When I was young, my art medium of choice was a box of Crayola crayons. The 8-pack was fine. It offered all the basic colors needed for my pictures of helicopters and dragons.
I couldn’t believe it when I saw the 16-pack. More was better, I theorized, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard rumors of the ultimate in Crayon box technology: The 64-count crayon box with built-in sharpener!
My tastes are more “sophisticated” today. Translated, this means I still like to do the same stuff, but now have to spend more money while doing it. So, crayons are out, computer graphics are in.
Electronic art professionals often name Adobe Photoshop as their program of choice. But for those at a “Crayola level”, the software costs aren’t worth it. And what about those at the “Pixar level”, who want to animate or create photo realistic art? Adobe isn’t enough.
The programs listed here are quality graphic editors for all levels, from “Andy draws a helicopter” to “animating Golem from Lord of the Rings”. Check the websites for feature lists and lots of impressive artwork. And just like the crayon sharpener built right into the Crayola box, we have a bonus: All this software is free.
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint
Tuxpaint is a simple drawing program for kids 3 years and older. It’s got an easy-to-use interface, fun drawing tools and accompanying sound effects. The website includes a gallery of children’s artwork. Your child can show off to the world: Move those pictures from your refrigerator door to the Internet.
http://cursorarts.com/ca_imffw.html
Imageforge is a drawing and photo editing program. It’s able to pull pictures from digital cameras and scanners. The free version of the software comes with a few interesting effects and filters, and is fairly easy to use.
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) has a steeper learning curve than Imageforge, but much more functionality. This is as close as you can get to a free equivalent of Adobe Photoshop.
http://www.blender3d.com
Blender is used for 3D modeling and animation, and uses a very comprehensive (and complex) graphic interface: Design your scene by creating objects, light sources and movement, and Blender will draw the results. For more help, you can purchase the 800-page manual.
http://sketchup.google.com
For something a bit simpler than Blender, try Google SketchUp. Free from Google, this is a 3D modeling program that allows you to (among other things) post your images into Google Earth.
http://www.daz3d.com/program/studio
Daz|Studio allows you to design humans, animals, vehicles, buildings and other props. Create your scene, then pose, add backgrounds, lighting and textures, then render. Plenty of online tutorials are available. It has a fairly easy interface, and many prerendered scene “tempates” are available. You don’t have to build your own design from scratch, just load and modify existing forms. The user manual is freely available.
http://www.povray.org
For the computer-comfortable artist, we have the “Persistence of Vision Raytracer”. Povray has been around a long time, and is supported and popular enough to give their last art competition winner a $10,000 computer. The interface is a simplified programming language: You type what you want your scene to look like. While this is very logical, lots of practice is required. Plenty of built-in help will get you up to speed.
http://www.crayola.com
For those at my own art level, this article is for you too. Crayola is advancing beyond anything I ever dreamt possible as a child: Check out the new “Color Force” crayon box with a whopping 120 crayons!