Disney Character Designer answers your questions about Concept Art, Character Design for Animation, Digital Painting & Illustration.
Most digital painting tutorials are all about the "digital" and not at all about the "painting."
They tell you which button to click and demonstrate cool, digital tricks but they don't help you create believable worlds and characters.
"Digital" is just a synonym for "convenience."
The power is in the painting.
Concept artists and illustrators want to create worlds and characters, tell stories with pictures, find meaning in ideas, and make emotional connections with an audience.
To be fair, this page could really benefit from a little more "step-by-step."
...so I'm working on that.
But for now, if you're looking for something deeper, more personal and challenging, then you've come to the right place...
The fourth generation of Painting Drama (my course on composition and developing your unique visual voice) wrapped this past January.
They are intelligent, professional and relentless.
Here’s a collection of some of their best work from the class, links to connect with each respective artist and some thoughts about what they learned…
[Read more…] about 15 Fantastic Compositions From My ‘Painting Drama’ G4 Students
Lois van Baarle aka “Loish” has designed a successful illustration career almost entirely on her own terms.
Now she gets paid to draw and paint the images and ideas she loves most.
In this interview, recorded live at a coffee shop in Amsterdam, we discuss how she got started, discovered her unique personal style and why you don’t need to be good at everything…
Here’s an inspiring collection of stand-out work from some of my stellar Painting Drama students…
For the uninitiated, ‘Painting Drama’ (PD1) is my super-intense, real-time course on composition and finding your own visual voice.
The third generation of PD1 began this past Spring. The amount of talent and charisma in this group is unreal.
Today, I’d like to introduce you to eleven of them.
These assignments were completed about a month ago. Each artist contributed a few thoughts on their process and/ or a testimonial about the course. There are also some links you can use to connect with each of them online.
This post is overflowing with beautiful, imaginative art.
*We will begin accepting auditions for the fourth generation of ‘Painting Drama’ in the Spring of 2015.
*This post contains some very mild nudity.
[Read more…] about 16 Stand-Out Compositions From Some Of My Stellar ‘Painting Drama’ Students
![A portrait study in a digital "scribble" technique with which I've been experimenting. [ click here for the high res version ]](https://i1.wp.com/chrisoatley.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Chris-Oatley-Scribble-Study-01-580w.jpg?resize=580%2C544)
Here’s a new portrait study in a digital “scribble” technique with which I’ve been experimenting.
[ download the high res version ]
I used a very limited number of values.
…and if my Photoshop Brush Settings had been any simpler, I could have done it in Mario Paint.
100% Opacity. 100% Flow. No feathering. No soft edges.
Obviously, there’s no color.
The expressiveness came only from the “Scribbly” Brush Tip and the physical gesture of each brush stroke.
[ download my Scribble Brushes ]
If you’re feeling frustrated or overwhelmed with your paintings, consider setting up some extreme limitations for yourself.
I believe you’ll find the limitations quite freeing.
Try eliminating certain aspects from the process in order to create some mental space for greater focus or creativity.
In part one of this tutorial, I explained how to combine custom Brush Presets, Keyboard Shortcuts and Actions to quickly and easily rotate your Photoshop Brushes as you paint.
That trick alone can make your brush technique smoother, more intuitive and more like traditional painting.
However, there are two points of friction that can be relieved if you have access to a Wacom Tablet or Cintiq with programmable ExpressKeys or a Touch Ring.
In this tutorial we will:
Smoother, more intuitive digital painting techniques are just minutes away…