Fabeltier In reply to DanielaIvanova [2018-02-28 09:26:37 +0000 UTC]

Hi Daniela, I just downloaded your brushsets - it worked! 
I already tried all of them out with a few strokes, they are GREAT!
Your sets seem to provide everything I need for my current work- you saved my neck there  ! I especially like the watercolours and pastels..but they will all be very useful.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THEM!!!      

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DanielaIvanova In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-28 13:22:53 +0000 UTC]

Woo, so glad you like them, even if I'm not the one who made them. I'm looking forward to seeing what you will make with them

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Fabeltier In reply to ArsFatalis [2018-02-27 10:55:17 +0000 UTC]

Oh, thank you, this is really a heart-warming comment!  
It´s about the nicest thing to tell an artist, that his/her work could help to inspire your own creativity...you made my day with that   !

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ArsFatalis In reply to Fabeltier [2018-03-03 18:21:26 +0000 UTC]

Heh, I'm glad I made you happy ^^ Please keep being awesome!

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Fabeltier In reply to Barosus [2018-02-19 20:02:44 +0000 UTC]

Not at all, Barosus - there are good reasons to put "lil old you" on my watchlist .
I´ve read "Where Men Have Forgotten" and enjoyed it a lot - I´m looking forward to read more from you - and I like your delicate little drawings.

And I promise that I will never send you a dragon, nor a centaur. ( Though they are Equines, they probably wouldn´t say "no" to some juicy froglegs.. )
But I´m sure my unicorns would always enjoy a visit at yours!

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Barosus In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-20 12:30:57 +0000 UTC]

This reminds me of the time I concluded a silly comment by exclaiming, "expecto patronum!"There had been some talk of dark beings lurking around so I only did what any self respecting Potter fan wizard would do.  However to my surprise the deviant replied by saying "and a white stag appears". 

Obviously although I was deeply honored for them to assume that my patronus would be That grand, possibly the most important magical creature of all, I realized that they clearly must have been be mistaken.  But then it occurred to me what must have happened.  As I looked closer at the unexpected magical figure approaching with graceful majesty, I noticed that riding atop its head, beneath the tines of its impressive rack of antlers, rode a glowing white toad!  I guess my patronus just likes to ride in style. 

I thought of that story because naturally when I see your name I can't help but think of all your NEWT inspired creatures.   

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Fabeltier In reply to Barosus [2018-02-23 08:55:07 +0000 UTC]

Very nice story  !
And inspiring, too...

I never drew a Patronus, so far. They are not really fantastic beasts, rather some sort of benign demons, but come to think of it, I really should try one... perhaps an impressive bullfrog partronus... 

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Barosus In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-23 09:30:06 +0000 UTC]

I was just reading some comment recently on another artist's page where they were laughing at a friend who had taken a patronus quiz on Pottermore and got returned the result of a toad patronus.  I would have been elated to get a toad.  My own personal guardian spirit toad, how magnificent.  I'm a silly old bullfrog aren't I?  I would have thought you would be more tempted to paint say a gryphon, or a cockatrice, or maybe an ooriental style dragon, or... or well any number of more fantastic or mythological beasties than a toad.  Who am I to tell you not to do a translucent ethereal frog?  I would love to see that!

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Fabeltier In reply to Barosus [2018-02-23 10:07:08 +0000 UTC]

Oh, you are right, I´m MUCH tempted to do such creatures, like a fancy Hippogriff or a Chinese Fireball - but I´m also a very lazy artist, and these things need a lot of time.

Whereas a Patronus study would only need a white pencil, dark paper an a few hours in the evening...hmmm...

BTW, are you sure that your Patronus really is a toad? Because this would put you in league with Dolores Umbridge. Hm, I can´t remember from the books if she ever emitted her patronus, but  it´s for sure a toad -  and I somehow can´t  imagine you being related in any way to her foul character. ( Though I don´t know, admittedly... )

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Barosus In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-24 03:24:07 +0000 UTC]

Really?????  UUuuugh UMBRIDGE???? Ack!  That is about as despicable a character as anyone has ever conceived!  She sullies the noble name of toads!! .... in fact I have a hard time believing she would have enough true good and happy intentions to even be able to summon a patronus.  In a lot of ways she is as black hearted arrogant and hateful as any death eater, just candy coated in fuchsia veneer.  I will have to bow to your wisdom on the matter though for, even though I hate to admit it, I have only seen the movies and not read the books, which I am sure are far better.  I suppose I could go to Pottermore and actually take the patronus quiz to find out, but since I am kind of a frog nut, I would be leaning toward an amphibian guardian spirit from the get go, regardless of who else might have one.  

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Fabeltier In reply to DreamingofDarkhorses [2018-02-19 20:05:35 +0000 UTC]

You are welcome! I like your art very much, especially your Equines, they are lovely! 

