Questions on where to begin

[Muhan]

Hi all, I am new to both photoshop and these forums but recently gotten hooked on digital art. After some searching on google I've come across some nice tutorials and sites (including this one) and I've diligently bookmarked and begun to go through the content.

Forgive me if these questions have been answered before, a quick look through the search function didn't really reveal much of what I wanted to know. I'll try to also be as detailed as I can so I can get the answer I want so thank you for your patience!.

Here's the question: the amount of material and techniques etc. I've found online for PS is overwhelming me and I was wondering where to begin - with the theory or the practical stuff? What I mean by this is, theory might be: depth, lines, colouring etc. and how this affects your picture versus just blindly following tutorials for photoshop without knowing where and why these techniques might be applied. Essentially I want to be able to visualize the end-product before tackling something with PS since techniques/methods are just a means to an end (the way I see it), so I think theory would be quite helpful here, but I was curious about what experienced people have to say about it.

This is the first time in my life I have shown an interest in art and quite frankly I can't even judge if something is any good or not - everything above a certain standard looks pretty good to me.

Goal-wise, I would like to develop a solid foundation of basics and sort of be a jack-of-all-trades and eventually take those skills to web design.

Thanks in advance!
- Muhan

 

[Inkz]

Welcome to PSG and the world of Photoshop...

It's never an easy question to answer, but my advice to you would be, learn your tools. And once you have an understanding of the tools, take on little projects.

Good luck on your Ps journey.

 

[3headcat]

Start here
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_of_design/
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/elements_of_design/
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_and_elements_of_design/

It’s a good 101 for design principles but it just the tip of the iceberg

Google color theory, design principles, composition tips. Get familiar with “Rule of thirds” “Golden ratio” “leading lines” "Positive and Negative Space"
Once you start scratching the surface you will get there. Remember it’s a marathon, not a race
Good luck

 

[IamSam]

It’s a good 101 for design principles but it just the tip of the iceberg

Google color theory, design principles , composition tips. Get familiar with “Rule of thirds” “Golden ratio” “leading lines” "Positive and Negative Space"
Once you start scratching the surface you will get there. Remember it’s a marathon, not a race
Good luck

Truer words have never been spoken!!!

Photoshop is just a tool...............it will not make you an artist.

If you ask me specifically about Photoshop, I would say the PEN TOOL is the most important tool to learn first.

 

[Muhan]

Thanks to everyone who replied!

Start here

It’s a good 101 for design principles but it just the tip of the iceberg

Google color theory, design principles, composition tips. Get familiar with “Rule of thirds” “Golden ratio” “leading lines” "Positive and Negative Space"
Once you start scratching the surface you will get there. Remember it’s a marathon, not a race
Good luck

This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for

 

[MikeMc]

Truer words have never been spoken!!!

Photoshop is just a tool...............it will not make you an artist.

If you ask me specifically about Photoshop, I would say the PEN TOOL is the most important tool to learn first.

 

[ibclare]

Yep, what I was gonna suggest. I was going to say "Oh WOW."

That's a mouthful you want to bite off. Learning about art and design is a first step, but you can do it in conjunction with having fun in Photoshop. Like Inkz said, learn your tools first. Yep, the practical. Worry about the advanced theory once you need to put it into practice. Show your stuff here once you get going and uhm, we;ll tell you if you need to bone up on some theory, lol.

When I first tackled PS, it was in a class at a local college. The very first thing we did, well after going over what the basic tools were and what they did, was to use every available selection tool (except the pen tool -- that can be hard to tackle at first and not vital to understanding PS in the beginning).

Photoshop is a huge program with tons of ways to use it and many, many ways to accomplish the same thing. I suggest you don't start trying to follow tutorials that teach you special effects yet. Soon enough and plenty of time for that. Start with the basics. Maybe even consider one of the tutorial sites. I like lynda.com and it isn't very costly. The tutorials are all video and there are hours under each category so you will cover in detail the things being taught.

Good luck and welcome to PSG.

 

[chrisix]

just anything till you know your way around the photoshop tools and have sufficient understanding of them to get what's in your head, on your screen

 

[Muhan]

Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who replied.

For any other newbies reading this, the site Mr. 3headcat listed is a GOLDMINE of information!

 

[CL3]

Im still a newbie myself so i cant give alot of advice put in my opinion i belive its how you prefer to learn i personally learn best by watching other people first then trying it myself ive been following a number of tutorials online and then adding my own design and extra effects. doing this ive learned a hell of a lot about the software, shortcuts, using tools, layers etc) and made some graphics thar im pleased to start off with. theory is very important and is something i will have to learn alot more down the line but for now im gonna practise practical alot more plus reading theorey just makes me want to fire PS up ! ha. so i think you should learn how you want and prefer and remember post some of your work !