I am continually amazed at the genius of a number of people on this site and their abilities to master Studio Artist. And then there is "the rest of us."
One approach that has been particularly helpful to me was suggested by John in the video tutorials and is the basis for most art classes I have taken. Work large to small, ie, the large concept first and then deal with details later. In the classes I take with Russian teachers, they approach painting and drawing without even considering "details." It is about form and gesture, and sculpturally removing all that is unnecessary until one arrives at Essence. Tone is rendered and helps build the illusion of Mass in ideal lighting, as the Renaissance artists did.
But how about the mechanics? The software can be overwhelming. Though I am slow on the uptake and do not do well reading manuals, my approach has followed a path of working with imagery I enjoy and perpetual experimentation. I had strongly been advised by friends to work with my own imagery. Then my work will reflect passion that has the imprint of my own personal identity.
When I find a brush or direction I like, I use it and use it and use it till it is part of me. Then I try another brush or direction and build upon that. I do not try to learn all of Studio Artist. I learn what I need to learn to accomplish a goal I have or a direction I am moving in(or being moved in). This is reminiscent of how I approached photography in the early days. I could only afford one 50mm lens. I used that for years till I had mastered it and then later expanded my repertoire. I take that approach with SA.
Studio Artist has been a great teacher. I have found that when I use a brush, I look at its settings and play with them to get different results. But more importantly I am learning to See differently by the unbelievably numerous possibilities I can render so quickly. That is changing my impressions of what works and what is the lesser. It is changing my ability to see in my regular painting and drawing classes and even in my photography. I find what I thought was great is ordinary and I can "See" in a different way. This has been invaluable. That software can improve awareness is incredible.
John's help, the tutorials and the help everyone gives each other has opens new doors and provides deeper understanding of SA. I have never used alpha layers and now I am interested and planing to explore their use.
I constantly remind myself to be patient, to start with the large or general and move to the specific. I do not try to learn everything at once.
Perhaps this is a mundane conversation. However this approach helps me from feeling overwhelmed and helps me keep my attention focused on the art and the joy I feel using Studio Artist.
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I think you're brought up some very interesting points.
I found your comments about how you ability to 'see' things is changing as you work with Studio Artist very interesting.
And i think your comment about being able to accomplish useful things without having to know how to understand or use all of the features of the entire application is very poignant. You can latch onto one particular area or feature of Studio Artist and milk it for all it's worth, and get very interesting results. I know of users i've talked to who have no real idea of the inner workings of the program at all who have still made beautiful and brilliant art by just working with presets, end of story. So there are lot's of different approaches one can take to working with Studio Artist.
Part of my personal goal for the program is to create an environment where artists can use the program in a personal way. Things like plug-in filter effects in other programs tend to be very cookie cutter, and the artwork they generate is the same, everybody's work looks the same. What i love about the artwork here on the user forum is the extreme variety of different styles. And i'm alway's continuously amazed about things that people come up with, effects that never would have occurred to me, new uses for effects i thought i fully understood but didn't, etc.
My tutorials do tend to focus conceptually on roughing in an image and then building up detail over time. And i think a lot of people tend to approach Studio Artist that way, piling on more and more stuff to finish a canvas. So your comment about other conceptual approaches to building a piece, that involve removing things is also very interesting. And should probably be explored a lot more by users.
There are a lot of different ways you could approach that in Studio Artist. I've tried some experiments where i use presets to add paint and then remove paint, going back and forth through those 2 opposing forces to build textural effects. You can also do things like start with a black background and carve out light, if you are used to starting with a white canvas and piling on paint. There are also a lot of things you could do working with eraser tools or selection masks to sculpt a canvas to remove information to create a final work of art ( i guess a more sculptural approach), as opposed to just piling on more stuff.
I think what has been the most invaluable to me in using Studio Artist is how it has changed my perception and my ability to see. How can you create art if you are unable to see or if your vision is limited? That includes the type of vision that is also called imagination. To have a greater field of imagination is essential to uncover new creation. Whether it comes by accident or not is irrelevant. Many are the times in Studio Artist where accident leads me to "the new."
I really enjoy experimenting with colors. That is one are where working with Studio Artist has really helped me see in a new way. Photoshop is numerical and totally unlike working with real paint or color. To use a Wacom pen and adjust hue, saturation bias, chroma so easily has helped me discover and see colors I never would have imagined. Now I expect more because Studio Artist has taught me that more is possible. I can See it. I see colors in my art and in the real world differently.
