In this 'Let's Paint' demonstration, I'll show how I painted this small bamboo plant. Though the following videos will get into more detail, this first chapt...

Related Techniques Shown in This Video

Measuring Proportion

Simplifying Form

Refining the Line Drawing

 

 

 

 

In this 'Let's Paint' demonstration, I'll show how I painted this small bamboo plant.  Though the following videos will get into more detail, this first chapter focuses on the line drawing.  Even though you can see that the final painting doesn't have any visible lines, it's often very important to start with a clean line drawing.  You can think of it like a blueprint on which we'll lay the brush strokes.

Download the brush here (it's a 'tool preset').  If you need help installing the file, you'll find instructions here.

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Today we'll finish the three part mini-series by adding the polish. This phase is a part of every illustration, though it doesn't make for great video. So ...

Today we'll finish the three part mini-series by adding the polish.  This phase is a part of every illustration, though it doesn't make for great video.  So expect to see the big ideas at play, but you won't see the 45 minutes of repetitive work involved.  Polish isn't exciting, but it really takes your image to the next level!

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As we continue to break down complex studies into simple steps, part 2 tackles the 'block in'. As you'll hear in the video, the block in is were you make or ...

As we continue to break down complex studies into simple steps, part 2 tackles the 'block in'.  As you'll hear in the video, the block in is were you make or break the image - so this is a very important step.  As I said in the previous video, I hope you're following along with your own study!

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Photo studies can seem overwhelming, especially if you choose a detailed image. In this three part mini-series, I'll argue that even tough subjectmatter can ...

Photo studies can seem overwhelming, especially if you choose a detailed image.  In this three part mini-series, I'll argue that even tough subjectmatter can be simplified.  It's all about breaking it down.  In this video we'll prepare and create the line drawing.  I encourage you to follow along!

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Second to the Layers palette, I find Custom brushes to be most commonly messy habit for digital painters.  How many brushes do you have?  What's your system for organizing them?  This video shows my preference, and one cool alternative (linked to the right.) 

If you have another system, we'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Note:  In this video I say "Blender Brush", when what I meant to say was  "Mixer Brush".  

Related Topics Mentioned in This Video

Labeled, Sorted Custom Brushes (YouTube)

Creating Tool Presets

Installing Custom Brushes 

Previous "Getting Organized" Videos

Templates

Layers

Saving Files

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Where do you save your art files?  How do you name them?  If you're serious about digital painting, these are important questions.  In today's video I'll explore a few important concepts relating to file organization - and how you might design a personal system.

It might not sound fun, but habits like these are part of becoming a successful artist.

Related Topics Mentioned in This Video

Text 2 Folders application (PC only)

Previous "Getting Organized" Videos

Templates

Layers

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The layer stack can be a dangerous place. It gives you amazing power and control, but that power often comes with a huge mess. After all, you don't name ever...

Related Topics Mentioned in This Video

Color-coding a 'Reminder Layer'

Recording an Action

Previous "Getting Organized" Videos

Templates

The layer stack can be a dangerous place.  It gives you amazing power and control, but that power often comes with a huge mess.  After all, you don't name every one of your layers - do you?  I don't.  But that doesn't mean my layer stack is disorganized.  In fact, I'd argue that your paintings will be faster and more dynamic once you've established a system for keeping your layer stack tidy.  This video explores my process, but we'd love to hear about yours in the comments.

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We all want to paint faster.  In my experience, speed comes from an elimination of busy work - not flailing your stylus like a crazy person.  Speed is spending time on creativity, and being efficient about the boring parts.  Over the years I've designed systems to help save time and create more artwork - and that's what we'll be exploring in this free mini-series.  

Today's topic is templates.  None of this information is exclusive to Photoshop - it works just as well with other software (or sketchbooks, as you'll see).  So let's start saving time, and get to the fun part!

Related Topics Mentioned in This Video

Creating Document Presets

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Related Topics Mentioned in This Video

Clipping Masks

Recording Actions

Dynamic Brushwork

Other Tool Pairs

Brush & Mixer

Making overlays doesn't need to be complicated.  It's easy to be intimidated by tools like 'clipping masks', but today's video showcases how much you're missing.  This tool pair is actually 3 tools, not just two - but it might change the way you paint forever.

 

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Tools work best in harmony.  The pencil is nice, but paired with an eraser or ruler it's even better.  Digital painting is no different.  This video explores one of my favorite tool pairs: the brush tool and the mixer brush tool.  

Want to take this concept to the next level?  This tool pair is an excellent opportunity for 'Spring Loaded Tools', so make sure to watch my video explaining how to speed up your workflow.

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For more than a decade I've been using Photoshop documents (and a second monitor) for this task. It isn't perfect, but it got the job done. Now that I've use...

Display your reference in a border-less, floating, window.  Awesome.

Display your reference in a border-less, floating, window.  Awesome.

Reference material is essential.  I've talked about it in a number of videos.  The challenge is sharing your screen real-estate between a painting, Photoshop's user interface, and your reference.  Especially with a small monitor, it's not easy to solve.  Until you try PureReference.  

This 3rd party indie software allows you to create a sheet of reference images for displaying over Photoshop.  Without any extra clutter, you're able to zoom, pan, and manipulate your images.   All of this happens in an 'always on top' window, which can be any size you desire.  

