Microsoft Paint "art"

The original digital art some people call it. I have seen some amazing things coming out of that programme

Excellent :)

Oh yes. For me it is like sitting in front of a blank paper. It has nothing to do with filtres or colour-effects or something like that. It's just you, your mouse and a blank screen. :) Maybe it sounds a bit too romantic, but this programme is more than just a comic-creator. :)

i remember seeing a few people that use it. your art is better than theirs. the ones i saw looked like kid drawings. you can always make a group, but you have to tend to it.

if your plan to have more things than just the one gallery, it's better to start people in the images. otherwise we have to click on another thing to see the art. you'll want descriptions and more tags overall.

card prices should be high, or the small print should be low. people will buy the card giving you a buck, because it's almost the same size as the small print. if you can make these at a much larger size so you can sell them at larger sizes. they are kind of small. i'm not sure if the bio should show off that you use ms paint. maybe you can say - you like the look of 8bit images, its sort of 80's retro. which is sort of in these days.


---Mike Savad

Really like this

Thank you very much for your hints Mike. :)

Yes, Flatsch was a really hard work. :)

Erik,

Would love to see what you could do with Illustrator. I used to mess around in paint and have since learned to use Illustrator. Illustrator is an awesome program. Bit of a learning curve but I think once you learned it you would do amazing stuff.

Hey John,

I learned to use Corel Draw during my vocational training. I'd love to use Adobe Programs, but they're too expensive for me, sadly.
But as soon as possible, I will use it. I promise! :)

Hi Erik, So glad to have you here. I took up using paint as a dare and just keep using it...I do mostly a minimalist landscape but other things as well. Here is one...I find it so much fun and know exactly what you mean.
I do pretty large pieces this will print , I think 8' x 4'

@Mike...you hurt my feelings :) Kid drawings?

I really love your style! :) Especially your Northern Lights one is a image to dream about. :)
And it's important to make them large. Without the size it has to look pixelated. That's the tricky thing about paint. :)

the ones i've seen looked like a child grabbed the mouse and just scribbled over the screen. often combining it with really garish colors.

---Mike Savad

Thank you Erik. Yes if you try to enlarge them they are ruined...or require A LOT more work to take them back to not ruined if you know what I mean. I have about 500 images started and work on them sometimes only a few minutes at a time. I have seen some amazing stuff done with paint. One piece of a tree stands out in my mind but it took the artist a year to do...personally I would be bored to death working on a piece that long.
Let me know if you start a group...but I don't think there are too many that use this program...perhaps as Mike said scribbled pics.

Well, my biggest work so far was this one. And I didn't finish it. That's why the panther and woman say *schmacht*...it's a german word for *sigh*


But as you said. Trying to make something look more realistic is a hard and loooong work. I worked more than 30 hours on this one. And I don't think that it is worth it. Paint is a programme for your fantasy, but for that, it is totally perfect! At least I think that. :)

And of course I will let you know if I open a paint-group. :)

I can't tell much about that piece but Flatsch is of a good size and I really like it. I do a lot of work that I delete or else save to work on later. I used to paint in oil and inks but ran out of space and time...what I like about this medium is the clean up...click save and you are done! I still mess around with papier mache and keep thinking of some stuff I want to do with that...clean up there is easy too because you can just let it all dry up. In some ways this is the hardest medium I have worked with...or perhaps the minimalist style as everything has to be gotten down exactly right...seems there is not much room for error. I guess more like watercolor in that way.

Yes, but isn't it a big part of creative evolution to make mistakes? Even in Paint you can make mistakes and sometimes it's a good hint for your mind to find something new. And just because it is digital doesn't mean that it has to be without mistakes.
Maybe that is a reason why I like your style so much. It seems so perfectly formed. I really like that, because I just recognized that my images aren't like that. I will try it out, I'm very interested in that thoughts now. :)

Of coarse...it isn't even in my mind a question of mistakes...more of what I like or don't like when doing my work...or what works and what doesn't. For me the fun is in the creation of a piece and although I am happier if I like the end result...if I don't that is ok too...something learned. My style is more :stylized and I see yours as more free flowing...and that I really like:) I look forward to seeing where you go with this!

