Quite some time back, I had discussed about Wacom Intuos3 - the graphic tablet I use. During the course of use of the tablet, I have been advocating my friends and those who mail me asking for my advice on graphic tablet to use Wacom products. Some have been asking about it in various comments too (like RedDragon).

My use of the Intuos3 for the past one year along with inputs from others who have bought Graphire, seems to indicate that Wacom knows what it is doing and its product is reliable. Moreover, I have been regularly using the tablet in both environments - Ubuntu as well as Windows Vista.

The pros of Graphire against Intuos is that it has wireless feature (not sure how much use it would be) and also that it would cost you almost $100 less depending on the size you are buying. On the other hand, looking at the specs, it seems like the resolution of the pressure and tilt sensors are halved in Graphire when compared to Intuos3. This may become a problem when you want those fine grained control over your brush strokes.

Disclosure: The Amazon link above is a referral link.

Not sure how I missed it, but poking around a bit, I found that my Ubuntu boot had upgraded my Inkscape to version 0.46. Not sure when it was released, but it seems like it was out more than about two months back.

Be sure to grab/upgrade your copy.

Some time back, I had written an article - Be The Ultimate Open Source Artist. This post is a follow up on it.

I had been upgrading my laptop’s OS, Ubuntu to the latest version (8.04 or Hardy Heron), and that is when I noticed Ubuntu Studio. Ubuntu is a Linux distribution - it is actually a family of distributios. Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Ubuntu Server Editions are the officially supported derivatives. Xubuntu, Gobuntu and Ubuntu Studio are recognized derivatives. It was released sometime at the end of 2007.

Ubuntu Studio is not different than Ubuntu plus some of the packages that are not installed by default. You can infact, go to the package list page of Ubuntu Studio, and install them on your Ubuntu and feel no difference in terms of functionality. Ubuntu Studio is just a distribution along with the set of software packages installed by default that would be required by a studio professional.

The package list basically is grouped into the Audio set, Graphics set and the Video set. So, any kind of artist you may be, Ubunut Studio is the OS of choice (or atleast is making an effort into getting to that point).

Ubuntu Studio is a multimedia editing/creation flavor of Ubuntu. It’s built for the GNU/Linux audio, video, and graphic enthusiast or professional.

Our aim is to make it more accessible for new users to get into the tools that GNU/Linux has to offer for multimedia creation and production. We also want to spotlight what’s out there, and show users tools they might not know to exist.

Here is a subset of the packages included for the ‘graphics professional’:

• GIMP
• Inkscape
• Scribus
• Blender
• FontForge
• Wacom Tools

If you are acquainted with installing the packages through Synaptic Package Manager of Ubuntu, then you just need to install these packages. On the other hand, if you do not want to meddle with the nuances, and would just want it all out of the box, Ubuntu Studio seems to be the choice of OS and Application suite of which is free - both in terms of freedom and funds.

It does not matter which software you use - GIMP or Photoshop or something else. They all have keyboard shortcuts for most of the common tasks that you usually access through the menus and other user interface options. We do regularly use the generic [Ctrl]+[c] and [Ctrl]+[v] for copy and paste operations in the other applications, and it translates well to digital painting softwares.

But there are other shortcuts. For example, you can color pick from the painting area, just by holding down [Alt] and clicking on the color on the painting in case of Photoshop - it is [Ctrl]+Click in case of GIMP. Also, for changing the brush size you can use the [ and the ] buttons, in both GIMP and Photoshop.

Before you proceed to go searching for the documents and study all the available shortcuts, do a bit of experiment. Just pick up some subject and do a digital painting as you have been always doing. As you paint, pay attention to your workflow. Do you use the eye dropper tool option often? Or may be you switch between the pencil and the brush tool. Everyone has their own rythym of working on a painting. Each of the rhythm cycle consists of what you do on the canvas before you go and change some option. If you can change that option with some shortcut using the other hand, then it lets you continue in that rhythm. Effectively, you end up doing more painting in lesser time.

Once you figure out which of those option selection makes you get away from the flow, try and see if there is a shortcut for that. Some of the software even allow you to customize the shortcuts the way you need it. Use them. After all, the software you use is just a tool in creating art. But it is digital medium which has advantages. Keyboard shortcuts is one of them, and hence use them to your advantage.

