"Getting Better" at Painting

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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.

Eyedropper + Layer Blending Modes

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 ...

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: In Depth

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 differen...

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

Using a Textured Canvas

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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

Brush Series: Diffuser

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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!

Brush Series: Block-In

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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!

Sketching: Value

All images don't need to start with lines. This digital painting tutorial shows that some artwork starts with large brush strokes, and some of the reasons fo...

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.

Hard and Soft Shadow Edges

Realistic rendering often comes down to your ability to paint shadows. This video explores one simple aspect of shadows: hard and soft edges. --- Free Brushe...

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.

Brush Technique: Blending

In this Photoshop digital painting tutorial, we'll explore edge blending. The division between two areas of color is a crucial challenge for painters. Learni...

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.

Edges & Bevels

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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.

Glossiness Pt. 3: Imagined Objects

The previous two videos explained how to observe and paint glossiness from reference. What happens when you are painting a glossy surface from your imaginati...

The previous two videos explained how to observe and paint glossiness from reference. What happens when you are painting a glossy surface from your imagination? In these cases you'll need to have a strong mental texture library, and apply what you've learned in your studies to the imagined forms. This video explains how to approach this task by using appropriate reference materials and doing a bit of mental extrapolation.

Studying Glossiness

One of the tricks to making your digital paintings more realistic is a solid understanding of glossy highlights. In this Photoshop tutorial we'll look at stu...

Improving your painting is often a matter of depicting surfaces realistically. One component of a surface is the glossy highlight, or, "specularity" and it is explained in this video. If you're interested in learning more about surfaces and improving your rendering techniques, you will enjoy two of the series available in the store: Basic Photoshop Rendering and Creating Realistic Surfaces.

Why Work Digitally?

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Whenever a new medium emerges, artists are quick to dismiss it as inferior -- and digital painting has been received negatively by many artists. This video is my attempt to argue in favor of digital painting. Of course, there's no correct medium to work in. Working digitally, though, brings some wonderful new opportunities to the table. Besides, when was the last time you hand-wrote a letter? With my commercial work I find the best solution is almost always a combination of tools: some 3D, a little photo-texture, lots of reference imagery, and digital painting to pull it all together.

Mastering the Art of Letting Go

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Painting is all about controlling your mindset. You can easily become your own worst enemy by tensing up, being overly critical, and worrying about your mistakes. Learning to control these feelings is a huge part of learning to paint. In this video I'll show you a drill that helps you come to terms with 'professional detachment'. This practice of 'letting go' will give you a thicker skin, and make critique easier to hear. Being able to throw away your work is essential for all artists, but it is especially useful for professionals.

Preparing Your Scanned Linework

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If you've got a traditional pen or pencil drawing that you want to color digitally, scanning the image is only step 1. Before you can start painting you need to make a few adjustments. This video shows some simple tweaks that will make your sketch prepared for painting.

Image Resolution

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A common question for beginners is "What size should I make my canvas?" Wanting to know exactly how many white pixels to lay out before you start working is a comforting feeling, but there's no 'right' answer to this question. In this video we'll explore the idea of dynamic resolution. Counter to the rules for digital photography, there are benefits to beginning with a small canvas and gradually enlarging it as you work.

Loosen Up

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The difference between a "good painting day" and a "bad painting day" often comes down to mindset. This video shows a simple but effective warm up exercise to start painting with the right mindset. If athletes and musicians begin each session with stretching and warm up exercises, why aren't you? Painting is a physical and mental exercise, and you benefit from a bit of limbering up before you work.

Brush Control Basics

In this Photoshop digital painting tutorial, we'll get more familiar with the brush tool by learning the difference between 'diameter brushes" and "Opacity B...

The brush tool is the heart of digital painting. It can be a bit confusing, and this video will help familiarize you with the basic components like Opacity and Diameter. Interestingly, the way to make the brush tool more useful is to limit the functionality. In this video I explore the difference between my two favorite types of brushes: Opacity Brushes use the pen pressure on your stylus to control the amount of pigment, and have a fixed diameter.  Keyboard shortcuts are used to change the diameter.

Diameter brushes use the pen pressure to control the diameter, and have a fixed amount of pigment.  This creates the effect of applying ink with a bristle brush -- you get a varied line weight, but a consistent intensity of ink.

Applying Decals Using the Warp Tool

Adding details like text and graphics on curved surfaces might seem like a challenge - but the warp tool makes it extremely easy. This digital painting tutor...

Painting is often best done from simple to complex. This methodology certainly applies to situations where you are painting surfaces with 2D decals like an emblem on armor. A traditional painter might first paint the base surface, and then once the paint dries would be able to paint the 2D decal over top. In this video I'll explore a digital approach to this task. Unlike the traditional process, Photoshop allows us to prepare the 2D image as a flat decal and then distort it into place to match the illustration. You can use this same technique to apply existing images such as logos, or 2D images of your own.