I like how much I learned about using photoshop and cool techniques I was unaware of even when I had the software. It was a lot of fun and I recommend it to anyone trying to get into digital painting!
# Digital Painting Course: Introduction

## Turn your digital blank canvas into a masterpiece in this 6-week workshop

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## Capture the World Around You

The characters, creatures, environments, props, and background designs that determine the look and feel of your favorite movies, TV shows, and games probably all started with a painting.

In this Digital Painting Course, you will learn to understand the basics of what makes a successful painting, to choose the right tools, and to apply those skills to your own interests and career path. You’ll learn the fundamentals of the painting process as well as time-saving workflows within Photoshop. Storytelling is also an important part of any visual medium, and you’ll learn how to use digital painting to share your own stories.

Justin Owens - Digital Painting

Digital Painting Progression by Justin Owens

6-WEEK WORKSHOP

$899 USD

### Pro Artists Mentor You to Be Successful

Our digital painting course allows you to learn, practice, and get 1:1 feedback and reviews from our mentors. You will have the chance to learn from them in live conversations as they share insights about the industry and what qualities they look for in a digital artist. Our mentors will work directly with you to grow and improve your skills.

Justin Owens - mentor painting instructor

Animation Mentor Logo

Justin Owens

Curriculum Director

Animation Mentor

Justin Owens is Animation Mentor’s Director of Curriculumleading demos, tutorials, and the weekly campus video news. He previously worked as lead art director for several projects at indie game studios, and as a freelance designer and 3D generalist.

Whether its landscapes or characters, Justin is always interested in the storytelling opportunities of paint. His digital painting skills are bolstered by over 7 years of working in oils and other traditional mediums. An experienced teacher, Justin is ready to help students at any experience level develop their painting skills and reach their artistic goals.

### Examples of Justin’s In-Class Demos

Click and scroll through images to enlarge



### WDPaint01-01-Foundations-example

Understanding the Foundations



### justin-owens-composition-demo-22

Understanding Composition



### justin-owens-pumpkin-demo

Understanding Color and Character



### justin-owens-orange

Understanding Color

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## 1-on-1 Feedback from a Studio Pro

During this 6-week workshop, you’ll have live Q&As with your mentor each week in addition to receiving an assignment designed to build your skills. Plus, your mentor will review and critique each of your assignments and provide you with a video of their feedback so you can improve your work.

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## DIGITAL PAINTING AND WHERE IT CAN TAKE YOU

Concept artists merge modern tools with artistic skill, and you can too! By studying digital painting, you’ll not only master the software, but the basic theory behind value, tone, color, and composition to really make your art stand out. Follow in the footsteps of the pros and prepare your skill set for the digital workforce.

### Introduction to Digital Painting Course Student Gallery

Click and scroll through images to enlarge



### student-example-image-friederike-trunzer

Character in Landscape by Friederike Trunzer



### student-example-image-aaron-wu-landscape

Landscape by Aaron Wu



### student-example-image-aaron-wu-pikachu

Pikachu by Aaron Wu



### student-example-image-lauren-white

Still life by Lauren White



### student-example-image-cameron-pratt

Still life by Cameron Pratt



### student-example-image-stephen-shooster

Landscape by Stephen Shooster

## What You’ll Learn in Digital Painting Course

Week 1

#### Fundamentals of Digital Painting

We’ll begin with an overview of the workshop before jumping right in. We’ll study the basic principles used in any painting, regardless of medium (digital or traditional) including value, form, and shadows. Simple, hands-on exercises will get you comfortable with the digital tools that we’ll use for the duration of the workshop.

Week 2

#### Value and Composition

In week two we’ll examine the underlying structure of what makes a painting stand out and how value and composition contribute to the success and wow-factor of an image. Additional tools and exercises will guide you towards a better understanding of style, workflow, and technique.

Week 3

#### Color Theory and Digital Workflow

This week we’ll start to explore the basics of color theory and how to effectively use color within our paintings. We’ll also look at a more structured painting workflow, making the most of our digital tools. This includes a deep dive into using a layered approach to painting in Photoshop.

Week 4

#### Environment Painting

This week we’ll cover environment painting techniques and theory. This includes how light and shadow work in an exterior setting, as well as how to create a sense of depth or distance to your work. We’ll also explore how to lead the viewer’s eye for maximum impact by creating a strong focal point.

Week 5

#### Character Painting

Continuing on from environments, we’ll study the process of painting a character, as well as the basic principles of lighting. We’ll look at the three point lighting setup, and how it can be used to emphasize our character and create mood.

Week 6

#### Storytelling via Painting

In this final week, we’ll take everything we’ve learned and bring it all together, creating an illustration with our character in a simple environment. Specific attention will be paid to the relationship between the character and the environment to maximize storytelling.

### Course Requirements for Introduction to Digital Painting

### Course Details

LIVE Q&As| Weekly 1-Hour Q&As

LECTURES| 6 Pre-recorded Lectures

ASSIGNMENTS| 5 Digital Painting Exercises

SOFTWARE| Adobe Photoshop or equivalent digital painting software

HARDWARE| A tablet or other digital painting device (Wacom tablet or Cintiq, or equivalent), as well as meeting minimum requirements

AGE| 18 Years or Older

LANGUAGE| Taught in English

### Skills You Need Before You Start

Introduction to Digital Painting is open to students with little to no painting experience, as well as those with a strong foundation. Using Photoshop, we’ll start with the very basics of what is needed to create a successful painting using digital workflows. Students with traditional painting experience will also find value in learning how to transition to a digital medium.

