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?

@Isley - this will mostly be for photomanipulation, but Uta and I both utilize free-hand in our pieces. If you have any elements you'd specifically like to see regarding drawing/free-handing, feel free to post it and one of us may do a walkthrough on it!

Quick Update:

Mako has posted the first of her tutorials - a great look into using the Pen tool to select cut images in PS.

I have compiled 2 resource lists; one of 'favourite brushes', and the second of 'favourite free stock providers'. I have also popped up 3 basic tutorials: selecting Stock; selecting cutting with the polygonal lasso; and basic colour adjustments shading/detailing (the latter two are part of my first series, looking into creating a basic headshot - but can be applied elsewhere!).

Hope they prove useful to some of you - links are all available on our page, along with hints of what is to come in oru respective series'! Mako and I have very different methods so I hope that our tutorials will give everyone a range of different techniques to choose from when it comes to creating photomanips. :)

(we are working on getting a new layout up and running, so please forgive the slight overlap!)

This is so sweet of you guys to be offering! I've been kinda taking a bit of a break from my graphics and kinda just removed them off of my layout just because life has been so busy and I just cannot commit to anything big at this moment. Excited to see and learn from your tutorials! :)

Hope yall still working on this cuz I need it lol

Hey hey!

We both got kinda swamped by RL and Mako is currently taking a bit of a hiatus, but I have a few tutorials to get linked up (and a few more to finish creating - definitely underestimated how long they take!), plus some resource lists to put up so I will try to get that sorted on the Artist Academy page this week. :)

I think it would be wonderful if someone could familiarize themselves enough with gimp to produce at least a couple tuts there too so those of us who don't have photoshop access and can't afford to purchase photoshop can be included. I'd love to be able to make manips that other players would actually purchase just for an actual source of income here but like BV said, I'm also a very visual learner so unless someone can teach me so I can actually see it and do it, it won't make any sense.

Might be worth creating a thread to specifically search for someone with experience with gimp, so that you can actively advertise looking? I'd love to be able to help but there's just no way that I have time to familiarise myself with a whole new program (it has taken me years to reach my present level of experience with PS), I'm afraid. I have definitely come across gimp tutorials on DA though, and I would imagine that there may be some on youtube if you find that it's easier to take instructions in when you're able to watch the process step-by-step?

I have good news if you like Photohsop but can't afford it!

https://www.photopea.com/

This is a FREE web-based version of Photoshop. Aside from a few small things, it has the same functionality as Photoshop, can open, edit and save PSD'S, and can use Photoshop plug-ins like brushes and stuff! I have been using this app for all my manipulations over the last 6 months. It's a life saver!

The only issues I have had with it so far is the zoom in and out function is a little wonky, and if you are using a custom brush, and go to change to a new one the brush list doesn't remember the brush set you were using and you have to scroll down to the bottom or to whatever brush set you were using. But to me those are small compared to the fact of Hey! Free Photoshop!

This is amazing, Kiyoko, thank you for sharing!

Okidoke, I've uploaded a couple of the early tutorials that I had put together and popped the resource lists back up (along with a link to Photopea - thanks again, Kiyoko!).

I have a couple more tutorials in the works, though if anyone has any specific requests or suggestions then please feel free to either share them here, or to send a message to this account, and I'll see what can be done!

Also planning on finding some basic tutorials (youtube and elsewhere) to link in that show basic introductions to using PS and the various tools within the program, for those who haven't been working with it for long (or at all). ;)