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Digital painting, simplified.

This is the Library, where you'll find all of the free Ctrl+Paint videos.  If you're a total beginner, try watching the videos in the order they're listed!  I've ordered these videos to ease you from traditional techniques into digital ones.  If you're looking for a specific topic, or want to build your own curriculum, I invite you to watch them in any order you like!  Scroll down to see the whole list, and have fun painting!  And if you're looking for the most in-depth material available, make sure to visit the Ctrl+Paint Store.

Feeling overwhelmed?  Learning to paint is a lot of work, and it's important to have the right mindset.  There's an entire category of videos addressing this at the bottom of the page - click here to see them!

Click here to view the posts listed in chronological order.

1)  Digital Painting 101

First, let's start off with an overview of the whole digital painting process in a quick 5 part series.

Now that you've seen the overview, where should you start?  

Before you can paint, you need to know how to draw.   At art school they call this "foundation studies", and all students must take these basic subjects before proceeding into their concentration.

2)  Traditional Drawing

 

 

A Note about sections 5, 6, and 7:  These offer a deeper look into improving your drawing skills, though are not strictly necessary before moving onto digital painting.  At this point you can skip ahead to section 8 if you're itching to work digitally, though don't forget to swing back and watch these later!

They're here for a reason, though: digital art always sits best on a strong traditional foundation.  It's worth your while to hone those pencil skills before diving into Photoshop.

Fully Digital

If you've been watching these videos in order, you're starting to see how fundamentally different digital painting can be from traditional media.  These videos dig even deeper.

13) The User Interface

 

    Your Brain: the Most Important tool

    The final two sections explore your mental approach to making artwork.  It's easy to forget what an important role your attitude can play when improving as an artist!

    If you're going to spend your life as an artist, it needs to be a healthy relationship.