well i'm completely new to digital painting and everything but i've seen some pieces on here like the magaician by Arjen that i'd just love to be able to create something not even close to that.

so basically where do i start. what do i need. tuts to read etc... any comment will b much appreciated.

thanks
Shift

Welcome shift- and why should we laugh?......you are right about the talent over on this board...there are tonnes eh!
I am not an expert myself, and I am learning all the time......there are good books out there in the shops and there is certainly wonderful tuts from some members- check out thier web sites....Plus I am sure some more feedback will follow my in-put....so stick around and read some more advice....

cheers m8 :P

Well these are far from the best but they are the first two that jump to mind, cause well..they are ones I made.. ;)

Painting tut/walkthrough
http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/htmltuts/painting_steps.html

Clouds. :)
http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/htmltuts/cloud_tut.html

the question here is what tools do you plan on using ?

but yeah, steel's tuts are some of the best i've seen about digital paintings :)

tools ... i brought photoshop and illustrator @ educational price cos thats what i've heard is the best

cheers steel i'm gonna do those tuts soon since now i've finished my exams :D:D:D:D:D

in that case, my advice would be for you to follow some tuts, get to know the tools in each program and then try to do something just for kicks to see how it goes. learning to use photoshop is a continous learning process, so welcome to your new hobby :)

there are some tutorials for photoshop in www.psworkshop.net and www.good-tutorials.com

yea... i've had ps for a while now, mostly creatin filter images or just splatterin brushes and cutout images. i'm tryin to move away from that and www.good-tutorials.com is mainly filter tuts....

btw just one more thing what do u recommend the size of ur images to be for larger pieceS?

Nobody here is going to laugh shift, welcome to the SDC and good luck with your foray into digital. Steeldolphin is the Mack Daddy of digital painting, so study his work and use his tutorials and you'll be off to a great start. There are zillions of good Photoshop books and Websites, a google search will confirm that for you, but I think the most important thing is to just be yourself. Be original. Learn the tools from a to z, learn the fundamentals, learn from others that have experience, but then after you do all of that, break away and create what your brain tells you to and don't worry about anybody's criticism. Hope my ranting helps a little. :)