Composite and Digital Art crash course

[Red Memories]

Assignment 1​

This first assignment focuses on downloading the actual programs. You will need a design program to do anything here. I am comparing Photoshop and GIMP here, both of which I utilize. I am a bit more comfortable making composites on GIMP, but I will also display the same things with photoshop.

DIGITAL DESIGN 2 - YouTube

Here I run down some of the basic tools you will see. And show a little of what they do. The pen line tool is more for if you are making your own piece and is quite irrelevant to composite making. I'll show you the dire stress of making that work later.

I absolutely encourage experimentation. The best way to learn is by doing yourself. If you feel lost or confused about "what does this button do?" please feel free to ask. I will help you. I currently gave a run down of what tools I feel will be important to what we are going to do. Which is your first composite.

Please go find a set of pictures to use, or you can take your own! I recommend having 3-5 photos. 2 work if you are going for something really specific. Mine will be a bit simple in guidance.

For future reference, if you have completed these composites or art assignments and want a sort of guidance, I will need to SEE them. So you may post them here, as a link or otherwise, or you can PM them to me in a similar fashion if you are nervous about showing your work. Thank you.

 

[Red Memories]

Assignment 2​

Hey remember those photos I had you save? You will now be using them to form your first creation.

So here's some starting notes:
1. Please, do not beat yourself up if it is not perfect. Somewhere in a sad abyss is my first ever composite, made with pixlr, that looks god awful. But when I made it I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. It takes TIME to get good at anything. Please be patient with yourself.
2. Composites can have few or many layers. They usually begin with a base image and grow from there. They can be sized to fit anything, banners, signature graphics (these are usually 500x200), avatars, social media posts. You name it, it'll work.
3. I am here if you feel confused or have any questions.

A composite is a blending of photos and/or textures to create a photographic manipulation. They are also sometimes called manips, photo manips, and photo manipulation. These are made by an array of people. They are quite simple to get started with.

I will show you first how to make a composite in gimp because it is a bit faster for me. XD And for humor, I did mess up a little in what I was trying to do, but I left it as a reminder even I can press the wrong button and fuck something up. XD
COMPOSITE GIMP - YouTube

This is the photoshop composite. Here I also mention how to save your layers. If you want to save the file for layerable editing, click "Save as" to create a gimp or psd save file. When you reopen these, it'll show your layers as is still. Exported files will no longer show your layers. Choose carefully!
COMPOSITE PHOTOSHOP - YouTube

I hope this assists you in your starting endeavors. Let me know if you need assistance.

 

[Red Memories]

[MENTION=16650]Firebird 8118[/MENTION] when you come back this is here too <3

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

[MENTION=4660]Julius_Van_Der_Beak[/MENTION]
[MENTION=26674]Norrsken[/MENTION]

I am tagging you since you are...basically my two 100% confirmed students. Hello!
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Welcome to the Crash Course in Digital Art.​

You will need:
Your brain.
A computer
An internet connection very likely.
A graphic program.
An open mind.

RULES:
You are bound by the forum rules. I am not endorsing a course.
You do not pay me. I'm not an official instructor although I'm making an unofficial thing.
Please do not use your graphics to be obscene or promote some sort of insurrection. If you want that you shuffle over to par-oh wait.
Art is very subjective. I will not be giving some "grade" to your work. I will guide you with your work.
If you feel lost, you may tag me here, quote the assignment, or otherwise, send me a PM.
Anyone who is not signed up is welcome to participate.

GENERAL:
There are an array of graphic programs you can use. If you go to adobe.com, there is a $10 per month plan which gives you Photoshop, lightroom, and 20 GB of storage on the cloud server. If you do not want to dish out cash, Gimp is a great free alternative.
GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program if you want to download gimp
Compare plans | Adobe Photoshop creative cloud plan if you desire it

There are also an array of other graphic programs. Warning: I may be less helpful with these because I have NOT used them. But I will offer this link for your muse.
The best free graphic design software | Creative Bloq

NOTE FOR COMMERCIAL:
What we are doing now is just for fun. If you intend to go business with any of these works, you will need to be far more cautious about your composite selections. The best way to go is to make or take your own, but if you are going to use elements of something you scraped for online, you will want to ensure it is eligible for common use. Anything copywritten and used commercially will bite you in the form of some lawsuit.
DIGITAL DESIGN 1 - YouTube

In the video above I go over some basic things to get you started. See you soon for part 2!

I did not know you had parakeets.

 

[Red Memories]

I did not know you had parakeets.

I have 2 of them. Prince and Madonna.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I have 2 of them. Prince and Madonna.

I can't see them (except possibly the cage), but I can definitely hear them. What colors are they?

 

[Red Memories]

I can't see them (except possibly the cage), but I can definitely hear them. What colors are they?

one is blue andwhite, the other is a teal sort of blue with a bright yellow face.

that cage is there's.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

one is blue andwhite, the other is a teal sort of blue with a bright yellow face.

that cage is there's.

