a try again....)
Painter is much more complex imo. PS is more "dummy" status... heh...

It is very difficult! I can't tell you how many times I got frustrated with it and had to close it, haha. Then I started working larger and my computer wouldn't have enough RAM to handle the larger processes. Again, very frustrating.

You could definitely check out Deviantart for some CorelPAINT tutorials. Just like Photoshop, it takes time to get the hang of, and for the first while you'll spend equal time painting as you do trying to find your next tool, haha. It gets easier the more you do it. I like both programs for various reasons, and sometimes will cross import files back and forth between them. Build texture in CorelDRAW, finalize and tweak color in Photoshop. Both have their pros and cons for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by satomi325

Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to try out your suggestions.

The first and last piece were based on photographs. The middle unfinished one was scratch. I feel like that one came out the best even though it's not done. I can definitely see what you mean by contrast.
I think I somewhat did that in the unfinished piece.

I've never had formal art lessons. Everything has been self taught over the years. So I probably lack a lot of basic color theory. (Perhaps I should take a class). I have difficulty choosing colors for contrast because it just looks strange to me in the "work in progress" stages. It comes together in the end, but I guess I lack the "eye" for it?? Haha

I'll start playing around w/ colors more.

Again, thank you. :)

I'm self taught as well, so I can understand that for sure. I spent many years asking questions of various artists. A good number of 'professionals' are more than happy to answer an e-mail if you're asking about technique or clarification about things. Todd Lockwood and I spoke back and forth for about a year. Fabulous person. Donato was helpful, if a little stern, haha. The more you ask, the more you learn. Just like you asking for critique here.

Color theory is tricky, and I admit, I'm still learning the various tricks of the trade. But each time I pick up a new piece of information, I'll go and try it out for a while with simple drawings of shapes and textures. For instance, shadows are the opposite color of the object on the color wheel. So a RED ball will cast a GREEN shadow. Pull up Photoshop, create a ball. Mask off just the ball. Paint the ball various reds. Highlights only. Brighten it. Then, start throwing in some green based grey in the same 'tone' as the red. Then start to darken it up and blend it in. The ball should 'pop' a bit more than if you'd used just straight black as your shadowing. Yellow's shadow are Purple. Orange's shadows are Blue....

It gets interesting.

Another way to 'learn' color is to take an 8" x 8" peice of paper and cut about a 0.5" square in the center. Hold this in front of your face and use it to isolate colors. When we see the whole thing, our brain will 'shortcut' colors and we won't see the true color. We see the color as a whole. By looking at just certain areas (highlights, shadows, etc) through a single hole, we can isolate the true colors that are there. A shadow that once looked black can now have a blue tone that we didn't notice before.

But I won't ramble too much, haha. It's basically always a learning process!

Search tutorials, and if you find an artist that does something you're curious about, e-mail them. What's the worst that will happen? They might not e-mail you back. I doubt they'd scold you for e-mailing them. Most are more than happy to chat with a fan for a bit. Honestly, art classes can be good, but I find they aren't great. I took a few and, once we started drawing/applying, I often found that the teacher and I would be on-par and I'd somehow end up helping with the class, haha! Fine art is a little different, and you do learn a lot, but those are typically more expensive and hard to find a really good teacher. Or, at least, one that isn't slightly crazy or stuck in their own genre :rolleyes:

You have a great style going on. Really appealing. Definitely stick with it. You got something good going here :gj:

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Sharing Some Digital Art critique please