Using Minecraft SkinEdit to boost your art skills

For those of you who play Minecraft, you might recognize the outside tool known as SkinEdit. For those of you who don't recognize it, or just don't play the game, let me take a moment to explain. SkinEdit is a downloadable program that allows you to create custom looks, or 'skins' for your Minecraft character, in other words...it lets you customize your looks, and once applied in the game launcher, allows you to look like that in-game.

So why am I talking about that, when the title of the post says you can use it to 'boost your art skills' well, because you can! Here's a screen shot of an in progress skin, as well as the character I'm basing it off of.

 

So; by using this tool you can raise your ability to notice smaller details, as well as gain better hand/mouse or hand/stylus control!

Even if you don't play Minecraft, you should still download SkinEdit, and start practicing using it.  Try making your favorite character from your favorite cartoon!

What sort of skins have you made? Do you have any pictures you could share?

Tools of the Trade

There is a large variety of peripherals available for usage when doing graphic design. The most common peripheral overall would most likely be the mouse, not the little rodent that goes squeak, but a device that gives easier control of hand when doing things on a computer.

But when doing graphic design, there is only so much control a mouse can give you. It's great for using the paint bucket slash fill in tool, but unless you have it completely mastered, which can take quite a while, it can be rather tricky to place those sketch lines exactly where you want them.

While doing some exploration with a device I found shoved in a desk drawer at home, I discovered that using a stylus, is much like drawing free-hand on a piece of paper, with a pencil. Now the stylus does take quite a bit of time to master, and it takes a ton of practice. But the end result is well worth it.

If you don't have access to a stylus, then my best tip would be just keep practicing with whatever you have.

Do you have any images done with a stylus available to show off?

Awesome art in...Paint?

Looking at the image above. What would you say it was made in? Photoshop? Gimp perhaps?

How many of you would say Windows Paint?

Well, those of you who said Windows Paint, you would be correct!

Paint is an under appreciated tool, that, once mastered, can be very handy!

Now sometimes other tools, like Photoshop, are needed for getting a glow, see-through, or other such effects, but you can do a surprisingly detailed image, using Paint alone.

One item you should use when using Paint though, is a stylus. It gives much more control over your brush, and lets you make even more detailed images. But using a mouse alone, you can create images like the above using the Pencil tool, followed by mass use of Fill-In and then shading, or you can even make simple gifs, like the one below!

Granted I made that two years ago when I was first starting to gain interest in GA, hence the  left over lines,  glitches, and horrible design, but all of the frames were made in Paint, then put together and times in Photoscape.

You don't have to have Photoshop or Gimp to make art, you can do amazing things, using Paint alone!
What have you made in Paint? Feel free to comment with an image, or even just a simple description!
And if you have a computer without Paint, then do you have an image made in something similar? Nothing fancy like Photoshop, just the standard art program your laptop came with.