# Digital Art Beginner



## Sathai

I was thinking of getting into digital art. Does anyone know what software to begin with? I was browsing through the internet but got confused by all the different choices. Also I need to keep it within budget. Thanks to anyone who can give me some recommendations.


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## Lenny

What type of digital art are you looking to do?

Modelling in 3D?
Modelling in 2D?
Creating pretty patterns with fractals?
Actually drawing and/or painting on a compter, maybe using a graphics tablet?


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## Sathai

I'm not sure Lenny. Some kind of illustrative artwork. What would be the simplest route to go with your choices?


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## Lenny

_EDIT: I've highlighted the most useful paragraph red._

Be warned that I'm rattling searches into Google whilst answering, to give the illusion that I know all about it. 

If you want to model in 3D, then you can download, for free, *Google SketchUp*. Whilst it may not be the most advanced of programs (certaintly nothing as advanced as the professional programs like Maya and 3DS Max), it is quick to learn, easy to use, and the end product can be very good. It's also a very good precursor to the multi-thousand pound programs (Maya, 3DS Max) should you decide that you want to learn how to model.

Google SketchUp - Home

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Pretty patterns with fractals. Let's see.

Fractals seem to be a very mathematical and scientific form of digital art, and look rather pretty.

I haven't a clue about these, so I'll skip over them, if I may.

Fractal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 Painting and/or drawing, maybe with a graphics tablet.

You can do this in anything - Microsoft Paint, Macromedia Fireworks, Adobe Photoshop, whoever makes PaintShop Pro these days, Corel drawing programs, anything.

Paint, of course, comes free with every Windows PC. Fireworks, Photoshop, PaintShop Pro and any others need to be bought, but it is safe to assume that trial versions of each can be downloaded - the latest versions of Fireworks and Photoshop, for example, are available as trial downloads on the Adobe website.

As for the graphics tablet, well, you can spend thousands of pounds on a gigantic, widescreen, easel type tablet that doubles as a screen, or you can spend twenty quid on a smaller one (this, for example, which looks suspiciously like my own: Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK ). If you're right-handed, then a mouse may suffice unless you really get into it and want to be able to draw more accurately, in which case you'll buy a more expensive graphics tablet. If you're left-handed, such as I, then using a mouse to draw can be a right pain in the backside, and so a graphics tablet, even a cheap one, is a great little thing to buy.

Oh, there are also some more advanced Paint programs out there, which are free, and offer a lot more than the basic Paint program that comes with the PC. One such program is Paint.NET: Paint.NET - Free Photo Editing Software for Windows . It does need the _.NET 1.1 Framework_ installed before you can use it, though.    

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Something I forgot to mention - animation.

Right now I'm actually playing around in Macromedia Flash (the latest version of which is available as a trial on the Adobe site), and drawing some characters for an animation a friend has asked me to make. You don't have to use Flash, though, or, in fact, a proper animation package to do this. You can just as easily draw each individual frame in something like Paint, and put them together in Windows Movie Maker to create an animated video.

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Anyway, the short answer to your question - for something like illustrative artwork, the programs like Fireworks and Photoshop, and even Paint.NET should be perfect.

Of course, the more you get into it, the more you might decide that you want a program that does more, in which case you'll have to start shelling out the cash.

By the way, here's the Wikipedia entry on Digital Art - Digital art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Some of the links at the bottom of the pages might take you to sites where there is more detail, and maybe even links to programs.

There are also sites like deviantART: where ART meets application! which are specialised Artsy places, that may be able to help further.


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## Sathai

Thanks for all the info Lenny. I decided to download paint.net and see how it goes.


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## Joel007

Deviant Art is a fantastic site. If you like someone's style on there they usually write which program they've used.


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## darkwolf

I'm a digital artist, so thought I'd toss in my two pennies here.

Depending on the type of art you wish to do, you have several choices.

For 3D character work, you can't beat Poser. There just isn't anything like it. However, it's expensive. There is one alternative though and that is to use a program called DAZ|Studio, which is available for free at Daz3D.com - the major downside to Daz|Studio is that it doesn't come with the standard poser model library, so you're going to have to spend some cash on models to get started with it. However, the models are cheaper than buying Poser, which comes with a collection of its own models. You can get Poser 7 for about $250, but I'd recommend searching the internet for a copy of Poser 6, which should be cheaper and in my opinion, P6 is less buggy.

For 3D Landscapes, you have two basic choices and that's to use either Bryce of Vue de Sprit. Personally, I use Vue 6 xStream, and wouldn't go back to Bryce unless they add some serious feature upgrades to it. Bryce will cost you about $100, so it's definitely the cheapest place for a beginner to get started. You can always switch over to Vue later, once you're more experienced, because Vue is going to cost you anywhere from $200 to $1000 depending on which version you use. Of course, the $1000 version is best, and that's the one I use (yes, I take my art seriously enough to spend that kind of money).

