I am Excited (with a capital “e”) because I think my digital painting skills are getting better.  A couple of months ago, my wife got me a Wacom digital sketching pad for my mac (basically it’s hardware that allows you to do drawings in your computer, but using something that feels like a pencil on paper).

You can check out the about page if you are curious why she would by me software designed for artistic people, isntead of software designed for lawyers. Also, I think it has to do with the fact that digital painting doesn’t run the risk of getting paint all over the carpet.  My first attempt to use digital media to create art resulted in this:

Anyone got a toothpick?

This is a sketch by me, based on Ed Beard Jr.’s sketch drawing that he did for me on the inside cover of the art book I bought from him at FLARF

So back to the digital art pad my wife got me.  It came with a copy of corel paint. It’s not the full program the professionals use, but it’s enough for me for now, seeing as how I am not a professional.  So, the first drawing I did was, of course, of a dragon.  It’s a basic line drawing, but it turned out better than I expected. So, I was happy.

Let me just insert another thought about Ed.  As I mentioned, I had just bought a book of fantasy illustrations from Ed Beard Jr. (I met him at the Florida Renaissance Fair), and, on the inside cover, he sketched a picture of a dragon in about five minutes using a magic marker.  So, the above painting was based on that.

To give you an idea of how awesome Ed Beard Jr. is, his sketch was in marker, which means no “undo” button or eraser or anything, and he did it in less time than it takes me to boot my computer, and the final result is so awesome it makes me weep whenever I look at it, but what the hell, right? He’s a professional.  

By the way, Ed has a really cool discussion about painting in digital vs. physical media. I personally enjoy painting in acrylic or drawing with pencils or penk & ink much more than painting in the digital medium, but I do also like the digital process enough to want to also be able to do that too. 

So I did my little sketch using his as reference.  Also let me add that as a person he is totally awesome. So click here right now and buy something from his online store or at least snoop around and see what his art is like. Then come back to this page so I can show you what I did next.

So what I did next was try to make an actual painting (an actual digital painting, not an “actual” painting. I mean, it’s an actual painting, but in the digital medium. I’m just going to cut that thread off right here, because if I’m not careful, I could end up making this entire entry a parenthetical thought in which I debate with myself the nature of reality in the digital age).

It’s still more of a line drawing with color instead of a real painting, but I think I’m on the right track. So, here it is. The artist in me keeps pointing out that it’s not much in the composition area, and I shouldn’t post paintings before I really get the hang of the medium, but the blogger in me says that it’s late and you have something to post so post it and let’s go to bed.  So, here it is:

Where the Damsels at?