Mad Photoshop skillz, yo

I'm humbled by, it seems, everyones photoshop skills. How did everyone learn this thing? I can barely get it to work, let alone make ridiculously awesome pictures. Did you guys take classes or was it a gift from God or what? Whats the best way to learn?

I love photoshop I thought I was good (or at least okay) then I see some of the things people come up with here and I am like wow..

I bought a book, though I dont know how much it worked because I still suck, but atleast I know the basics. Try just playing around with it, that works to.

I suppose I should buy a mouse. Trackpad photoshop can't be that easy. Or the mark of a true warrior.

lol ya
STEP 1) buy a mouse

its hard to trace lines with the arrow keys
it would be like a computerized etch a sketch

I use a trackpad, I taught myself and I really suck at photoshop. But, I mean, come on...this shit is ART, huh?

I know you didn't make that...I saw that on the news the day the zoo got flooded out and alf (not having his own show) was there trying to become the new pabst blue ribbon spokesman...

I'm sorry, did you say that Alf doesn't have his own show?

those 1:05 kids suck at photoshop.

I'm telling.

im really surprised J didnt start this thread.

tell who? everyone already knows.

I taught myself photoshop. I've been at it for eight or nine years now. It helps to have some traditional art background. Also, I have a wacom tablet and it's the greatest thing ever.

Well, then. I've been told.

Just do it. For fun. For amusement. Cut, paste, shade, mask, composite, clone, airbrush. Learn the shortcut keys - photoshopping is a two-handed affair. ctrl-alt-shift-space are your friends. Explore the interface and figure out what every tool is good for.

Forget filters. Don't use them. They're a trap to catch the lazy. The only ones you need are gaussian blur, sharpen, render lighting effects and noise. And *maybe* motion blur *sometimes*. Anything else, bust out an airbrush.

I've been doing it for almost ten years now (egad!) for fun and it's even translated into some paying gigs along the way.

Maybe I should start with MS Paint...

Stay the hell away from my water colors!

I started playing around with photoshop 4.0 in high school for my independent study graphic design class. then I studied graphic design for about 3 years in college. so I used a lot of photoshop. 'course, I'm usually too lazy to participate in these photoshop threads so you weren't really addressing me.

definitely get a graphics tablet. they make a world of difference if you can draw worth a damn.
i taught myself how to use photoshop while on 'standby' working at an animation studio. now, photoshop pays the bills.

what i'm more curious about is learning to work with photoshop at a more proffesional level.
the basics aren't hard to learn, this i can do by myself


but i can't find any tutorials or books that teach you to work like this

Really? There's a bunch of Photoshop art books that break down techniques and tricks step by step. Try the Photoshop WOW books, I really liked those.

From the looks of it, most of what's interesting about that second photo is not from photoshop. That paper texture was not made in photoshop, and i could be wrong, but it looks like those hands and head were photographed with this purpose in mind. The shadow is photoshop (kinda cheesy, actually), and the coloring involves a some layering to paste the textures onto that character. Maybe some Painter in there too.

It's a pretty cool piece, but photoshop wasn't the main tool that "made" it. I'd say you want to learn how to use scanners and cameras mostly. Because, between those two pics, the source materials are the main difference.

[Edited on Dec 11, 2004 by venomkid]

ok maybe that was a bad example but what i mainly meant was how do i go from cheap photoshop jokes to learning to come up with a idea and flawlessly execute it in photoshop.
that picture had some really nice source materials sure, but it's also intergrated and blended better than i ever could with my current skillset.

i don't feel i'm improving with practice either since basically i keep practicing the same thing over and over so i need some new and better techniques.

I learnt a lot from tutorials.

http://www.good-tutorials.com

and I got a photoshop book

for me it was all about practice. just try new things.