Magazines on eBay are Expensive

I'm a big fan of the magazine ImagineFX. It's a great resource for digital painters. They have step-by-step tutorials where top artists take you through the process of painting breathtaking pieces. There's an illustrated Q&A section. There's even a new "Overpaint" feature, where a selected artist will coach a noob through an image, giving feedback on how to fix the image.

I used to have a subscription, my parents gave it to me for my birthday. Unfortunately that subscription lapsed, and I can't afford to renew it. I've read the last 2 or 3 issues in the bookstore because I can't afford to purchase it.

Then today I was struck by a thought: Check eBay! Someone might be selling old copies of the magazine that they've read cover-to-cover a thousand times. I personally would never sell any copies of the magazine, they're far too helpful, but someone out there might be willing to part with old copies, and I might get a sweet discount!

Man was I mistaken. Back issues of ImagineFX (all four of them) are actually more expensive on eBay than regular retail. Bummer. I guess I'm going to have to keep reading it at the book store whenever I get the chance. Unless, of course, someone wanted to sponsor me...

Another Star Field Photoshop Tutorial

This tutorial was the inspiration for my previous space tutorial, so I figured I would pass it along. This tutorial was written by a guy named Greg Martin. You should should check it out, because he's way better at it than I am.

His process isn't exactly the same as mine, but the difference is negligible. I'm going to take another crack at recreating my version of the tutorial, this time in more detail. Check back for that later.

Mr. Martin also has a great Photoshop tutorial on creating planets. It's way better than the process I used to use. You should check that out too. And how about the rest of his work while you're at it.

And if you missed it, here's my older Space Scape Tutorial.

How to Paint Space Scenes in Photoshop

How to paint stars and space scenes in Photoshop:

Space is organic, fluid, expansive and ever-changing. We have only explored the most infinitesimal fraction of space and there are so many undiscovered things out there, so let your imagination go wild. Space can look any way you want it to! do you want a square planet? Or a planet that is really just a huge ball of liquid floating through space? Then go for it. The universe is your oyster.

There's no right or wrong way to paint a space-scape, so feel free to experiment. I never use the same process twice. I can, however, show you some tricks I commonly use.

Step 1:
Look at references. Study a few NASA photos and other images that you find. You might think you know what space looks like, but you'd be amazed at how varied it can be. Even if you want to create something no one's ever seen before you have to put it into context everyone will understand for it to seem plausible.

Step 2:
When you have an idea of what you want to do you should start with a black background. Each of these stars is thousands of light-years away, and there's nothing but black in between. It should look like this:
















Step 3:
Let's add some background stars. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Check "Gaussian" and "Monochromatic" and set the noise to about 8-12% This gives you some dim background stars, like so:
















Some of my files got corrupted, so I'm going to have to make new images for the next few steps, but here's what you're going to do:

Step 4:
There are a few too many stars though, so we'll want to thin them out. I go to Image>Adjustment>Brightness/Contrast. I mess with the sliders a bit, move the "brightness" down (about -35) and the "contrast" up (about 70). Play around with the sliders until you get an effect you like.

Step 5:
You need to create some brighter stars that are a little bit closer. I copy the dim star layer and rotate it 180% to get some variety to the star placement. Make sure you rotate just the layer and not the whole image. You need to make the stars seem closer so go to Edit>Transform>Scale and make the layer larger.

Step 6:
To make the stars seem brighter I go to Image>Adjustment>Brightness Contrast again and mess with those sliders. This time I usually turn the "brightness" way down (about 100) to eliminate a lot of the stars. There should be fewer stars on the closer layer. I turn the "contrast" up so that the stars that remain are still visible.

Step 7:
Finally, to make the closer stars seem even brighter, we're going to go to mess with the levels, but first go to Image>Adjustment>Invert. This will make the next step easier to see. Then go to Image>Adjustment>Levels. Grab the slider all the way to the left and drag it way up to about 230. Then take the slider on the right and drag it down just a little. Go to Image>Adjustment>Invert again and set the layer mode to "screen." You should now have a decent looking star field.

