digital coloring question

[Blastin]

My brother in law is a budding artist and all who know him have been trying to get him to start coloring his pencil sketches. His wife (my sister) is thinking about getting him a program to do the digital coloring, but has no idea what to get. I was hoping that someone here could give me some suggestions to relay to her. She isn't looking to spend tons, unless that's the only thing that will work. My brother-in-law has NO experience with any of the coloring programs.
Thanks in advance
Blastin

 

[Tanager]

Well, before we get to the good part, let me just say that as a general rule I believe that artists should learn to colour by hand before they start using software. But that's just me being a curmudgeon.

JASC Paint Shop Pro is a relatively inexspensive photo editing program, they also offer a fully working trial version for 30 days. Well, I assume they still do.

Cheers,

Tanager

 

[s/LaSH]

Last I checked, PSP was still available as a demo. (If you want a low-tech variant, see if you can find PSP 4; the demo actually doesn't expire. They're up to 7 now.)

I personally use The GIMP, but others have had troubles installing it. It's free, and it's close to commercial software in power... just be aware that it may be more trouble than it's worth.

The key to colouring by computer is layers. If your brother-in-law can master those, there's all manner of cool stuff that can be done. Oh, and I live by the Fuzzy Select tool (or whatever other programs call it - Magic Wand seems to be the icon standard).

 

[Rhombus]

My brother in law is a budding artist and all who know him have been trying to get him to start coloring his pencil sketches. His wife (my sister) is thinking about getting him a program to do the digital coloring, but has no idea what to get. I was hoping that someone here could give me some suggestions to relay to her.

Personally, I think a graphics tablet would be more use to a budding artist than colouring software... Some even come bundled with decent programs that can be used for colouring.

However, Paint Shop Pro is probably the 2nd most used program by illustrators (2nd to Photoshop) and by far a much cheaper program.


The real question I'd ask is whether your brother-in-law wants to work with colour. I'm a freelance artist and I HATE working in colour for 2D pieces. I also know for a fact that I'm not the only freelancer who feels this way. The feeling of 'wasted cash' and/or heightened expectations of the people around your brother-in-law would be extremely unfair if he never had any intention of working in colour.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying don't encourage his art or anything, all I'm saying is try to make sure you're encouraging him in the directions he's going.

 

[Malessa]

I just got back into drawing this year. I used to sketch and oil paint many moons ago, which is a very expensive hobby to keep up with. My husband bought me Paint Shop Pro about a year or so ago. I just started fiddling with it this summer. Lemme tell you, I feel its worth it. Especially if you have trouble coloring, or want to try different things with your art that you simply can't do with oils, watercolors or cray pas without destroying your picture. I'm still learning mind you, I have yet to read the book(yawn), I just sat down and started experimenting. I still have my original sketches unharmed in a folder, which is nice. Because of my fooling around on PSP, I'm really starting to get the itch of getting back into oil painting. I recomend PSP or Photoshop, simply because you can try, and try again until your happy with the outcome. The best part of programs like these is the "undo" factor, like I said earlier, it doesn't destroy your pic if your still learning. Hope this helps!

 

[Blastin]

Thanks for all the replies.
My brother in law is kinda the lazy sketch artist for fun type.
It's not a job. He has never done coloring at all with his stuff...all pencil drawings. I don't think he has worked in any other medium. He is a computer geek though, so My sister feels that he would be more likely to try coloring with a program before doing it "for real". We would like to think that if he likes it he might be encouraged to work on his art more. We'll see.
I'll pass along a link to this tthread to my sister.
Again, thanks everyone.
Blastin

 

[Kip the Bold]

Hello, just thought I'd recommend a few things for computer coloring. Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro are both great, but you can't beat PSP's price tag. A decent scanner is also essential, and usually cheaper than a drawing tablet. Also, a good set of pens and pen nibs is indispensible for drawing. It is easier to color with inked lines rather than pencil lines. Hope this helps