An Altered State of Consciousness

I've been playing around with my new art software and tablet, and I'm feeling much more confident with it. For a while, I was worried that this program was too advanced for me and that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I've been working with it a lot this past week, and I think things are finally starting to fall into place. In particular, I feel like I'm understanding how to use layers a lot better.

Of course, not knowing much about the layers feature just makes me feel stupid all around. Adobe Photoshop is pretty much the standard program, and it's had that feature for years. However, I always used simpler programs that didn't have them, so I've just never used them before. Also, since most of what I was using it for was fanart that I was doing for fun, and because I had no intentions on doing digital art professionally, I wasn't too concerned that I wasn't using Photoshop.

I do wish that SAI was available for Macs, however. I was watching some walk-though videos on YouTube last week, and it seems like a nice midway point in terms of art programs. Not as complicated as Photoshop (or Corel Painter, which is what I bought), but more advanced than the programs I have used in the past.

So things are coming along. Perhaps not as quickly as I would like, but I'm getting there. I've been experimenting a lot, although I haven't done anything worth saving. I did color a couple of Hetalia sketches by Himaruya, including the one of mochimerica you see as the userpic I'm using for this post. Of course, it's very simple and only took me about 20 minutes to finish, which isn't the same as a original painting, but still... I'm happy with how it came out, and that's what matters, right?

I'm still planning on getting back into some drawing classes, because I know I'm not as competent at the basics of drawing as I should be. Since there isn't anything being offered during the summer semester, I'll have to wait until autumn. I suppose I could just set up some still life arrangements in my apartment, but for whatever reason, I learn better when I have to physically attend a class, rather than doing it on my own (or taking an online class, for that matter).

I still haven't located the cable for my digital camera. But that's mostly because there is construction being done on my apartment building, and I had to get everything that was near the windows away so the workers have room to install new ones and cut holes in the walls for a new ventilation system. This means that my futon is shoved up against the bookcase, and I have to climb over the coffee table to get to my computer desk (it's not a big apartment, in case you didn't figure that part out), and everything else is is in disarray and has been that way for almost two weeks and can't go back to normal for another week or two.

I need to find it before Comic-Con, though, because I want to take a lot of pictures. Well, as many as I'm able to... what with the massive crowds and me being short to begin with, most of what I see is other people's backs. I'd forgotten it was coming up so soon. I guess I won't be cosplaying this year either. One of these day I will. I'm not sure just what character I'd cosplay as now that I think about it. I guess I should decide on that first, eh?