Working Traditionally, Digitally.

Digital painting is the new frontier when it comes to creating art. Like the dawn of any new medium it presents artists with near endless possibilities- each new discovery more exciting than the next. For artists working as illustrators it is especially important to have at a minimum a general understanding of how to manipulate a digital image- nearly a necessity.

I was taught to paint traditionally. In school they gave us acrylics to use as we learned to understand form and color, creating multitudes of different studies with each new day. I remember the first time I used oil paints. It was an utter catastrophe as I had no one to teach me what I was doing with them, once spending an hour over a sink because I didn't know you cleaned your palette with anything but soap and water. Yearning for knowledge found me looking at old Rockwell books, studying unfinished masters and portraits, watching videos on youtube- and then I stumbled across Donato. Donato's method of mixing a palette and laying down his colors on the panel were amazing to me. If I could only do the things that he did it would take away the drying, the guessing, the struggle.

Donato putting in his 200,000+ hour

Obviously, it didn't. When you're learning and there's a struggle you always look for an easier way, a way to become better. That's just human nature. As an artist there are so many different avenues you think will make you better: that brush, that oil, that brand, that method, that palette. It's true that the best of these can help workflow, but the skill is only developed from the blood sweat and tears you put into it. The act of painting is a lesson in justice- giving you in return what you've sacrificed. Without this knowledge in toe, I bought everything Donato used that instant.

Me in my college studio, 10 hours in

For hours a day I would look over his work, devour how he might handle a given image, stare enthralled at videos of him painting. I went to visit him in his studio once and talked to him about color. I would constantly paint- understanding what he was trying to tell me but unable to accomplish it like I wanted to. I didn't even get close to meeting my own standards of painting like a man with triple my experience.

One day, though, it did start to click. I didn't have to paint like Donato. I didn't want to paint like Donato. Not exactly. Because I'd always fall short of being someone else. What I could do was listen to him, I mean really listen to him And what he told me started to mesh with everything else I'd picked up on my own or read or saw in other painters. Suddenly, it wasn't just him teaching me- it was everything and everyone I saw in the world of painting.

I started painting digitally, investing money and time into what I saw as this revolution. It didn't come easy for me. I knew I had to orient myself in the world that I grew up in, the digital one, but the skills I'd learned on panel and canvas didn't as easily flow when painting on a screen. The ideas and theories were still there, but it was a completely different medium to me. I had to learn to paint again, but I ended up bringing Donato's palette ideas with me.

I'm writing this because I want to share with you how I transferred the way I worked in oil paint over to Photoshop. I struggled for years finding a way to set up a palette for myself digitally and I know there's people out there struggling to make their own digital images run smoother and work easier. So, to explain it all, I decided to paint a portrait of a model I had in my files.

The first thing I do is give myself a solid ground to work with- a drawing. Nothing too fancy, just landmarks. It's just like starting anything else.

I usually try and keep my image up on the left side of my screen. This is basically what my work area always looks like. Now, before I go any further I wanted to talk about my brushes. I've collected them over the years and they're not the best, but they're mine and you might want to share them with me. 

Click to download my brushes

These are the only 3 brushes that I used for this painting, and most paintings. I have some that give more texture if I ever just need some more chaos to pull from, but you're looking at 99% of what I do.

After the drawing, I set my palette up. I base what I do for arranging this off of Donato's ideas on a mud puddle of color. You can see more on that explained better than I ever could HERE.

And pretty much anywhere else Donato talks. I recommend it highly if you get a chance.

What I do digitally to interpret that is the important part. I have an PSD file saved on my computer with samples of colors. I matched these as closely as possible as the colors I had in my own box of oils. 

Which colors they are, aren't important. Color, like time and space, are relative. Use what you'd like. 

What is important is the next part. I begin color picking from these and using the mixer brush I begin to arrange my own puddle. The beauty of working digital is that you can do this right over an image if you need to. The relationships are still there. Here's a video of me doing the mixing. You can see my settings at the top. 

You can see I'm trying to look at the image and determine color relationships. I can't stress enough that these don't have to be exact. That's the beauty of painting from mud if you've never done it. Your harmonies are built in, the ultimate limited palette premixed with so many options and all you have to do once you've got it is think about direction of color, changes as you move across the image. 

After that, I put that palette on another layer and lock it, unlocking and moving as need be. I've tried keeping another window open just with my palette, but for some reason Adobe doesn't like that idea and it's ended up crashing more times than I can count- so layers it is! 

Then, I just start laying in color. I try and start with a mid tone, and move around my palette in whichever direction the painting tells me. By keeping in mind these warmer/cooler/darker/lighter relativity of each different piece it will turn out. 

Usually, after the initial lay-in, I'll blend what i've got so it's a little less messy- especially with skin, especially with a woman. If I wanted the persons skin to be harder like a Conan or Hulk then I might not do as much blending. Here's a video of me tackling the blending:

Note: The blending brush is about 99% of my painting The trick is to lay in the right colors first and then needle away at what you've got down. It takes practice, but can give the best results. I've learned that when you're using digital brushes to blend it's better to use a smaller brush as it really emulates a texture. Larger blended strokes just look digital. 

From there, I go through to each individual piece and tackle them on their own. I love finding all the little details in something, like how the blue really impacts in the deeper shadows or the subtle yellow light from stage left. I especially enjoyed the challenge of painting the nose on this one. Noses usually take a lot of colors as they're basically orbs picking up any light source you throw at them. 

I like to keep whatever area I'm working in surrounded by whatever color it might interact with. That sounds like an oxymoron when you hear it, as in, "If every area was surrounded with the colors it will be surrounded with the painting would be done all ready." but it makes sense when you're diving in to it. That's why I start with mid tones and then hit the darks after I've got those established. Something might look green when it's next to a red, and you can't tell that from the start. The trick is to just start somewhere. 

With this palette set up, as long as you have something there to push and pull from you can't go wrong.

So i made a gif. of the entire painting process for you

And here's the final image.

Again, my image doesn't look exactly like the picture. I made visual choices as I went along with the picture beside me. This was a pretty fast portrait to demonstrate this to you, but I tried to get into the grit of things. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Other things:
I'll post more on each individual aspect of painting as I go along, things I wish people would have told me when I started using photoshop. A couple are

• Flow- it's your friend. play with it. I've done entire paintings building up with a light flow. It works especially well on a dark to light approach as you can build up
• Layers- commit. I did most of my work here on 1 layer. I do think in layers if I'm hesitant about something, or adding something like the hair, but I merge it pretty quick when I'm decided.
• brushwork- it matters digitally too. Experiment making your own brushes and working with direction while you're making marks. Our minds still see in direction when there's a line available. More on that later
• Buy and watch Donato's Joan of Arc video. It's more worth it than you'll ever know