Where to start?

sunday · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 3995 Location: Victoria

I haven't been around the forums much lately as one of our chilldren started experiencing some worrying health problems several months ago. Whilst we are still waiting on medical tests to confirm the diagnosis we have been told that it is likely he has a progressive disease whereby he is gradually losing the use of muscles. We are hoping he will be one of the lucky ones who have very slow disease progression, however we are also mindfull that he may have physical limitations that impact on his future.

Our son is 14, bright, funny and wonderfully creative. We would really like to nurture his creative potential as it may end up being a viable career choice if that is something he would like to aim for. He was very impressed with some of the glorious fantasy environments that I directed him to over on the concept art forum. But neither of us have any idea as to where to even start. Could someone please give me some basics in tems of how to get started?

We have Corel Painter X and I am willing to buy him anything else that he may need.

biki · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 450 Location: Byron Bay

Hi Sunday. I am so sorry to hear this - but alas, delighted to read you again.

did you ask on CA? - or maybe you could click into someone in the field of Art Therapy.

this is really strange & slightly off topic, but i have a dear friend who has been a music therapist for years - very dedicated & working with people who have disabilities & the elderly - and he has now been afflicted with motor neuron disease himself.!

Life is so strange. Crying or Very sad

biki · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 450 Location: Byron Bay

- or maybe ask Hone on AQ.? He is a digital expert & a lovely man.

sunday · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 3995 Location: Victoria

Thanks biki, I haven't asked on CA yet because not knowing anything on this topic I find the forum a little intimidating - but I did find someone else posed a where to start question there so I am about to go through all the links provided in response to that query.

Asking Hone is a good idea - I'll try and chase him up Smile

biki · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 450 Location: Byron Bay

good luck sweetheart.

Jo Tyler · Joined: 13 Aug 2008 Posts: 489 Location: Newcastle

Hi Sunday, I don't think we've talked before but I'm so sorry to hear your news. I think you're helping to do a very positive thing for your son's future. Good luck to all of you.

KimO · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: 1470

Hi Sunday, So sorry to hear about your son. I wish you & your family well.

velvet · Joined: 14 Oct 2005 Posts: 1655 Location: Hunter Valley

Sunday, warm wishes to you and your son. Corel Painter is a very good start. The next step is to get a graphics tablet. It plugs into a USB port on your computer and comes with a pressure-sensitive pen that makes drawing/painting more natural, more accurate and more comfortable than with a mouse.

Wacom is the brand most favoured by professionals.

Their Intuos model is best, it comes in various sizes and the smaller ones are quite adequate - http://www.wacom.com.au/intuos3/

If your budget's limited the cheaper Bamboo Fun model is still quite serviceable - http://www.wacom.com.au/bamboo/

There's a fairly active Painter forum at CGTalk - http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=112 .

Another good source of Painter information is Jin Brown's Pixel Alley - http://www.pixelalley.com/

I used to work in Painter all the time. I have Painter IX and though I haven't used it much lately I'd be happy to try and answer any questions your son has.

Best way to begin is simply open a new canvas and start trying out the vast array of brushes. But get that tablet ASAP.

sunday · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 3995 Location: Victoria

Thank you biki, Jo, Kim and Velvet Smile

Velvet your info was just what I was looking for - perfect!

sunday · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 3995 Location: Victoria

Still researching... I've found a place where I can get the Wacom Intuos 3 and I am just looking at the various bundles they offer.

I would imagine most people start with a smaller size, but do you reach a point where you get frustrated by the limited working space - say in a 6" x 8" ?

gggraph · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:28 am Post subject: Re - Where to start?

Hi Sunday - missed this thread when it started, for some reason. Very sad to hear about your son's illness, I hope he recovers, or at least remians stable for as long as possible.

We have a wacom bamboo which I bought for my son (personally, I hate the things...). It's a very good starting point as they are very affordable. Yes, normally the small tablet size would be annoying after a while. I wonder, however, in your son's case whether having a tablet that requires larger hand movements would necessarily be a good thing.

One of my neighbours is a movie/tv/games SFX designer, he uses a Cintiq tablet (I'm sure it's a 30", although Wacom no longer list it as a product). Absolutely brilliant, although the $10K+ pricetag is a bit off-putting....

Interesting that he's into fantasy art - the World Science Fiction Convention is in Melbourne next year, may be worth having a look.

Cheers

Grant

sunday · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 3995 Location: Victoria

Thanks Grant, from what we know it sounds like hand muscles are likely be spared so we don't have to worry about limiting size on that basis.
From what you're saying I should probably go as large as I can afford. I noticed one of the members on another forum saying it was easier if the tablet size matched one's screen. I can't afford to do that as the screen is quite large, but should I at least be trying to match the ratio as close as possible?

Can I ask why you hate the tablets? Have you had much of a play around on your son's? Are they complex to learn to use? Did your son persist with it?

Sorry that's a lot of questions.

Thanks for the heads up on the World Science Fiction Convention Smile

velvet · Joined: 14 Oct 2005 Posts: 1655 Location: Hunter Valley

Grant, I'd be interested to know too - what do you hate? Tablets in general or the Bamboo in particular?

Sunday, I reckon the 6 x 8 Intuos would be a good choice. The tablet itself is somewhat bigger than its working area, so in terms of desk space a larger tablet plus keyboard plus mouse can be awkward.

Matching your screen size is just ridiculous and totally unecessary. Screen ratio is not a big factor either. Just like with a mouse or touchpad, you can place your cursor anywhere you want. You don't work with the image at full screen size all the time, you zoom in or out at will and you can move the image about on the screen to work on particular areas.

sunday · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 3995 Location: Victoria

Good point Velvet, I hadn't thought of that - do people usually push their keyboards aside when working on tablets? Or does some work require that you work from both at the same time?

I'm really showing how clueless I am now aren't I Confused

velvet · Joined: 14 Oct 2005 Posts: 1655 Location: Hunter Valley

Oops Sunday, I was editing while you were posting. Have just sent you a PM.