rl artist wanting to design in sl

hi all dont know if this is the correct forum for this but here it goes.
I been in sl for some time and I been wanting to create things such as mermaid tails and other fantasy themes.I'm a rl artist I been drawing/painting for many yrs and have gotten my work published in ohio scene magazine and other local publications.
I'm wondering where I go or what do I have to do to learn to make the most of my sl exp as a designer bringing my rl work to life in sl.What programs will I need and are there classes I can take?
thank you to anyone that can help guide me on this quest or any advice is welcomed I would be most gratful

Most of the texture designers in SL use one of the big three graphics programs... Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, or GIMP. If you don't already know your way around one of them, that's your first challenge. You will find vocal partisans for each of the programs. You will also find a large number of tutorials (try googling for them... there are tons). Life will go much easier for you if you also buy yourself a good manual. There is a large selection out there, especially for Photoshop, so visit your closest large bookstore and find one that seems to speak your language.

I strongly recommend that you read through the sticky threads at the top of this forum. Take your time and do it seriously. A very high percentage of the questions we get in this forum from frustrated designers are addressed very nicely in those threads. Pay particular attention to the one on file sizes and formats and the one on alpha channels and transparency. People mess up on those topics all the time. After that, start cruising through the Photoshop Tips and Tricks sticky (plenty of those are applicable to the other programs too).

This forum is for trading ideas and challenges. Many of them are recurring themes, so you should get in the habit of browsing through the forum archives (the "Search This Forum" menu) to see what others have said about your particular question of the day. Don't hesitate to ask, though. Even if a question has been asked many times before, we all learn from hearing it phrased in a new voice. Many (most?) people lurk without ever asking a thing, and they gain from your questions as much as you do.

Welcome to SL texturing. Your RL experience already puts you ahead of many people who begin this journey. You'll have fun.

I gather you are not experienced in digital graphics. And, by no means, is that derogatory in way, shape or form........but it is a medium you will have to become proficient at to get your art into SL (or any other virtural world). Most here will recommend Photoshop (which is, by far, the most recognized program for digital art)...........it's expensive though. The GIMP is probably the second most powerfull program (and many, like me, will argue it is as powerful as Photoshop)..........it's free. Paint Shop Pro is another alternative.........about 1/3 or less the cost of Photoshop. Those are the three "big ones" used here in SL.

You'll need to learn any imaging program pretty well before you can do much of anything useful for SL. Photoshop comes quite well documented.......so does Paintshop. So they are probably going to be the easiest to learn, time wise. But, if money is in short supply, (you can't beat free. ) The GIMP is a good choice. The GIMP has a reputation of being very hard to learn compared to the other two........that may be true, but I've managed to learn it and I can do anything I want with it now. It did take a while for me though............but once I found a book that really dealt with the workings of the program in an easy to read format it turned out to be quite easy and intuitive.

You might read the stickies at the top of the forum here to get an idea of what is involved for creating anything in SL. Then decide on what program you want to invest in for your efforts. If you decide on The GIMP, there are a few of us GIMP users here who can help. If you decide on Photoshop or Paintshop, you will find many more here to help you.

If you go GIMP, look for a book titled "The GIMP from Novice to Professional" by Akkana Peck. I got mine about 2 years ago on Amazon.com for about 30 dollars.

Good luck.

thank you everyone for the wonderful advice I knew I would have some major learning to do in order to prepare myself to even be close to ready of shareing my work in sl.
I'll give the Paint shop pro a try along with gimp to see which one i like better. =)

Give Photoshop a fair look too. There has never been a poll here that I am aware of, but I would guess that the lion's share of people in this forum are Photoshop users. If you're just starting out, it would be wise to balance the strengths and weaknesses of all three of the major graphics programs.

What Rolig said, but the one other thing I would suggest is getting a tablet. You've spent years working with brush and pencil, so it will seem the most natural way of creating graphics. The good ones aren't cheap, and you'll want a good one. But if you ever expand your RL work to the digital realm, you'll get more than your money's worth out of it.

There's a fairly good thread on the pros and cons of the various makes here
/109/25/258572/1.html

Some great advice for you has been given but i would also say take a look at Corel Painter version 9.5 or 10 but give the latest version 11 a miss as it needs a patch to sort its transform tools.Painter has full transparency and layering support is slightly more fluid to use for painting in my opinion and if you are used to traditional painting it will probably your best option its also costs less than photoshop cs4.

You will definatly need a decent sized graphics tablet,Wacom are the absolute best but if you want something that cost a lot less but still works a treat look for the Aiptek media tablet 14000u.Its huge has both 4by3 and widescreen switchable area and its a great second choice.

My advice will be a little different, because you mentioned Mermaid Tail. You might want to start with "sculpties", which are sort of free form primitive objects that you paint on in 3D.

The SL Wiki has a lot of good advice, as do these Forums. You might want to start with something like Z-Brush or Scupty Maker...(I haven't really kept oup on the latest fads...)

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims:_FAQ