I have been using GIMP for quite some time now and am still using it. I have been telling people to use GIMP when they cannot afford for software like Photoshop CS3 due to high costs. It does not serve to pirate them either. The solution to keep practicing your skills when you cannot afford is to use open source software.

Cost

There is also a class of affordable software like full version of ArtRage which costs around $20. And if you can afford a bit more, there is Photoshop Elements. It is sort of a lite version of Photoshop CS3. It costs $99 when you buy it first time, or a $79 for an upgrade.

Did I buy it? Not actually. I got mine, bundled with the Wacom Intuos3 Graphic Tablet I had bought months earlier. I was so facinated in experimenting with the tablet, that I had not realized, I had gotten one with Photoshop Elements bundled along with it - albeit version 4. I just happened to discover it couple of weeks back when I was sorting out the packaging.

So, if you do not yet own a tablet, and plan to buy one, see if you can get a deal that has Photoshop Elements bundled.

Features

As a matter of fact, there is not much that keeps Photoshop Elements unique from GIMP when it comes to simple photo touch ups and digital painting. Though Photoshop Elements is marketed as a photo manipulation product for hobbyists, it still packs enough of the features that can be used to create art from scratch. It has same set of features like GIMP - standard free form painting, cropping, transformations, layers, smudge, burn, dodge, blend and quite a few others. It does not have a CMYK support as I know of - similar to GIMP which is available in Photoshop CS3.

The things that I believe worth spending the money would be the brush engine of Photoshop Elements. I believe it is almost at par with Photoshop CS3. The set of unusual brushes that comes with it is quite useless, but with the engine, creating your own custom brushes would be far powerful than GIMP, even after its recently released features. For photo enthusiasts, the features like red-eye reduction, and straightening tool would come handy.

To buy or not to?

Well that really depends to what extent you want to get into art. Speaking only in terms of professional digital painting, and if you feel you want something more than GIMP, I would say wait and save up until you can buy pro software like Photoshop CS3 or Painter X. If you can get it bundled with some hardware like graphic tablet, then consider it.

If you are a hobbyist when it comes to art and feel GIMP is not sufficient, or if you have too many friends invovled in art and design - and need to share and collaborate, then you can buy Photoshop Elements. It supports PSDs - naturally.

Disclosure: The Amazon link above is a referral link.

The discussions and arguments for and against each of these softwares run pages and pages and seem to have no end. With newer and better versions coming from both the commercial and open source, the argument just continues. Participating in these discussions, and also trying out different softwares, I have come to realize that these are just different tools, and an artist need not be too concerned about what they use as long as they can express their ideas and thoughts.

Many Graphics Software

Let us look at the two different categories that I involve in - raster graphics and vector graphics.

When we come to raster graphics, we have Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements (lite version of Photoshop), Corel Painter, Paint Shop Pro and some others when it comes to commercial software. For free raster graphics software, we have GIMP, Paint.NET and other free lite versions like ArtRage.

For vector graphics, the commercial softwares are Adobe Illustrator, and Corel Draw. Some even use Adobe Photoshop to make illustrations that are often called ‘vexels’. In terms of free (and open source) software.

Tools Of Expression

Participating in all the different discussions, and trying out different softwares (trial versions ofcourse), I have come to realize that all these different graphics software are just tools. A sculptor needs a set of chisels and hammer. It actaully does not matter which blacksmith fabricated them, as long as the sculptor can chip off the stone in the precise placec and precise amount. In the end - the sculpture is done by the sculptor - not the chisels and hammer. He or she just used them to create the sculpture.

It does not matter what software you use. Use the ones that you can afford. Use the ones that is appropriate for the style of your artwork. Use the ones that fits in your workflow.

What do you use?

Not any more. The latest release, GIMP 2.4 has scalable brushes. That means that you just need to create a brush in one size, and as you use it you would be able to scale it to any size on the fly.

The tool options now include a brush size slider that affects both the parametric and bitmap brushes. This has been an oft-requested feature from both digital painters and photo editors.

Unlike previous versions of GIMP, regardless of whether you’re using a bitmap brush, parametric brush or even a picture tube (mutiple bitmaps), you can easily set the brush size with either the tool options dock slider or an external device such as a MIDI slider or knob or a USB device like the Griffin Powermate.

Read about all the other features included in the release notes of GIMP 2.4.

