Comments on: Video Notes: Painting a Hero

By: Dani

Dani — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:51:43 +0000

John - There are several. On the home page, browse through the list of articles under “Digital How-to.” You can also use the Categories list. They are probably all listed under Adobe Photoshop.

By: John

John — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:30:13 +0000

Hi your painting is awesome.. just one questions, is there a guide on this website that guides us on the usage of different brushes? Could you show us which brushes u used in this work?

Thanks and good job!

By: Muna

Muna — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:05:01 +0000

wow. i’m no artist, far from it actually.. i just wanted to say that you’ve got some talent. dude, your work is AWESOME. i especially like this one. i’ve even printed it out on semi-glossy paper and stuck it on my wall absolutely love it,
keep it up,
muna xx

By: Sherry

Sherry — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 06:51:36 +0000

Dani once again you have taught me an important feature in Photoshop. I had no idea you could have the illustration large to work on, but in another window to view it smaller. A

I used to love to use colored paper when I did pastels. Starting with a color background is a great idea! Incredible information and an incredible drawing!

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 01:04:49 +0000

This is a wonderful image! I haven’t even looked at the video, but his face is beautifully done. I’m going to blog it.

By: skip wiley

skip wiley — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:10:07 +0000

Thanks for the response. Your first answer cleared up a huge misunderstanding I had… I just discovered my resolution (dpi) had been set at 72 this whole time. The difference is striking. I thought it was all about canvas size!

By: Dani

Dani — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:38:56 +0000

Here’s some answers to your questions, Skip:

1 - There are two size attributes to keep in mind when you make a digital painting — your resolution (this painting is 300 ppi) and the actual canvas size (mine is 6×8 inches). The length and width of your painting just depends on what size you want the image to be; for resolution, you will want to stick to 300 ppi to maintain good print quality. For a painting like this, 300-600 ppi is usually plenty.

2 - Yes, indeed, your brush size will look different depending on the resolution of the picture. Your brush size and opacity depends on what effect you’re looking for. For a pencil-like sketch brush on a 300 ppi image, a brush size of 10-20 px would probably work best. You should also change the Shape Dynamics and Opacity settings so they are affected by your pen pressure.

3 - For this particular painting, all of my layers were in Normal mode. It was just straight painting.

Thanks for the comment. Let me know if you have any more questions.

By: skip wiley

skip wiley — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:44:47 +0000

Great video, painting, notes, and TV show! The full-screen movie and larger size are definite benefits. If you don’t mind some questions:

1- what resolution was this image (your painting)? Is there a certain min or max resolution size below/above which not much difference is made? Any general recommendations?

2- Does the image size effect the brush library you use at all? For instance, wouldn’t a 1px brush be very small in a large resolution image? When outlining/sketching, is brush size and opacity a matter of personal preference?

3- did you use any different blending modes here? (multiply, doge, burn, overlay, screen, etc). From the video it looks like you were in “normal” the entire time. At my early stage in learning Photoshop, I’m trying to find the balance between when these tools are absolutely necessary and when they’re superfluous. I suppose practice and experimentation is the best answer, as always.

Thanks!