Five Easy Steps to Become a Perfect Artist
by Nathan Kistler
For many, Microsoft paint can be a
challenge. It is hard to replicate an actual drawing or painting on the
computer because the controls don’t exactly duplicate an artist’s utensil.
Shading is difficult too, which prevents truly realistic images from being
created. With these limitations, it can be frustrating to try to use MS paint
to create art, but I have found that this is not always true. To create good art with MS paint, the artist
must relish in the imperfections of this program to create fantastic images. I
have put together a guide of the elements, which, if followed, will allow you
to make a masterpiece.
- A sun with a face. This is
essential for all outdoor images and is easy to create. Use the pencil
tool dyed yellow to create a circle or section of circle (if it is placed
at the edge of the image.) Dye the sun yellow using the fill in with color
(paint can) tool, and draw a face on the surface of the sun to add a
cheerful touch to the picture. It might also be a good idea to add “rays”
of the sun, which would be fire-like protrusions that issue forth from the
sun. Red and yellow are the best colors to use for these.
- Stick figures. This is by far
the best way to represent people within a drawing, because working on
details detracts from the action of a picture. Additionally, stick figures
are easily creatable and highly compatible with the pencil tool. They
needn’t be plain for the advanced artist, however. Adding features like
hair are possible with the brush tool. It is advisable to add some sort of
facial expression to your subject. Usually a “happy face” works pretty
well.
- Lines of action. Since the
substance of a picture is obviously more important than the style because
of the limitations of the controls in paint, the action should be the main
focus of the picture. To indicate movement by people or things, simply put
several layers of streaked black lines on the side opposite to which the
target is moving. The longer the lines, the faster the action. Along with
this, lines can be placed along the contours of an object to indicate a
quivering motion.
- Text box. By using the text
tool, a text box can be created. This is good for illustrating the
thoughts and feelings of your subject without actually spending the time
to draw their expressions or actions. Text boxes can also be used to
provide a title or signature to a work of art. To make text boxes
humorous, a simple misplaced question mark may be added at the end of a
statement, exclamation or command placed in the text box.
- Artists, who feel particularly
adventurous can incorporate other digital images into their masterpiece by
cutting and pasting them. You can use the free-form select tool to outline
objects to cut and paste specific objects. This is good for creating
loaded images, since you can incorporate real things, people and places
into a drawing. It requires a steady hand to retrace an object, but the
results are generally good.
With these rules, almost anyone can create an artful
image on their own computer, without any need to master the controls. In this
case, previous artistic experience can even be a detriment to an image, because
the normal rules of art do not apply here. The one conventional rule that does
apply here can be summed up in two words. Be creative!