Introduction: Whole number Painting Object lesson 1: the Basics of Exploitation a Graphics Tablet

Computers have brought commute to every corner of modern club. One of these corners is art. The net is full of concept art, desktop wallpapers and many other kinds of image that undergo been drawn past just about user at a computer.

When I bought myself a graphics tablet (roughly a week in front this ible was published), I was dissapointed to find there are no beginner tutorials to digital painting. They either strike you have previous experience in some form of art (I suck at picture and draught), or are so basic that they leave alone out the art.
So the draw a bead on of this little series of tutorials is to provide a couple of tutorials to teach hoi polloi how to use their graphics lozenge, but perhaps more importantly, leave the creative aspect in the underdrawers hands.

This is the best tutorial in a soft series (I seaport't decided how long). Other tutorials are:
Example 2: A fledge

Mistreat 1: Requirements and Tools

In traditional nontextual matter, the artist has to draw every individual thing, but in digital art, we are not affected by physical tools. Through with the use of various filters and brushes, what would accept taken a painter hours, fanny takes U.S.A few strokes of our digital pen. For this reason, I'm going to ignore package that focus' along emulating traditional media (eg artweaver) and or else use a digital image manipulation broadcast. I'm garish, and can't afford photoshop, soh I'll live using Gimp.

Tools:
- A computer (with enough specs to discharge Hobble properly)
- A nontextual matter tablet (with drivers etc)
- Gameness (or photoshop if you can render to the tools there. Note that I'm using v2.6 because v2.8 has some issues with my tablet)

Requirements:
- An hr approximately
- Some proficiency with gimp, or the power to habit google
- The power to move your hand
- The ability to see what's on the blind
- Some creativity.

So pose down at your desk, get comfortable, put on your favorite music, and countenance's start.

Step 2: Elemental Use of a Graphics Tablet

You've probably got nigh of it figured out, because it isn't hard:
- Hold the style in your writing hand like a compose
- Arrange the stylus on the tablet
- Move your pass and watch the cursor move too....

Tips:
- Don't view your hand. It does not tell you where you are going to draw. View the CRT screen. You don't look at the computer mouse when you use of goods and services that answer you?
- Have the tablet facing you square. When you move your hand towards you, the cursor should move down. If it's to a higher degree a some degrees dispatch, it drive's frustrating disagreeable to draw where you want.
- Remember your bearing. You'll be victimisation the computer for a while whenever you are drawing something.

To get used to using the pad of paper, try not using a shiner at whol. The pad of paper provides everything you want (clicking, scrolling, moving the pointer. What else does a sneak out do?).

Beryllium evocative that nothing in this tutorial actually requires a graphics tablet, but is destined makes things easier.

Step 3: Getting Ready for Drawing

Now information technology's time to set up the computer for draft. I'm assuming you've got the drivers installed for your tablet, but the manner you lay out the sieve is important.

Gimp uses a three-window system. This is annoying, and so for new versions (gimp 2.8+) they have a button to shift this:
Happening the gimp main box, fall into place Windows -> Single Windowpane Mode
Regrettably Gimpiness 2.8 has issues with my tablet, so I run to use 2.6. This does non hold sole window mode, then spend quintet seconds and arrange the windows so nothing is lapping.

Abuse 4: Do Some Doodling and Sketching

While a tablet is more like-minded a piece of paper than a mouse, there are tranquilize slight difference, and IT takes a tur of getting used to to use for drawing. If you think you can already disembowel where you expect to on a tablet, skip this.

Doodle
Set yourself some exercises to get wont to the lozenge. Things equal:
- Describe a square with vertical edges (not using the straightaway edge tool either)
- Imbibe as round-er circle as you can
For these I run to use a large encounter, generally a hornlike edged same at ~10px. I tend to scribble on a moderate poll of 1024x768.
Write out
And then try your hand at writing. Just for fun take a calligraphy brush, work slowly and with kid gloves and see what you can come upwards with.
Sketch
You can also try freehand sketching. Take a thin brush of 2-3px, and resume. Notice that you can do light and dark lines.

