Creating artwork?

→ moved to Nolani~ :]

I know mine wasn't among the very best in the workshop, but I made a tutorialish walkthrough as a progress diary for my first pic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOyNtgJx2gY
I wanted to put more time on how I built up the character, but you can see a brief glance on how to do it.

Nobody's perfect the first time and it takes looong time to be good. I've been drawing for 8 years and I'm far from awesome. But while being here at nolani, I feel like I've developed so much more than I would have if I didn't get the feedback and CC (constructive criticism) that I've gotten from fellow artists.

How do people go and create these?.. Practice.

There is no magic to it, no drawing 3 lines and photoshop fills it in for you. Its all practice, most of the people that won a something in the contest have been drawing for quite some time.

When you talk about scetch and color and scanning, I assume you are aiming at this one? I can't say it for sure, as I did not make it, but I think this was drawn on a paper (the black borders and the arched shadings) and then scanned it, layer set on multiply and colored.

And this type of artwork?.. There is no this type of artwork. I think everyone in here has its own ways of coming to his/her art. There is not a certain path that leads to epicness. Just experiment and see what you like. If you want to start with drawing, then Nolani is a good place as we have many helpfull people around (Like Perynne and GeminiJuSa) that will help you at as best as they can, give you advice and help you progress. But don't expect to be able to create a winning picture too soon, there comes a lot of practice around the corner Just if you like it, stick with it, and with time you might become the best artist we've ever known!

What type of artwork do you mean specifically? Like Tommy's said, there's not just one type of artwork. A lot of Wintersday entries were done using a computer, but they don't all have the same methods.
Some people just do pencil sketches on paper and colour them either digitally or traditionally. Some people do their drawings all the way from the beginning in Photoshop using a tablet. Some people sketch digitally and then print it out, colouring it traditionally. Each process has it's own hints and tips, and ways of making it work.
The only thing in common with all of them is that the artist has been practicing drawing a lot and has learned what works for them and what doesn't. You might have the best tools in the universe, but if you don't know how to use them and if you don't have basic understanding (and skill) of drawing, then you will not magically come up with a masterpiece in one night. Luckily, skill and understanding come easily with practice and time. If you love to draw, you will get better at it. And the more you draw, the faster it usually happens.

Check out this thread for a whole bunch of random hints and tips in one place. There's a lot of talk of how artists do what they do, and what works for what. You're also welcome to ask more questions here, we're happy to help.

thanks for the replies all,
what I meant by 'this type of artwork', was all of the pictures that look animated and done digitally. I figured they must be done using some programs. I know I will never produce anything amazing but I don't even know where to begin.

@Nate
Do you mean like 3D digital imaging? Like this one for instance?