I have a few questions...random and in no particular order. I hope I am not too much of a spamming pain in the cutie mark.

1- Anyone have any ideas on where to get a CHEAP or FREE version of PSP, Photoshop or a similar program?

2- Which of those is better?

3- HOW in the world DO you draw like that digitally? (examples: Lunacat, HollowZero, Marco, Amoebath, ect)

4- How did you guys get so good?

5- Any pointers at all for my current hand drawn style?

6- Do you think I have gotten better in my stylings?

7- How long did it take you to get as good as you are now?

Okay, I am done, for now, lol!
So sorry for the long BS list but I thought better to add them all here in one thread!

1- Try this -http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp It seems photoshoppy, and says it's free. See what it does. ^_^

2- I personally love photoshop, it's what I learned on in high school all those years ago.

3- Well, I have a wacom pad. Okay, my boyfriend has a wacom pad, and I "borrowed" it. ^_^

4- I don't know about everyone else, but I've been drawing as long as I can remember. So, years of practice and hating everything you put down on paper until one day you're grudgingly satisfied with something?

5- Your current style is good, a fun thing to do (which I LOVE doing) is to pick someone else's style and mimic it. Not just redrawing one of their pictures but drawing something unique in that particular style. It helps you practice and exposes you to a lot of different techniques.

6- I haven't seen enough of your stuff to answer that. ^_^

7- How old am I now? That many years. ^_~

I don't know about cheap version of PSP. I imagine one of the other versions, like 7 or 8 wouldn't cost as much. Try Amazon.

I've never tried Photoshop, so I can't say much about it. It's my impression, however, that they are similar and PSP can do very many similar things that Photoshop does.

I don't draw digitally. I draw the old fashioned way, paper and pencil. I even use my circle template to get a basic body shape and pose. Then I scan it into the computer. (At one time I was working on simple how-to draw a pony tutorial. I quit because of technical issues, but I might try again when I find the time.)

There is an coloring tutorial stickied in the art forum. It is a tutorial written up by Lunacat for Photoshop, and I did my best to translate it to PSP. She also put links in that thread about how others will color and shade their drawings digitally.

Some people seem to have a knack for drawing spectacular drawings. Others of us feel ho-hum about our skills, and struggle like mad to get something decent drawn (I'm closer to the latter). In any case, practice is the key to getting better.

I've only been making pony drawing for a year now. I've fiddled around with PSP for that time, and even a little longer than ponies, when I was playing around with pictures of my petz (a fun little program by UbiSoft). I had pointers that got me started, helped me feel my way around at first. And then I developed my own techniques over time, to make things easier for myself, and changed the style of my shading from time to time.

But I guess the point is is to have fun, enjoy your drawings even if they aren't "quite right" because practice helps and even if you did it "wrong," you've gained some experience in drawing. I hope that helps.

i love photoshop.the way i developed my style was to start by drawing on top of photos to figure out how the shadows would look painted in,etc.now i like to have a photo open in a seperate window to look at when i draw.the number one rule in art is;
"draw what you SEE not what you KNOW

1. I don't really know where to get them for free, though you might be able to google and see if you can find any. You could try the trial versions of both at Jasc.com for PSP and Adobe.com for Photoshop.

2. I personally prefer PSP(I use version 7). I tried Photoshop, but I didn't understand it much at all. I dunno, I think PSP is just a lot easier to use.

3. I got a tablet last year, which has helped tremendously. Usually I just scan in a picture, make a layer over it and use the pen tool to trace over the lines. I use the eraser tool at 30 opacity and taper certain lines like where the leg meets the body. Then I make a layer for each color and put on the base color. Do 3 shades dark and 2 shades of highlights.

4. I'm still learning. Never gone to art school, pretty much self-taught.

5. I'm really no good at pointers, not having gone to an art school, I don't feel it's my place to really constructively critique anything.

