Digital Painting, 26 Beginner Tricks and Techniques

Introduction

Welcome to Digital Painting Tricks & Techniques. I’m Gary Tonge, a professional digital artist working predominantly in the entertainment software industry. As with my first book, Bold Visions, I have written this with the intention of helping aspiring and professional artists alike make the most of their own talents and get more out of the software used to create computer-generated, or CG, art. I’ll share with you my individual techniques and tips that will hopefully inspire some new ideas, offer solutions to your art challenges, and help speed up your workflow.

Primarily I use Adobe® Photoshop® to create my art. While I often scribble a sketch onto a pad, or model a quick shape in a 3-D package, I almost always return to Photoshop to finalize my images. Many of the techniques explored here are quite personal to me, so you will also get some insight into how I go about painting my art and the tricks I use from time to time to speed things up, add polish and create great-looking final pieces.

Whether your goals are to update and improve your current skill set, make your digital-painting hobby more fulfilling, or just see how a professional digital

artist does things, it is my hope that this book will help you find inspiration and insight into CG art.

Brushes and Brushstrokes

As you grow as an artist, you’ll start to form your own distinctive style. A portion of this no doubt comes from things that influence and inspire you—nature, the work of other artists, and your own imagination. However, one of the most defining elements to any artist’s work is the way in which brushstrokes are applied. Let’s explore some tips for creating lines and brush effects, and how to use them effectively in your art.

Draw Straight Lines

Straight lines are as simple as it gets when working digitally, and there are a number of good ways to create them. (Please note: The red box and arrow you see below are not part of the original screen shots. I have overlaid them there to help with clarity of instructions.)

Draw Lines With the Line Tool

The most basic method for creating lines is to select the line tool in the toolbox, set the width and opacity of the line you want, then draw