Digital painting is a huge subject and is very popular these days. Despite this, finding good beginner level tutorials on the subject is still not that easy unless you know where to look. It also depends on the software you have chosen to use as to the quality and amount of tutorials available. I would say It is better to adopt a learning the fundamentals of digital painting approach.
When I started painting digitally in 2004 I learned slowly and randomly on my own by creating personal digital artworks. Before that I had been using traditional mediums like pen and pencil.
I was into Lord of the Rings, mythology and folklore so elves and fairy’s were my main subject matter back then. I used to write little stories about a character called Jane the Elf. There used to be an art gallery website called Elfwood which was my favorite online art place to go for a while.
Here is some of my early digital work (The three little pigs was my first Photoshop Illustration).
There were not as many resources about learning digital painting back then, but there was ImagineFX magazine from 2006 onward and the CG Society website (which is gone now). ImagineFX usually focuses on a particular use or industry per edition such as book illustration, game art, animation etc so it gave me a general overview to digital art which I found interesting. It also introduced artists and different styles to me which I liked reading about.
My art gradually improved the more I practiced and I and bought a Wacom Tablet around 2006 which gave me better pressure sensitivity control in the program I was using which was Corel Painter.
I also used to visit art community’s such as GFX Artist and CGhub, which have long since expired. Occasionally other digital artists would share tips which I would read and learn from.
The Don Seegmiller book on digital painting was one of the first I bought on the subject, although it was a little advanced for me at the time. I didn’t even know what “blocking in” meant let alone anything else in that book, but the pictures were inspiring to me. I spent a lot of money on art related books through the years and practiced whenever I could.
In the later years I spent more time making studies and practice work rather than full illustrations because I was becoming less inspired by fantasy subjects than I had been. I kept practicing but in 2012 I had burnout and stopped making art. I did an art course around 2014 which helped get me back on my feet but all I could manage for a while were realistic studies, I felt intimidated to do larger Illustrations for a while until I skilled up on my fundamentals.
If you would like to see my recent work please visit my website.
Update March 2024: If you have been reading my blog since I wrote this article you may have noticed I started learning 3D art as well which has helped keep my motivation up and I’ve used it for some of my Illustration projects along with digital painting.
Here are some general tips given in no particular order, about learning digital painting which I can relate to you from my personal experience. I had to start again with digital painting after a few years of a break from it from around 2015, so I will share some personal insight about burnout as well.
Learn the user interface
When I’m learning new art software the first thing I do is learn the user interface (UI) of the program. I usually explore the menu options, learn the main functions of the software and then try to create something with it. It helps if there are good beginner tutorials from the creator of the software or a well written documentation manual.
Getting past the technical hurdle of learning software can be time consuming and frustrating, but it is worth it in the long run. I’ve used various digital art software over the years from photo editing, digital painting, vector and even 3D software. Digital painting and photo editing using Photoshop and Corel Painter is something I started to do around 2004, vector art around 2015 and 3D art very recently around 2018.
Different types of software’s have there own particular quirks and learning curves to overcome until you can start being creative, have fun and be productive with them. My advice would be to choose one or two programs at maximum and learn them well before trying others. This eliminates possible confusion with the learning process for the technical software aspects. Once you have learned one digital painting software well you can probably try different digital painting software and not feel too confused because they are usually similar in design or at least functionality.
What I can say from personal experience is try different software now and then just so you know what you might be missing out on or to try different ways of working. I used to only use Corel Painter for a long time, but after I tried Photoshop and other programs after my art course finished (end of 2014) I realized I preferred some aspects of painting in Photoshop and got a little obsessed with trying out brushes and different techniques which was fun. I made my own set of brushes which you can find in my Gumroad store along with other resources I’ve made over the years.
Update on software use March 2024
I use the Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop because it comes with loads of free brushes and I want to stay up to date in terms of PSD and other file support. It is also useful for my 3D work.