6. I think the more you practice, the better you get. Even though I don't know you, I'm sure that with every picture you've drawn, you've gotten better with each one.:)

7. I drew a lot when I was younger, but didn't keep up with it. It wasn't until two, three years ago that I seriously got into it. And that was just with paint.. I think it was a good year before I did my first full PSP picture (uhh.. it didn't take me a year to figure out how to do layers! No way! x3)

This was my first one(before the tablet):
www.deviantart.com/view/3198118/

And this was my second most recent:
www.deviantart.com/view/17299817/

You just gotta keep drawing. Every picture you draw helps you to get better.:)

I use PSP 7 like Teera and i got mine cheap from ebay. It simple to use and can give you great effects. Also i definately think your art is improving you just get better and better unlike some people who's ponies all look identical **looks in mirror** lol

#1- There's illegal ways to get Photoshop.. LOL But alot of people use a program called "The GIMP", which is free. I've never used it, so..I don't know how it works or such. o.o

2- I personally prefer Photoshop. Paintshop is cheaper and quite affordable but, I just think Photoshop can do more.

3- LOL..you mentioned me. I'm not that good. The pictures of Juliette I did for you are drawn with an optical mouse. It takes awhile. All of my digital art is at least colored with a mouse..again, it takes awhile.

4- Practice. Years of practice. Also learning the programs helps of course.

5- Pointers? I just think you need to practice more..keep drawing ponies. Infact, you might want to try some still life of some ponies you have around the house, just to get a feel of their shape and such. That's what I did when I first started drawing them..two years ago.

6- Of course, everyone gets better with practice.

7- I have been taking drawing seriously for four years now. Been drawing since I was 3 years old but unfortunately was just a hobby then.. If only I started sooner.

1. If you have any computer geek friends, you can always ask if they have a cracked version of Photoshop.

2. I like Photoshop over PSP.

3. I actually loathe drawing on the computer. I am a traditionalist at heart, although I do use photoshop for scanning and manipulating my hand done artwork for view on the web.

4. Practice, practice, and more practice. I have been drawing since I could pick up a pencil, and have been in art lessons for just as long. I actually have my Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree in Illustration, and my Master's of Fine Arts degree in Illustration as well. So I guess I can say that I have devoted my life to my craft.

5. Tips, hmmm...I would say just practice. If you want to get good at something, draw it over and over and over again. Also something that is GREAT to learn is the anatomy of things, especially humans. I can safely say that after years of being in figure drawing classes (where we draw from live models), studying the anatomy of something is key to learning how to draw it well.

6. I haven't seen enough of your stuff to say.

7. My whole life (and I'm 25).

1- Anyone have any ideas on where to get a CHEAP or FREE version of PSP, Photoshop or a similar program?
I use Photoshop and to buy one is very exspensive. You can download a trial version.

2- Which of those is better?
Personaly I love Photoshop.

3- HOW in the world DO you draw like that digitally? (examples: Lunacat, HollowZero, Marco, Amoebath, ect)
I draw it, scanned it and color it in Photoshop. Look up Digital Art Tutorials.

4- How did you guys get so good?
I've been drawing for a very long time. I learned a little bit of Photoshop at an Art Schooll. I read a lot of Photoshop books which didn't help one bit. I searched the net for Digital art tutorial and learned Photoshop from there.


5- Any pointers at all for my current hand drawn style?
Do you use a guide line? It could help. Here's an examples of guide lines

6- Do you think I have gotten better in my stylings?
Yes, just keep drawing. The more you draw the better you'll get.

ashes wrote:

If you have any computer geek friends, you can always ask if they have a cracked version of Photoshop. .

true.my boyfreind got me photoshop 7.0 for free but im not sure how.i could find out tho.

1- Anyone have any ideas on where to get a CHEAP or FREE version of PSP, Photoshop or a similar program? 2- Which of those is better?

