[Frozen Consciousness]

I'm trying to understand this Digital Art buisness... So I can step in the right direction right from the start, what is unacceptable in Digi-art?

I have the following list;

Lens Flares
Overuse of Filters
Scan Lines (Whatever they are)
Layers?
Dodge and Burn?

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Frozen mind, Frozen cause, Frozen Reality.

[LUCiFER]

I'm far from being a pro, but this is what I know..

Lens Flares:
Atleast almost unacceptable.

Overuse of Filters:
Well not exactly unacceptable but you gain more respect without or with few filters. Exect in making textures for your images.

Scan Lines:
They work sometimes (imho) but quite rarely.

Layers:
This is TOTALLY up to you. It's easier to make changes with layers so atleast I recommend them.

Dodge and Burn:
The dodge/burn tool is good when making shading, so this is acceptable.

But these are just my oppinions I suppose.

[ceenda]

The :-

"Scan in a photo, use the blur tool to make it look like a painting, leave the JPEG artifacts in"

method is generally somewhat unpopular.

[faustgfx]

you got something to say about burn/dodge? eh?

*polishes and pets and strokes the scythe*



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sky high with a heartache of stone you never see me 'cos i'm always alone/ministry
the law of lead now reigns!@#!/earth crisis

[email protected]
icq#35983387
http://faustgfx.0wns.org

[waylon]

I think the five things you mentioned are unacceptable only when used poorly (which happens quite often, which is why people complain so much about lens flares and the like.) If you know what you're doing, you can use lens flares, filters, scan lines, and dodge and burn very tastefully, and no one will complain. Just keep in mind that they're very easy to mis-use, and they can make art look very amateur if done incorretly.

As for layers... I don't think I've actually heard anybody complain about them. Arguing that layers are bad is like arguing that using "undo" is bad. It doesn't really affect the outcome of your work, but makes things a lot easier - especially when you want to experiment with a new effect that you aren't sure is going to work out, or when you just want to keep different sections of your picture more organized.

Let's see... Scan lines are an effect used to simulate a TV screen (assuming I'm thinking of the right term.) It's when every other line in an image is black. It's kind of gimmicky, but it works sometimes.

But going back to your original question, now that I've made my point of "don't rule anything out, but make sure you know what you're doing"... When painting, don't overuse the airbrush tool. Digital art tends to look a lot better if you use the paintbrush tool, with hard-edged brushes. Use the airbrush like you would in real life - for touch-ups near the end.

[Nex]

some more:

-tracing pictures/painting over photos without saying so (threnodizing)

-writing topics in CAPS LOCK or l337 5p33!<


and from case to case:
-using reference

-not using reference

-using reference without saying so

-using layer mode "exclude"

-doing overpaints

[Tovart]

What do you mean by "Not using reference", Nex?

[Nex]

just different opinions spread around the forum tovart.

practically there is no right or wrong as long as YOU made it and as long as you dont care what others say... but then you would probably not be here

[Pat]

Frozen, I don't think there ought to be any hard and set rules. What I do know is that if you hang around some or look at a lot of digital art, you'll get REAL tired of some of those "out of the box" visual solutions.

Concerning filters: They're kinda like bell-bottoms. When they're new it's kinda cool, but it gets old fast. They date and go out of style -in a year the work just won't have any visual impact. How could it when all it's punch comes from something that anyone could render with a click of the mouse? This gets at the real issue- filters can be a crutch for lack of artistic vision. Don't let the computer do your work as an artist for you. I guarantee it *WILL* do a bad job of it. Better to try to render your own lens-flare and fail miserably than to render one with a filter when it doesn't fit the rest of the peice.

Filters are not an evil --they're quite often *necessary* to get where you're going artistically. But when you use them, use them sparingly. I try to only use them in constructing alphamasks as an intermediary step to adjusting my image.

Scan lines: another visual cliche. Looks cool right now, but it's already on the way out.

Layers: These are cool. Who cares HOW you construct the image. Use them with wild abandon if they help you realize your vision.

Dodge and Burn: These are tools like layers. The only problem with these is they make color decisions for you. If that's in line with your intent, who cares? Just formulate your intent before you use them otherwise you're abdicating control of the piece to the software.


-Pat

[travis travis]

If you use any kind of effect 'right out of the box' then of course every other digital artist will know and they will scorn you for trying to pass off what the computer did as artwork. The thing about digital art is you still have to be an artist by most accounts, to be respected.

Pssst... and here's another hint... using a common preset, like say you use Bryce to generate a 3D mountain for you, then you use a Bryce preset texture on it... well, why are people supposed to care? That could take you all of 3 minutes to do and you didn't really design or do any work. Get the picture?

[This message has been edited by travis travis (edited February 14, 2001).]

[zthee]

hello.

it's not the method that counts, but the result.

and ofcourse you should use some common sense and not steal other peoples art, and such things.

//zthee

[Frozen Consciousness]

Was that aimed at anyone in particular or was it just a general guidline...?

(You never can tell)

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Frozen mind, Frozen cause, Frozen Reality.