How to Start Digital Painting- A Beginner’s Guide

How do you imagine a typical painter at work? One in shabby clothes smeared with different colors on it, completely unaware of the surroundings around him, deeply engrossed in colouring the canvas with his imagination and lying beside him a colour palette, different types and sizes of paintbrushes and colours. Yes, a typical painter is someone who brings out the best on his canvas from the mess around him!

However, with the advent of digital painting, painting as an art has taken a more technological-driven avatar, leaving behind the messy part of the traditional painting. With advancements in the digital sphere, painting too as art has dramatically evolved. If one is equipped with the basic skill sets and fundamentals of painting, then this painting on computers can actually be a fun-filled affair.

Not just the messiness, but with digital painting, one can also do away with the heaps of materials like diverse types of watercolors- oil or acrylic paints, types of paintbrushes, the extra space that gets occupied in one’s place with the easel and canvas set. With digital painting, one just needs a computer or a laptop equipped with the necessary tools, softwares and necessary features. Today, many artists have adopted this new form of art that gives them the wider scope to explore their talents in the best possible manner like doing animation, illustration, 2D art, etc. These days, whatever we enjoy as the beautiful little comic creatures are often the miracle of digital painting.

Let’s now see how to get started with the basics of digital oil painting. First of all, you need to do a little investment in acquiring:

• A drawing tablet
• A painting software

Let’s first talk about the variety of options available for a drawing tablet. There are three main options available:
1. Graphic Tablet
2. Display Tablet
3. All in One Tablet

Read More: Important Digital Painting Techniques You Must Know

Graphic tablets are the cheapest equipment available with 2 components like a touch-pad and a stylus pen. This kind of tablet needs to be plugged with a USB cable either with a computer or a laptop. Display tablets are also like Graphic tablets and come with a built-in monitor. This feature enables you to paint directly on a screen. This option gives satisfaction to the artist who is more convenient with painting on a canvas.

All in One Tablet comes with the double advantage of a computer plus tablet. Just one drawback is that it is very expensive and there are limited choices of softwares available to you.

After you have acquired the necessary equipment to get started with digital oil painting, you need to be aware of the types of digital painting software that enable you to come out with spectacular results. There’s so much you can do with these softwares, from 2D to 3D painting, having precise control over your paintbrush, can apply multiple layers to your painting, etc.

The software enables one to use various types of techniques that help one to do conceptual art and modern art with perfect precision. Also, one can produce digital artwork for video games, movies, animation movies, comics, or digital book illustrations.

The best software is Adobe Photoshop which is highly recommended in the entire industry because of its powerful tools and painting techniques. One can learn photoshop efficiently and step by step through online videos. Don’t expect fast results, learn patiently and you will surely become pro at it with practice.

If you want to spend less and just wish to experiment with your digital painting skills, then you can also opt for the software Krita, which is free and an alternative option of Adobe Photoshop. Just to take a fair piece of advice before installing any of the above-mentioned software.

If you aspire to work professionally, then Adobe Photoshop should be obviously the first choice, and if you are still a beginner, who just wants to learn digital oil painting casually, then install the software Krita. And, if you are someone who has a fancy iPad, then, of course, Procreate is the one that provides mostly all the benefits of Photoshop. There is also many other software available, but the most competent of them are the above-mentioned three of them.

There are many people who start their careers directly through painting on computers or laptops. However, this is not something you shouldn’t be doing, but it is always beneficial to have some basic knowledge of traditional art. This will definitely help you in learning and advancing your skills when it comes to digital painting.

Oilpixel is one such destination where you can find beautiful examples of digital oil painting from self-painting, oil-painting of family, kids digital oil painting, couple digital oil painting, etc. The artist holds years of experience in digital oil painting and producing masterpieces that express emotions artfully. In any festive season or on special occasions of life, if you are looking to gift something unique and artistic to your near and dear ones, then gift them a digital oil painting from Oilpixel.