Step 8:
The star field is too uniform now though. Stars usually come in clumps, so we're going to take our eraser - set it to a big, fuzzy brush - and start erasing portions of both layers to get an image that looks something like this:
















*For best results you should vary your brush size, shape, opacity and flow. Just play around until you get something you like.

**You might also want to use the Clone tool to add more stars to a certain area, or thin some out from another.

Step 9:
Stars give off light, so let's add glow. Merge your two star layers together, then duplicate the result. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and mess with the slider till you get a blur you like. It doesn't have to be very big. Mine was about 8 pixels.

Step 10:
Now let's give that layer a color. Go to Image>Adjustment>Color Balance and mess around with the color mix. You can set the color to whatever you want. Blue is always a solid choice. Purple looks good too. Experiment and see what you like. I went with blue:
















Step 11:
Set the highlight layer to color dodge and that'll give your stars a tinted glow.

Step 12:
I wasn't happy with how dim my stars were, so I copied my star layer, set the new layer to screen and it made everything brighter. I had to do some more erasing to make it look right, but turned out well:
















Step 13:
Now it's time to really customize your space-scape. You can add anything you want now that you have a star-spangled background.

I added a purple nebulae-like cloud. I created a new layer and took a big, soft brush, turned the opacity and flow down and just started painting with different shades of purple, red and blue. I played with some of the blending layers and eventually set it to linear dodge (I believe.)

Then I added some bright lens flare stars. I made a new layer and filled it with black. I went to Filter>Render>Lens Flare. I then shrunk the layer down and placed it in the star field (under the cloud.) I changed the layer blending mode so that it blended in (i had to take a soft brush and erase a little shadow of black.) I copied the star layer a few times, changed the scale and rotation of those layers and spread them out. There are 5-such stars in there.

It all ended up looking like this:
















It looks pretty on it's own, and it's the perfect palate to add a spaceship or planet on. I hope you guys like it.

P.S. Like I said before, several of my image files got corrupted for some reason, So I'll do another tutorial and update it shortly.

And maybe I'll add a planet or a spaceship in the next one!

Update: This tutorial as inspired by a tutorial written by Greg Martin. Check out this post for links to his tutorials and work.

Mirror's Edge Concept Art

Here are some awesome concept images from the new game Mirror's Edge:






Pretty frickin' cool, huh? The commercials make this game look amazing, and the concept art isn't too shabby either.

Free Photoshop Tutorials

If you're interested in digital art and you haven't head of the magazine ImagineFX you should check it out immediately.

ImagineFX is a great resource for fantasy and sci-fi art enthusiasts. It has interviews, art showcases, product reviews and workshop articles where professional artists will take you step-by-step through the creation of one of their pieces.

The magazine is an excellent resource, but some of us can't afford the approximate $16 cover price. Have no fear, a lot of the material from the magazine eventually pops up on the website - often several months after being published in the mag. There's even a huge collection of workshops - including support files - that you can download and peruse any time.

So if you missed a few dozen issues, or you're desperately poor like me - and secretly reading it in the bookstore just doesn't cut it - then you're not completely out of the loop.

CG Society Announces New Challenge!

CG Society has announced their new Challenge: Steampunk Myths and Legends.

If you're an amateur, professional or even aspiring artist and want to take a crack at creating a steampunk themed image cruise over to the Challenge Page and check it out. They have $220,000 worth of prizes for best individual image, individual and team videos, animation, art direction, character and more.

While you're there you should check out past challenge winners like:

Mathias Kollros:

Torsten Wolber:

Daryl Mandrake:

And many others. If you're interested in 2d or 3d art, animation or special effects then enter the challenge. I'm brainstorming my piece right now.

What Graphics Tablet is for You?

If you are interested in digital art there are a few tools you will need. A computer, Photoshop, or other software and a graphics tablet. You won't find many quality paintings made with a mouse - or worse - a laptop touchpad.

So where to start? There is one company that dominates the tablet market: Wacom. Wacoms are to tablets as the iPod is to MP3 players. There are other ones out there, but they don't stack up. Wacom has several major product lines.

The Bamboo is the most affordable, starting at around $100. It's small, which means it's less accurate, but more portable. And it's the cheapest Wacom you'll come across.

