Welcome!

We (Utakata & mako) have decided to set up an Artists’ Academy on HP, a place where we will create and host various tutorials for every step of the photomanipulation process, from the very basics all the way to more advanced techniques; a place for those who are just beginning their photomanipulation journey as well as for those who are years into the hobby (or career) and are just wanting to brush up on their talents.

Now, we are by no means professionals; whilst we think it can safely be said that we are both now very experienced when it comes to creating equine (and, to a lesser extent, canine) manips both for HP and on DeviantArt, neither of us have Arts degrees or any kind of formal training. And there is still an awful lot that we have to learn ourselves! But, given our combined experience, we would like to share what we have learned thus far in the hopes that it might help those who wish to try their hand at creating their own graphics. 

Alongside tutorials, we will also compile lists of resources that we personally find useful - stock providers, brush sets, and the like (with the ever-present advisory that users read the rules of resource providers to ensure that they are complying with said rules before using the resource!) - and will also have an open inbox to any who have specific questions or problems with which they need help. 

So, in the meantime of getting our account up and running with some early tutorials and image run-throughs, we wanted to check how much interest and engagement there is likely to be in this little endeavor, and also to ask what tutorials people would most like to see/what do people find that they struggle with the most?

Bump for visibility :)

How amazing of an opportunity!
I'm a very visual learner much to my poor vision's dismay haha, so a step-by-step on how to from beginning to end would be really cool to see! Finding brushes/fonts & how to download/save, and use. Those kind of things!
I have access to Photoshop but also use Gimp if that'll help with anything at all? xD

Yes yes and yes again! I dabble like 4 times a month so I'm always looking for ways to better my uh.. skills.. 

Suggestions; Mane and tail tut (and fav brushes) because how?? best brushes for fur/longer coats? How to match up composite bgs because I can never get tones, depths, etc to match up :3

Yesss! Very excited for this, what a great idea! xo

Oh this is wonderful! Thank you guys! I'm really looking forward to this. Soooo much!

Prepping the horse/dog. Drawing and lighting for fur/mane/tails. And meshing backgrounds together. :D

This is phenomenal for an idea! Very exciting

This is amazing, I'm looking forward to seeing the tutorials! I was just considering getting Photoshop yesterday actually. :D 

Ooh this is great, thanks for all the interest and all the great ideas so far, guys!

My starting plan (we're both gonna be doing separate strings of tuts as our methods and styles are different, so it gives players a range of things to try), was to do tutorials accompanying runthroughs of the different levels of image that I offer - so for the first, it's a simple headshot, starting out super basic (stock selection, cutting techniques - both of which will be relevant for all types of image - then basic shading, detailing, and lighting etc).

Then moving on up, the next series would be doing a 'smaller' (from 800x600 to 1200-800 or so) full body image, and finally the last series would cover the in-depth techniques that I use on the full-size, most detailed orders. Because the way in which I work on an image that's ultimately going to be 800x600, or a smaller layout image, is very different from the way in which I'll work on an image that's like 4000px wide xD (different techniques for hair painting, body painting, detailing, bg prep etc). I thought this might be a nice way of catering to all levels, though admittedly it will take a little time to get a full library up!

Whilst we're in the process of putting tuts together, if anyone does have any questions then they're welcome to message us at the HP Artists Academy page - - > https://horsephenomena.com/home.php?id=39319

(ETA: I've only ever used PS I'm afraid, so whilst I will help players with GIMP as much as possible, I won't be posting any tutorials using it)

Yes please!! I would love to learn from you!

I would love to learn, but I know literally nothing. So start from where you think the basics are, and then back up like three steps. :P

Lmao Jaya, that is 100% the plan - going start with finding good stock images, an introduction with the workspace in Photoshop, etc. The couple of tutorials that I've put together over the last few days are, I hope, detailed enough to be pretty straightforward to follow, but once they're up I will 100% welcome feedback or questions (there is so much that I know and do by default in PS these days that sometimes I don't realise it!).

Our aim is to (eventually) have a really wide range of skills covered for all different levels. It might just take a little time to get there!

I look forward to it!

And to asking you such stupid questions that you didn't realize you would need to answer :P

Really loving all the interest and all of these suggestions! HP allows so much free range in terms of creativity, so this idea was really borne from both of us wanting to share our methods with others and to especially breed interest in graphic design for those who have always been interested and just weren't sure where to start. Many of the tutorials available on DeviantArt are, unfortunately, fairly out-dated, so my goal is to not only teach the methods I've adapted for myself but also kind of show what's "trending" in terms of technique (I'm sure many of us remember the days of smudging horses to get that soft, repainted look).

Ohhh this is awesome!! My hubby pays for PS so someone might as well utilize it. xD I've used paint shop pro in the past and always struggled with the similarity but major differences between the two with basic elements. 

YES PLEASE!  This sounds incredible, I need all the help I can get :)

What a wonderful idea!  I'd say a tutorial in finding stock would be great! 

Woot!!! I am so excited to see what you put together, maybe one day I will actually get back into trying to make manips 😂

I used to be good at photomanips but I haven't made any in YEARS so I am very rusty and could use some brushing up! I am looking forward to the future lessons! :D

Wonderful to see there's so much interest! I'm hoping to have the first few tutorials sorted by this weekend, if all goes to plan!

(Don't mention smudging, Mako - I'm getting flashbacks xD)

This is awesome! Is this going to be mostly for manipulations, or drawing? A combination of both I'm assuming? Super cool idea thanks for dedicating your time to this!