I was hoping to see some more Microsoft painters show up.

oops

I love playing around in paint. I say playing around but think of it as a serious Art form, but maybe not really for me. I am also naïve when it comes to digital work anyway. I think paint has to be used within its limitations. That is what I like about it. Great work Erik!
First time I checked your images Val. What a great style you have created. I call mine more of a cartoon style for what I have done with it. I have 4 pieces in my cartoon style gallery.

I use MS paint and my finger and touchpad. I love it.

I just like to draw and I love primitive and crude drawings. It's perfect for me. It's where I started working out my ideas for canvases, making endless thumbnails and such, but then I fell in love with it. It set me free. I have tried other programs, but I do not like or need all the effects. Basically if your toolbox has what you need, to do what you want to do, and to say what you want to say, you are fine.

I don't even really consider it digital art. I consider it painting and even more drawing. It's a sketchpad. When I use photoshop and all the transformative effects available, I consider that digital art.

But personally I like to see someone's hand and struggle in a work, and a finger and touchpad can show that off nicely. I like purity and simplicity, and it's great for expressing that. I like to paint pure subject matter in a pure style. I can paint a pure kitten in a sophisticated style, but I think I can say more to paint a pure innocent kitten in a pure innocent style. It's all connected - subject matter and style. That to me is content.

And yes, Jim, it is like playing :) and wow you can see here that it is all what you bring to it if you compare the works of people who use it. Val, I had no idea you used Paint. It's good to have you here Erik. I enjoyed looking at your work. Greetings and welcome :)

lol, maybe Mike is talking about me. I hope it does look like a kid did mine or that I got in touch with my inner kid at least. I feel like I served my time. I want to be free now. I know my work is not for everyone, and that people wonder why on earth does she do that when she could do something else.

PS so good to see this topic! thanks!

Jim and Anita, so glad to see some other users of "paint"

Jim, it definitely has its limitations. When I first started using it I used to try to get an "edge" on a line and it would go shooting all over the place...I'd forget I wasn't using a pencil. Having come from more traditional mediums it was a challenge to get used to...especially since I was learning to use the computer at the same time....didn't even know I could erase the last line I made...so I would start over.

Anita, I know what you mean...what to call it is always an issue...I don't think of it as digital art at all...for me it is as close to painting as I can get without actual paint. On some pieces I add some texture but that is it...I don't like to do that because the file sizes for some reason jump way up...sometimes making them to large to upload. I've been working with using it in another way...much more time consuming...maybe even more so than if I used oils...but I still love this medium. Lol...Mike isn't talking about you either...I know my friends have asked me "but WHY" ...I guess really the answer is because I can.

Sometimes I also do this... but it is hard to have a piece that works properly.


I am so glad to see this topic too!!!

Eric, I really like your work the only thing I can say is Wow! Your work reminds me of Calder and proves that line drawings can be creative, I can see you are not a novice to drawing/art.

I have looked for a drawing/paint group recently but didn't happen to see one. I have been gradually getting into drawing by way of photography then manipulation and now recently drawing. I sketched this horse on Gimp which is very versatile.

I downloaded Paint.net but keep going back to Gimp, you can load all the effects/brushes you like it is easy to use also for photo-manipulation. It has just about everything Photoshop has and some things PS does not. If you do work for clients they will have PS that is why professionally you have to use it.

Val, I love your work, I thought your work was vector!

Jim, you've got your own style and I love it!

This is one of my first drawings since college that I did last week, I also like a looser style than this I will just need to keep working on it. I see a lot of simplistic style without the details like yours and I want to do it I just automatically put in the details, it is hard to give it up!

I love to see how many people actually using Paint seriously and in an impressive way! Maybe it's really worth it to open a group! :)
Because we know we are right! ;)
Loved to explore all your artworks. Some things look so strange, but wonderful. I got a totally different view to Paintworks. Great! :)

Suzanne, I think details are very important, even if you draw and paint in a simplistic style. Cheeky, as I am, I would say that it is most important to use details if you want to create a good simplistic picture or painting. :)

So I decided to open a group. Feel free to join and share your lovely images and discuss about techniques and other stuff. I think we will be able to help each other pretty much. :)
http://fineartamerica.com/groups/microsoft-paint.html?tab=overview

Hopefully to edify and make sure we know what we are talking about...