Oh, I haven't seen the teal ones. The green ones with the yellow face is apparently how they usually occur in nature. As a kid I always assumed they came from South America because hey, they have jungles, but they're actually Australian. They can also do mimicry, although I've only heard them go as far as do the whistle my mom would use to greet the dog.

 

[Mind Maverick]

I am officially an art tutor, just starting out at the request of my clients. Any teaching tips?

 

[Red Memories]

I am officially an art tutor, just starting out at the request of my clients. Any teaching tips?

Oh gosh, I don't know if I am the best teacher but I can try.

1. I've found that, especially with a tutoring service, you need to see where your student is in their work. One student may be ahead of the curve, and you can start advance things earlier with them. One may barely know how to navigate a graphic program so you will need to educate them on the tools.

2. Patience. Patience is always so important.

3. I think the biggest curveball I've found even with my own teachers having to revise themselves, make sure you detail every step. After you have done something for so long, it can feel like a sort of common sense to you and you will do small things without explaining what you did, because you barely realize you do it at this point. Like second nature. This is why sometimes tutorial videos aren't as easy as they look because the person may not fully explain a concept in the mind of this is common knowledge to them. I have to avoid that myself sometimes too. XD

4. If your student feels discouraged, always remind them that no one figures this out overnight.

5. Organization. Once you figure out where your student is, discuss what they are hoping to achieve from this and create a game plan. Organization is key, you will need to prepare. A student struggles a lot if the teacher comes unprepared.

6. Slow and steady wins the race. If you notice a small thing your student misses, even in a more advance piece, do not be afraid to go back a little and help them revisit and relearn the smaller thing. As you advance, that small item that wasn't understood well may bite them in the ass.

I hope this helps!!

 

[Coriolis]

[MENTION=4660]Julius_Van_Der_Beak[/MENTION]
[MENTION=26674]Norrsken[/MENTION]

I am tagging you since you are...basically my two 100% confirmed students. Hello!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the Crash Course in Digital Art.​

Good grief - how did I miss this? No, I cannot sign up - far too much going on right now and I'm pretty hopeless as an artist, but I may jump in later if that's OK, if only to get some pointers on GIMP. I use GIMP now and then to edit images for my websites, and occasionally for avatars. I am a rank novice at it, though, would appreciate the opportunity to learn from an expert.

 

[Red Memories]

Good grief - how did I miss this? No, I cannot sign up - far too much going on right now and I'm pretty hopeless as an artist, but I may jump in later if that's OK, if only to get some pointers on GIMP. I use GIMP now and then to edit images for my websites, and occasionally for avatars. I am a rank novice at it, though, would appreciate the opportunity to learn from an expert.

You are absolutely welcome to come in on a need to know small basis! Although I tagged them since they did sign up, as noted previously, you are welcome to utilize any content I post here without directly being in the course. And feel free to ask away. No one is a "hopeless artist" - we are all artists needing a little hand.

 

[Mind Maverick]

Oh gosh, I don't know if I am the best teacher but I can try.

1. I've found that, especially with a tutoring service, you need to see where your student is in their work. One student may be ahead of the curve, and you can start advance things earlier with them. One may barely know how to navigate a graphic program so you will need to educate them on the tools.

2. Patience. Patience is always so important.

3. I think the biggest curveball I've found even with my own teachers having to revise themselves, make sure you detail every step. After you have done something for so long, it can feel like a sort of common sense to you and you will do small things without explaining what you did, because you barely realize you do it at this point. Like second nature. This is why sometimes tutorial videos aren't as easy as they look because the person may not fully explain a concept in the mind of this is common knowledge to them. I have to avoid that myself sometimes too. XD

4. If your student feels discouraged, always remind them that no one figures this out overnight.

5. Organization. Once you figure out where your student is, discuss what they are hoping to achieve from this and create a game plan. Organization is key, you will need to prepare. A student struggles a lot if the teacher comes unprepared.

6. Slow and steady wins the race. If you notice a small thing your student misses, even in a more advance piece, do not be afraid to go back a little and help them revisit and relearn the smaller thing. As you advance, that small item that wasn't understood well may bite them in the ass.

I hope this helps!!

This was actually incredibly helpful. Thank you!

 

[Norrsken]

I'm so sorry for being MIA, was swamped with irl responsibilities. But I will try and finish the assignments sometime next week if that is okay?
I'm really sorry, again! Happy that you're doing this, and your parakeets sound so cute in the videos, lol.

 

[Red Memories]

I'm so sorry for being MIA, was swamped with irl responsibilities. But I will try and finish the assignments sometime next week if that is okay?
I'm really sorry, again! Happy that you're doing this, and your parakeets sound so cute in the videos, lol.

any time you can!

 

[Red Memories]

~~~~perhaps here soon I will add to this despite people not really doing anything with it lol~~~~

 

[RadicalDoubt]

~~~~perhaps here soon I will add to this despite people not really doing anything with it lol~~~~

Please do. I cannot keep up with the pace of the class, especially now, but if you would bestow knowledge upon the forum I will seek to absorb it