Well, as mentioned by others, it's a good idea to download the trial versions of Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro so you can get a feel for both programs and decide which is better for you. Once you've decided which you like, you can either download a 'crack' for the trial (*hides from software police*) or cough up the cash for the real version.

I have both programs myself, but I prefer Photoshop. Mostly I think it's because I've used it more and am more familiar with the features, but I know to begin with it's a bit daunting - if I tried to learn everything you can do with that program my head would explode. But once you get your head around the layers and basic tools it's pretty straight forward.
I really recommend looking up program-specific tutorials explaining the tools and their functions in association with cartoony style art like MLP.


3- HOW in the world DO you draw like that digitally? (examples: Lunacat, HollowZero, Marco, Amoebath, ect) 4- How did you guys get so good? 7- How long did it take you to get as good as you are now?

Okay... um... what am I doing up there with Marco and HZ and Lunacat? *Cowers*
In all seriousness, everyone has their own methods of doing things. For me, it was a matter of using tutorials, adapting them to what I was capable of (some of the stuff they try to explain is a bit heavy for poor computer-illiterate me) and incorporating my own style of drawing and colouring I use in traditional media.
For you, the process will be different, but you most certainly have to start somewhere.

As for how I got so 'good'... I'm very limited in my abilities in drawing. I have only a small repetoire (i'm not even gonna try and spell that correctly ^^;; ) of things I am confident at drawing at, and seldom delve into anything beyond those. I'm exceptionally poor at doing facial expressions... and the only way I will improve is by practicing them. This applies for ANYTHING. Praaaactice.
I guess the pony thing was spawned from being one of those horse-freak kids who just drew hundreds and hundreds of horses on every piece of paper in the house.

I think I might knock up a quick tutorial for drawing a basic pony, to give people an idea of how I do it, like what SkeletonKey suggested... imitate people's styles and get a feel for drawing in different ways.

5- Any pointers at all for my current hand drawn style? 6- Do you think I have gotten better in my stylings?

When I first started out drawing ponies it really helped me to think of them as being made of play-dough... chunky, 3-D, squishable and soft. And it does help to use a pony toy for reference, especially in proportions. Horse photos don't help much - they're skinny little things compared to ponies! They can be of use for poses though, if you want that wild, gallopping through the fields look. ^^

And as for improvement... I'm not all that familiar with your style, but I can guarantee you that impovement is inevitable. It's virtually impossible to get WORSE at something. So just keep at it, be observant, try new styles and poses and you'll get better in no time! Patience is the key.


Wow, I hope I didn't ramble too much there... oh well, if it helped, it was worth it. ^^;;

1- Anyone have any ideas on where to get a CHEAP or FREE version of PSP, Photoshop or a similar program?

Arr Maytey!!

2- Which of those is better?

Neither, I prefer OpenCanvas. If I have to use them I prefer PSP 5 for it's pallete editing ability and PS 5.5 for generally everything else. I HATE anything past 5.5 as they re-did everything to be all non-intuitive and generally BAD in my opinion.

Also OpenCanvas is cheaper to "buy" than the other two.

3- HOW in the world DO you draw like that digitally? (examples: Lunacat, HollowZero, Marco, Amoebath, ect)

Tablet and Layers, lots of a Layers.



As for other tips to "get good". If you see something you think is cool, Like water effect or a gemy effect. Try to figure out how they did it more than ask. You get to learn new ways of doing things and maybe even come out with a style that you think is better looking than theirs.

I got a version of paintshop pro from the car boot sale here, I paid a pound, but it had been free on a magazine. Thats what I used to modify Rainbowberry (add symbol and wings) to Angelberries, but I must say, I can't use it that well. My mouse is rubbish.

I can get you PSP the new version 9.01 for free and give you the crack the have it for free.

!!!!! *leaps and hugs*
really???
Wow!
Okay, sorry, felt the need to go silly and crazy there.
I feel bad about it kinda...oh well, it is very overpriced anyhow.