I still use the latest stable Krita version but I stopped using Clip Studio Paint because I didn’t really like using it all that much over Photoshop and Krita and it became less attractive to update for me due to the subscription model combined with that.
I got Corel Painter 2023 in a Humble Bundle offer and I think it is the best version of the program so far. I have Rebelle 7 which is a great software for painting in watercolour and oil styles.
I usually combine all my programs when I’m creating Illustrations depending on the look I want so I don’t regard one software being better than any other really. Depends on the result I want to achieve.
Depending on the style I want to achieve I may use more specialized software from time to time but generally I start in Krita. I think Krita is great for beginners as well as advanced users because it has a good selection of brushes included with the program. It is free to download and use as well which is good because not everyone gets on with digital painting so there is less expense involved. Perhaps save up for other software if you are sure it is something you want to commit to. You will still have to spend money on hardware and perhaps training, so digital painting isn’t free and saving money can be wise.
You only need a few basic brushes to start with, don’t get too worried about having the latest or most popular ones. Ultimately it is not the software or the fancy brushes that will make you a good artist but the hours of focused practice you put in.
Learn thecontext
In the very early days of starting digital painting I wasn’t very focused and I didn’t think too much about things like foundational art skills or whether I could earn a living as an artist. My initial reason for learning digital art was as a creative and fun activity. I think it is fine to have a hobby, sometimes making a hobby into a job can kill the passion.
After I had been doing digital painting for a few years and started to get better at it I also gained more negative feedback online and offline. I eventually got discouraged with my progress and disillusioned about art in general. I became a lot less inclined to upload my art. I had low confidence about art and illustration in general after being told it was “pie in the sky” by “advisors” at my local job center. My family was not very supportive (and are still rather blasé about it if I’m honest but I understand it isn’t everyones cup of tea and I don’t really care). I lost my motivation.
Due to this experience, I believe learning about what a particular skill can do for you is very important to start with. This information could be useful if you need to justify it to your family or yourself at some point, and as a way to bolster your resolve for learning it in general.
Update 2024: if you really want to do digital painting or any form of art and people try to discourage you just do it because you will suffer if you don’t fulfil what you want to do. My dad told me he would disown me if I bought ZBrush but after seeing what I could do with it he thought it was fine. It’s my choice, my money and my life at the end of the day.
It also helps you form a plan of action for learning it in a focused manner. I now like to establish early on what the skill is potentially useful for and try to find good beginner level resources until I commit to learning it in any depth (I do this with 3D as well). It avoids getting discouraged with overwhelming or complicated information that is more suited to advanced users.
As a side note to this I would also say be wary of early critisism from complete strangers or even family members when you are starting something new, because it can be more discouraging than helpful for a beginner. Having positive feedback and encouragement from people who have your best interests in mind and have walked the same path is better for motivation. Seek experts and good teachers.
So with that out of the way and off my chest so to speak, you may ask (or your family may ask): what is the point of learning digital painting? This question could have many different answers depending on whom you asked because it is a huge subject and is used in different ways. I think digital painting is a worthwhile skill to develop for the following reasons:
It is useful for texture painting 3D models; concept art; art for computer games; illustrations; digital fine art that you can sell as prints; comics and graphic novels; t-shirt designs and decorated products. It is convenient for making edits, flexible and affordable.
I could probably write a whole article just on this question so I’ll stop there for now in case I want to do that. Type the question into Google or ask some working digital artists, concept designers and illustrators nicely and you will find there are many good reasons for doing it and getting proficient at it. It is fine to do it for pure joy of course, but I’m writing this in case you need to have a reason other than that. I think it can be good for mental health and confidence learning new things as well of course.
Find a community and ormentor
I understand this is a good thing to do for motivational and personal reasons. It ties in with the previous section as well. If you can find good role models and other artists to inspire you that can only be a good thing. Even better if they take you under their wing and guide you.
