[Steven_Chong]

Hey all. Recently (and in the past) I've been asked quite a bit about my aquasketch work. Since I think it's a useful tool for me, it might help others to envision their tanks sooner. So, I did a tutorial.

For this, you'll need photoshop, but even older/freebie versions of photoshop should work for what I do . . . Well, enjoy. You got to full view it:

For many of my aquasketches, I hand-drew everything instead of using the clone stamp. It'll especially come down to that if you have a lot of large-leaved plants, or large-crowned plants that cannot be easily made into a brush pre-set that works. However, this is the easiest method for a beginner, or someone without a pallet, or someone who just flat-out doesn't like drawing. Even if it doesn't come out perfect, follow these steps and you should get some help in envisioning your final lay out.

Note: This method of mine takes time and effort. Even with these short cuts, it took me 3 hours to finish, and some of my purely handrawn ones took 10+ hours to finish. You just got to sit down in front of that computer screen, and be patient with it . . .

 

[fresh_lynny]

SC nice info...I will give it a try for my new setup coming

 

[saltura]

Thanks for the info... now I know what I'll be doing at work!

 

[el_santo]

neat tutorial! now if i can only overcome my lack of artistic talent..

 

[Jdinh04]

Photoshop is a great program for designing and imaging. It takes a lot of patience to get what you want. I've been using the program for over 3 years and i've still yet have a lot to learn. Great idea on the Aquasketch Steven, i'll be drawing a couple myself when ever I get to it.

 

[eds]

Really nice!
But in order to get mine realistic looking, where's the algae tool?

 

[Sterving]

Awesome! I'll try that when I get a chance.

It will be a good idea to start collecting images for the clone stamp tool.

Good job!

 

[fish_lover0591]

I wonder if Gimp Will Work just like this hmm

 

[nellis]

I wonder if Gimp Will Work just like this hmm

hmmm.. gimp is such a good program, its learning curve is just so stupidly large and cumbersome.

 

[Steven_Chong]

You guys are welcome.

Photoshop is a great program for designing and imaging. It takes a lot of patience to get what you want. I've been using the program for over 3 years and i've still yet have a lot to learn. Great idea on the Aquasketch Steven, i'll be drawing a couple myself when ever I get to it.

I know what you mean. Even today when I use photoshop I feel like I'm using a "new tool," even though when I think about it, I started using it in my sophomore year of high school so it's been 4 years for me too! The time sure goes by fast . . .:icon_lol:

 

[|GTO|]

Steven,

what graphic tablet do you use? I am very interested in getting further into photoshop but I have yet to invest in 'sketch to pixel' hardware. Do you have any recommendations?

cheers,

 

[Steven_Chong]

All the Wacom line is great. I use the Intuos 3, 8x6 but you don't need something that expensive to make good artwork.

 

[epicfish]

Really nice!
But in order to get mine realistic looking, where's the algae tool?

Hahah. Did anyone else find this hilarious? Just use the Fill tool with green for some green water.

 

[Steven_Chong]

I did find that hilarious.

For staghorn you'll have to make your own pre-set, but I think if you made the grass pre-set small enough, you could pull off a pretty realistic looking BBA. :icon_lol:

Put on the air brush, decrease the flow, and you can make some green spot pretty easily too.

 

[typically]

wacom tablets are awesome! i'd go with the middle size tablet. i find the small one limits you sketching ability and the larger one is just huge! i'd love to have the larger one but they are a little pricey

 

[FelixAvery]

steven you should make a brush set!
i will have a go at aquasketching if i can get my dad to lend me his tablet!

 

[Steven_Chong]

I've had some other requests for me to sell my brush pre-sets. Alright, this weekend I'll compile mine, and put it up on SnS and S/T at APC. Won't be expensive, maybe $2 paypal and I'll e-mail it to whoever wants one.

 

[FelixAvery]

hey if u need a website or something just ask, and btw what is sns?

 

[Steven_Chong]

Swap & Shop

Hmm . . . I should eventually make my own website instead of just sitting on Deviantart . . . but deviantart is so easy . . .