Photoshop Painting Practice

Last month I got a new computer. It’s the first computer I’ve had in over seven years so it was hard to get used to a new computer with a new operating system, but I’ve been able to adapt. 🙂 Anyway, since I got a new computer I thought it was about time to buy and learn how to use Photoshop. I’ve always used Gimp and, although it does everything I want it to, I’m a completely self taught artist and it’s up to me to lean how to work with different artistic mediums. After a lot of research and debating if I should get Photoshop, I ended up buying Photoshop and installing it on my new computer. It’s been an experience to learn how to use it, but a good one. I’ve been able to figure out where things are located and how to work with them. In fact, I’m more fond of Photoshop than the version of Gimp I used to work with. I still have a lot of things to learn, but I’m optimistic about learning them.

When I began to work with the program for the first time, I found many brushed already installed and I was anxious to work with them. So, I began to paint.

The first painting I did was an abstract painting….

The whole point of this painting was to get used to using the brushed and using my new Walcom Bamboo tablet. My old Walcom tablet still works, but it is old and doesn’t work on the operating system my computer runs on. Also, the table was used so much it developed deep scratches from all the drawing I did on it and I was worried how long it will last. So, a new tablet was needed. This new tablet can be either with a wire or wireless. This was a surprise and I’m very excited to not have wires wrapped around my hands so much. There is a downside to my new tablet, it grips the pen far better than the old tablet. The old one let the pen glide around the face of the tablet. This one still glides, but it grips the pen nub more. I think it might be the pen nub, but it was still hard for me to handle at first. That is why I painted an abstract painting first. It wasn’t had hard as drawing the subjects I like to draw, but it did require drawing. Perfect for learning how to use a new tablet and paint program!

The second painting I did was a sketch of Rose Tyler from Doctor Who…

I’ve seen others sketch Billie Pipper/Rose Tyler far better than I did, but I think I did pretty good for my first human digital painting with a new program and tablet! When I painted this picture, I was becoming more familiar with the drawing tablet and program and more confident.

I’m still not 100% confident in my Photoshop painting skills, and I’ve only scratched the surface learning all the fancy things Photoshop can do, but I hope I’ll be able to get back to painting more and check off things off my “To Paint” list left over from when I used my old computer and Gimp.