OUT of the comfort zone...

Computer as an art material, I'm not even comfortable with the terminology. Computer art? I'm extremely comfortable with the computer but, have never gotten the hang of using it as a tool in the creation of art. I barely had the hang of paint shop pro 6, (and saying barely is really generous of me, I'm talking about knowing how to size my images and adjust my poorly lit photos... )when I got PSP 11 and I gots NO idea...whenever I try to do something that I think should be really simple, I usually end up frazzled, hours later, having exhausted every foul cuss word in my vocab, without the results I wanted!
This is from a painting I did a while back. I bravely opened the PSP 11 and played around with the image until I all was cussed out and I thought this looked pretty cool...
I have no idea how people make such amazing images using the computer, especially using ONLY the computer, am I missing something?

Welcome to the comfort zone

I like painting things that turn out just as I've planned, no "happy accidents". It's comforting to sit and think "that would be a cool painting" and then do it, knowing it will turn out the way I wanted it to. Many years and hours and broken pencils lead me here. And I know there is still a long way to go, things to learn, techniques to master, so that my art will grow as my style or imagination grows or takes a different turn. But, I've been at the beginning and it's very frustrating to have the vision without the skill. It takes time and it is worth it if you love it.
If this is a bad thing for an artist, then I am surprised there are so many courses and workshops, college programs and lectures, how-to's and instructional books out there. Isn't this what we want? To work hard to achieve the skill needed to execute a project in the style we want? What's wrong with the comfort zone? It's so rare we get to be in it. I savor it when I can.

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