Artwork for All - challenges, graphics, tutorials

[yamiinsane]

Gorgeous arts everyone!

[FanGirl]

Gorgeous arts everyone!

I love your avitar, Yami. It took GUTS to wear that outfit in public for millions to see. Gotta be very secure in your manhood.

[Lilith]

and another entry! i'm thinking of trying to do a third, but idt i'll get it done in time.... here's hoping!

[RodneyIsGodney]

Awesome entries since I was here last!

I thought the name was there but its not. Sorry.

Eh, no problemo!

Don't do anything if it will ruin it. You just can't use it as sig in GW but there are plenty of other places where you can use it.

Nola fixed it for me. And, I know I can't use it on GW. I just wasn't sure if it was "legal" for the challenge.

[Lilith]

forgot to mention ^ it's heimdall from Thor... played by the ever wonderful Idris Elba.... can't wait to see him return in Thor 2

[maneth]

Ooh cool. Great arties everyone!

I finally found some decent SPN caps and reworked my challenge entry to SP specs:

FBFG may recognize two of her stocks in the background...

[Samantha-Carter-is-my-muse]

SCIMM - the best way to cut out is to zoom in! I zoom in and out as I cut to make sure I'm getting what I want and none of what I don't want.

Thanks, Nola - zoom in/out is very handy Is there a tool to "smooth" the edges? Especially when cutting away background from a person's head I find it difficult to make it look natural.

[yamiinsane]

Gorgeous arts Lilith and Mane!

I have a question: Does anyone know how to retrieve pictures/videos/music from a recently corrupted external hard drive? Last night, my external hard drive wouldn't let me fully boot my computer and I discovered that that was the problem about 6 hours ago but can't seem to figure out what to do...

[Nolamom]

depends on how you're cutting - what tool you're using. One of the best ways is to use layer masks. I'm not certain on GIMP of they layout (here's a quick tutorial on what a layer mask does, and here's a video tutorial on using them)

Using layer masks gives you a great deal of control. Unlike using the eraser or cut pixel, if you make a mistake, it is easily fixed. Even many steps later. If you want to make something "disappear" you use your paintbrush in black. If you want it back, you paint back over it with white. You can adjust the size of the paintbrush to work in very tight spaces.

[Nolamom]

yami - that sounds like a job for a professional. Sometimes stuff can be recovered. Not always.

[Samantha-Carter-is-my-muse]

Thanks Nola I use the eraser tool but layer masks sounds like a much better method and I'll take a look at the tut and video tonight. I work in Paint Shop Pro X but luckily so far the tech words I've come across when following tuts (layer, mask, blending, opacity and so on) have been the same

[Nolamom]

I think everyone starts off using the eraser tool. Problem with that is if you mess up, you've messed up big time and have to start all over. There is no one method that suits all cases. If I'm just touching up a tiny thing, I will use the eraser. Masks are very useful for doing entire images. And they are reverse-able. I mostly use combinations of methods. I use the pen tool a great deal and then some special features in Photoshop for getting good hair definition. Masks are invaluable for blending images. I can't stress this enough!

[Lilith]

i didn't... but then i took a media tech class in high school and one of the units i did was photo editing and manipulation... granted, the unit taught me to paint my bg, which for our purposes wouldn't be much different from using the eraser tool... i was happy when i learned about masking layers.... esp since at the time, i was doing a lot of digital painting.... of course it was really digitally painting colouring pages i found on dA, but i learned alot about brush control doing that....

last entry from me... hate the quality on bits of it, but oh well... that's what happens when you rush

[Major Ryan]

Would the mask layers help with images that are predominately black? A lot of stuff i use has black in it and highly contrasted, will it help equalize them? and how do you do it?

[Nolamom]

good contrast is actually easier to cut our (or extract) an image from, because you can usually "see" the edges more apparently. However, if you want to use a strongly colored or highly contrasted image to make something like your current sig Major Ryan (which is very soft despite strong color values), you can always try adjusting the saturation of the image to bring it into compatibility with the other images you are using to make your composition. Also, masking can be done on a gradient to make a seamless transition. To do this, just use your gradient tool (black to transparent) on the layer mask. Another simple but important blending technique is to use the blur tool - set it at about 50% strength and run around the edge of the image after you place it in your composition. You can also create a sense of depth by using the filter>blur>gaussain blur at an increasingly higher pixel size the "deeper" you go on each layer. For example, on this composition, I did progressively higher levels of blur the further "back" into the image, creating a sense of depth.

Using coloring techniques is also a terrific way to meld together quite different images and making a pleasing manipulation. After adjusting the hue and/or color of each element to make them harmonize, use adjustment layers to further pull together the piece and create the over-all feel you want.