When it comes down to 2D art, I personally don't think you can beat photoshop. A lot of people will disagree with me and say that PaintShop Pro is better, but I've used both and I'm a stubborn old bugger who still believes that photoshop is still the king of 2D art software. That said, the latest version of Photoshop is going to run you about $650, but you can find it cheaper or find an earlier version for a lower price - there's not that much difference between the most current version and the past 3 or 4 releases to be honest. Paintshop Pro is a lot cheaper - in the $60 - $100 range. It does a lot of the same, but again - you get you what you pay for in my opinion and Paintshop just isn't as flexible. There is one last 2D program available though and that is the GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program), which you can find by Googling "GIMP" - GIMP has a lot going for it - for one thing, it's FREE. It does pretty much the same as photoshop and paintshop, but in my opinion, it's not quite as robust.

So, there you have it - the top 3 types of software needed by a digital artist, depending on what you want to create. Of course, there's also the 3D modelling software category, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.

So, what do I use? Poser 6, Vue 6 xStream, and Photoshop. I've also got 3D Studio Max, but I haven't sat down long enough to learn how to use it very much - 3DSMax get's complicated fast.

I'd post some images in the gallery so you could see my work, but for some reason, I can't see a bloody post button.

Anyways, good luck with the digital art, and sorry for such a long post. Just don't get discouraged - I've been doing this for about 10 years now and I'm still nowhere as good as I want to be and I'm still learning something new every day. 

Later,
Darkwolf


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## Sathai

Thanks for the info Darkwolf. I think I'll save up for an older version of Photoshop.


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## creativeflow20

well you would first need a tablet. i use intuos wacom, and i really want cinq 2000. it really isn't necessary to get photoshop (most of the time, you dont know how to use stuff anyways). you can create decent artworks with a very simiple software like open canvas. if you have strong foundational art skills, doesn't matter too much what you use.


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## Will Gisby

The Wacom Bamboo is pretty good too, its smaller and only £30-50 i think. Its the affordable beginners tablet


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## arpa

I will agree with Darkwolf, Photoshop is the best software. May because I'm partial or may be because i'm familiar with it more than others. But for 2D illustration a Tablet and Photoshop combo is best.


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## Interference

Free Software:

1: The Gimp - it's Photoshop, but not as we know it.  It would certainly be a good intro to everything you'll find in Photoshop.  Later, as you learn the additional tools, you might want to save up and go Photoshop, but I honestly doubt a beginner needs to start there.

2: DAZ Studio - check out Wybren's gallery if you want to see what you can achieve.  You can get away with paying absolutely nothing (many models and props are also free) and still create some incredible stuff, or you can choose how and how much to pay for the more exotic and sophisticated add-ons.  It has its limitations, but these can be taken care of using ...

3: Blender, a 3D modelling programme, not quite as sophisticated as Max, but not far off, either.

4: Hmmm ... I'm sure there's another one I use regularly, but I can't think what it is right now.

I suppose you can google for others and do a taste-test for yourself, but I think these three (or four, if I can remember the other one) will satisfy most of your needs for the short- to mid-term.  All are available in Mac or PC versions, Gimp and Blender being marketed for Linux systems as well.


Damn!  I just noticed the date of the original post.  Does anyone know how Sathai might have got on?  (S)He's there but not all here, as far as I can tell


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## BookStop

s'ok, Interference. I'm following the thread too and my question would've been nearly identical to Sath's.

For some reason I cannot get DAZ, I can download it, everything looks good, but then, no picture int he screen. The DAZ people were at a loss as to why. I'm hoping once windows 7 is installed, whatever is causing the problem will be taken off with that, and perhaps i can try DAz out. If not, I was lookiing for an alternative and Poser seems good and not really all that expensive....

My daughter's com with a photoshop copy that , um, isn't...crashed completely, so we upgraded her to a laptop but it doesn't have photoshop in any, um, form. I'm excited to learn there is something free she can try.

Now, about tablets: necessary or no?


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## Sparrow

Photoshop is necessary, a tablet is personal preference.

Myself, I hate the damn things and have always used a high end mouse.

A word of advice, don't get involved in 3D animation until you've mastered or are at least very proficient in Photoshop/Illustrator.  3D requires all kinds of skills including texture map creation, matte paintings, making vector based shapes to extrude or lathe, alpha maps, bump maps, blur maps, depth maps, and on and on, all done within Photoshop & Illustrator.

On an average day I'd spend 60% or more of my time in Photoshop, the other 40% in one 3D app or another.


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## Interference

Sorry, Sparrow, but Photoshop is only _optional_  - as long as Gimp does everything it does, no beginner need shell out on anything more for a long while.  There are some reasonably inexpensive graphtabs, but I'm afraid it's a case of getting what you pay for, there.  It really does depend on the art you're doing, though.

