For traditional drawing, it doesn't get any more basic than the HB pencil. That said, its versatility keeps is relevant for even the most skilled artists! The ctrl+Paint unplugged series is all about traditional drawing, and this is the major tool you'll be using.
Do you keep an "inspiration" folder? You should! This video explains the benefits of keeping a folder of inspirational paintings, and organizing them with Adobe Bridge. There are a variety of programs that offer similar tagging and organizing, but Adobe Bridge integrates well with other Adobe software, so I like it a lot.
Drawing is at least 50% 'seeing'. In order to capture the subject that you're looking at, you need to be able to critically look at it. One of the methods that artists use to accurately observe an object is called "visual measuring", and it's described in this video.
Capturing the 'gesture' of an object is not limited to figure drawing. The exercise shown in this video is one of the most direct and active way to sketch, and doesn't require a computer.
And make sure not to miss the other videos in the Unplugged Series!
Realistic color is often pure and unmixed. Learning to paint realistically involves learning about the way light behaves, and how colors bounce from one object to another. This video shows you how you can kill two birds with one stone: create realistic color and unify your color palette at the same time.
Painting requires you to think about many things, and one of them is color. Learning to accurately observe color will translate into more efficient painting. The less time you spend re-painting the same area of yor canvas searching for the perfect color, the quicker you will be able to finish the work and move onto another. This video offers a color drill which is all about careful observation. How close can you get? Reader Aaron M. reminded me of a fantastic follow-up: The Munsel Hue Test. This is a fun way to test your hue observation skills. I would love to see scores for both of these games in the comments!
Hopefully you've already watched pt 1, because this video enhances the basic 'chop and warp' technique by modifying the selection. Quick mask mode, as shown in this video, can be a very efficient way to modify a selection! It is a very powerful tool, though many digital painters avoid it.
One of the real benefits of working digitally is the ability to be flexible. Want to change the color? No problem. Want to move something around? No problem. It takes a different mindset than traditional drawing, but if you can wrap your head around it your work will improve. This video explores the use of "copy merged" to modify a piece of nearly-finished concept art. Traditional wisdom says that once you've made it this far into a painting it's too late to move things around, but Photoshop makes it much more possible! Though it's always better to work out the problems in your illustration earlier in the process (ideally in the thumbnail sketch), you will occasionally need to make last-second course corrections.
Faces are hard to draw! One secret to learning how to draw faces is to first tackle the skull. For a variety of reasons, the skull is a great stand-in for a face. We're hard wired to be especially critical about human faces, and they can be frustrating to learn with. Instead, learning with the skull can help you internalize the basic proportions and masses before you move onto actual faces.
As a followup to the Sketchup for Backgrounds mini-series, I want to explain the concept of a 'paint-over'. This is not an excuse to skip learning to draw, but rather a shortcut for experienced painters. Before digital art was possible, commercial artists have done plenty of tracing in their work - and it was totally acceptable. This was not because the artists weren't very good at drawing - it was merely a time saver which allowed them to meet their deadlines. Using a 3D render (from sketchup or elsewhere) is the same concept -- it saves time for the artist. Again, it's not a pass which allows you to skip learning perspective drawing. Update: In response to some of the comments about the Sketchup series, I've created a quick video which will hopefully clear up the confusion. View it here.
This wraps up the sketchup mini-series by putting the scene together and exporting a render. I find this stage extremely fun, because all of the hard work is complete. Now all that remains is arranging your houses - very much like building a toy city out of pre-painted models.
This continues the mini-series by looking at the Sketchup 'texturing' process. This is when you apply color and surfaces to the blank white 3D models, making them look much more convincing. If you've never worked with a texture in 3D before this might seem abstract, but the knowledge is very useful if you plan to enter the game industry.
Adding a cityscape in the background of an illustration really ups the 'wow factor', but can be an unacceptable amount of extra labor. A little 3D can change all of that. This video series uses Google Sketchup as a tool to speed up the process of creating a detailed background. Eventually you'll paint over the 3D render, but it serves as a fantastic 'under-drawing'. Note: This three part series won't show you every button to press in sketchup, but instead - a compelling reason to figure them out.
Sometimes a line can be more than just a line. This video explains how to fit extra information into a simple line drawing. Adding a bit of extra thickness might seem like no big thing, but if you use the weight of lines intentionally you can infuse your artwork with depth and energy. Though these are not hard and fast rules, you can use the information in this video as rules of thumb for your future line drawings.
computers and software are really good at repetitive tasks. Why not let Photoshop do some of the hard work for you? This video tackles a specific storyboarding-related challenge with a photoshop "action". Even if you're not a storyboard artist, you'll see the way that I identify a challenge and figure out how to get Photoshop to solve it for me. Best of all, once you've created the action, you can assign a keyboard shortcut to it! And if you want the storyboarding action I mention in this video, download it here!
Every artist has a different answer to the question of "how many layers?", but knowing the difference between direct and indirect painting is key to forming your own workflow. This is an old concept, but it makes the leap to photoshop beautifully, allowing the artist to work on layers independently from one another. There was a time when layers meant you had to wait for paint to dry -- luckily, the digital process allows you to skip that part.
If you like the idea of "indirect painting" and want to know more, check out the "Grayscale to Color" series in the store.
Anatomy is a huge subject. This video will introduce the two main approaches: observational and constructive. Each is useful, and most artists use both from time to time.
Have you ever had a trouble drawing certain directions with your stylus? You're not alone. This video offers a few solutions. Sadly, the best one (canvas rotation) is only available in newer versions of Photoshop.
Learning to digital paint is a long process. It can seem overwhelming at times, but it gets easier! Trust me! This video will give you a bigger-picture view of the process, and help keep things in perspective. If you want to know more, Learning Map is another good resource.
I'm having a blast making these videos for you guys. It's great hearing the interesting conversation, and swapping techniques with all of you artists. That said, I need to keep the lights on here in Ctrl+Paint tower, so you guys need to help spread the word! I hope you've noticed that the website has no advertising, and lost of free videos! None of this is free for me, so another way you can help is by purchasing one of the premium series from the store. Thanks, everyone - and keep being an amazing community!