For more than a decade I've been using Photoshop documents (and a second monitor) for this task.  It isn't perfect, but it got the job done.  Now that I've used this software, I might just leave the old method behind.   If this sounds like a commercial -- don't worry, it's not.  I try a wide variety of graphics tools, but some are just too cool to keep to myself.  This is one of them.  Get your copy today!  And make sure to choose a fair price!

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Photoshop has a lot of commands. This means there's a lot of keyboard shortcuts. You don't need to use all of them. And since you are only using a fraction o...

Photoshop has a lot of commands.  This means there’s a lot of keyboard shortcuts.  You don’t need to use all of them.   And since you are only using a fraction of them, why not remap them to be near one another on your keyboard?  In this video I argue strongly for the merits of designing your own keyboard shortcuts -- and for starting right now.

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Welcome to Photoshop! Before you start painting, you'll want to get cozy with the software - and laying out the palettes is a great start. The User Interface...

Welcome to Photoshop!  Before you start painting, you’ll want to get cozy with the software - and laying out the palettes is a great start.  The User Interface (UI) is very easy to customize, so sticking with the defaults is a missed opportunity.  This is your software - own it!

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

We all want to become better painters.  Achieving a flow state, forgetting about the menus, and just painting.  Mastering your keyboard shortcuts is a bit part of this learning curve, and is an essential step toward improving as a digital painter.  “Spring Loaded Keys” is a neat option, allowing you to temporarily switch between tools.  It won’t make you a master overnight, but it will save you hundreds of keypresses a day.  What do you have to lose?

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In this video demonstration I'll conclude the lasso painting demo by adding fine details to the beach scene. To show off how versatile the lasso tool can be,...

In this video demonstration I’ll conclude the lasso painting demo by adding fine details to the beach scene.  To show off how versatile the lasso tool can be, I go out of my way to use it as the primary tool for this entire scene.  What made it useful for a quick block-in continues to be useful for small details - it’s just a matter of zoom.  I hope this mini-series gives you a new appreciation for this often overlooked tool.  Even though it will never replace free hand painting, it’s a great weapon to add to your arsenal.  Have fun!

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As we continue working with the lasso tool, this video demonstration focuses on 'blocking in color'. When painting, starting simple before getting detailed i...

As we continue working with the lasso tool, this video demonstration focuses on ‘blocking in color’.  When painting, starting simple before getting detailed is a winning strategy - so why not start with the lasso?  In this tutorial you’ll see how the lasso offers a nice balance of precision and speed.  In the next  video I’ll complete the study by adding small details - still using the same tools - so stay tuned!

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As we continue to explore the lasso tool's power for digital painting, this video focuses on keyboard shortcuts. If you've been following Ctrl+Paint for long...

As we continue to explore the lasso tool's power for digital painting, this video focuses on keyboard shortcuts.  If you've been following Ctrl+Paint for long, you know that I'm a huge keyboard shortcut fan - and the lasso tool is no exception.  To help you remember the important key bindings, make sure to check out my cheat sheet to the right.

Keyboard shortcuts matter.  They really do.  In my opinion they're one of the biggest factors that separates beginners from seasoned digital painters.  If you're not using keyboard shortcuts, the tools stop being loose and creative.  Instead, half of your time is spent hunting through menus instead of just ... painting.  So if you want to paint, part of the learning process involves memorizing keyboard shortcuts.

Selection Keyboard Shortcuts

Transform Selection:   Ctrl+Shift+T

Add to Selection: Shift + * Tool

Subtract from Selection: Alt + * Tool

Invert Selection: Ctrl+Shift+i

Deselect: Ctrl+D

Hide Marching AntsCtrl+H

This works for any selection tool: Lasso, Marquee, Magic Wand, etc.

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Tools like the "Brush" and "Eraser" seem like obvious choices for making digital paintings. But what about the "Lasso"? As it turns out, Photoshop's lasso to...

Tools like the "Brush" and "Eraser" seem like obvious choices for making digital paintings.  But what about the "Lasso"?  As it turns out, Photoshop's lasso tool can be an incredibly powerful addition to your digital workflow.

Ctrl+Paint has devoted lots of time to the brush tool, so it's only fair to devote a bit to the lasso tool.  This is the first video of a short mini-series, and by the end I hope to convince you on the merits of this unlikely tool.

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Ctrl+Paint is over 4 years old, and I've gone through a number of site revisions.  If you're a long-time reader, you're all too familiar with these organizational revisions.  The site finally operates like I originally intended!  With this in mind, I decided it was worth making a quick 'welcome' video to show new users their way around.  

If you are a new user, welcome!  If you're a Ctrl+Paint veteran, hi! I'm glad you're here, and look forward to more years of digital painting videos.  Thanks for coming to the site!

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Sometimes you'll need to apply color correction while an image is in flux.  Maybe you have compositional elements that aren't tacked down, or you're still refining your character designs.  There are a million scenarios where you might want to apply a set of color corrections to a group of objects. Better yet, you might want to continue moving and modifying those objects.  

Can we have the best of both world?  Yes.  Layer groups and clipping masks are the solution.

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