[ZippZopp]

my tablet should be in this week and i'm just itchin to dive into digital painting. I just had a few questions on technique. do most people paint digitally as they do traditionally, in the sensse that you paint on one layer? or do you use multiple layers in photoshop. also, are filters used? thanks!

[nova]

For layers it depends.. there's usually a main layer with almost all of the painting, an one or two layers for adjustments. Usually doesn't go beyond 4 layers, mostly stays at 2.

[gekitsu]

this totally depends on your personal opinion.
there are people out there that paint unbelievable things in just one layer. without filtering without anything. they just paint.
on the other hand, there are artists that put every little detail in a black&white-layer and set it to hard light/soft light or something else.
i suggest try everything and find your way of using more of this nd something different from that.
remember, it's not the tools you use, it's the way you use them.

i personnaly paint a lot in one layer and then add filtered things in different layers for some special effects when needed.

[Awetopsy]

I use layers... Its my downfall. Tons and tons of layers... :P

[mza]

If your a traditional artist, try to use Photoshop like you would any traditional medium your comfortable with (watercolor, oil,charcoal,pencil). All the filters,layering, and techniques are fun to play with, but my advice is get comfortable playing around on it like you would blank piece of paper.

my 2 cents

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Quote:

If I unplugged your computer, could you still make art?

[Ztiev]

My layer stack very closely resembles the tower of Babel. I use a gazillion layers, grouped into sets (characters, foreground, background, etc). And here's why: You can make really quick adjustments, without worrying about selection sets. You can try something, and then apply it in a variety of ways. I usually have a layer for each material, and one each for light sources, shadows, cast shadows etc. So, by using the materials as quick selections, you can adjust the effects of light and shade per material.

The drawback is poor color mixing, and a look that isn't as traditional. But I still like it.

As for filters: I use gausian blur quite a bit, and find that with a hand-painted B&W layer, the emboss filter can make some great bump-map type effects. Occasionally, you can use displace for some cool distortion effects. That's pretty much my list of filters. Anything else is better done by hand, IMO.

[Dekard]

Also, you can't just 'jump' into painting really if you don't know the rest of the stuff, most artists work into painting after mastering the basic drawing fundamentals. Try to start from Line Drawings, to Shading, to adding Color, to Painting.

[strata]

it's kind of odd though... I've been looking at sijun for years reading through all the tutorials and everything that all the great painters have said, but up until 11 months ago I hadn't touched a wacom or painted at all... then when I got mine I found that a lot of what I had read had stuck to my mind even though I had never physically performed the painting... so I knew a lot about rules and how to paint and all that... so I'd say you actually can jump in =)