[beans]

I work on a laptop, so I'm kind of limited in how much space and memory I can use. At the moment, I have Corel PhotoPaint 8, Photoshop 6, and Painter Classic on my computer. I've had photopaint almost 2 years now and am fairly familiar with it. Photoshop is a new addition and I mess around in it a little, but I'm not really familiar with it and haven't had the time or the inclination to devote more time to using it, since photopaint has worked pretty well for me so far. The version of painter I have came with my tablet and I've used it like, twice. Didn't really feel comfortable wth it, and although I did like the look I was getting, I still have the disk so it's coming off my computer.

I guess the question I'm asking here is...is there really any point in me moving over to PS at this point? I like PhotoPaint, I'm comfortable with it...but I look at the quality of work being put out using Photoshop and I wonder if I'm limiting myself. I know it's going to take me a while to figure out Photoshop, especially since I have a really hard time remembering keyboard shortcuts, and I'm just wondering if it's even worth it.

Oh, and just to put things in perspective, I'm not professional and have no desire to BE a professional artist. I'm taking a couple of classes in college, but I'm an English major and will eventually be teaching high school English. Art is a hobby, and while I like to get better, I'm not trying to go pro. =)

(And I know you guys don't like anime, but this is my most recent work, done in PhotoPaint. That's only my second pic done in that style of shading...I usually don't use it, but I think cel or animation style has it's place and it's fun to play with.)

[Frog]

Very nice pic BTW.

It's hard to comment without actually knowing Photopaint, but my instinct would be to encourage you to switch to Photoshop. Photoshop has unrivalled power and functionality, and although it's a very deep program it isn't all that hard to learn. I suggest getting a book and taking it from there, I would recommend one except that it's been seven years since I was learning it myself so I have no idea what current books are any good. My guess is that there is more that you will be able to do in Photoshop rather than Photopaint rather than the other way round.

I'm just starting to get my head round Painter at the moment so I can sympathise with your frustration at learning a new program, I think though that Painter is particularly akward to learn!

Good luck with it if you do decide to make the switch.

[balistic]

"Photoshop has unrivalled power and functionality"

Not compared to Photo-Paint. Corel's product has a lot more brush controls and better file handling capabilities . . . you can even animate in it.

I would say, learn just enough Photoshop that you'd feel comfortable if you ever had to use it, but otherwise, Photo-Paint isn't going to hold you back. I have it installed on my workstation here, and while my boss thinks I'm a little weird for prefering a Corel app to an Adobe one, its never been an issue. It'll read and write PSDs, so there's no problem collaborating with the artists who use PS.

Most of my stuff is done in Photo-Paint . . . here's one I'm working on for a contest:

http://www.bprince.com/BPChunB.jpg

And an example of some of Photo-Paint's brush controls and custom brush textures:


http://www.bprince.com/PP10Scribble.jpg

Its definitely a buggier app than Photoshop or Painter, but you get soooo much more functionality that I find I don't mind some odd behavior once in a while.

Gives the program character

I hear it royally sucks on the Mac, but for the PC, I've never used a nicer paint program.

Play with making your own brush textures . . . fun stuff.

[ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: balistic ]

[Frog]

That's what happens when you post without really knowing what you're on about

I did say that I didn't really know Photopaint. I still think you should learn Photoshop though, it can only help you in the long term.

[beans]

Thanks for the help. =) I'm just not really sure how learning photoshop is going to help me all that much in the long run though...at the time I got it, I thought photopaint was kind of limited, but then I got a tablet and really started exploring the painting options and I realized how much of the program I didn't know about. It's just hard to find someone who's used both and can really give a comparison...glad to know that I'm not wasting my time on it.

I'll probably keep messing around with photoshop a little, but I think I'll stick with photopaint for the time being. Thanks again! =)