Why?

These three exercises represent only about every type of motor ascertain you'll need in digital art:
- The ability to withdraw neat (doodling)
- The ability to draw smoothly (doodling)
- The ability to draw where you want (Writing)
- The ability to dominance pressure (sketching)

Step 5: Starting a Draftsmanship (outlines)

While there are a lot of ways to embark on a drawing, i tend to come out off with a real seamed sketch of the outlines. I do this on a seperate layer, so that I can turn it along and off as I process the residuu of the drawing.

For the castle, I had lots of layers. One was the approximate outline, One was the actual castle I was drawing, and the 3rd was guides. When drawing spheres and cylinders, it is often useful to reap a box where you want them to go.

The bulk of this ible bequeath follow through lottery and blending some boxes and cylinders, soh let's begin by drawing off their outlines.
For the boxes it's comfy. A regular (ish) hexagon, and some in-between lines stool a simple box. Sir Thomas More complex/true ones can be done using perspective lines.
Cylinders are a little harder, but if we draw a box seat, and so change the top and bottom into elipses, it's still quite leisurely.

Any technique you know for draught things in writing will turn Here. If you feel like using a tool in the software you're using for drawing the oulines, go ahead. Gimp does not provide us with an easy way (unless you count the gfig plugin I suppose)

For the sleep of this ible, I'll be functioning with the closing image shown here, containing a box and a cylinder. We'll look at how we can shade them nicely.

Step 6: Shading: Fill Information technology In

Most objects are opaque, so I tend to begin by making a silhouette of the object in a neutral cloudy. (We'll lecture about color later)

Sol create a new layer, call it blending, and with a medium size brush, color in the shape. Press firmly so that it is opaque. Turn the outlines away and be stunned how irregular it is. So go just about with a copse and eraser and neaten it up. Then you can turn the outlines back on.

Step 7: Blending Method acting 1 (Sketch and Blot)

Thither are few things with simply a single way to do them. With blending, on that point are so many ways that I shall not list them whol. But these are the ones that I use.

Well-nig importantly though, ut not forget to work the shading layer. IT is a suited pain when you draw something on the wrong layer. If you do, evaluate if you should get laid once again, cut-paste it, or discount information technology.

With study and smudge, you simply, well, sketch and smudge. Thither's no new way to describe it, so let a look at the persona.

IT does take on time to smudge things in well, and a bit of tutelage to not look into the edges, so don't rush things.

Step 8: Blending Method 2: Lighting Brushes

Gimpiness's brushes normally but cover on what is butt, but there is an option where you give the sack get them to instead apply lighting.
This can be found in the tool options. Look for the drop-box which is away default filled with 'Normal'
Change that to Hard light (or fool around and see what they wholly do. from each one is useful).

One of the best things about this brush is that it won't rouge on anything transparent. So you don't have to worry about holding the exterior edges neat.

I still do use smudge on this method to tidy and make a point transitions are the style they should be.

Step 9: Coloring In

You thought that was the coloring in part? Nope. At once we get to add color.
So create a current level and color in it the color you want (remember to set the brush back to 'normal' colour blended). Redact the color layer underneath the shading level, and set the shading layer to 'hard light.' You may like to tweak the opacity.

I lean to put off the guidelines at this point.

Step 10: Shadows

Presently our objects are floating. We necessitate them to interact with their environment. The way to do this is to add a shadower.
Mass can spend years describing ambient occlusion, blending, shadows and such, but my guess is you actually have a pretty good musical theme of what they shadows should look like just from support for the yore however umpteen eld. So just do what looks rightfulness. Here are few tips though:
- Objects darken when they get close to each other, or in corners. (known as ambient occlusion)
- Shadows are away from the light (duh!)

Other than that, evenhanded take objects or so you to see how the easy effects them.

Step 11: Scaling

These are the basic tools you need to do member painting. Everything else is a thing of creativeness, clever work with tools, and whatsoever ingenuity.
The same tools apply to mountains, feathers, and, well, anything.

There is nothing like do though. So instead of just reading this tutorial, actually taste some if it.

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