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Fabeltier In reply to DanielaIvanova [2018-02-19 19:36:26 +0000 UTC]

Hallo Danielle, not at all, it´s truely a pleasure to visit your page, your work is so great!
I´m thrilled about your wonderful digital paintings. I tried a bit with photoshop myself, but I could never dream of achieving so lifely and expressive results - I´m deeply impressed.
Thanks a lot for liking my work, I feel honoured And thank you for tagging me to Barosus, too!  

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DanielaIvanova In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-20 17:15:03 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for the compliments! PS does take some getting used to but I think an artist of your skill could master it much better than me. I mean, I'm not even that good at drawing, I end up erasing 90% of my lines. 
The pleasure is mine, I really wish more people get to see your awesome work.

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Fabeltier In reply to DanielaIvanova [2018-02-23 07:59:41 +0000 UTC]

Thanks again, Daniela.
What I like about your digital paintings, is the still very natural look they have, and the high level of expression you achieve.
I did DP only for some comissions I had, and I try to make them look not too different from my hand-painted work, but I find that very difficult. It took me ages to complete them. AND I´m erasing a lot, too! 
Just out of interest - how long do you need for your digital portraits?

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DanielaIvanova In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-24 08:10:51 +0000 UTC]

You getting the typical glossy smooth digital look? If you're trying to emulate a more traditional look, I can't emphasize enough the importance of textured brushes. For example, I found a really nice pencil brush I think in this set   that looks very natural and I apply it in single strokes, like you would hatch with a normal pencil. If you're using a regular round brush it's nearly impossible to get a traditional look. Another thing I found worked quite well for me was have an underlying color under your brushwork, sort of like drawing on tinted paper rather than block in your colors for every shape. That gives it a sort of integrated look. And it also takes a bit of practice to get the motion of painting right - you need to swing your pen so that it touches the tablet only in the middle of the motion and that way the two ends fade out rather than end sharply. 
It actually doesn't take me much for the faces themselves since I really enjoy making them, maybe 3-4 hours, but if there are other things involved... man, it can go well in the double digits.

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Fabeltier In reply to DanielaIvanova [2018-02-27 12:05:54 +0000 UTC]

Hello Daniela, thank you so much for sharing your experience and the advice you give - it helps a lot!  
The Houston Sharp brush set looks really nice, I just downloaded it ( And my gratitude goes for artists who share their brushsets freely, really a noble thing to do!), and can´t wait to test it. I have much opportunitiy to do that in the next weeks, because I have to work on a commission which requests a natural, watercolour-like look.

You are right, it´s the smooth digital look wich bothers me - not in digital paintings in general, but for my own work. I tried to get a handmade look by checking each and any brush Photoshop provides, but it´s very time-consuming, and still does not always bring satisfying results.

Sigh- and the pencil movement thing is something I have still to practise on. It´s not easy to get a realistic feeling there, but I think it´s really all about getting used to it.
Good advice from you to tint the first layer, it makes sense and I will try that out, too!

It sounds almost unbelievable to me that you need only 3-4 hours for your wonderful digital face paintings... If I could do stuff like that in nearly the same time, I would call myself a lucky person.
So far, digital painting costs me much more time than traditionals, which is the reason for me not to do it just for fun. But it´s necessary that I learn to use it for commissions, and I really hope I will get better and quicker soon.
Thank you for helping me there! 

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DanielaIvanova In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-27 12:21:03 +0000 UTC]

You're very welcome! I'm a huge fan of textured brushes. In fact last night I downloaded a few big sets and already managed to sort out and organize a few of them by look and feel. I could send you some of the sets I made, there are some fantastic brushes there. PS doesn't make it very easy to sort out your brushes, it took me over an hour just to test them all and separate them in different files. Can't wait to use them myself. 

I can't say I've got used to the pen motion myself even after so much time. WHat I do is repeat a single line until it looks right or refine it with the eraser afterwards. It's definitely not the same feel as on paper But in a way once you get used to it, I feel it should take less than traditional, because you don't have to layer down colors so patiently, you can just pick the color you need right away. 
And if you think 3-4 hours is fast, what do you think about 30+ hours on full on background paintings. I feel myself to be a really slow artist. 

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Fabeltier In reply to DanielaIvanova [2018-03-03 09:33:28 +0000 UTC]

Thanks again, Daniela, for your fantastic brush sets!

You are right, as much I like Photoshop and as advanced and well working it is, Adobe could do some approvals to their brush management tools. I´m still trying to find out how to assort my brushes and store them in a useful way, and this sometimes needs more time than the painting itself >.

For the pen movement - did you ever try to cover your tablet with a sheet of paper? I´m doing that, because the feeling is slightly more realistic, and makes the linework a a bit more stable. ( And the pen nib will last longer ) It´s still not the same as working with real pencil and paper, though...

