All About Your Digital Art Guide!

Hello,

I am glad you came you read about the person behind the website. As you have probably guessed from the header, my name is Sonny Ngo. I am currently living in Alberta, Canada.

I enjoy drawing and painting in my spare time as a form of relaxation. Even though where I live can get fairly boring at times, I am very grateful to be where I am right now.

While I have been living where I am for more than 20 years, I am not born here. In fact, my story started in Vietnam.

It's a story about how lucky I am to be alive. I don't remember all the details (since I was about five years old when I immigrated to Canada), but I do remember that we left only with the clothing on our backs.

Early years

During the aftermaths of the Vietnam War, our families are forced out of our homes. A lot of my relatives have died in the conflict as well.

We manage to make it through from being sponsored by my grandpa and third uncle (both have been living in Canada for a while now).

Though I don't remember too much about my time in Vietnam, I clearly recall a love for drawing as I started my first piece of art; drawing a guitar along a dirt road.

This passion continued as I drew the airplane, that took us to Canada, on a large cardboard box carrying what little provisions we had.

Fast forwarding a bit, my childhood school days were full of sketching fun. While I had a taken a few elementary and junior high courses on drawing, I never really consider it as formal art training.

In high school, I took one or two courses as just a means to get credit. I never really dived into art as much as I should.

In fact, I stopped drawing altogether during my final year in high school to focus on getting my scholarship.

The urge to be creative

It is not until I attended the first year at the University of Calgary that I started drawing again.

Even then, it is on my own accord. The reason is quite simple: financial needs.

As the costs of art materials is too great, I purchased a WACOM tablet, which included a copy of Photoshop essentials, to get me started on drawing again.

As a result, I learned about Photoshop and the advantages of digital art.

That is in the year of 1999/2000.

After I graduated from the University in 2005, I met my girlfriend, who is to become my wife in the near future.

During that entire time, I looked at many different unrelated jobs here and there because there is not a lot of demand for illustrators in where I lived.

When I finally settled down with a secured job (again, completely unrelated to my illustration skills), I married my girlfriend in 2008.

Through the entire time starting from where I bought my WACOM tablet, I casually made a few digital paintings here and there.

Most of it is from trying to learn Photoshop and the other digital painting software bundled in with my drawing tablet.

Even though the demand is not there, I continued to illustrate because it is simply something I enjoy doing it. As a result, I decided to build this website at the end of 2006/early 2007.

My learning experiences

The first few years about this website focuses on documenting what I know and have learned.

While I may not have the opportunity to become a professional illustrator (making a healthy financial living based on my art), I would love to at least spread my passion for digital paintings to others.

This is where everything starts!

You can draw just as well as anyone! The instructions here are what I think is one of the best methods to learn about not only digital painting, but drawing in general.

Have you noticed all the graphics on this site? Besides a few photos in one or two pages, I drew and painted all those examples as a means to show the authenticity of learning.

Believe me; my art did not look like that when I started drawing again during my university years. Through slow development and practicing the right concepts, I am able to paint what you see now.

That's why there are some examples that look rather amateurish compared to later examples.

I don't mind showing you at all because this is my own unique progress!

What's good to note is that you can do the same given the right goals instead of practicing blindly with no direction!

In other words, you can practice till your face turns blue, but if all you have been practicing are stick figures, then all you have going for you is just creating the best looking stick figures in the world.

My gift to you

We all draw different and we all have different styles. The only thing that doesn't change is that you need to have a strong artistic foundation to carry your style.

Whether you are young or old, it is never too late to build that artistic foundation from studying the real world and how art reflects it.

Through the understanding of perspective, proportions, composition, etc, you can create a world that is unique to you!

It becomes even more so as competition increases in the field of art as you need to separate yourself from other artists convincingly.

To be the best in your artistic field is the ultimate achievement that every artist should strive for.

Hence, if I can sum up the purpose of this website, it is to help you develop your drawing skills, in a flexible and inexpensive medium, so you can be a successful artist.

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to share what I know through this website. As such, all the lessons here are my gift to you as I encourage you to take advantage of what is offered here.

I hope you will find the motivation in my words to be the best artist possible (not just the best artist you can be)!

Aim high!

Sincerely,

Sonny.

P.S. I wish you the best in your journey to become a digital art master!