Digital Painting Base: 12 Sites For FREE High Resolution Photos

I have friends that make their living as stock photographers so I am sure I will take some heat for this post. As I look at it this is 12 reasons not to be a stock photographer. In the 80′s I sold a lot of stock, it was difficult then to try to stand out from the crowd, now it is virtually impossible.

Like many things in our new digital age much splintering in the market place has occurred so a laser focus in a specialty area is about the only way to survive. There are literally 100′s of thousands of very gifted photographers out there and only a handful are making a living selling stock imagery. The following list is small as there are well over 100 sites that have high resolution photos for free or for very small fees.

The few sites listed are a combination of free and royalty free. Those terms are not interchangeable. Royalty free images may cost money but only once, you don’t need to pay a royalty each time the image is used. Free is no cost. Some images are in the public domain and some are under the creative commons license.

Be sure to check out the terms of use at each of these locations. Click on the text underneath or beside the company logos.

If you love this post TWEET IT or book mark it. That helps out all of the contributors here at magazine. Thank-you!

e-cobo.com/stockphotos/

public-domain-photos.com/

f11digital.com/4images

morguefile.com/

123rf.com/

Free high resolution travel photos

dreamstime.com/

crestock.com/

shutterstock.com/

fotolia.com/

studio7designs.com/stock-photography/

freeimages.co.uk/

Resources for free and premium wood textures.

For many of you that have seen my work, bought a DVD or been to a workshop you know that I am a big believer in building a large organized stock file of textures. In most cases I prefer to shoot my own because it is fun and I get to pick and choose which ones to give away, which ones to sell and which one to keep in the private secret stash.

Where do I go though when I cant seem to find that exact texture I am looking for? Well I have been debating about this for quite awhile but in the next few months I am going to be giving away the resources that I visit when I need a stock photo, texture, royalty music piece (maybe) or other asset to complete a project in a minimum amount of time. Many of these resources are quite popular and known to many people but we will stash them here for one easy place to grab the URL’s when you are in a hurry. So first we will begin with wood textures.

14_Wood_Textures

Free wood texture pack from MirceAdrian at DeviantArt Thanks Mirce!

Wood_texture_pack

Another pack from Deviant LunaNYXstock

Texture_Pack_Wood

3R Stock Wood Textures from NEOkeitaro

Thanks to all of the contributors at Deviant. Hope you enjoy the new textures. By the way just as a reminder, each artist who has graciously given us these resources have different requirements tied to their use. Please read the requirements on their download pages and when you use be sure to post back to let them know. Also show us some of your work here as well.

Graphics Tablets Reviews: A Cool Site Dedicated Specifically to Graphics Tablets.

As more and more businesses evolve online and we continue to see more “splintering” in the marketplace we have an tremendous opportunity. Not only is there opportunity but on the consumer side we will be able to get information from sites that are more and more specialized. Graphics Tablets reviews is one of these sites. It is an entire website devoted to nothing other than graphics tablets for artists and photographers, Whoda thunk?

This is the place to go if you have any questions related to what tablet might fit your budget and workflow. While the site most likely is an automated site with little input from original content (I could be wrong) I am still happy that someone is taking the time to corral the data specific to tablets in one place.

There are even a few reviews of books as well. Our friend Cher Pendarvis book is reviewed on there. Also I found a really cool article on how to convert any LCD screen into a graphics tablet. Now that is cool!

Book Review Cher Threinen-Pendarvis:Beyond Digital Photography

I am a geek. As such I love books. My reading habit is non-curable and I peruse books on many subjects, Art and Marketing are my favorite topics and in the world digital painting every book that is published (to my knowledge) I have been fortunate enough to read. Amazon loves me.

Beyond Digital Photography is another must have book for anyone serious about transforming their photography into painterly works of fine art. This book was written by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis and Donal Jolley and published by PeachPit Press. You most likely have heard of these two well respected artists and authors. Cher is the author of the popular Painter Wow! series and Donal has been featured in many publications including The Photoshop CS/CS2 Wow! Book, the Painter Wow! Book and other publications.

Beyond Digital Photography offers extensive step-by-step information on many topics. One of the coolest things is that time is spend with Corel Painter and Photoshop. Finally we have a book that highlights the use of Painter and Photoshop together! I believe one needs to have an intermediate level of skill with the programs in order to get the most out of this book.

Many different types of paintings and techniques are covered at length. There is a great area in Chapter Two that will show you how to obtain nice flowing painterly techniques for those that are artistically challenged. If you are looking for a few nice water color techniques shoot over to Chapter 5 where Cher gives and awesome explanation on how Painters Digital Watercolors work. Take a peek at the workflow she uses to prepare an image and make it more suitable for a high key watercolor emulation.

Finally my favorite Chapter is Six. Donal shares a unique approach to utilizing layers to achieve an oil painted look that you have to try as soon as you read it. There is also an awesome demonstration from Cher of Painters Real bristle Brushes.

All in all a smoking book. The next time you are about to spend 500 bucks on a workshop…cancel your trip, hole up in your studio or a hotel room for the weekend with your computer, Wacom tablet and this book. You will be glad you did.