{"id":815270,"date":"2024-01-31T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/?p=815270"},"modified":"2024-01-30T13:21:10","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T21:21:10","slug":"painting-tips-digital-artists-proko-pt1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/painting-tips-digital-artists-proko-pt1\/","title":{"rendered":"Painting tips for digital artists from Proko, Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Proko<\/a> has grown from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@ProkoTV\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@ProkoTV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a Youtube channel<\/a> primarily featuring founder <a href=\"https:\/\/stanprokopenko.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stan Prokopenko<\/a> to an art education empire with 116 instructors. The phenomenal concept artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jonneimeister.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jon Neimeister<\/a>, artist behind the below tutorial, is one of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In <a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/solve-problems-with-digital-painting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the last video of his I covered<\/a>, he showed us how to work from a sketch to grayscale painting in Photoshop, and in this two-part series, he gives advice to aspiring artists on their own monochrome studies and overpaints their work. He covers four students&#8217; work in total across the series\u2019 two parts.<\/p>\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<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=\"Painting Tips for Digital Artists\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rr5UrbH909s?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\">The first painting he critiques is by a student named \u201cPatricia.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/1-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-815273\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/1-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/1-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/1-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He compliments her \u201cgestural, flowy mark-making style,\u201d with its \u201cVan Gogh sort of rhythm,\u201d but suggests that she can improve her value control. She needs more separation between her lights and her shadows, as well as between her different local values, or the underlying \u201ccolors,\u201d he recommends. Of course, the skin, the collar, and the feather are all generally lighter, where the clothing is generally darker. She did a good job separating them overall, he says, but once she got to the clothes themselves, she \u201cstarted to lose control of the values a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking at the reference, he continues, you can see that the hat and clothing are much darker than Patricia has painted them. By bringing their brightness down, she can not just match the photo more closely, but draw more attention to the face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With this solved, he proceeds to the issues with the lighting. Starting with the ruff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/2-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-815303\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/2-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/2-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/2-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One aspect she missed, he explains, is that while she\u2019s painted the entire thing as if it were lit equally, in reality, the red area is in light and the purple area is in shadow. Darkening the purple area will \u201creduce contrast and limit information to be sure that our focus stays where it needs to be,\u201d meaning the face. This can also be a way to save time when painting, since it limits the amount of detail she\u2019d need to paint into the dark areas. She could include just enough information to show it without having to render every fold of fabric. This will also have the side effect of making it appear more atmospheric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He moves on to the face, where \u201ca similar thing is happening.\u201d After darkening the shadow over the left eye, he points out that she\u2019s put too much emphasis on the rimlight coming from the right side of his face, causing it to break up the overall shape of the shadow too much. He demonstrates how she can paint a darker swath of shadow across the right side of the face before going back and erasing some of it to re-add the rimlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/3-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-GIF.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-815306\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Before and after his adjustments<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second artist he critiques is \u201cKaren,\u201d who in my opinion already nailed it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/4-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-815307\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/4-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/4-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/4-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he still finds ways to improve on it. The first problem he points out is that the shadows aren\u2019t dark enough, being constrained entirely to midtones and mostly being used to outline the smaller muscles, where there should be larger ones describing the forms as a whole. What she needs to do, he advises, is \u201cseparate the shadows a little bit more from the midtones,\u201d and on a new layer, he takes a dark gray brush and demonstrates where the extra shadows need to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The torso needs \u201cform shadows,\u201d or the natural shadows that occur when something is pointing away from the light source. In this case, the chest is pointed upwards towards the light, where the stomach is pointed downwards away from it, creating a distinct shadow shape across the torso, which he paints in over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/5-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-815308\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/5-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/5-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/5-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The shadow pattern he draws on the torso<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Karen also underemphasized how the left leg is shrouded completely in shadow, so he paints it in. Once done, he turns the opacity down to 40%, turning his opaque paint into perfect shading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/01\/6-Painting-Tips-for-Digital-Artists-GIF.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-815309\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Before and after his edits<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you have the large areas of shadow painted, he says, then you can go into the subtle rendering of the individual muscles, but \u201cstarting with that clear separation of shadow is ultimately one of the most important things for achieving a realistic effect of light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neimeister continues this lesson with two more critiques &#8212; coming soon on this blog! Stay tuned for Part Two.<\/p>\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<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 aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" 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\" title=\"Proko logo\"\/><\/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\u2019s work, check out his&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jonneimeister.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Andantonius\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Twitter.<\/a>&nbsp;If you\u2019re 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&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/course\/digital-painting-fundamentals\/lessons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Digital Painting Fundamentals course<\/a>&nbsp;by Neimeister, but Proko has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/browse\/all\/courses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tons of courses<\/a>&nbsp;by instructors such as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/@stan\/activity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stan Prokopenko<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.proko.com\/@marcobucci\/activity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marco Bucci<\/a>, and&nbsp;<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>In this two-part series from Proko, Jon Neimeister gives advice to aspiring artists on their monochrome studies and overpaints their work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":815272,"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":[2317,2338],"tags":[2571,170],"class_list":["post-815270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-drawing-painting","category-how-to","tag-jon-neimeister","tag-proko"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815270","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\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}