Doing a guided course with a tutor who will give you feedback could be a way of achieving this. There are many online artists who offer guidance to groups of beginners via Patreon or Discord servers. If you can’t afford that then buy one of their books, watch their YouTube channels or listen to their podcasts.
Focus on foundational artskills
Learning the foundational art skills will make the process of learning digital painting more focused for you and help you in the long run when you have to draw complicated cityscapes and environments and thousands of angry skeletons attacking a pink cyber dragon or something like that. Developing a tried and tested method or technique for creating digital artwork will also help you (I used to create artwork and then forget how I’d done it all the time). I wrote a short article on the art fundamentals some time ago.
Digital painting is something you can apply your traditional art skills to, it is only another tool like any art medium. Initially my art tutors were skeptical of my art skills because of their pre-conceptions about digital art. They assumed I didn’t have “real” skills. I think I convinced them by doing a lot of traditional drawing of course, but it isn’t nice when people are prejudiced about things they don’t understand.
I went back to practicing with traditional mediums from 2013–2015 and after that I started to focus more on my foundational art skills which has improved my drawing ability and has given me new ideas to apply to my digital work so I guess it worked out. Mabye it is a good thing to do for any digital artist to go back to basics every so often.
Have fun
Another thing that is very important to me when I’m learning a new skill is the fun factor. What kept me going with digital art for so long was not the prospect of earning money one day because I didn’t really think or know about that side of it, but the fun aspect in creating fantasy creatures for my stories which I used to write and sharing art on the internet with like minded people. Update 2024: I will say it is best to be more cautious about uploading art on the internet due to the AI art bots so I’m rethinking this.
It helps to cultivate your personal passions and interests and somehow apply them to your learning process. I know lots of people bad-mouth things like Anime and fan art but for beginners this is often how they started. My twin sister, Katherine certainly did. My only caution would be that it is best to move on and do your own thing eventually, something I keep trying to convince her and keep failing at.
I now do this in the form of creating personal projects like my Tale of Stone project: a world building project I started in the final year of my Foundation Art Diploma. I used it as a way to get back into digital painting and Illustration and learn 3D software as well. Update 2024: I’ve worked on lots of mini projects and illustrated a computer game.
Find good resources
Books and online resources are plentiful these days. Just look on Youtube and you will find loads of videos for digital painting techniques. Gumroad is a growing resource of amazing tutorials for concept art and digital painting. I’ve written an article about online resources for learning art.
Be open to different approaches from different people but if something is not working for you be prepared to try a different things until something clicks for you. There is no one way of doing anything… Try to find teachers or resources that offer to teach you in styles that appeal to you and your goals and are not over critical but supportive in their approach.
If you want to make your digital painting look like traditional art for example, you should study traditional art techniques as well. A popular style of digital art is the “handpainted” style which might be a good thing to start your research with.
Books
Some good books I can recommend are:
How to Render by Scott Robertson
How to Draw by Scott Robertson
Color and Light by James Gurney
Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist by James Gurney
The Skillful Huntsman- a wonderful book on world building and visual development that is always inspiring to read
Any of the Andrew Loomis books
Practice MakePerfect
This is probably the most important step in learning how to do digital painting or anything else. Watching tutorials and reading books will help you understand the context of what is possible and how to best apply yourself, but making sure you do the practical exercises and practice your skills is essential.
Remember to take breaks and be easy on yourself though. When I’m learning something new I tend to have an obsessive approach and I can wear myself out mentally and physically if I’m not careful. Just remember to have fun and don’t forget to talk to your friends and family, wash, exercise and eat something now and then.
Repetitive strain injury, illness and backache is no laughing matter and will impede your progress. I use a standing desk setup nowadays. It also has the added benefit of taking up less room (because I don’t have much). Sitting down hunched over a tablet for years ruined my back and it was expensive and time consuming to fix. You have been warned…
Update 2024: I abandoned the standing desk idea. It helped me for a while while I was recovering but eventually I found that a more traditional desk and a chair with good back support was better for longer working hours.
