Hello, and welcome to my beginning steps to Digital Painting. Here you will find the mere basics and the first steps to begin painting. As some of you know, I am not very active on the server much anymore, as I am working more on graphic designing more than anything right now. So I figured I'd make a simple thread on the basics for anyone who is interested.

Recommend Software:
- Photoshop (harder, but much better)
- ArtRage (easier, good, auto-blends colors for you)

Drawing Tools:
- Drawing Tablet
- Wacom Drawing Tablets: http://www.wacom.com/

Tips:
- Reference pictures are very good to use when beginning
- Sketch out a plan (doesn't have to look good)
- Outline what you are going to draw
- Example: (not my best, please excuse it haha) https://www.bulbapp.com/u/adventure-painting
- You can trace the image for a better outline, good for beginning.
- Always paint darker colors first
- Use big and blocky brushes to paint the majority of a portion of the painting, don't worry about it looking bad!
- Don't worry about blending colors until near the end
- Start with something simple, like a pair (fruit).
- Work on simple paintings to improve your lighting and blending.


Since you are just starting out, start painting something like this:
https://www.bulbapp.com/u/pear~27 (first image is easiest)
Here is my first attempt at it: https://www.bulbapp.com/u/pair-drawing-p...-photoshop
Here is my 2nd attempt: https://www.bulbapp.com/u/pair~3

You can find a lot of helpful tips and starting points here: https://www.bulbapp.com/bon (He is the artist who taught me how to paint / design)

Basics video:


Basics of ArtRage painting:


Some of my work:
http://bulbapp.com/spaceman_eminence


Best of luck to you on your adventure into the realm of digital painting If you need / want to know anything else please let me know!\

NOTE:
- I will be editing this often
- If you have any thing to add please let me know
- If you use these tips, let me know when you create something

EDIT LOGS:
- Edit 7/6/16: Add new video.
- Edit 7/6/16: Cleaner look, added Wacom Tablet link.

 

Thanks a lot for this! I'm planning on getting a drawing monitor for my birthday (which is not very far away at ALL) and I was really considering practicing on digital art a lot so I could make cool art pieces like many other digital artists. This guide will be a great reference for when I start practicing.

 

Because I cannot afford a drawing tablet/monitor, and is hopeless at drawing with the mouse, I can only really draw on paper. Thanks for this though, this can help others who can draw digitally.

 

An exception would be you ofc

 

more software:
- paint tool sai
- krita
- firealpaca

- when drawing, think of shapes you can put together to make the big picture
- choose a place where the light is coming from
- dont just use shades of black/white of a color to shade

here are some of my recent digital paintings
like op said, fruits are nice to start out with

 

Krita works really well for me. I downloaded it today and it's pretty easy to use. Thanks for the tips, btw.