Oh... my

I logged onto my RedBubble site to check for messages, and found something that kind of made me boggle.

I was looking through some of the group photos thinking to myself which would inspire me to want to draw/paint; and, sure enough I found myself being attracted to seeing this work just like a magnet; I mean, I looked…then, tried looking elsewhere…then, went back to look again…; went off once more…went back to go take yet another look. For me, any artwork which I tend to find myself returning to again and again; this tells me that work touches me really very deeply.

In my opinion, you are a truly GREAT photographer…because, after looking through all of your gallery…I can see you do it not just once, alone…but, again and again, successfully…creating some truly ‘unforgettable’ photos. Extremely well done. Your talents are just brilliant!

I take photos myself occasionally; but, unlike you, I’m not very skilled or technical; so I only use 35mm(point and shoot)/use once, then, throw away cameras/or else, my LG mobile phone camera. So, certainly I deeply appreciate any tips that you have to offer me to improve. Thus, I noted especially what you said in your profile, the gist of which went ‘you take photos like you were making a film; this helps you to focus; and, also, to be very highly selective.’ - Anyway, thanks a lot for the tip; I promise I won’t ever forget it! ;)

shadoutcarver says "Next step, your own exhibition."

Different Digital Painting programs I tried with Wacom

1: ArtRage: small program, doesn't hog system resources. But for me, it's too clumsy. The brush controls are thick and counter intuitive. There is a free version and an inexpensive $25 US shareware version.

2: Corel PainterX: pretty good all round painting program. Anyone who has used any older PaintShop Pro programs will feel right at home, as the tool bar layout and keyboard short cuts are still the same. Many good brushes and tools makes for good results. There are some plugins available too. Expensive price tag of $349 US will put off most newbies.

3: Adobe PhotoShop CS3: Comes with many tools and many brushes, and also has importable brushes. Can also use a lot of the Alien Skin plugins. I would suggest this program for the experienced digital painter, as beginners could easily be overwhelmed. It's a great program, but the price tag of $649 and $999 US will put most people off.

3a: Adobe Illustrator: Comes with many templates, swatches, shapes and brushes, All the functionality of PhotoShop, but less photograph centered and more drawing/painting. It is a little less expensive than Photoshop, but not by much at $599 US.(I have CS2 that I got years ago, the latest is CS3)

4: TwistedBrush Pro Studio: Easy to set up, easy to use, whether a newbie or experienced digital painter. There are many brushes, pencils, chalk, pen, and object brushes. Art filters and effects are included with the software. I have found this to be the hands down winner overall. Compared to the cost of Corel and Adobe, the $119 US price tag will attract not only the experienced digital painter, but will not be too much of a shocker for the beginner.