Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting in Photoshop Paperback – 16 Feb. 2012

If you're like me and just starting to get to grips with digital painting in Photoshop, then this book will be very helpful to you. Different artists have all contributed their tips and art, and each artist does things their own way, so you're learning a good range of techniques.I am reading chapters as and when I need them, rather than reading from the front to the back. I've already learned a few things from it, such as how to set up a page, and customise my own Photoshop workspace, so there are no unneccessary palletes and toolboxes cluttering the view of what I am painting.It takes you through how to create an illusion of depth in your art, how to work with perspective (from what viewpoint your scenery or character is being seen from), colour and lighting, creating and optimising your own brushes, how to make your art look attractive by allowing things to flow into one another (the composition of your image), and whole projects from start (quick, sketchy thumbnail) to finished piece. There's a whole chapter of quick tips on painting different things, with roughly one page, give or take, devoted to each: trees, clouds, feathers, water, grass, reflections on water, rust - even laser beams are covered!I've still barely scratched the surface of the book, but already I've applied some of the techniques to my own work, and have found them really useful. The book is also beautifully presented, feeling sturdy, and of a high quality. I was surprised to see it came in a slipcase, too!

I bought this book sometime last month as an early birthday present for myself (i want to try and take up digital painting for my project)The delivery of the book was very fast (ordered it on Monday, got an email saying that it had been posted on tuesday and arrived at my house on wednesday).The casing the book came in is lovely and it keeps the book clean and tidy; the tutorials within are just magnificient (as well as the examples they show for different topics such as composition/perspectives/colour balance etc )And they go through the tutorials step by step very carefully; by describing how they produced the picture using different methods i.e. how to use layers to your advantage etc.This is a great starting book for those who wish to take up digital painting; those who already have the skills-this may not be the book for you.

I have been drawing digitally for a few months, self taught from stuff on the internet. it seems people only tell you a fraction of what they really did, making it hard to learn......along came this book! from the start its explained by the artist in an informal fun way. it actually tells you every detail, from settings to canvas size and colour settings etc I also like the fact it doesn't shy away from the fact professional artists use photos as textures and explains in detail how to use them effectively. It does show how to texture without photos as well, like making custom brushes etc it really is in depth step by step and something i wish i had when i started. its 225 pages long but its not boring it gives just the right amount of info that allows you to stay interested and know exactly what you should be clicking on or painting like.Amazing for newbies and will even help people with experience.there are a few detailed tutorials from start to finish piece and details on how to create desired effects i.e. metal, rock, patterns on dresses etc.A MUST HAVE

The title doesn't describe the book very well... it should have been called the BEST Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting!I haven't read another book where it provides so much information and in-depth analysis of how to prepare your drawing and what you have to consider what you are doing, You've got the standard perspective and composition but also lighting, colour combination, filters and a few final touches which will make your drawings really stand-out.Further in to the book, it will introduce some advanced techniques but I felt that they weren't described anywhere near as well as the beginners part of the book.There's a lot of content in this book and you will get your money's worth.

I received this book about 2 hours ago this morning, and I've just read through the first sections just to get an overall feel for the content of this book. I have to say that I'm really looking forward to putting this into practice and having ago. My first real attempt will be awful, lol, but as everyone says, Practice make Perfect. Buy this book folks if your wanting to do this type of art work either for a living or if like me, for a hobby, you wont be disappointed.This book was fulfilled through "The Book Depository", and was delivered well ahead of time at a great price as well. Will definitely be ordering from these guys again.

I've only worked through a small part of the beginning of this book and as someone who is a beginner and was looking for a gentle introduction I found that this was pretty challenging. The jumps from step to step are quite large and I found myself unable to progress along with the example which was pretty demoralizing for a beginner.Since buying this book months ago I have been watching tutorials on youtube etc and found I have learnt more from doing this (in addition to simply practicing), hopefully I will be able to come back to the book and make more use of it now I have a bit more experience under my belt.I wouldn't recommend this to an absolute beginner to be honest so 3 stars for the learning curve at the beginning of the book.

I know how to use Photoshop quite well but my son needs to learn it for a college course. I can teach him but as I go away a lot he needs something for when I am not there and this book fits the bill perfectly.The quality of the print and paper is very high. The book provides easy to follow steps and some good examples. Now I have learned from this and use the software daily.All in all, if you need to learn photoshop, this book will not be bettered.