If you've been digital painting for long, odds are you use a stylus. Have you considered what grip you're using? This video will introduce a new hand position, and encourage you to give some thought to the way you grip a stylus.
Creating a "tiling" texture is a very useful skill for digital painters. This video introduces the basic concepts, and shows how a simple photographic tile can add gritty texture to a brush. This is a technique generally reserved for Texture Artists working in video games, but I've found it to be a versatile skill for illustration in general.
Reader Etheryte is kind enough to show alternative tiling texture technique in this video.
The way the stylus lays down marks in photoshop has a certain 'feel' to it; in the same way that you could say painting with a brush has a different feel than drawing with a pencil. Unlike these traditional tools, you can customize the way your stylus 'feels'. Do you have a soft or a light touch? This video expolres both the Wacom Tablet Properties, as well as 3rd party software designed to customize the stylus experience.
Update 1/29/2012: Apparently the newest Intuos 4 drivers have addressed this issue! Make sure to get the newest drivers if you have an intuos 4.
And reader Dado Almeida brings up a crucial point about tablet wear & tear:
"[This is] really important stuff to know if you deal with a Wacom stylus in the daily basis. Using a hard grip, for months, in the same spot of your Tablet surface could dameage the cover plastic faster. Have you noticed how the center area of our Tablets are more scratched? To make my experience with the Wacom smoother I´m using this tool + a protection plastic (those used in the iPad screens) to cover my little Intuos. This way I can change the cover from time to time without any damage in the original surface."
And, as a reminder, this is unofficial software. It might not give you the results you're looking for. If you have a problem using it - or it screws something up - you can restore the factory defaults by re-installing the Wacom drivers. Good luck, and have fun!
Choosing a few pieces of art to represent yourself is a challenge. What pieces should you include?This video considers the challenge in terms of your end goal, and the person reviewing your work. Like it or not, the portfolio you choose to present to the world says a lot about you, and can have a big impact on your art career.
As you practice traditional drawing, you'll want to indicate a light source and cast shadows. Though shadows can be rendered in a variety of ways, crosshatching is a great way to quickly build up tone and volume with a pencil.
The human head is a challenging subject to capture. Especially when drawn from the imagination, the head is an extremely complex shape. This video explains a simplification approach in which the organic forms of the head can be envisioned as simplified planes: a planar analysys. Many illustrators and painters have their own forumlas and methods of simplifying the head, so please tell use your favorite resources in the comments!
This video introduces the concepts of scale and proportion: two spatial relationships that will help organize your composition. Scale deals with the measurable size of an object. Proportion, on the other hand, deals with the size of an object relative to those things around it. Proportion can also be used to compare parts of a whole, for example: my thumb is wider than my middle finger. As you'll see in the video, scale and proportion can help anchor the image in reality and express a sense of depth to the viewer.
To download the orcs, click here!
"Realistic painting" often means "realistic surfaces". If you want to improve the level of realistic detail in your paintings, this premium video (available in the store) is for you. It deals with two primary methods for adding detail: by hand with custom brushes, and with photo overlays. These methods are described in a very versatile way, and will work for any sort of illustration or concept art.
Do you have a favorite few brushes? Do you like to use them with specific flow/opacity settings? "Tool Presets" might be for you! This feature is often overlooked or confused with "Brush Presets", but it is extremely useful for digital painters. This video explains how "Tool Presets" can add a big dose of efficiency and speed to your workflow.
A simple secret to productivity is eliminating roadblocks. Especially if you don't have much time to dedicate to practice digital painting, it's a good idea to get straight to the painting. This tutorial explains the "document presets" feature, and why it can help streamline your practice ritual. After all, sometimes the hardest part is 'getting started'.
As an illustrator one of your jobs is directing the viewer's attention. If you don't give them clear instructions on where to look, they'll manage to do it wrong. The principle of emphasis involves using contrast to make your focal point pop off the canvas. If done correctly, your viewer won't know their being lead around your image.
If you want to practice yourself, here are the orcs to download. And make sure to check out the other entries in the "Principles of Design" series
Making these videos has been a great experience, and it's probably time to introduce myself. After all, we're 100 videos in. I'm trying my best to sculpt ctrl+Paint in a way that represents my art experience. I've had two major formative experiences: 1) Self-Teaching. All of my software experience has been self taught, and I've never attended a painting class. As a result, I know how hard it can be to learn a new skill without a teacher.
2) Art School. I was lucky enough to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design, which gave me 4 dedicated years of art education. This was a totally different level than taking a few art classes in high school - I was living art. Though art school is absolutely not required, if you can go... it's a lot of fun.
Ctrl+Paint is my attempt to join these two concepts: self-teaching and art school. So if you're looking for either of those two experiences, you're in the right place. Thanks for being an awesome community!1
This entry in the Principles of Design series explores the idea of a visually balanced image. Though hard to quantify, most people are able to tell when an image is unbalanced. Generally they don't know how to explain it, but the image seems 'wrong' somehow. As an artist, it's important to create balanced images!
If you want to try out the techniques in the video with some orcs, make sure to download them here! I will warn you -- the file is a relatively large .PSD, so don't be surprised if the download takes a few seconds.
Also, it's important to know that I did not invent these principles! They are extremely old and well documented, so make sure to find other resources to explain with more depth. Photography books seem to be especially good at some of these concepts, as well as "Framed Ink" (my current favorite book on composition). And make sure to check out the rest of the "Principles of Design" series!
This is the beginning of a series which will discuss the fundamentals of composition. The principles of design are versatile: they can be applied to any sort of visual art. As a result, this series is separate from the "unplugged" series, and I'll be alternating back and forth between them in the coming weeks.
View the rest of the "Principles of Design" series
This video finishes my explanation of removing your linework from a painting. Once again, we see the power and versatility of working with layer masks to non-destructively hide the initial drawing.
If you don't know about the basics of masks, make sure to watch these three videos first: Masking 101 pt 1, Masking 101 pt 2, and Masking 101 pt 3
In art school, drawing 1 teaches you the basics of form, light, and shadow. This premium series approaches this fundamental subject-matter with Photoshop as the medium. Honestly, this is the foundation of painting, and if I could only recommend a single series from the store this would be it.
Available now in the store.
Paintings often start as line drawings. Eventually, you'll paint over those lines - resulting in a full painting. If you made that line drawing on its own layer in photoshop, you're able to remove those lines in a totally risk-free way! This video shows how to use a layer mask to easily remove the linework and replace it with a painting.
If you don't know about the basics of masks, make sure to watch these three videos first: Masking 101 pt 1, Masking 101 pt 2, and Masking 101 pt 3
Color is relative. Depending on the surrounding colors, ambient light in the room, and a variety of other factors - your results will vary. This video explores the idea of relative color, and suggests some tips for carefully observing color. Training your eye to carefully ovserve color is challenging, but very worthwhile. Good luck! If you want to see the earlier video mentioned in the post, here it is -- "guess that color"
Edge control is a huge factor for painting technique. To properly describe form you'll need to use both hard and soft edges. This video explores a practice routine designed to hone your edge control. I can be tricky learning to observe hard and soft edges, but they are essential.
I encourage you to give this technique a try! Download the lesson file here (it's a .PSD). Have fun!
Beginners often think of things in terms of line, and not in terms of tone. As a result, it's easy to default to hard edges in your painting. Seasoned painters know, however, that hard edges should be used sparingly and with purpose. This video explores the idea of a 'lost edge', and how it can be used to enhance the mood of your painting.
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