Ever since that art piece that I had done for the LoL contest, I've been wanting to delve into the world of digital art. At the time, although I had coloured my traditional piece digitally (and with a mouse, might I add), I guess it just wasn't good enough. Now with the right tools and equipment, I was very excited to get started.
Now, I'll admit that it was kind of hard to get used to. The thing with drawing on paper is that, well, it just happens, right there on paper, as you draw it. Digitally though, each stroke is like an out-of-the-body experience because it's delayed, yet at the same time, not. It definitely takes a lot more effort into making each line precisely the way you want it. And even though erasing mistakes don't leave creases in the paper or residual marks, erasing things digitally (as clean as it may be) can be meticulous. One pixel makes all the difference!
Anyway, onto the piece itself. This is the first day I really dabbled with my tablet (a Wacom Bamboo... my parents said I can get an upgrade if I get better with all this). I had drawn a *secret* first, but because I can't post that just yet, I figured I'll put that on pause and doodle this! Hmm, I don't really know how long this took me, but I realized that I do not like drawing in photoshop -- I'll only use it for colouring. I drew all this in ArtRage Studios. It was really fun! And tiring on the eyes though, because after staring at it for so long, I developed this rather nasty glare when I looked at my screen. *shifty eyes*
The hardest part of this was I guess getting the lines just right. I have no idea how much times I ctrl+Z-ed, but those two buttons were well-loved today. That and I couldn't decide on how to position the beret. I think it's nicely balanced when I position it right on top of the head. But I also like the quirkiness with having it slanted... Anyway, you know which one I picked, but that isn't to say that I didn't have 10 layers of different beret-positionings in that file.
As much as I enjoyed this, I don't think I'll ever stop doodling on paper though. There's something raw with drawing on paper, something pure. I like looking at the pattern of the fibre of the paper as I run my pencil over it... Oh and I also have to credit Jazza for his tutorial video on his colouring and shading technique which I found fascinating (and used). I would like to learn to paint backgrounds... Soon.jpg, lol! So... that's about all I have to say about the experience, I think. Expect more digital art to come! :)