Then comes the Graphire line. Most Graphire models have been discontinued in favor of the Bamboo, but there is still a 6x8 wireless tablet available for about $250, and you can find older Graphires on eBay.

Then comes the Intuos. The Intuos is geared towards professional artists and devoted hobbyists. It comes in many sizes from a 4x6 retailing at $230, to a massive 12X19 going for a cool $750. Obviously, the bigger the working surface, the more accuracy you will get with your strokes.

Finally, there's the Wacom Cintiq, which combines a tablet with an LCD screen, allowing users to paint directly on the screen. There are currently three Cintiq models, ranging from $1,000-$2,000. Quite a hefty price tag for even working artists.

A Wacom tablet - even a Bamboo - is a serious investment, and many digital art noobs can't justify spending that amount of money. Have no fear, there are other fish out there in the sea - companies like Aiptek, Genius, Adesso and other companies make graphics tablets - often far below Wacom prices.

The most important qualities you should look for in a graphics tablet are active area and pressure sensitivity. The larger the active area the easier it is to paint minute detail accurately. There are many factors to consider when it comes to size: desk space, storage, transportation. If you want something portable then a 12x19 Intuos is not for you.

Pressure sensitivity measures the force of your stroke. It is very useful in programs like Photoshop where you can set sensitivity to control things like the width or opacity of a brush stroke, amongst other things. Most Wacom tablets have a 1024 levels of sensitivity, which is more than enough from my experience.

Most people use a 6x8 or 9x12 tablet with 1024 levels of sensitivity. You can find a Genius MousePen 6x8 with 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity for about $45 dollars online. A 9x12 PenSketch also with 1024 levels goes for around $100. The price is definitely closer to most people's budget.

One of the biggest differences between a Wacom tablet and a lesser-known brand is the Stylus. The Wacom styli are very comfortable and natural to hold. They are cordless and battery-less and most have a built in "eraser" for a more natural drawing feel.

Most lesser-known brands skimp a bit on their styli. They are often a bit flimsy and require batteries. This can lead to input issues when the battery is running low. It's not necessarily a deal breaker, but the styli just aren't as nice.

What Do I Use?:
I use a 6X8 Genius MousePen. It's a good size for painting, but also very portable. I can stick it in my laptop case and sketch on the go. The 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity are on par with a Wacom, and the price ($45) was far more reasonable for me.

I used to have the opportunity to use a 19x12 Intuos when I was a student at Syracuse University. There's no doubt that it is far superior, but I just can't afford to plop down $750 on something like that. Plus, it's not exactly portable.

If I had my way (and a bagillion dollars) I would buy a Cintiq 21UX, the holy grail of graphic user interface.

Final Thoughts:
If money isn't an issue then go for the Wacom. An Intuos is surely the most commonly used tablet by professionals. If you're on a budget then a non-wacom tablet is a viable option. Just make sure you look for something that fits your size and sensitivity needs.

DIY Cintiq

The Wacom Cintiq is the pinnacle of graphics tablet technology. A screen that you can draw directly on! No way!

Unfortunately, the multi-thousand dollar price tag puts it way out of most consumers' price range.

There really isn't much to a Cintiq. It's just a Wacom sensor board behind an LCD screen. Enter Bongofish, a website pandering to souls brave enough to tear apart a perfectly good monitor and graphics tablet.

I'm not sure what the legal implications of dismantling a monitor or tablet might be, let alone Frankensteining them together - so try it at your own risk. I'm guessing you'll at least void your warranties.

Head over to the forums section and check out lists of compatible equipment, build logs, and everything else you might need to build your own Cintiq-like monitor.

Image Hosting

Here's an image to kick things off. I'm just testing some image hosting settings...

A quick space painting I worked up in Photoshop CS 3. Maybe there will be a spaceship in front of that interstellar cloud some day.

First Post

Hey guys, I'm starting this site as a collection and tribute to digital art and animation.

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, animation, special effects, this site will cover it all.

I hope to post a lot of tutorials. Host some galleries and hopefully post some interviews and event coverage.

But for now, it's bedtime. I'll start in the morning.