Then I add texture to the color soup. How does one imagine an unlimited field of texture as is possible with Studio Artist? If you could devise a brush for texture similar to the way one adjusts color with a Wacom pen that would be great. It would open new doors. The fluidity adds a great deal of potential to the creative process.
Well said! I think how we learn is a relevant topic here. Your approach to SA by making some parts "your own" by using them over time is very wise. Before you realize it, you have a far deeper understanding, which is clearly evidenced by your work.
When I was a kid, my friends and I played the hidden-code discovery game, Mastermind. We all quickly learned that getting too much information at one time was an instant dead end. To succeed, we learned to ask the simple questions, get simple (but dependable) answers, then move on to other questions. It was "logic training" I guess.
With software, particularly elegant and intelligent software such as Studio Artist, I try to take both approaches: the high-level structural approach, and also the detail approach. For me, these need to take place simultaneously. But I am not unfamiliar with feeling overwhelmed, especially in a potentially complex environment such as Studio Artist. So I use that feeling as an inner-guide of sorts, and adjust my approach accordingly. I find FAILURE to be a great teacher. lol I am no stranger to erring on the side of getting way too much info and getting confused, but then backing out and looking at the larger picture, when trying to learn. I find that I learn the larger concepts more quickly this way (although I appear to be a total idiot in the process, which is exactly what I am at each moment of discovery!) So I do read manuals, and I also experiment. As you say, experimentation is undoubtedly the greatest teacher for artfully using SA. Because of its nature, we don't really need to know EVERYTHING about it to use it well.
The concepts in Studio Artist are unique, brilliant, and to me, VERY entertaining and enlightening to learn. John Dalton is a gifted man. I don't suppose Studio Artist could ever have been developed by a committee, or a large corporation. It takes one focused man to do such a thing. And he has the patience to deal with people like me, who bring their own preconceived notions into the fray, only to awkwardly learn a far better concept in the process. Thank you, John.
Your points about "seeing" differently are strong. Because of the wide variety of processes and resulting looks possible in SA, I am helped to relax my analytical side, and am opened up to the creative possibilities of the moment. Joy is indeed the result. :-)
Just a few words, to say how difficult it is to learn a soft like SA in a language that you don't understand at 100%.
I'm sure that I could use it differently sometimes and much better.
That's also why i can't add an answer or reply in some discussions, it takes time to translate, and I'm not sure if it's understood. My english lessons are so far away (33 years ago). Same problem when i read the notice, posterous, and other great lessons from John. I dream of a french version...
Yes always, but sometimes......it's very strange :-)
I should make more publicity in France, so if we are enough, you'll learn french :-)
Seriously, I'm really pleased having discovered your great software. Thanks.
I read about it in DIGITAL PHOTO ART from Theresa Airey (LARS BOOKS) http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photo-Art-Traditional-Contemporary/dp... ......
Bernard
your work and the sense of humor expressed in your work speak for themselves.
There are a few of your countrymen(women) in the forum. Though none I think from Alsace.
So SA is your english tutor as well as your art software-- fantastique.
Paul in regard to learning all of SA... I will relate a cocktail party explanation of the folly of such an expectation. Lets keep it simple - imagine that you spent just 1/2 of 1 day exploring what a single preset can do. (not nearly sufficient time I will grant you). Then consider that there are some 2500 presets in the "basic" collection. This means that a cursory examination of the available presets would last 1250 days or 3.42 years! Just a bit longer than the amount of time between new versions of the program. In other words even if you were some how diligent enough to keep up the daily survey, by the time you completed the course there would be a whole new program to explore. (notice that even John admitted he does know all of what SA can do)
your approach to learning one thing and learning it well has clearly served your art - your posts are always brilliant and I have seen the detail of your earlier work in person. I will admit to being seriously jealous of your wonderful textures.
My own approach to the program has aspects of try everything and study a few. The biggest danger of SA might be that it is so much fun to explore, I sometimes spend more time in experiments than I do in substantive work.
Michael, thank you for your encouragement and support.
We'll have a small air of America netx week, because a scene of Sherlock Holmes 2, will be shot at the Cathedrale....And all the place is transformed. May be that I take lessons with the film crew, Jude Law or Robert Downey Jr, during their break..... !
http://www.dna.fr/fr/a-la-une-web/info/4194724-Cinema-Super-product...
The depth and complexity I find humbling, the potential of this makes me feel like a kid again. As you say Paul "a direction I am moving in(or being moved in)" and "That software can improve awareness is incredible." Even within my initial explorations within Studio Artist 4 I relate to this very strongly.
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