Illustration Tutorials and Tips for the Traditional and Digital Artist - Monster Cutie » Reviews http://monstercutie.com/blog Illustration Tutorials and Tips for the Traditional and Digital Artist - Monster Cutie Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:34:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Manga Studio EX Test Drive http://monstercutie.com/blog/2010/02/17/manga-studio-ex-test-drive/ http://monstercutie.com/blog/2010/02/17/manga-studio-ex-test-drive/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:53:14 +0000 Jamie http://monstercutie.com/blog/?p=859 The good folks at SmithMicro sent along a review copy of Manga Studio EX so I thought I’d put it through its paces the only way monster cuties know how. I was most interested in its lineart/digital inking capabilities. Can it outperform Photoshop?

Overall, I’m fairly impressed with Manga Studio EX. It’s not going to take the place of my traditional brush inking for my comic, Yellow Peril, but I will definitely be messing around with it for single illustrations here and there. It might also be fun to do a 24-hour comic day challenge all in Manga Studio. Manga Studio comes in two flavors, Manga Studio EX for $299.99 and Manga Studio Debut for $49.99.

So here’s a quick rundown:

Loved

  • The way the digital nibs responded. Very natural feel. One of my favorite digital inking tools yet.
  • Ease of applying screen tones.
  • Very good response speed working at 600dpi.
  • Multiple pages in one file.
  • Ease of making panels and borders.
  • The fact that the sketches layer doesn’t render out. Very nice touch.
  • Ability to rotate page.

Not so loved

  • Tool layout. The menus take up quite a bit of real estate that should be used for drawing
  • Airbrush tool. I just don’t like it. It’s not really that bad, I just needed something else to make this list more than one item.
]]> http://monstercutie.com/blog/2010/02/17/manga-studio-ex-test-drive/feed/ 4 Raging Out With Art Rage 2.5 http://monstercutie.com/blog/2009/12/11/raging-out-with-art-rage-2-5/ http://monstercutie.com/blog/2009/12/11/raging-out-with-art-rage-2-5/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:03:43 +0000 Jamie http://monstercutie.com/blog/?p=707 On this episode of Monster Cutie, we take Art Rage 2.5 for a test drive. Can the rage overpower Photoshop?

We used the free version of the software to see how it stacks up against other digital painting programs. You can purchase Art Rage for $25 from Ambient Design which is ridiculously affordable compared with other digital painting packages.

]]> http://monstercutie.com/blog/2009/12/11/raging-out-with-art-rage-2-5/feed/ 0 Recommended Reading – How to be an Illustrator http://monstercutie.com/blog/2009/06/04/recommended-reading-how-to-be-an-illustrator/ http://monstercutie.com/blog/2009/06/04/recommended-reading-how-to-be-an-illustrator/#comments Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:07:27 +0000 Jamie http://monstercutie.com/blog/?p=541 One of my goals for 2009 was to get more freelance work as an illustrator and make moves towards my ultimate goal, draw for a living from home. It’s now June and I have yet to really get things started. My biggest problem is that I have a lot insecurities when it comes to my work and this fear seems to have sabotaged my progress. So I thought I’d get some advice. I headed on over to my local amazon and picked up How to be an Illustrator by Darrel Rees.

I can’t recommend this book any higher. I guess it’s a bit premature because even though I read through it in three days, I haven’t put any of the advice into practice yet. But still, this book is full of great advice for those seeking to make illustration a career.

Darrel Rees has been a working illustrator since 1986 and now heads his own illustration agency, Heart. The advice and examples he provides are culled from two decades of professional experience. Honestly, this book has everything they should have taught you in school about actually working as an artist. Peppered throughout the chapters are short interviews with illustrators and art directors.

I found the chapters discussing job-hunting and self promotion to be most instructive. I’ve been meaning to overhaul my website for the longest time, but I never seriously considered sending out postcards until reading those chapters. Apparently, even today in the age of information, sending out post cards is one of the easiest ways to get your work noticed by editors and art directors. They can sort of act like a trailer for your portfolio. I’m going to take some of my own advice and this new bit of reading and apply it to myself.

If you are serious about making illustration your livelihood, this book will give you some good advice on how to go about doing just that.

How to be an Illustrator by Darrel Reese – $16.47 from Amazon

]]> http://monstercutie.com/blog/2009/06/04/recommended-reading-how-to-be-an-illustrator/feed/ 2 Sketchbook 2010 Test Drive http://monstercutie.com/blog/2009/04/03/sketchbook-2010-test-drive/ http://monstercutie.com/blog/2009/04/03/sketchbook-2010-test-drive/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:39:16 +0000 Jamie http://monstercutie.com/blog/?p=176 This week, Monster Cutie takes a test drive of Autodesk’s latest release, Sketchbook Pro 2010. Is this update worth grabbing? Is Sketchbook Autodesk’s Photoshop killer? Only one way to find out. It’s review time!

Duration: 35min. Recorded in tasty HD so it looks great at fullscreen.

You can grab a free, 15-day trial Personal Learning edition or purchase Sketchbook Pro 2010 at Autodesk’s website.

NOTE: At some point, the audio starts to get wonky. I’m testing a new microphone so that might explain things. It’s really annoying so I apologize if that section is impossible to sit through. Foward a little bit and it should be better.

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