And you call yourself a slow artist? Hrmm, I don´t know how much time other digital artists need, but for me 30+ hours for a full background painting still sounds pretty quick . It´s what I would roughly need for a drawing like the uncicorns. A full colour dragon painting takes me at least several weeks, sometimes even MONTH.   And digital painting is not much better. On my last commission - a unicorn splashing through a pond within a forest scenery - I spent 3 weeks. ( Drove me mad to paint all those waterlilies  )
So I would say, you met a master here when it comes to being a slow artist !

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DanielaIvanova In reply to Fabeltier [2018-03-03 15:55:30 +0000 UTC]

Haha, I know exactly what you mean. It's not intuitive at all! Did you find the Preset Manager window? It's a bit hidden, and it's the most comprehensive tool for organization they have so far. 
Oh, that's an interesting idea, I will give it a try. Does affect pen pressure much?
It's awesome to meet a fellow artist like this I guess I'm comparing myself to the wrong crowd. I routinely see professional digital artists finishing a painting in one go like 7-8 hours for a fully fledged thing. Have you watched apterus 's timelapses on youtube? He takes around 20 hours for a painting and some of the comments he gets are that this is actually quite slow. But then again those guys spend as much on painting as you would in a full-time job, they are already so proficient and are constantly finding new ways to speed up their process. And my own goal is not really to get a quick result (which is the luxury of painting for yourself) but the enjoyment of the process itself, especially when it comes to experimentation.

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Barosus In reply to DanielaIvanova [2018-02-19 00:44:01 +0000 UTC]

Oh, well I have to check her out now!  "Yikes, and away!"  (if you don't get the corny reference, don't sweat it.) LOL

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Fabeltier In reply to ChrisHoke [2018-02-19 19:18:54 +0000 UTC]

You are welcome, Chris - I like your work, too! And thank you so much for the watch!

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Fabeltier In reply to Talani-Mae [2018-02-19 19:12:05 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, Talani-Kasa, for the watch, and for your very kind words! I´m very glad that you appreciate my work so much, it´s inspiring!
And I have no doubts that you will better yourself and achieve what you want in your art, as long as you love what you are doing enough to invest some time to train your skills and find your way.
I´m 48, so I have a head start of 19 years to you there. And I´m still no stranger to self-doubts, believe me...
A big hug to you for boosting my confidence! 

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Talani-Mae In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-20 01:15:47 +0000 UTC]

you are an absolutely incredible artist dear one. Artists like you have taken my breath from me since I was a small child and inspired me to go farther and get better with both my art and my stories. Works like yours bring tears to my eyes, as it brings back to mind just how much of a heaven my fantasy books were for me all my young, and current life. I really hope to see much much more from you. Your beautiful art is a blessing to us all, especially those like me who have had such a strong passion and link to fantasy.

Sometimes it is because of the world we live in sometimes that makes us appreciate fantasy art like yours even more. And it makes those works all the more precious and something to hold on to.

Thank you for the encouragement darling. It is all I craved from the time I was 8 till my mid 20's. It was not till I started working on my tribal art that both my parents made it known how much they loved what I was doing. And as much as I strive to do this for myself, I think it is normal to want parents acceptance and understanding.

I will keep trying. And if I manage to do a traditional piece that is not tribal and it comes out looking better than my usual I will be sure to show you what you inspire me to do.

<3 <3 <3 

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Fabeltier In reply to Talani-Mae [2018-02-23 09:40:55 +0000 UTC]

Dear Talani-Kasa, thanks again for your praise.
It´s really a wonderful thing  for an artist to hear, that what they are doing inspires other people to create their own art.

As an artist - and I mean all artists, writers, musicians, painters, and actors as well - we have the great privilege to dream ourselves away, to create our own world and live at least part- time in it. We can escape, whenever we feel the need, from the real world and it´s hardships - some artists by creating alternative worlds, some by confronting reality in their works.
Imagination is an enormous power, the best thing there is, apart, maybe, from love...

You are lucky that you have the gift to dream, and you are also lucky your parents give you support and motivation. And of course it´s normal that you want their acceptance.
We all crave for understanding and support, especially from our loved ones.
However, that doesn´t spare you to find out what you want for yourself and then go and try to achieve your goals.  (A bit rich, this advice coming from me, as I still don´t know my goals...)

Just keep trying, train your skills and also your patience ( for frustration is an enemy many artists know only too well..). I wish you all the best and I´m looking forward to see your artwork !

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Fabeltier In reply to NowandaNovi [2018-02-15 18:20:43 +0000 UTC]

sehr gerne - du machst tolle Sachen, sowohl traditionell als auch digital - das verdient sogar eine Watch !

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Fabeltier In reply to AnnaRDunster [2018-02-15 17:44:01 +0000 UTC]

Hi  Anna, you are very welcome!

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AnnaRDunster In reply to Fabeltier [2018-02-15 23:00:53 +0000 UTC]

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