graphics program colouring?

[tielan]

Um...help?

I don't have a tablet, I have a pencil, and eraser, a sketchpad, and Paint Shop Pro. I'd like to start from a pencil sketch and add colour, but using the mouse doesn't give much precision (or, really, any at all) and I'm not sure how else to do it.

If the worst comes to the worst, I can colour it in pencil, or, if I get really desperate for blending effects, paint.

But I think it might be useful to learn how to colour using a graphics program. So, anyone got any links on 'how to colour using a graphics program'?

Comments

[pentapus.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, there's not secret way to get around the problem of the mouse. You can do it; youjust have to take more time and be patient because they pretty much suck--but you do run into brilliant artists online who have used a mouse. A lot of people who do extensive coloring in graphics programs have a wacom tablet (http://www.wacom.com</a) which is a usb attachment so you can draw with a pen inside of a mouse. Also pressure sensitive (like mine isn't. D:). The cheapest on the site is $80, but amazon shows some for around $50.

[ETA: Hahaha, Sorry, just thought of this--but really, I'm sure the price of shipping to Australia will be awesome. *facepalm* Amazon may have some Australia based sellers But if you've got the equivalent of a Best Buy around, they sell them there too, if you're interested. Worth it if you'll be doing more graphics stuff, but if it's a very rare occurrence, instead shake down your friends until you find someone who has one! (If you were in Melbourne, you could hit up my sister. :D)]

I'm afraid I don't know any specific PSP tutorials but you should be able to find some easily on google and/or del.icio.us.

[pentapus.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I also see in your post that you stated you don't have a tablet, i.e. already know all about them, but I somehow missed that word entirely.

[tielan]

LOL. S'okay. And the link was still helpful (and covetous-making). I have no money right now, or I'd probably look at buying the mouse/pen combo. And I don't draw enough to really make it worth getting a tablet.

[tielan]

Thank you! I have a friend who has a tablet, and she pointed me in the direction of some tutorials, but I'll check out the del.icio.us site, too.

tutorial suggestions

[renisanz.livejournal.com]

Man, I remember those days when I was looking for coloring tutorials. It's been a while, but this site (polykarbon.com) was the one of the first I used when learning how to do digital coloring. Some of the steps I find unnecessary, but it gives you a basic idea of what to do:

http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/pspchannel/pspch1.htm

And there's another link I came across. And it does take quite a lot of patience—and dexterity—to color with a mouse, but a lot of people start out that way, I did at first.

Here's another link that I think might be helpful:

http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/pspchannel/pspch1.htm

If you have any questions, you can ask (email) me. I color using Photoshop. I have Painter 9, but it was just too hard for me to figure out. I think there were actually too many options and I found it hard to customize the brushes. The important thing, though, is coloring on separate layers. It helps one to keep from messing up the colors.

Hope this helps. :)

One more thing. . . when you're scanning your artwork, make sure the resolution is set to at least 300 dpi. That way when you can zoom in and get more precision when you're coloring.
(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: tutorial suggestions

[tielan]

Ooh. Thank you for the link and the tip on scanning in. Will definitely check them out.

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

I remembering fuskyb showed me something that was fairly good for colouring, a GIMP plugin where you could put a blob of colour and it'd try and colour the surrouding region intelligently to say turn black and white photos to colour. Looked like it could work quite well though I don't know if it's be any use for colouring scanned sketches. Sadly I can't for the life of me remember its name. >_

[tielan]

If you remember what it is, let me know. All and any help welcome! :)

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

I think it had color in the name, you might be able to find it with intelligently searching the gimp plugins listings but I don't have time to sorry. :(

http://registry.gimp.org/

[tielan]

Well, never mind about it.

I'll try some other options for the moment and see how they work

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

I actually used to do all my coloring with a mouse. Took a while, but no way around it. The main trick was to use lots of layers so you could do broad selections of backgrounds and stuff and not mess up details that you did get right. Let me know if you want to talk about this more :)

[tielan]

I tried some colouring with the mouse using the brush tool last night. The problem is that my hand (and the mouse) isn't steady enough to be able to do smooth curves - wobbles too much.

