
{"id":811566,"date":"2023-08-30T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/?p=811566"},"modified":"2023-11-14T15:22:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T23:22:37","slug":"solve-problems-with-digital-painting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/solve-problems-with-digital-painting\/","title":{"rendered":"How to solve drawing problems in digital painting, with Proko"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"873\" height=\"873\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/122327894_191048765808067_3200444786692052491_n.jpg\" alt=\"proko logo\" class=\"wp-image-808892\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/122327894_191048765808067_3200444786692052491_n.jpg 873w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/122327894_191048765808067_3200444786692052491_n-480x480.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 873px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Proko<\/a> is a hub for artists to improve their skills and connect with a community of like-minded peers and talented mentors. They provide a wide variety of online courses that can be beneficial for both digital and traditional artists. To see all of Proko\u2019s offerings head to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/browse\/all\/courses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">their website<\/a>&nbsp;or check out&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UClM2LuQ1q5WEc23462tQzBg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">their Youtube channel<\/a>, where they post free short tutorials, like the one below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The blog post below is a summary of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZAr5rTde7co\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this video<\/a><\/em>, \u201cSolving drawing problems with digital painting,\u201d featuring artist&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jonneimeister.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jon Neimeister<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:18px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this video, Proko teacher Jon Neimeister gives us a tutorial on how to work from a sketch to finished painting in <a title=\"Adobe Photoshop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/products\/photoshop.html\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/products\/photoshop.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Adobe Photoshop<\/a>.&nbsp;This is a follow-up to a previous tutorial, <a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/en-us\/proko-digitally-paint-in-grayscale\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/LaP-7kJRHwE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How to Digitally Paint in Grayscale<\/a>, but there are some differences: he followed a reference directly in the last one, but here he uses a looser brush and makes more creative decisions with the painting. And you don\u2019t need to have watched the previous one to understand this, so let\u2019s jump in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Solving Drawing Problems with Digital Painting\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZAr5rTde7co?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neimeister paints a model with a spear from <a title=\"Grafit Studio\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/@grafitstudio\/activity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Grafit Studio<\/a>, starting with a loose gesture drawing that he will soon refine and change in the painting stage. The drawing serves to get the general proportions and pose correct.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-1-1080x607.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-811569\" title=\"drawing of the pose and proportions\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-1-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-1-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key tip:<\/strong> When drawing from reference, feel free to take creative liberties. In Neimeister&#8217;s words: \u201cIt\u2019s extremely important, both for studies and our original work, that we don\u2019t become slaves to our reference.&nbsp;The photo is there to provide you with information.&nbsp;You can choose to follow that information, or you can deviate from it, depending on your own creative goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His process in this tutorial is highly inspired by traditional art, so after the drawing, he paints a textured brown layer over the canvas, inspired by the undercoating that oil painters do.&nbsp;He pauses to roughly block in the shadow shapes on the figure, then paints another layer of dark gray over the background, leaving spots of brown peeking through to add a little visual interest to the otherwise monochrome painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-811570\" title=\"Base layers of paint\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-2.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-2-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-2-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The background done, he then starts painting light over the figure using two mid-tone gray brushes that are very similar in value. For this stage, he keeps it simple and only focuses on the broad relationships between his lights and his shadows. This will let him choose which areas he wants to refine later, he explains, as by leaving some areas less precise, he can achieve a more painterly look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key tip: <\/strong>\u201cPay close attention to brush stroke direction, as you can achieve a lot of edge control just by choosing carefully which direction you paint your brush strokes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-3-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-811578\" title=\"Highlights, midtones, and shadows\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-3-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-3-1-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-3-1-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Afterward, he chooses a darker gray, but nowhere near as dark as the background, to paint in the shadows on the right side of the figure. \u201cI also want to keep my shadows relatively simple compared to the lights,\u201d he says.&nbsp;\u201cI\u2019m going to need to choose where I want to put my information. If I make the shadows and the lights equally detailed, the figure will appear a little more flat. But if I let my lights be more detailed and rendered and let my shadows be more simple, then the figure will feel more natural.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once he has the basics of the lights and shadows established, he zooms in to start refining the painting. This is also where he starts blending with the eyedropper tool, selecting a mid-tone where light and shadow brushstrokes overlap, then painting over it to create more seamless transitions. It\u2019s difficult to blend with the rough oil painting brush he\u2019s using, but that\u2019s exactly what he wants, he says: \u201cIf I\u2019m trying to paint something that feels more traditional, it\u2019s actually easier to achieve with a brush that\u2019s somewhat more unpredictable, as whenever you\u2019re painting with watercolors or oils, there\u2019s always going to be some element of randomness or chaos that you can\u2019t control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Next, he starts rendering the torso, painting in the complexities and details of the various muscles &#8212; but he still simplifies them to avoid giving the painting a cluttered look.&nbsp;His goal is to reduce them to cleaner, more appealing shapes. This kind of practice will be extremely useful when you start making original artwork, he explains, as you won\u2019t have a reference to directly copy, meaning you\u2019ll have to come up with the most appealingly stylized versions of that anatomy yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-811572\" title=\"Rendering the torso\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-4.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-4-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-4-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key tip: <\/strong>\u201cDoing studies like this on a regular basis is one of the most helpful things you can do for your artistic development.&nbsp;Not only does it help you develop your skills as you\u2019re practicing painting something with the help of a reference, but it also helps you develop your creative decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he gets towards the bottom of the figure, he doesn\u2019t give it as much polish, painting in looser strokes. The face and torso are the most interesting parts of the painting, so he\u2019ll refine those more to draw the viewer\u2019s eye towards them, then leave the legs and feet a little rougher to add to the painterly feel of the piece.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the spear handle, he uses the pen tool to create a thick, black line on a new layer.&nbsp;He locks the transparency, then with a white brush, paints light onto the left side of the spear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-811573\" title=\"Adding black line to spear\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-5.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-5-980x552.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/07\/How-to-solve-drawing-problems-with-digital-painting-Img-5-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This completes the study, and he can zoom out and devote his last minutes to the finishing touches: cleaning up edges and making other small adjustments to really make the painting pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:28px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:28px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-thumbnail is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/122327894_191048765808067_3200444786692052491_n-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"proko logo\" class=\"wp-image-808892\" style=\"width:149px;height:149px\" width=\"149\" height=\"149\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Want to learn more?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To see more of Jon Neimeister&#8217;s work, check out his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jonneimeister.com\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.jonneimeister.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Andantonius\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Andantonius\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Twitter.<\/a> If you&#8217;re interested in expanding your digital painting skills even further, consider taking a full course from Proko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This lesson is part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/course\/digital-painting-fundamentals\/lessons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Digital Painting Fundamentals course<\/a> by Neimeister, but Proko has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/browse\/all\/courses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tons of courses<\/a> by instructors such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/@stan\/activity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stan Prokopenko<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/@marcobucci\/activity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marco Bucci<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/@aquatictrent\/activity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Trent Kaniuga<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discover the process of transforming sketches into stunning digital paintings using Adobe Photoshop in this tutorial by Jon Neimeister.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":811574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2330,2317,2338,2341],"tags":[135,2571,170],"class_list":["post-811566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-education","category-digital-drawing-painting","category-how-to","category-software","tag-adobe","tag-jon-neimeister","tag-proko"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}