How can I produce my own illustrations, and what is the best software to create pics?

Christie Cooper

Christie Cooper

New Member
Hi Hope I am in the right place to post this question?? Sorry if not xx

I am looking to learn all aspects of illustrations and artwork myself, but am not getting
anywhere fast, hence joining this forum! Are there any tutorials on here at all?? Or am
I in the wrong place all together?? I have PSP 8, but think i need something more like
Adobe Illustrator, if so what is the latest version please?

I have included an image that a professional illustrator created for me, he is awesome
I would love to be able to create images like this for my self..............

bearalone.jpg
 
Most illustrators don't use software - they would draw freehand, scan and then retrace with digital tools.

The most common program for illustrators is Adobe Illustrators - but there are other programs similar to these in the form of Corel Draw, Inkscape and few others.


Remember that these programs are vector based, which means the artwork can be scaled without affecting the resolution (quality) of the image.

Raster based (pixel/bitmap) images cannot be scaled effectively without losing quality in the artwork.

For this reason most illustrators would use vector based programs to create their artwork.
 
Hi Christine, there are no tutorials on here, Google is your friend!

As Hank says, Adobe are the best, but there are others (I'm not familiar with PSP). A lot can be done with Photoshop, if you can get an old copy. I still work mainly with hand-drawn linework and coloured in Photoshop.
Illustrator is amazing, but can be difficult to get used to.

These are just tools, though. As said above, all work still starts out with pen(cil) and paper and you're own imagination. I would suggest you brush up on your drawing skills and then trawl through the thousands of tutorials
there are on the internet, YouTube is good too. You will probably need a scanner to scan sketches in, and a graphics tablet would be useful too.
 
Actually - a graphics tablet is something I overlooked.

You can use a tablet with Illustrator and trace over the lines you've hand drawn.

I guess this is why so many authors work with Illustrators for their books.
 
Thank you for your replies, Im afraid I have no drawing skills at all :( lol so looks like I may
have to hire someone to do them for me :( darn it lol
 
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