### What You’ll Learn

After taking this workshop, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a digital artist and will have gained the following skills:

- Adobe Photoshop digital painting workflows that you can apply to any software
- Familiarity with painting concepts and techniques that can be applied to digital and traditional mediums
- Ability to create compelling imagery using value and composition
- Understanding of how lighting can change your approach to painting a subject indoors or outdoors
- Good foundation in 2D art that will kick start your social media art following

## FAQ for Digital Painting Course

Expand All

##### What resolution should I use for digital painting?

The most common size for modern, digital paintings is anywhere from 2-4K pixels (with some artists going as high as 6K). Lower resolution like 2K tends to work better for quick studies, while 3-4K is more common for a finished painting.

In the past, digital artists used to rely on DPI (dots per inch) to ensure high-quality artwork for print. For example, an 8X10 painting would’ve been 300 DPI.

##### What brushes to use for digital painting?

For beginners, the basic brush is more than enough. Make sure to use a hard-edged brush with opacity jitter. As you perfect your skills you may start using some more advanced brushes, but as a beginner you should focus more on the shapes and colors of your painting instead of choosing the right brush.

##### How do I start digital painting?

All you need to start digital painting is a tablet, a computer and a lot of imagination. For a more guided approach, check out our Intro to Digital Painting Workshop.

##### Why am I so slow at digital painting?

Like most art, digital painting takes time (especially at the beginning). Don’t focus too much on the time, just keep painting and you will naturally become faster as you get more familiar with the tools and shortcuts. It also takes time to find your own style, so don’t rush it. Practice makes perfect!

##### Why is digital painting so much harder than traditional painting?

Digital Painting can be overwhelming to a beginner because there’s an endless number of elements that you can tweak and adjust. The truth is that you won’t need most of them until you become a very highly skilled artist. So even if you don’t understand all of the techniques and shortcuts yet, don’t get discouraged. Just start painting and you’ll learn them along the way!

##### Do I need a stylus pen and a pen/display tablet?

Yes. If you want to be serious about digital painting a stylus pen and a tablet are the equivalent of a clean canvas and brush.

### What Digital Painting Students are Saying



#### Justin Is Awesome

Justin was awesome! I learned more in this workshop than when I attended 3.5 years at an art institute. It’s amazing what he’s capable of doing in photoshop with and without reference. I couldn’t ask for a better class.



#### Stronger Understanding

I learned a lot of valuable things about using photoshop and feel confident that I’m walking away with a stronger understanding of lighting and shadow design. The mentor was amazing at explaining processes and went above and beyond in helping his students



#### Made Painting Approachable

The content was presented very clearly and the exercises allowed us to practice them in fun and engaging ways. Digital painting can be a huge intimidating topic but the workshop allowed made it seem very approachable.



#### Improved My Compositions

This workshop really helped improve my composition skills and my ability to identify the colors that work well in whatever I’m painting.



#### Helped So Much in Short Time

I really enjoyed how in-depth Justin was with the critiques as well as the lecture demos. Everything was very clear and very easy to understand. The critiques were especially helpful and I was impressed how much he was able to help with in such a short amount of time.



#### Cool Photoshop Techniques

I like how much I learned about using photoshop and cool techniques I was unaware of even when I had the software. It was a lot of fun and I recommend it to anyone trying to get into digital painting!



#### Justin Is Awesome

Justin was awesome! I learned more in this workshop than when I attended 3.5 years at an art institute. It’s amazing what he’s capable of doing in photoshop with and without reference. I couldn’t ask for a better class.



#### Stronger Understanding

I learned a lot of valuable things about using photoshop and feel confident that I’m walking away with a stronger understanding of lighting and shadow design. The mentor was amazing at explaining processes and went above and beyond in helping his students



#### Made Painting Approachable

The content was presented very clearly and the exercises allowed us to practice them in fun and engaging ways. Digital painting can be a huge intimidating topic but the workshop allowed made it seem very approachable.



#### Improved My Compositions

This workshop really helped improve my composition skills and my ability to identify the colors that work well in whatever I’m painting.



#### Helped So Much in Short Time

I really enjoyed how in-depth Justin was with the critiques as well as the lecture demos. Everything was very clear and very easy to understand. The critiques were especially helpful and I was impressed how much he was able to help with in such a short amount of time.



#### Cool Photoshop Techniques

I like how much I learned about using photoshop and cool techniques I was unaware of even when I had the software. It was a lot of fun and I recommend it to anyone trying to get into digital painting!

### Related Courses

If you’re interested in Concept Art, we think you’ll love these courses!

Introduction to Character Design

6-Week Workshop

Learn the fundamentals of character design.

Visual Development:

Principles of Design

6-Week Workshop

Design appealing characters using shape language and color theory.

Story I: Storyboarding

Fundamentals

6-Week Workshop

Learn basic storyboarding techniques and skills.

Story II: Intermediate Storyboarding

6-Week Workshop

Build a story from scratch, including pitch, script, and animatic.



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Not sure what to do or where to start? Our student success coaches will help guide you to your destiny!

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