But, yeah, I was looking at this HP work by makani and she's got about 52 layers or something. Of course, her art is a lot more detailed than mine's going to be - I just want broader colour and a bit of colour shading.

[pentapus.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, there's not secret way to get around the problem of the mouse. You can do it; youjust have to take more time and be patient because they pretty much suck--but you do run into brilliant artists online who have used a mouse. A lot of people who do extensive coloring in graphics programs have a wacom tablet (http://www.wacom.com</a) which is a usb attachment so you can draw with a pen inside of a mouse. Also pressure sensitive (like mine isn't. D:). The cheapest on the site is $80, but amazon shows some for around $50.

[ETA: Hahaha, Sorry, just thought of this--but really, I'm sure the price of shipping to Australia will be awesome. *facepalm* Amazon may have some Australia based sellers But if you've got the equivalent of a Best Buy around, they sell them there too, if you're interested. Worth it if you'll be doing more graphics stuff, but if it's a very rare occurrence, instead shake down your friends until you find someone who has one! (If you were in Melbourne, you could hit up my sister. :D)]

I'm afraid I don't know any specific PSP tutorials but you should be able to find some easily on google and/or del.icio.us.

[pentapus.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I also see in your post that you stated you don't have a tablet, i.e. already know all about them, but I somehow missed that word entirely.

[tielan]

LOL. S'okay. And the link was still helpful (and covetous-making). I have no money right now, or I'd probably look at buying the mouse/pen combo. And I don't draw enough to really make it worth getting a tablet.

[tielan]

Thank you! I have a friend who has a tablet, and she pointed me in the direction of some tutorials, but I'll check out the del.icio.us site, too.

tutorial suggestions

[renisanz.livejournal.com]

Man, I remember those days when I was looking for coloring tutorials. It's been a while, but this site (polykarbon.com) was the one of the first I used when learning how to do digital coloring. Some of the steps I find unnecessary, but it gives you a basic idea of what to do:

http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/pspchannel/pspch1.htm

And there's another link I came across. And it does take quite a lot of patience—and dexterity—to color with a mouse, but a lot of people start out that way, I did at first.

Here's another link that I think might be helpful:

http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/pspchannel/pspch1.htm

If you have any questions, you can ask (email) me. I color using Photoshop. I have Painter 9, but it was just too hard for me to figure out. I think there were actually too many options and I found it hard to customize the brushes. The important thing, though, is coloring on separate layers. It helps one to keep from messing up the colors.

Hope this helps. :)

One more thing. . . when you're scanning your artwork, make sure the resolution is set to at least 300 dpi. That way when you can zoom in and get more precision when you're coloring.
(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: tutorial suggestions

[tielan]

Ooh. Thank you for the link and the tip on scanning in. Will definitely check them out.

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

I remembering fuskyb showed me something that was fairly good for colouring, a GIMP plugin where you could put a blob of colour and it'd try and colour the surrouding region intelligently to say turn black and white photos to colour. Looked like it could work quite well though I don't know if it's be any use for colouring scanned sketches. Sadly I can't for the life of me remember its name. >_

[tielan]

If you remember what it is, let me know. All and any help welcome! :)

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

I think it had color in the name, you might be able to find it with intelligently searching the gimp plugins listings but I don't have time to sorry. :(

http://registry.gimp.org/

[tielan]

Well, never mind about it.

I'll try some other options for the moment and see how they work

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

I actually used to do all my coloring with a mouse. Took a while, but no way around it. The main trick was to use lots of layers so you could do broad selections of backgrounds and stuff and not mess up details that you did get right. Let me know if you want to talk about this more :)

[tielan]

I tried some colouring with the mouse using the brush tool last night. The problem is that my hand (and the mouse) isn't steady enough to be able to do smooth curves - wobbles too much.

But, yeah, I was looking at this HP work by makani and she's got about 52 layers or something. Of course, her art is a lot more detailed than mine's going to be - I just want broader colour and a bit of colour shading.