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While browsing YouTube -- which I do all too much of late, and dang, but it's hard to get off there once you're on -- I came across something called "speed painting." Actually, it's not speed painting per se, but time-lapse photography of digital paintings being sketched, filled, and finished. It goes way faster than the actual portrait would, time-wise, hence the "speed" part of the title.
These videos are absolutely amazing and even using time lapse photography, they're quite lengthy -- six or seven minutes isn't unheard of.
I think these must be done with a digital pen and tablet... something I know next to nothing about but hope to, someday. Looks like the painting process is much like with acrylics or oils might be, except your medium is pixels instead of paint.
Here are some links to the few videos on this subject I've viewed personally. Just totally amazing... and I wanted to share.
Enjoy,
Shel
Scarlett Johanssen portrait --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y14g50q4 … ted&search
May Ray reproduction --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT2sRNbK … ted&search
Jennifer Love Hewitt/Ghost Whisperer portrait --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoxypapN … ted&search
Posts: 1,836Wow..now that's working knowledge of photoshop! 
Insanely cool stuff, thanks for sharing!!
I don't know anything about it either, but I know that my brother in law works with digital pens and tablets (he's an animator)...it's beyond cool to watch the process.
:hug:
~Chrissi
Storytime BearsShelli, I wonder what real time this involved , can you imagine how many hours it took, that was amazing!!!!
If anyone can get the hang of this, it would be you. 
Hugs
Jodi
Trust Shel to find something new- next thing it will be a challenge here in TT 
Lynette
What you want is a Wacom tablet 
I got mine cheap on Ebay, but some of them are amazing: they have your screen reproduced on the tablet so you are literally drawing straight onto the image: mine works a little like a mouse, but with a pen instead... it's a Wacom Graphire3 I think.
DoodlebearsWhat awesome work. That puts my photoshop pictures to shame. 
What fantastic talent these people have. I kept thinking just how much more could they do to the pictures and then they got better and better. Thanks Shel, fantastic links.
Hugs Jane. 
Chaska, MinnesotaWow!! That is amazing....!!!
Past Time BearsThat is waaaaaaaay impressive!
Storytime BearsI wonder if this is really expensive to get the program to do this?
I think the software itself is Adobe Photoshop. But you can't use Photoshop in this way without the tablet Chloe mentioned, above, or one like it, because you need an actual "pen" type tool to draw in this way. Or at least, most people do. I'm sure there's someone out there in the world who can draw this way using a mouse... just like there are people in the world who can swallow tiny snakes and then pull them out their nose. Yes, Ripley's Believe It or Not says so. My kids get those books each year when the Scholastic Book Fair comes to their school...
Anyway, Jodi... I don't know pricing on Photoshop or similar programs right now but for a full professional version I imagine you'd pay many hundreds, like $500 or so, for the current version. Anybody have a better answer that doesn't require me to do any research? Feeling lazy today...
aerBearsWow, I had no idea that you could draw things like that digitally! He is so talented.
Aeri
Canna Bear PaintChloe is correct, the Wacom tablet is the way to go. "Tablet and stylus" would be the terms used, IIRC. I didn't watch the videos as I've seen quite a lot of digital painting in person, my mother does them! Tablets are not just for artists, I actually know quite a lot of computer folks who use them for various tasks. When my mom bought her Wacom (some time ago), it came with a decent mid-level graphics program, called Painter (?). Photoshop is more like $600-800 for a full version, I think. Good grief, are they on CS3 already? Make that $650, I just checked.
Of course, being an actual artist is what one really needs to create a digital painting, just like in any media. I sat down with my mother's set-up to show her how to use it one fine day, and created the worst piece of garbage you've ever seen, with whales in the ocean against a sunset background. Terrible. She sat down the first time and made ART. Big difference!
Cheers,
Kelly
