h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'd like to say thank you for both subbing my Entry A37879311 and creating the artwork. I would to create art work as good as yours

My pleasure. I'm trying to do drawings for the impossible-to-photograph ones.

And congrats on the FP!

So how did you get started? any advice? I'm all ears

Get started with what?

with creating great art work?

Well, it helps to have a pencil and paper handy

I have a very visual memory, so my form of taking notes during lectures is often to doodle in my sketchbook!

So its just a matter of submitting drawings nothing too fancy then like drawing on a computer.

Ah, that's what you meant, hootoo art.

Well, I usually draw on paper. The Jean Harlow one was done with pencil, but mostly I'll later put tracing paper over the sketch and ink it. Then I scan it and adjust it, and finally colour it in photoshop, same procedure as for my webcomic. But people have submitted hand-coloured pieces, too, or ones made completely on the computer. The shilouette of Harlow in the background was based on a photograph and done entirely on the computer.

Yes h2g2 art I wasn't clearer. I'd love to learn to do the stuff you do but don't have photoshop. I'm confused whether or not you have to have this but as the photographers use it I presume you need it to do art here.

No, any graphics editing program will do. I have photoshop because of Uni - but you can use The Gimp equally well, it has many of the same features and it's free and open source!

Is that the one you can download from the artists volunteer page? I forget. I think its always great to learn stuff so you have an extra string to your bow.

I'm not sure, but if you need it, I can give you a link to a precompiled version.

And I've learned more about photoshop and drawing in general from doing my comic than I ever did at Uni

Is your comic featured in ?

So all I need to do is draw a picture submit it and see whether it ends up on an Entry then?

so many questions or am I just being dim?

No, I didn't want to publish it here because of copyright issues.

First, you join the Community Artists - you'll have to submit a sample of your work to be accepted. Then you can start drawing pictures for entries. At the moment, you just pick an edited or recommended entry you'd like to do a picture for and send it in, the Eds decide whether it goes in...

I will have a think about what I can do and have a go. As they say nothing ventured nothing gained.

True! and have fun.

(Oh, and if you're still thinking of joining the Artists don't worry - the Help Page is outdated, you no longer need FTP!)

Right so how best to start ...do I just draw a picture with crayons and paper?

been a while since I returned to this thread

If you have a way of getting it into the computer, you can work in any medium you like!