I hear these two words confused a lot in the last years, but they are not the same

I hope this helps....

From Grammar.about.com

•"Simple is an uncomplicated word which means 'straightforward, easy,' as in a simple solution. Compare a simplistic solution, which is too easy, i.e. it oversimplifies and fails to deal with the complexities of the situation. So simplistic is negatively charged, whereas simple is neutral or has positive connotations."

from grammarmudge (The Grammar Curmudgeon)

"May we use simplistic to mean "simple"?

No. When something is simplistic, it is simple to a fault, excessively simple. We once saw an ad in which a company was advertising "simplistic solutions" to problems. We wouldn't mind having simple answers, but we don't want simplistic answers. If you want a straightforward answer from someone, ask for a simple answer. If you want to criticize someone for oversimplifying an issue, tell the person that his or her views are simplistic."

To simplify in art is not the same thing as being simplistic. Something can be detailed and still be simplistic, that is, having an oversimplified view of the world. But to catch hold of a great deal of information with a minimum of means, this would be to simplify, and this is good, and difficult to do without being simplistic.

When you are simplistic in art, you start to devalue content, and therefore life. The point in simplifying is to appreciate content, and to show a greater understanding of it, by discerning what is and what is not essential information. Matisse was great at this.

great news about the group. I am off to join.

lol, Val, good to know you know what I mean and have experienced the same thing ("but WHY?"). Good answer, too, "because I can."

It's very interesting to read an english description of the word. Because for me, as non-nativ english speaker the word "simple" or "simplistic" it means more like getting off the hand very fast, more like to be able to do something good and fast. Which is nearly including mistakes and errors. At least that is how we germans use the word. Didn't think about that it could have another meaning. :)

Wow, that is different. What is the word in German? I studied a teeny tiny bit of German in college. I loved it. I loved the way you could make strings of words. You can do that in Greek, too. The distinction as you can see is important in English but I hear very educated and well read people disregarding it these days. I don't know why that is.

Haha, perhaps that means it is time for a new word.

Most times we use the word "simpel" for that. :) We took that word from the english language. For the word "simple" how you explained it, we use the word "einfach" (directly translated: "easy" or more directly translated "one time") or in art "minimalistisch". But if you set it in comparison you would use "simple" for something easy and "einfach" for something easier and "minimalistisch" for something which is totally reduced to the basis.

Thanks! lol

I've used paint program to design a few greeting cards and a few samsung/galaxy cases.
Kind of clumsy to use when drawing a picture though.

Well, you're invited to join the Paint group. I'll post (and already posted some tipps) some tutorials there to make work with Paint easier. ;)
http://fineartamerica.com/groups/microsoft-paint.html?tab=overview

My brother lives in Soest and speaks better German than English now. When I talk to him the words are a sentence of 5 English to 3 German. I speak no German so hardly understand him lol

haha, Abbie your brother is speaking Gerglish.

I think I have been set straight on the word "simplistic!" Lol Sorry, I didn't mean to devalue your work Eric, I was thinking of your definition of the word.

Where did you learn to speak such good English, now I'm feeling a little insecure, did I phrase that correctly?!

lol, are you asking me Suzanne?

I really hate to do that and I normally don't and believe me, it is not aimed at you alone but at the planetary trend and increasing enthusiam toward the misuse of the word, which can, to the right person, or the wrong person, be really insulting!

it's like the difference between childlike and childish, not two we want to mix up!

Go ahead and flog me, I deserve it. It's totally obnoxious to do that, I know.

You can totally make fun of all the commas I just used if you want. ^

Using commas is the best thing, that language ever invented! :) It's hard for me as a german to not write commas. :D

@Suzanne: Well, nearly every german is able to speak English. Every german learns at least three languages in his life. His dialect, High German and English + sometimes the language of a country near our border. For example, I additionally learned French, Letzebuergisch and Dutch because I was born near France, Luxembourg and Belgium. And even some Kindergarten teach English and French. And it's not that hard to learn english if you're able to speak german. At least in my opinion.

Ha! I love commas, too. I don't use as many as I would like to!

I love your newest posted work Erik. The colors and abstraction are smashing. You can really see how it comes together in the thumbnail. I am looking forward to reading your tutorials.

