Digital painting relies on your ability to comfortably wield the Brush Tool. Keyboard shortcuts are a huge part of that, and committing them to memory is an important step in your learning. This video proposes a 'maze' drill for you to hone your brush tool chops. It may seem a bit unusual, but it's not all that different from an athlete running through an obstacle course to improve their agility! Most importantly, have fun with this! And make sure to download the brush maze drill here. And if you want a refresher on the brush tool and its hidden features, check out this digital painting 101 video
When you think of perspective, do you immediately reach for the rulers and technical pens? You don't need to. I find perspective to be more useful when it's utilized more like the rest of your sketching: casually. This video offers a simple exercise to get you thinking.
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Drawing symmetrical objects in perspective can be a challenge. In situations like this, I generally use Google Sketchup to help me with my accuracy This video explores the powerful tools that Sketchup provides for working with repeated shapes and symmetrical forms. Even if you're saying "Yeah, yeah - symmetry is no big deal in perspective..." would you change your tune if I asked you to draw an object that 7-sided with rotational symmetry? Sometimes a little bit of 3D saves a lot of time.
Do you ever feel like you're treading water? You're stgnating, while the rest of the art community is progressing at lightning speed? You're not alone.This video is a little detour from the standard ctrl+paint technique videos to talk about inspiration, mindset, and 'getting better'. Ultimately, we're all experiencing this in one form or another, so it's worth talking about. Remember: even professionals feel sub-par a fair amount of the time. Art is mind game. UPDATE: It's been really, really great hearing these responses. Art is one of those challenges that we all take on personally - and can feel isolated by the effort. Knowing that everyone else is wrestling with similar issues can be a big help.
So keep the conversation going -- It's an important one to be a part of. Additionally, reader "Jonathan" reminded me of a fantastic series of videos by the radio host Ira Glass on storytelling and inspiration. He's the host of This American Life, and has a lot of experience fighting through the self doubt and frustration involved in creative work. It's definitely worth watching.
Much of the painting that happens on this site is made with two types of strokes: opaque and glaze. This video explains the difference, and how photoshop 'layer blending modes' control the effect.
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Most of the basic information about brushes and blending I give only works on "normal layers". To get the most out of other blending modes while still using on-screen blending mixing takes a few tricks to understand. In this video I'll show how I like to use a combination of blending modes and how they interact with my traditional on-screen-mixing technique.
Note: Reader Tom H brings up a great point: the videos this week are going under the assumption that you have the "sample all layers" mode activated on your eyedropper tool. You will get different results if you use the "sample current layer" mode. Thanks for the reminder, Tom!
The Eyedropper tool is used to sample colors that are already on your canvas. It seems straightforward, but what happens when your layers are set to different blending modes? This video explains a bit more in-depth about the eye dropper tool, and how you might use it in a complex painting. It may seem like the Eyedropper is of only minor importance, but to a digital painter it becomes one of the most frequently accessed.
To learn more about the on-screen mixing talked about in the video, try these others:
Digital Painting 101 #3, Brush Control Basics , Blending Technique
Learning art can seem like a bottomless pit of information. To keep things simple, it's important to start your drawing and painting education in grayscale - and reserve color for later. Though it's tempting to move straight into color, this video provides an argument for working slowly and methodically. After all, it's how they do it in art school.
If this is a topic that you really believe in, and want to know more, make sure to check out the Basic Photoshop Rendering series in the store! When I created this series, it was my intent to capture my experience in Drawing 1 and apply it to digital painting.
In the years I've studied drawing, "constructive form" has made the largest impact on me. The general idea is to visually reduce complex forms into simpler ones, and make your drawing challenge more manageable. Especially as a concept artist, drawing from one's imagination is essential. Teaching yourself to envision objects in this simplified manner is a key concept for improving your imaginary drawing skills.
This is a companion video to go along with the two previous texture brush downloads. Hopefully this will explain why an artist might prefer working on a textured canvas. I don't always begin with one, but it can lead to very rich results. If you didn't get a chance to see the previous videos, make sure to watch them here: Block-in Brush, and Diffuser Brush
Traditional painters often start with a "ground" - giving them a neutral, textured surface to begin their painting on. This video introduces a custom brush which will quickly generate such a ground for your digital painting. Unlike most brushes I mention, this one is designed to work with the Smudge Tool. To download the brush for yourself, click here!
Most painting is done with basic brushes, but sometimes it's nice to have a big chunky block-in brush to get your canvas started. This video introduces my ctrl+Paint block-in brush, and includes a free download.
To try the brush for yourself, download it here!
In the vocabulary of painting "value" refers to illumination. Light areas are high in value, dark areas are low in value. This video explores value sketching - in which a painter foregoes the line-drawing phase and skips straight to tone. If you've never done this sort of sketching before, it's a fantastic exercise!
From my experience, beginners are often taught to think in terms of line because pencils are so cheap and accessable. Working in value requires an artist to more carefully consider form and mass, which is a valuable way to think. Normally sketching in this way would require messy paints or charcoal, but working digitally makes using tone and value just as easy as lines.
A safe approach to most drawing is going from general to specific. Large scale before details. This video shows how apply that general form to sketching line-work in Photoshop using layers. Of course, drawing is a personal process and your technique might differ. This is the method I derived over time from my experience as a Comic Book student in art school, and a concept artist after college.
Light and shadow reveal the form of an object. The way to create a likeness lies in the accurate depiction of shadows cast across form. So what should you look out for when painting light and shadow? This video explores shadows' tendency to have both hard and soft edges.
Note: It's not clearly mentioned in the video, but this technique is only relevant in the case of strong directional lighting. If you were looking at an object on a cloudy day, this principle would not apply.
Finally, if you want to know more about this topic you will enjoy the premium series available in the store: Basic Photoshop Rendering.
Mechanically, painting is very simple: add paint to the canvas, and blend it with the paint that you've already applied. That said, blending technique is a subtle art and can be a lifetime pursuit. This video shows some basic blending techniques for photoshop. And if the brushes aren't working the way you want them to, watch this video on brush controls.
What type of computer should you use? Is it ok to draw with a mouse? What about the iPad? I answer these questions and more in this video. It's worth noting that these are my personal views based off of personal experience, and we'd all love to hear additional viewpoints in the comments!
What happens where two faces of a cube meet? I'll give you a hint: it's not a a razor sharp divide between the two surfaces. This video zooms in on edges and bevels and explains their importance in painting. Additionally, industrial design lives and dies by tiny details like the radius of a bevel or corner - so this is valuable information for aspiring designers of all stripes.
Is there something you normally avoid drawing? Hands, faces, cars? Here's my challenge to you: draw 100 of them. There's no better way to improve at something than to dedicate yourself to it. It's natural to avoid drawing the things that you're weak at, but you should fight this urge. Are you up to the challenge?
Many beginner artists are reluctant to learn perspective drawing. It is often thought of as 'technical' and 'scary', but it doesn't need to be either of those things. If you want to be a concept artist or illustrator, you need to learn perspective. In this video I'll show a very basic exercise that you can practice for beginning to understand perspective. This is an observational drawing assignment, and should be done with paper and pencil. Have fun!