Articles – Page 5 – YarkspiriFantasyArt

9 Most Common Adobe Photoshop Problems?

Anyone who’s been using adobe Photoshop for a couple of years will be aware of some of the problems which can occur from a lack of software knowledge. The following is a list of some of the features can cause some frustrations if you’re not aware of them prior.

The quick mask tool is a keyboard shortcut which can be very useful depending on what you’re trying to achieve. It can however cause severe frustrations if you don’t know what activates this keyboard shortcut. Hitting the “Q” on your keyboard turns your canvas red in the areas where the mask is being applied.

The language settings for your computer can have a dramatic affect on the Photoshop shortcuts that are made available to you by default. The problem arises when you use the Alt + shift button to change the language settings from English to French and normally affects brush resizing options on your keyboard.
The inability to see your brush as you paint can be beneficial at times but is most often an annoyance which can be easily fixed. In most cases the brush size is either too small to see in detail or the “Caps Lock” key has been pressed accidentally. If this occurs you simply need to turn off the “Caps Lock” in order to see your brush once more.

No being able to paint anywhere on your canvas may be caused by having a portion of the image selected by using the marquee tool. In this case all you need to do in order to fix this problem is to simply go to Select + Deselect to remove the existing selection.

Although a file may have been created in Photoshop it may not always open in this software as a default when it is double clicked. Even if this is a minor nuisance it can be easily fixed by right clicking on the file and choosing Open with + Chose Default Program + Adobe Photoshop to open any similar file in this software.

Even if it is very rare, Photoshop may sometimes save you files in extremely large files sizes. If this occurs I would highly recommend checking your image options and seeing if your pixels per inch have been accidentally set to pixels per centimetres. I normally find this to be an issue if the file size exceeds 1G in size while being saved at 300 dpi.

Everyone who enjoys using Photoshop does so because of the easily accessible panels which contain various feature made available to you. There are some instances when your panels may disappear in a mysterious manner and this normally occurs when the Tab button has been quickly pressed. To bring these essential tools back to the forefront you simply need to press the Tab key once more and the problem is resolved.

Should you encounter problems with the resizing option of your windows it is most likely due to one of your preference options. You can change these settings by going to Edit + Preferences + General. You must then turn off “Zoom resizes window” followed by selecting the “OK” button.

Scratch disk is full error messages can be extremely annoying when they occur since it prevents you from using the software properly. The main reason why the scratch disk error appears is when Photoshop begins using the hard drive to temporally store the information when the ram is full. If this occurs you will need to delete the temporary Photoshop files which are stored in your temporary folder (Computer+ C + Windows + temp). Another important step will be to clear up the disk space on your computer by removing unused files and folders, emptying the recycle bin and defragmenting afterwards.

Although these issues can be problematic the good news is that almost all of them are easily fixed. While there’s a large variety in what Photoshop makes available to its users this same variety can cause some problems to arise. Hopefully this small list will help make your Photoshop experience more enjoyable. Thank you for reading this topic and I hope to see you guys soon.

What books do I recommend? Part 1

Like drawing materials, there are several books published each year which promise consumers the inside scoop on whatever domain they claim to explore. I’ve compiled a list of the books that I’ve found were some of the more useful over the years. What you chose afterwards will depend on your own personal needs as an artist.

Anatomy Books:

The Art of Animal Drawing is very good for dynamic animal pose related anatomy. The simplified breakdown of anatomy examples makes it easier to learn how to draw horses, deer, tigers and many other animals. I recommend this book for those who which to learn how to properly draw a variety of dynamic animal poses.

Cyclopedia anatomica is a more detailed book on animal anatomy and covers the similarities that occurs in our own anatomy. This book does a very good job at showing the similarities and differences between the two by having them next to each other. I recommend this book for those who are interested in learning how to draw animal anatomy.

Human Anatomy for Artists is an extremely good book which covers the individual muscles of the human body and their proper functions. This is especially useful thanks to the photographs of tensed muscles which are placed besides the anatomy drawings. I highly recommend this book for those wishing to have a more comprehensive understanding of muscles structure and their functions.

Atlas of human anatomy and surgery is a very good book because the muscles are grouped together in several different layers. By having the various muscles shown together is makes it easier for figuring out how to properly draw surface muscles. I recommend this book for those who want t more global understanding on human anatomy.

Atlas of human anatomy for the artist is an anatomy book which focuses on surface anatomy muscles and the skeletal structure. The notes section is this books strength because of the small diagrams and explanations given. I recommend this book for those who only require a more basic overview of the muscle structure in the human body.

Virtual Pose series is a very useful tool because it includes a rotational dvd. This series is useful because the poses are rotated within the book as well as having a fully rotatable dvd option. The only problem with this dvd is that the loading time can be significant and it is prone to crashing issues. I recommend this book for those who are trying to understand how to properly draw the human figure.

Animation Books:

The Animators Survival Kit is a very good book which breaks down the animation principals using coloured diagrams. I recommend this book for all those who are learning to animate or those who have animation experience.

Clothing Reference:

Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century is a very well put together book which covers a variety of fashion styles of these periods. This is extremely helpful for character costume design because of the photographs which have been included.

