This is my attempt at line art for the first time. I think it looks pretty good, how can I make it better?

I love the subtle shading on the skin, it looks gorgeous, some of your lines are a little shaky - especially around the mouth.
I dont think yellow is a good choice for the hair, I would have gone with a dark blue or plum shade. Also, the tshirt is a little too contrasty - it distracts from the softness of the face.
Overall its very good.

Ditto on the lines around the mouth. I like everything else though. I think the lavender was a great choice for the face. I know the yellow hair is a fashion fad; but if you look at the color wheel, yellow and purple make an ugly brown. In this case, there isn't enough of the yellow showing to matter and it looks good for the abstracted and simple cartooned feel. Very nice job.

Janet

Thanks ladies. As I was saying though, it's a first timer so hopefully I will develop a steadier hand with practice. The shirt did through it off, but I still have this big problem with the dodge/burn tool. As you can see from the original that those were shadows and highlights that I was suppose to be working with, but didn't know how. I did pretty good with the face, but the shirt gave me "fits". Do you know of any tutorials online or any CS2 books that specifically target using that tool or just working with shadows and highlights? CS2 is so flexible that the dodge/burn tool may not have to be used. Does anyone know of another way that I can shadow and highlight specific areas when using CS2?

Does anyone know of another way that I can shadow and highlight specific areas when using CS2?For a first shot at this sort of thing using CS2, ya done great. Accept a bushel of kudos from me, too.

If you're not familiar with masking in Photoshop, the following are pretty meaty. Learning the associated skills and understanding the underlying concepts will take one far:
* http://www.vrya.net/ts/photoshop7.php
* http://www.vrya.net/ts/photoshop1.php

Since these are kind of long and cover a lot of ground, try the following on one of your pieces of art:
* Layer > New adjustment layer > Levels
* Move the middle slider quite a ways right (to darken) or left (to lighten) -- whichever you want -- and make the setting fairly extreme for this experiment.
* Click OK to close the Levels dialog.
* Ctrl + I (to invert the mask). Note the thumbnail goes from white to black and the effect of the Levels adjustment layer is no longer visible.
* Select the Brush tool and choose a soft-edged brush
* Press D key. The Foreground Color should now be white. If it is not, press the X key.
* Be sure the settings for the brush are Flow=100%, Opacity=100%

Now paint anywhere you want to lighten/darken the image. The lines/edges will be harsh due to the Flow and Opacity settings.

Experiments:
* Lower Flow and Opacity settings to get an airbrush effect.
* Lower Opacity of the Levels layer itself
* Press X key so black is the foreground color and paint over white areas to "undo" them
* Open the Levels dialog and mess with the sliders
* Turn the Levels layer off/on
* Delete the Levels layer... and you're back to the beginning. You have not modified the underlying pixels = you can experiment all you like!

Extra credit: For some real fun, try the above with Hue/Saturation and Selective Color adjustment layers.

Bottom line: I never dodge/burn tools directly on layers anymore (personal preference). I always use masks = ultimate flexibility, plus totally screwup proof.

OK...enough blathering. Hope this turns on a few lightbulbs for you. Keep on experimenting and having fun. You're doin' great.

~Danny~

I'm going to add a touch to Danny's "blathering". I really like that word btw. I think I'm going to add it to my frequently used repertoire. :)

Dodge and burn can be used another way without all the masking etc. Create a new layer above the one you want to shade. Make the blend mode overlay. Fill the layer with 50% gray. Use a soft paintbrush set to a very low opacity or flow and paint away--black for shadows, white for highlights.

It works quite well.

Janet

Thank you Danny. Right now I think I will try Janet's suggestion. I do need to learn more about Masking, so I will be reading about it on the website that you provided. I will post the results when it's finished.

Every time I think I love this site a lot, something happens that makes me love it even more. I have learned so much from you guys. Thanks again!