My _usual_ system, if it can be called that, is to draw my sketch first on paper and scan it in.  Once I have it in Gimp, I can recolour, re-size, tighten and finish using just the mouse.  Sometimes I'll use DAZ to help me work out tricky perspectives, particularly buildings or reflections, and I went through a phase of creating the image in DAZ and then Gimping it to look hand-drawn, but that was actually more time-consuming than using DAZ as a life-studio to draw from.

Your DAZ issue is an odd one, all right, Book.  Poser is a valuable tool, too, though I don't think I used it more than a couple of times since I got DAZ.  I got Poser as a functioning freebie many moons ago and recently upgraded it to Poser 7, but I find DAZ very easy and user-friendly, and all (I believe) of the DAZ models work in Poser as well (and vice versa) - which is great for the freebie space ships


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## Fuzzy Modem

I started in Bryce, which is nice because of the nearly instant gratification. You can sit down to an empty scene and have something book binder cover quality ready to render in about 5 minutes.

After that I moved on to Rhino and Maya.


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## Freelancer

I use 3D Max / VRay for 3D and primary animations, Photoshop for 2D and 3D post work and After Effects to give some nice effects to all.

For beginners I would suggest Photoshop as it's perfect to create 2D pictures or post work 3D stills. For 3D, I would suggest 3D Max, because it's easy to learn, easy to modelling in it and even easy to make nice animations (In my opinion it's beating Maya in this.).

I can't tell anything about Blender, but I also heard a lot of good about it.


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## charlesartist

I agree with all the comments about Gimp. Great program, but not as rubust as photoshop. I have a registered version of an earlier version of photoshop. I only have Gimp on my system now. I would buy photoshop in a heartbeat if I had lots of expendible cash though.

Blender is also a very robust program, especially for the price; namely free! Thanks to those that posted about Daz3d. I didn't know it existed. Now you've given me more of an excuse to waste a lot of time on the computer


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## Lenny

A new 3D program that I happened upon the other day:






Sculptris is a User Friendly 3D Modeling and Sculpting Program

Sculptris is the name, and apparently it's some sort of advanced ZBrush clone. It's so good, that ZBrush have reportedly bought it!

_EDIT: I've been told by a friend doing a Computer Animation and Design degree that *Mudbox* is worth a look in._

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For non-organic modelling, I still recommend Google SketchUp, though.


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## JenJen

Having been around Digital artists for a few years (concept artists etc), the general agreement is that Photoshop (or potatoshop as we call it ) is -the- program to use. 

I know it has been echoed before, but having a tablet is also a must, really. Even though I have a friend who does digital art with a mouse, I'd personally go mad. 

If you intend to do any type of artwork that requires computer-written text next to it (like a storybook), Don't Ever Use Photoshop For Text. It pixelates it and treats it like an image! (handwritten text that's scanned in is another thing of course, but I won't start rambling about that)

For text in general comic books, I use Adobe Illustrator. And people also use InDesign to organize everything.

This is all quite commercial though.


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## jianren

Hmmm....I'd say just find tools in Photoshop that mimic real drawing and painting tools....and draw or paint like you would on paper or canvas. Things that digital can do better than physical work might be best explored after you've gotten the basics of just creating an image as good as you can on paper.....then shortcuts and digital specific tools will be easier to explore. this all depends on if you have experience wilts drawing and painting, if not....just work on those things....


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## Laura R Hepworth

jianren said:


> Hmmm....I'd say just find tools in Photoshop that mimic real drawing and painting tools....



If you want a program that has a true 'painting/drawing' feel, I'd highly recommend using Corel Painter instead of Photoshop or even ArtRage. Photoshop is a great program, no question, but it was designed as a photo-manipulation software that Adobe added painting options to, it was not designed as a 'painting software.' The brushes in Photoshop work as stamps and less like actual brushes, while the brushes in Painter and ArtRage were designed to mimic the look and behaviour of real art media (paints, chalks, pens, different styles of brushes, etc.) and are of a higher quality than those of Photoshop. Alternatively, if you don't want to purchase the whole program, you can get Corel ParticleShop which will allow you to use Corel brushes in Photoshop. I've used both Photoshop and Painter, and much, much prefer Painter.


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## ThomasG81

Free software
2D- GIMP, Paint.NET
2D Animation - Dragon Bones
3D- Blender, Makehuman, Sculptris


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## Alan Aspie

Sathai said:


> I was thinking of getting into digital art. Does anyone know what software to begin with?



Our kids use ProCreative in they iPad Pro.

10€. (That iPad is expensive, but I don't know do you have it or not. You did not tell about your gear.)

Many pro artists love it.


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