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Nice Photo Shops. Really liked #2 because you almost don't notice the Titan.

Who drew the Red Shirt cartoon? That one is nice!

JB wrote:
I also found that I didn't like the default pixels per inch (72). I upped it to 200. It takes a bit more memory but the resolution was much more satisfying for me.

72 DPI is absolute garbage. 150 is "okay" for web. 300 is good for print or large images. The amount of extra memory it takes up is trivial since we live in the 21st century.

I've done some 40K fanart, heh. Digitally, I use a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet and Photoshop. However, I used a small Graphire 2 for many years before getting the Intuos, and it worked just fine for me. It was smaller than my current Intuos, and therefore much more portable. The small size didn't bother me since I habitually draw fairly small anyway. I don't think the type of tablet makes any difference to the quality of work that can be produced. A better tablet may just make the process a bit easier, hehe.

There's a lot of paint programs out there - some I can remember off the top of my head include Gimp, Jasc PaintShop Pro, and OpenCanvas. I haven't used Gimp myself, but if I remember right it's freeware or shareware. I used to use Jasc PSP, and I still occasionally use OpenCanvas when I couldn't be bothered with Photoshop, hehe.

Physically, I'll sometimes do the base drawing in an A4 sketchbook, using a mechanical pencil with blue and/or HB/2B lead. I do like the ease and portability of a regular old sketchbook, and sometimes I just think better using pencil and paper. Same with writing - I find writing easier to do with pencil and paper, rather than writing directly on the computer. I'm just strange that way, I guess.

Some examples of my scribbles:

Ahriman and a couple of friends. XD I intend to digitally colour this at some point, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Base sketch done with blue lead, then cleaned up with either HB or 2B, I can't remember.


A daemon prince based on one of the models in my army - pencil sketched (ran out of paper on the left there, argh), then digitally painted.




This one was done entirely in Photoshop. The rain effect was done by filling a layer with small white dots, then using a motion blur effect and setting the layer type to screen and adjusting the opacity to 50%.


I've got a few more Warhammer 40K pics up in my DeviantArt gallery as well - I just don't want to flood the thread more than I have already, heh.

Here's a couple pics I've done. I used to use Photoshop, but lately I've been working with Paint Tool Sai, which I think has superior drawing tools. Though you still can't beat PS for photomanipulation. Oh, and I use a Wacom Intuos 3

Wow! You guys have some beautiful stuff in your portfolios. Skits, that line work on the Thousand Sons is amazingly clean. Is the image at 1:1 or did you scale it down for Dakka? The colored art is draw-dropping. The effects are impressive.

Marauder, I really like that second piece with the Burna Boy. Great action and lighting.

What is the difference between the Intuos 3 and the Intuos 4?

@JB: Thank you! I didn't scale the Sons pic down any for Dakka specifically, since it's just linked from my DeviantArt account, heh. I did scale it down some for DeviantArt though. The actual drawing is A4 sized, and I'm pretty sure I scanned it in at 300dpi. Original file's kinda huge. XD

As for the difference between Intuos 3 and 4... far as I remember, not very much. Most likely just extra pressure sensitivity, some of the side button functions, that sort of thing. Hell, I don't really notice much difference between my old Graphire 2 and Intuos 4 apart from physical size - I don't use the side buttons on the Intuos, they annoy me. I just use keyboard shortcuts 'cause that's what I'm used to.