Digital Painting Techniques is the first in a series of books that will highlight the digital painting techniques of some of the most talented individuals in world of graphics design and graphics art. The series was born from the realization that missing from the market was the sharing of thought processes and creation techniques behind some of the most innovated graphics imagery being created today.
The layout of the book is 10.9 x 8.5 in size so it provides for good resolution for all of the images in the book. It is 288 pages in length and breaks out into eight chapters and each chapter has three to seven tutorials. All of the tutorials involve the use of Adobe Photoshop with a couple adding the use Corel Painter and one with Cinema 4D and one with Artweaver and Gimp.
While each of the tutorials differs in the techniques that they show, they also differ the type and amount of information that they provide. But in each case they begin with a dialog from the creator on the subject at hand. Then there is an overview of the process of each technique along with screen shots that demonstrate the technique. At the end is a full page display of the final result. Also included are free resources from a supplied website.
Keep in mind that Digital Painting Techniques is a concept book, not a full step-by-step tutorial style. That is you will learn how working artists think, what they go through in creating their designs, and loosely how they work and perhaps to some degree, how their minds work.
You will not go from step 1 to step 2 to step 3 and in many cases, the description is vague. For example, you may be told to use a textured brush, but no additional information other than the resultant screenshots for you to interpret what the artist means.
What you will learn is how the artist works using the particular technique, what kind of thought processes that they use, as well as how they use the technique in their real workflow.
Chapter 1, "Custom Brushes," looks at the heart of digital painting – the brush. It is the link between the thoughts and ideas of the artist and the artwork that results. In the digital world the freedom to create your own brushes has greatly magnified the creativity available that you are able to bring into your painting. You will learn to create organic custom brushes, brushes from animal textures, how creating brushes can save time, creating brushes for painting skin and creating a brush from scratch.
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