* Thumbs up* Really great. Just a tip here if you use MS Paint again, don't save the image as a .jpeg as it makes it look all plastic wrapish and stuff.
" I love good MS Paint work! I also love Spidey 2099! TWO THUMBS UP! Also, to echo what Decoy Elite said, make sure to save it at a PNG file. It might be a little bigger, but it won't compress like crap. "
listen to this man, always PNG if you want it to look like it looked while you worked on it ;) It definitely freaks me out when I see really good paint work, especially with colors. Without layers your kinda stuck with anything you commit clicking in the long run.
I will suggest if you got paint loaded up, then Paint.net or Gimp is only a different click to the same thing but with layers (and still free). If your coloring, it's gonna change your world being able to go back later and still have everything seperated :)
" Can someone start up an MS paint contest category? I'd be interested in seeing the work that comes out that... "
I'd say start a 'digital imaging' contest if you give it any name, definitely don't call it an MS Paint contest or you won't get anyone to take it serious. MS Paint isn't really designed to be a serious image editor in any way, Microsoft knew that and probably should have just left it out and told people to get something useful. Even though it's name sounds artistic, it's really the last thing you wanna paint with on a PC, it doesn't support basic features that are necessary to color and draw sanely over multiple sessions. You're always dealing with this flat image and that's not going to help you as an artist to improve if you're limiting yourself to that.
I'm not saying of course that people can't produce some nice material with it, as this threads proven. But you don't wanna subject yourself to the wrong materials to make your art if you have the right ones available knowingly. It'd be like declaring your ONLY going to make ALL your art in crayon, and that's it, when there's great unused pencils right next to them if you're willing to try them.
" Can someone start up an MS paint contest category? I'd be interested in seeing the work that comes out that... "
I'd say start a 'digital imaging' contest if you give it any name, definitely don't call it an MS Paint contest or you won't get anyone to take it serious. MS Paint isn't really designed to be a serious image editor in any way, Microsoft knew that and probably should have just left it out and told people to get something useful. Even though it's name sounds artistic, it's really the last thing you wanna paint with on a PC, it doesn't support basic features that are necessary to color and draw sanely over multiple sessions. You're always dealing with this flat image and that's not going to help you as an artist to improve if you're limiting yourself to that. I'm not saying of course that people can't produce some nice material with it, as this threads proven. But you don't wanna subject yourself to the wrong materials to make your art if you have the right ones available knowingly. It'd be like declaring your ONLY going to make ALL your art in crayon, and that's it, when there's great unused pencils right next to them if you're willing to try them. "
I fully understand the limitations of MS Paint. I have a bachelor's in Graphic Design, which is why I brought the point. I think it would be interesting to have a category where you just make art lesser known or difficult to use mediums. Crayon would be a great one and it would stretch an artist to be able to make a nice piece with something primitive and not take the easy way out with layers, filters, and customizeable brushes as well as programs that do everything for you. That's the whole point of a challenge is to see how far you can take the medium and yourself as an artist.
@soundbite: hehe, totally understand the mentality to have a two legged race with four legs for the fun of it :) It's true you will learn something no matter which approach you take. I'm saying all that more out of advice in general as the next step for an artist just getting into pixels to consider.
It is a good idea to take a breather now and then and go back to primitive to remind yourself of what the ground looks like. I generally think most on here using ms paint though aren't doing it for that challenge more so than it's what was there when they looked for a program to try experimenting. That's a good sign they want to expand their toolsets, now it's about learning your options so you don't get stuck in the stone age forever thinking that's all that's available. MS Paint will give a first time digital artist a very limited and wrong impression of what imaging brings to their plate, the sooner they move from it, the sooner they can start to get the more 'practical' features like brushes and layering. The things that will make it feel more like what they already know with paper and pencil.
It's funny to think the perception that a digital program does everything for you when it comes to brushes, filters and all that, but you also don't exactly have lead or ink coming out of your fingers. The pencils and pens do that for you, with a little help from your hands translating your vision onto that paper. I can stare at my photoshop ALL day, but somehow it doesn't seem to wanna make my picture until I tell it what to do and how to do it. It's all a blank slate till you fill it :)
" @soundbite:It's funny to think the perception that a digital program does everything for you when it comes to brushes, filters and all that, but you also don't exactly have lead or ink coming out of your fingers. The pencils and pens do that for you, with a little help from your hands translating your vision onto that paper. I can stare at my photoshop ALL day, but somehow it doesn't seem to wanna make my picture until I tell it what to do and how to do it. It's all a blank slate till you fill it :) "
Well you got that I was connecting those two dots, then I'm sorry I mislead you. I just meant that those tools are there to enhance an artist's work and not necessarily be a substitute for skill and talent. It's like Da Vinci and some guy with money are having an art contest and Da Vinci does all of his own work from idea to signature and The other guy thinks of what he wants as his composition and then chooses 7 different artists, each with their own specialty to make his painting. He's orchestrating the work and it was his idea, but I'd be more impressed with DaVinci, who did the actual work. I'm not against using the tools at one's disposal, but I think there comes a point where skill is overshadowed by availability of tools. I just don't like it.
@soundbite: naw I got what your saying, nothing mislead, and it'd be fun to see what people could produce with ms paint.
Although I agree there are some who go lazy routes towards creativity, but that exists in ALL forms, pencil or pixel. It's not REALLY Da Vinci versus some guy with money. It's more like Artist versus producer in that comparison. They both got there places in the scheme of things, although it is the artist I got more respect for in skills. I wouldn't consider the producers work irrelevant because of that.
I do agree fully with your main point, tools mean nothing if you don't know what to do with them. Skills are always the important area to focus on before worrying about what you do with them.
I don't like it either when people confuse things and start thinking there's a magic wand they can get that will make them Da Vinci :) Kind of sells Da Vinci short then
Log in to comment