When does learning become Plagiarizing?

For any artist to acquire the skills needed to create quality artwork there is a period of time when they must learn from those around them. The information in this article is my personal opinion on the matter and does not reflect any legal advice on plagiarizing itself. It is during this learning process that most begin looking and attempting to mimic what they like in an effort to become better but when does this cross the line and become plagiarizing?

As a general rule most artists did at some point copy and mimic from those they admired and this is fine so long as credit is always given to the original artist. If you trace and copy another person’s work I always recommend that you do so in a separate sketchbook dedicated for that one purpose. The main reason being that should you wish to show your work to someone else you do not want to show copied or traced artwork. In a portfolio type sketchbook you can include animal and people studies but these are more widely accepted because the reference material comes from live photography and becomes an interpretive piece. If at all possible however I always recommend citing your sources since this will avoid any issues that may arise.

The real problems with plagiarizing arise when you claim a piece that wasn’t created by you to be from you. If you were to trace or repaint a piece so that the composition and design elements remained the same then it would be considered plagiarizing because you haven’t changed any of the important design elements. Transitional pieces occur when your transforming the medium in which the piece is being rendered but still runs the risk of being considered plagiarism if the source material has not been provided.

Showing copied work also has another negative effect in that most artists don’t appreciate a piece of that nature. When someone shows me a sketchbook of copied artwork it doesn’t show their creativity but rather their rendering ability. There is a definite difference between someone who copy something and those who understand what it is that they’ve learned through the tracing and copying process. I’ve heard of some professionals who’ve been shown traced pieces of their artwork and in most cases this was viewed as being very insulting. As a general guideline original pieces show a much better understanding of what was learned and are better suited for portfolio pieces.

As with anything else there is always an exception to every rule. In traditional animation you are expected to trace model sheets until you’re able to draw them from memory because this allows you to draw the character in variety of poses afterwards. These traced pieces never get show but the knowledge gained is used in order accurately draw the character repeatedly for animation. These animations however are new drawings created by the artist so that they appear on model and are a product of the company that they are working for. They are not considered plagiarizing so long as the artist doesn’t claim to be the creator of the characters themselves.

There is a significant difference in what plagiarism is when compared to copyright infringement and I will hopefully be discussing this in a later article. For now I hope I’ve given you enough information so as to avoid plagiarism in your own pieces. I hope you’ve found this information useful and I wish you the best of luck in the future.

The Search for the Perfect Drawing or Painting Tool?

Whether or not you create digital or traditional pieces, professionals often seem to get a recurring question but does this question have any merit at all? If there are in fact supplies and equipment that does give an artist a higher advantage would this in fact make this person a better artist?

Today, now more than ever, we are surrounded by various tools and supplies which we are told will make us better artists. In most cases these new materials and supplies are variations of pre-existing products, containing minor differences to allow for a specific use. If we look at how art was previously made this might help shed some light in what relevance these might have to artistic skill.

If we look at the renaissance period, most brushes and paint materials were still made by hand. The paint was often combined with minerals, plants and insects to form their own individual pigments. These ingredients needed to be ground down by hand and mixed with oil or yolk to produce the paints for the artist. By using certain routines and procedures, artists were then able to get a more uniform consistency to work with. Brushes were no simple matter either for they also had to be properly tied down to the quill in order for them to stay in place. Most people who created these supplies learned these valuable skills through apprenticeships which were no easy task since these would last for several years. Even with these strong challenges, these artists at the time were able to produce exquisite pieces of art and at a formidable rate. Does this mean that the materials that were being used at the time were better than the ones being used today?

In most cases I’ll argue that our current materials are better and cheaper than what previous artists had available. Many of the ingredients now have to meet certain standards which help control certain toxicity to make it less harmful for the user. Nowadays with the different brands available, there is also more competition between the suppliers which help maintain lower prices. Paints now benefit from formulas which provide a greater consistency when being used and artist no longer need bother with older routines and procedures prior to painting. So if it wasn’t the paint or materials that made the renaissance artists such great painters what was it?

During the renaissance as it is today, it isn’t the materials being used that will create the better artist but rather the experience that they bring to the medium and tools of their trade. An experienced artist is normally very flexible and adaptable because of their ability to apply previous knowledge to their current situations. These artists realize that the materials they are using will act in a certain way and therefore are able to modify their painting style to reflect that medium. If an artist understands the basics of composition and lighting, then they will apply this information to whatever scene they are attempting to create. A professional sculptor will recognize the importance of anatomy and silhouettes and will often keep these as a primary focus while working. While using certain professional products can be beneficial they should never overshadow the skill of the user. For me the greatest example of this is my pen drawings, I use the cheapest pens available to create sketches. I do not use these pens because they are cheap but rather because I know how to use them to achieve the effect that I seek.

Rather than being obsessed about finding the perfect drawing tool or brush, students would greatly benefit from a better understanding of structure, anatomy and composition. Whether you are a professional artist or a novice, I hope this information was useful to you and that you will continue to create new pieces in the future. Best of luck and I hope to see you soon.