Thursday, March 31, 2011

Hello, my name is Simon...



For my birthday, my family got me a drawing pad. For the longest time, I've wanted to try my hands at digital art. I liked the idea of being able to try out different mediums without having to drop major dollar for supplies, and I always felt a bit too self conscious to take a class where other people would see my stuff as it developed. I don't like sharing my learning experiences until the initial discomfort subsides.

Wanting to continue the "cheap as free" philosophy that lead me to digital art in the first place, I found some open source programs to cut my teeth on. MyPaint has been my favorite. It's intuitive, well laid out, and super easy to get started with. It wasn't until I needed a few more options with cut-and -paste that I started working with Gimp - a photoshop-like program with some real muscle.

Much of what I've done is inspired by graphic designers and concept artists, my favorites are him, him, and him. The last one is an old friend of mine who let me bum some art supplies way back in college. Back story over. Now, peep the strategy:



The first two are mine. The third is a copy of one of Paul Christopher's paintings I really liked. The last is one I did of my nephew. Just a sample. I'll post more later.