Michelangelo was born Italian and lived from 1475 to 1564.

Among many other famous works of art he is credited with sculpting David and Pieta, designing the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica and painting the famed Sistine Chapel frescoes.

During his 89 year life he embodied the persona of an Artist. Leaving us some of the most undeniably brilliant sculptures, drawing, paintings, poetry, and architect the world has ever seen.

There had never been before, nor has there been since an artist who’s work in so many different fields has been so revered. You will find famous painters, the like of Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso, etc and poetic geniuses like, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, etc… and you will also some very talented and gifted sculptures and the architects. What you will not find is another artist that excelled in each of these arts as Michelangelo did.

If you consider the time it takes to master just one of these disciplines, leaving his name in literary books, art museums, architectural structures and pencil drawings is nothing short of amazing.

Michelangelo was without question the greatest marble sculptor during the era in which he lived. Many say he was the best of any era. He preferred marble sculpting and fresco painting above all other forms, which are two of the hardest styles to create, let alone master. The speculation is it was the physical, intellectual and artistic challenges of these forms of art drew him to them. From looking at his paintings, even when undertaking this art form he was interested in challenging himself. Often choosing the most difficult poses and he continuously layered his work with multiple meanings in reference to religion, mythology among other subjects.

It was clear early on that Michelangelo was destined to be an artist. Legend has it that even his father’s ongoing scolding’s could not keep the young Michelangelo from drawing instead of attending to his schoolwork. In fact his father is believed to have beaten Michelangelo on numerous occasions. Attempting to persuade him into another profession.

Michelangelo so dedicated himself to his love of art that during his lifetime he never married.

Because Michelangelo’s love for art was so persistent his father soon allowed him to be an apprentice at the age of 13 with Domenico Ghirlandia, on what was to be a paid apprenticeship. An arrangement that was quite uncommon for the time. Normally the apprentice paid to learn from the master while learning and working odd labor in the master’s home. A conflict forced him out after a year.

He was then invited to stay at the home of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the Magnificent. Where Michelangelo would continue his art studies. Michelangelo, by the time he was 16 had completed two medium sized sculptures and would go on to complete 30 completed and famous sculptors and 7 paintings. There is no precise number but when Michelangelo died in 1556 he left a large number of sculptors and paintings incomplete.

Summary: A basic guide for the beginner artist to the less expensive but quality 2D and 3D tools on the market today.

Every now and then I’m asked what art tools I can recommend. I certainly understand how anybody new to the field might have trouble finding the right tools. These days there is a lot of art software out there. From tiny tools that will only render you a logo, to large, multi-purpose, expensive and complex programs that can do almost anything.

They all look great on the outset and have plenty of cool features. But which tool is right for you? How much and what functionality do you need? How much are you willing to pay for it? This article will help you find answers to such questions, and hopefully save a lot of time and hassle.

Art tools

Generally there are two types of art tools: 2D and 3D. 2D tools let you paint or draw on a flat surface just like painting or drawing on a piece of paper or canvas. 3D tools are different. Here you create in three dimensions. The best way to understand how this works is to simply try it yourself. Download a demo of any 3D tool along with a basic tutorial, and experiment.

For a beginner, it’s better to start with an inexpensive, popular tool that will teach solid fundamentals of the digital art creation process. Popular tools have larger user base, introduction books, many free tutorials and forums to turn for help. Therefore I decided to concentrate on the more common tools that cost less than 1000 USD. These are quality tools that will provide you with plenty of creative power.

The software I suggest here are mature tools that I either use(d) myself or know they are solid through their reputation. Generally they all do the same thing – help you create images. The main difference between them is how they work and how much they cost. I won’t cover vector-based tools as I have no experience in that domain.

2D painting tools

There is no point in writing much here except that sooner or later you will need one of those. If only to do minor fixes to your 3D renders. Starting with Gimp might be a good idea since it’s free and is available for Linux, Mac OS, and Windows. Photoshop and Painter are probably the most popular 2D tools among digital artists.

GIMP – many effects and filters; free; working in hi-resolution can be slow.
Painter – targeted at digital painters; famous for its rich set of natural brushes; can be slow when working in hi-resolution.

Photoshop – the most popular photo editing software on the planet; fast; many free and commercial plugins available.

All-round 3D tools
You should get one if you are serious about learning 3D art. An all-round 3D tool will teach you how to create and think in 3D. Any of these will let you do almost anything: characters, architecture, landscapes, objects, special effects, etc.

Blender – available for many operating systems; free; documentation can be lacking in some areas; somewhat unusual interface.
CINEMA 4D – somewhat easier to use; not nearly as feature rich as the others; flexible interface.
Lightwave 3D – a rather unusual interface (no icons, only text buttons); famous for its high rendering quality; used in production of many Hollywood movies.
SOFTIMAGE | XSI Foundation – the low-end version of Softimage; widely used in the film, gaming and advertising industries; a limited and watermarked version available for free.

These are powerful tools that take time to learn. Master one of them and you probably won’t need to learn another one.

Special purpose 3D tools

There are many 3D tools which specialize in particular domain, like character or landscape creation. Because they are highly optimized for doing one thing, the end result can be better, or at least easier and quicker done, compared to an all-round tool.

They are typically much easier to use and get started with. Frequently providing the user with pre-fabricated ready to use assets that can be easily manipulated. This allows for a very rapid development process and saves plenty of time and effort.

There is a flip side to this however. The high specialization factor makes such images often have the same overall look and feel. The wide use of pre-fabricated assets further eliminates originality. The ease of use makes such tools accessible to anybody – artist or not. As a result many online galleries are literally flooded with endless, similarly looking, unoriginal images that get quickly boring to look at.

Having said that, there certainly is a special place for such tools in 3D artist’s tool box. If used wisely, they can act as a valuable supplement to your all-round 3D tool. I have often used Bryce for landscape creation, rendered the rest in 3DS Max and combined it all in Photoshop. Such procedure, if done well, will enable you to create unique work that is original and bears no apparent resemblance to the special purpose tools involved.

3D landscape tools
Bryce – sleek interface, but not very practical; renders quite fast; easy to use.
MojoWorld – fractal-based; generates whole worlds, as opposed to single landscape; rendering not that fast.
Terragen – very realistic rendering; a freeware version available for non-commercial use; slow rendering.
Vue Infinite – quite realistic rendering; advanced lighting and atmosphere features; very capable at generating landscapes with plants.

3D character tools
DAZ | Studio – easy to use; limited; rather slow interface;
Poser – easy to use; sleek interface, but not very practical; unstable;

Final thoughts
There are of course many other tools out there. I feel that the tools I described here are mostly suitable for beginners. Once you become more experienced, you’ll know your needs much better and will find your way to other tools.

While trying these tools keep in mind that we are all different. A tool that works great for one person may not work at all for another. Every tool out there has been created by people who them selfs have preference/biases regarding how a tool should work, look like, behave, etc. So the best strategy is to download a demo and try it for some time. If it doesn’t suit you, try another one until you find one that you like.

Finally, remember that all software are merely tools. It’s the user of those tools that makes all the difference. A novice, even when given the most powerful software in the world, will still produce poor results. On the other hand, a talented, experienced and dedicated user can produce great results using low-end tools. The more skilled you become, the more you can use that to your advantage.