Thank you very much Anita. :)
Yes, I'm preparing some little tutorials and a big one. It will be online latest on Monday. So stay up to date. :)

Will do! I actually don't know much about it. I am one of those people who don't read instructions or owners manuals until I am desperate. So I am looking forward to getting to know my current medium! I have actually been surprised by some of things I accidentally discovered it could do. Like copy paste. lol. Keep us posted!

Copy and paste was a surprise for you? :D
Well, I don't think there exists an owners manual for Paint. :)
Well, it is of course not the complexest programme out there, but there really very helpful hints, and even things that looks like the programmers really wanted to put in. :)

At the moment I'm experimenting and trying to combine Paint and Photoshop, like Val Arie does.
What do you think... does it look more interesting or better than the "clean" version?

Original:


New digitalized:

Erik, nice, looks complicated to make! Can you make the digitalized image larger? What exactly do you mean by digitalized?

Your schooling sounds rigorous. We are very fortunate to only have to study one other language one or two years (when I went to school) if college bound. I think now grade school level teaches Spanish from the early grades.

Well, to be honest, it isn't very complicated. Maybe that is the reason why I'm in doubts. Here's the larger image.
http://s14.directupload.net/images/141018/kd8r3rzs.jpg
I used Photoshop to make it look like that, that is what I mean with "digitalized". Paint is not digital for me. :)

It sounds rigorous, but I don't think that it really is.
I know an american woman who's working in a kindergarten here and she said the same thing. She told me that a kindergarten in the States is just, or at least, more about playing and not teaching. In my opinion you can also teach while playing. :)
For example: we sang a lot of french songs for children in kindergarten and if we pronounced right we got a piece of an apple. Funny, tasty and healthy. :)

So, next step, the Joker.

Simple tribute to Heinz Edelmann.

Hey Diana!
That's a really nice work! :) Was it done with Paint?
Heinz Edelmann is still very well known in Germany, and especially in Stuttgart. but sadly most time you can see him in graffities there, not in galleries. If you like the simplistic things, why don't you join the Paint group?
http://fineartamerica.com/groups/microsoft-paint.html?tab=overview


And here's my last for today. :)

oooh i like the painting above.. beautiful!

I agree, starting young is the key to languages. You mean you duplicated the original or copied it, it looks like the original.

"Digital" is a general term that can mean a lot of things. It doesn't look any different than the original. If you are leading a group on how to use a paint program it seems out of character you are not wanting to say how you did it in Photoshop, not that I have to know.

Simply copying the file would do the same thing. Your Joker image was in the beginning what is the reason for showing it again? This looks like a trolling thread.

Suzanne, I took the original bitmaps and tried to give them another touch with photoshop and I posted them here to get some opinions to it.
Does it look better or worse with the added photoshop effects? That was my intention.
The Joker for example looks very different than the original. He got a shadow, a background and an overlay.
And I just want to know if it is a good way to edit them in that way or to let them be pure paint works.
If it is a good way, than I can write more about how I did it.

Thank you for the explanation Erik. I'm sorry I didn't notice the difference, now that you point it out although they are both mostly black and white they are quite different!

I don't think it makes any difference what methods you use to get the end result. It takes knowing what your image needs and using the right texture to get the right result. Not all images can successfully use textures, there is technique involved and knowing how to use the texture.

Most of the time when I have applied textures it is not a short cut, it takes about the same amount of time as painting to get it looking right. I often have seven to fifteen layers of textures to achieve the look I want. Once in a while you get a freebie and everything goes together the first try.

No problem, Suzanne. :)
Yeh, I realised that it takes a lot of time to find and do the right things. But I have the feeling that I'm learning. I'm a real photoshop newbie, but I'm looking forward to it. It makes more fun that I thought. :)

So, I just finished two more paint'ings with Photoshop, and now it's time to make a little break and start the tutorials. Keep your eyes on the group in the next 24 hours. :)

I agree, the paint and editing programs are endless in their capabilities to allow creativity. Sometimes I just sit there amazed at what I can do, it can be very exciting! The Kush image looks very involved to me, well done!

Good Day Erik! My apologies for not responding sooner. I actually used inkscape. :)

Here is the latest in the Heinz series.

I will definitely check out the group. Great latest addition!!!

Thanks for the thread Erik!!!