Tutorial 1 - Create your first Artwork

This tutorial will give you a very quick overview of how to create an artwork with ArtStudio.

The artwork in this tutorial was drawn with a mouse but a WACOM pen & tablet is recommended. They are fairly inexpensive and work very well. All of the drawings in the Drawing Hand Art Gallery were created with a WACOM pen & tablet.

Step 1 - Create an empty Artwork

  1. Start ArtStudio and select a user. If you are not currently an ArtStudio User, select the Trial User.

  2. If you don't see the color palette, click on the Show/Hide Color Palette button .

  3. You should see an empty white square. This is the blank Artwork which is also an Art layer.

  4. To move the Artwork, place the cursor within the Artwork and press the left mouse button. While holding down the button, move the mouse to move the Artwork.

  5. To size the Artwork, place the cursor over one of the sizing squares and press the left mouse button. While holding down the button, move the mouse to change the size of the Artwork. The size is displayed in parenthesis in the status bar at the bottom of ArtStudio.

    or

    place the cursor over a sizing square and use the arrow keys to size the artwork.

  6. Size the Artwork so that it is approximately 420x200.

  7. If you are not logged on as a Trial User, click on the Save button . When prompted, name the Artwork "I Love You".

Step 2 - Set the background color of the Artwork

On the left side of ArtStudio is the Layer Toolbar. To change the background color of the Artwork, click on the Layer Properties button .

When the Layer Properties dialog appears, click on the Select Color button. The Color Selector dialog will appear.

There are two ways to select a color:

  1. Select a color in the Color Palette.
     

  2. Choose a color by clicking on the Choose Color button.
    A color dialog will be displayed that will allow you to choose a color.

For this tutorial, leave the background color white.

Step 3 - Create the Art layer

  1. You can draw directly on the artwork but for this tutorial, insert an Art layer to draw on by clicking on the Insert Art Layer button and selecting new.

  2. Click on the Draw button on the main toolbar. When you move the cursor over the Art layer, it should change to a pencil to indicate that you are in Draw mode.

  3. On the right side of ArtStudio is the Brush Toolbar. On this toolbar, you can select the Brush Density, Brush Size, Brush Transparency and Brush Hardness (if using a pressure sensitive pen).

  4. Select the Medium Brush and Low Transparency.

  5. Select the color red in the Color Palette by left-clicking on the red palette color.

  6. Position the cursor over the Art layer and press the left-mouse button to begin drawing. If you don't like what you drew, click on the Undo button or press Ctrl-z on the keyboard.

Draw a heart that looks similar to the one in the following image.
 

Select the extra large brush and fill in some of the heart so it looks like the following image.
 

Now, hold down the Ctrl key while drawing to rub/smudge the colors so that the heart has a softer appearance. Remember, you can Undo any drawing/rubbing by pressing the Undo button or Ctrl-z.

Click on the Move/Size button and change the size and position of the Art layer so it appears as follows:

 

Click on the Save button to save the Artwork. You won't be able to save your work if you're a Trial User.

Step 4 - Play the Art layer

  1. On the main tool bar there are some buttons that resemble the controls on a VCR. Click on the Play button to play the Art layer.

  2. If the Layer Properties dialog is not currently displayed, click on the Layer Properties button .
     

  3. One of the properties of a Art layer, is the Drawing Speed. Change the Drawing Speed and then press the Play button to see the new drawing speed.

Step 5 - Insert a Text layer

  1. Click on the "Insert Text Layer" button .
     

  2. A dashed rectangle will appear. This is the empty Text layer.

  3. If the Layer Properties dialog is not currently displayed, click on the Layer Properties button .
     

  4. A Text layer can have a transparent or opaque background. Make sure Transparent is selected.

 

Move and size the Text layer so that it appears as follows:
 

  1. In the main toolbar, click on the Text button to change to Text mode.
     

  2. Click on the Text layer and type: "I Love You!"
     

  3. The color of the text will be the current color in the Color Palette. To change the color, select the text by holding down the left mouse button and dragging it over the text and then release the mouse button.
     

 

  1. Click on the black palette color so that the text color changes to black.

  2. Use the font size combo box to change the size of the font to 24.
     

  3. Un-select the text by left-clicking anywhere inside of the Text layer.

  4. Click on the Center button to center the text in the Text layer.
     

  5. Once again, size and position the Text layer so that it appears a follows:
     

 

  1. Step 6 - Insert a Doodle layer

  1. Click on the "New Doodle Layer" button .
     

  2. A dashed rectangle will appear. This is the empty Doodle layer.
     

  3. Size and position the Doodle layer so it appears as follows:
     

 

  1. Click on the Draw button to change to Draw mode.
     

  2. Select the color blue in the Color Palette.
     

  3. Draw a line under the word "You!".

 

 

Step 7 - Play the Doodle layer

  1. If the Layer Properties dialog is not currently displayed, click on the Layer Properties button .
     

  2. One of the properties of a Doodle layer is the Drawing Speed. Change the Drawing Speed so that it underlines the word "You"  fairly slowly. Press the Play button to see the new drawing speed.
     

Step 8 - Sign the Artwork with a Doodle

Insert a new Doodle and write your name so that it appears as follows:
 

Increase the height of the Artwork by:

  1. Clicking on the Rewind button .
     

  2. Place the cursor over the sizing rectangle at the bottom of the Artwork and drag it down to increase the height of the Artwork.

  3. Click on the Fast Forward button to return to the last layer in the Artwork.
     

  4. Move the Doodle with your name in it so that it is below the Text layer.

The Artwork should now appear as follows:

 

Step 9 -Play and preview the Artwork

  1. To play the entire Artwork within ArtStudio, press the Rewind button and then press the Play All Layers button .

  2. To modify one of the layers, press the Previous Layer   and Next Layer   buttons.
     

  3. To play the Artwork from the current layer forward, press the Play All Layers button without first pressing the Rewind button.

  4. To see what the Artwork will look like when you e-mail it to someone, press the Preview button .

Step 10 - E-mail the Artwork as an attachment

  1. If you use an e-mail program like Microsoft Outlook, you can e-mail the Artwork as an attachment by pressing the Send button . Your e-mail program will appear with a new e-mail opened and the Artwork already attached.
     

  2. If you use an e-mail service like AOL or Yahoo, select Copy Path... from the File menu and then press the Copy button. The path to the Artwork file on your computer will be copied to the clipboard. Then, go to your e-mail service, create a new e-mail and attach the Artwork to it. When you are prompted to select the file to attach, paste (Ctrl-v) the Artwork path where it says "File name:".
     

  3. If the person your are sending the e-mail to does not have ArtStudio, you should include the following text in the body of the message:

    "To read the attached Artwork, you must have ArtStudio or the Artwork Player installed on your computer. If you have not already installed ArtStudio or the Artwork Player, you can download them from http://www.DrawingHand.com/ArtStudio".