This is a major feature that I am very happy about. I have been experimenting a lot on custom brushes lately for digital painting, and this ’scratches a lot of itches’.This feature will save you the hassle of creating custom brushes at various sizes. For example, if I had to make a leaf brush, I would earlier do it at various sizes like 30 px, 40 px, 50 px, 70 px and up - depending on how large a canvas I was working on. Now, I guess I will just have to make one and sliding the ‘Scale’ option of the brush, I can adjust it to whatever I want during the painting process.

I guess, I would be exploring a bit more on custom brushes - so expect some write up here soon.

(Credit goes to Arun Sasidharan for getting this news to me first).

Available direct from Adobe, the retail price for Web and Design Premium is $1599 USD and $1799 USD respectively. Upgrades from prior versions come in at $399 USD and $599 USD. Are you a student or teacher? Hold on to your hats: $499 USD and $599 USD for the full versions.

$1600-$1800 is rather a large amount. It makes it a rather difficult barrier for enthusiasts to use the software.

Were the price more moderate, many would be able to get into the world of digital art. As Rico at Contract Worker, puts it:

But, imagine the explosion of creativity and new talent—and a greatly increased profit for Adobe—if their pricing point was lower. More people would buy a copy! And there’d be more opportunities for budding freelancers to maximize their creativity, since they’ll have easier access to the tools the top people use.

I can not agree with him more. It does leave us to explore open source alternatives, and if few features get added to them that it lacks presently - Adobe could be in trouble and might have to face a fragmented market.

How many times, you have felt that you are not going as fast as you would wish, on a particular artwork? Some of the times, it would be because you are not using proper techniques. And many more times, it will be something simple as not using the proper tools. One of the points to note is how big your brush size is.

Fine art is about adding details. God is in details. But we must make a note that we do not get carried away and use a superfine brush from the very begining. To add details, you do need a very small sized brush. But do not use the same brush and paint the full artwork with it. This especially is an issue when you are working on large canvas sizes. In digital medium, you would be required to do so to get the proper DPI if it is intended for print.

Use Proper Brush Sizes

Depending on what part or area of the artwork you are painting, use the proper size of brush. Use as big a brush as you can with which you can execute the most of the details. Switch to the lower sized brushes and paint those area, only when you feel you need to add more detail to it.

If digital medium, most software ususally have the paint bucket. Do consider using it for most of the background and may be even blocking out large areas of the subject. I though, try to avoid the paint bucket (or flood fill as it is called) when I want to give a gradient. Using shading techniques (albeit with proper use of brush sizes) gives better control. And of course, usually in the traditional media, we do not have the liberty of using tools like flood fill, and you would have to opt for larger brushes when you need to paint on large canvases.

Most graphics editors provide the option to increase or decrease the brush sizes. Find out and learn how you do it for your software. In Photoshop, (I think) you can change the brush size by use of [ and ] keys. GIMP does not provide that option, but you can create larger brushes quite easily.

Choice of proper brush sizes goes a long way in keeping you motivated because you can do your artwork a lot faster and still maintain the control over details.

What is your approach for painting large artworks?

Please note that the stress here is on Open Source and to be an ultimate artist, the only way is by practice.

Here is the setup of the ultimate Open Source artist.

Hardware

• A PC with as much number crunching power and as much memory you can afford. Note that though the choice of most artists is Mac, I do not know if we can go an Open Source approach with it.
• A Tablet - Wacom or other but it helps in focusing more on the art and less on how you are going to do what is in your head. The argument of the necessity of a tablet and stylus can go quite long - so I would say that do consider buying a tablet if you can afford it.

Software

• OS - Ubuntu Feisty Fawn. You may choose other distribution, but this one is my personal choice.
• GIMP - This usually is packaged with the Linux, but ensure that you got the latest version.
• Inkscape - GIMP+Inkscape forms a good combination that forms a considerable combo against Photoshop.
• Scribus - This is a software that is usually meant for layout designing, but sometimes a artist is called upon to work on it. If nothing else, it would let you make cool looking portfolios of your digital artworks.

That is about it, and you are all set on the path to become the ultimate Open Source artist.

If you have bought a tablet and stylus, then you might want to ensure that you are able to configure its pressure sensitivy. It requires proper installation of the drivers and setting up of the configurations in the GIMP and Inkscape preferences. There is no much point in having a tablet if you are not going to harness the pressure sensitivity.