Digital Painting

Purpose:

To explore a variety of mark-making with the brush tool, along with a variety of techniques to create a digital landscape painting;

To practice using the tablet and stylus with Adobe Photoshop;

To create works of art that use different subjects, themes, symbols, and images;

To demonstrate increasing level of competence in use in the elements of art and principle of design to create a digital landscape (line, color, shape, form, texture; unity, variety, contrast, movement, emphasis, and balance).

Sailor at Sunset

The tools that were the most helpful for me were by far the custom brushes that I downloaded from the description of the video. I loved all the custom brushes because there were several brushes that did just what I needed them to do. For example, I was able to use a brush to make the reflections on the water, and I was able to use a brush to get the little lights in the buildings of the city. The custom brushes were so much fun to use, and I definitely want to use them again in the future, and maybe even make some of my own brushes.

My biggest challenge was probably trying to find a good starting point. Originally I wanted to wing it and go off of my pure imagination, but then I realized that I didn’t really have a grasp on the colors I wanted and the proportions of some of the things. Then I chose a reference photo to look at, and that made all the difference. It helped me make a beautiful painting, and I was still able to incorporate some of the things I wanted into it, like the sunset and the birds.