2d Digital Art Techniques

Know the Basic 2d Digital Art Techniques!

Once you decided on the digital art tools to use, you will move on to the various digital art techniques that you will do within the graphics program.

There are about an infinite number possibilities when it comes to drawing. While it’s hard to say which ones are the best and which ones are the worst, I can assure you that I will teach you digital art techniques that have meaning rather than just teaching you tricks and tips.

One thing to keep in mind about doing realistic 2d digital art is that there are a lot of basics derived from stuff that we learned in art classes. If you haven’t been in one, don’t worry, I don’t remember much of it anyways!

All kidding aside, it is true that you need to have at least the basics down. What are they? Well, there are a few I know that you should know before you proceed. I will definitely teach you these basic digital art techniques through simple-to-follow articles.

But first, let me list them.

1. Controlling your hands!

Perhaps the first thing that you should know before you start anything is what level you are at in terms of controlling your digital pencil. How do you draw your lines? How do you draw your circles? How do you translate those into digital art techniques?

My Friend, when people do digital paintings, or any painting for that matter, there is a lot of planning that goes into it. But where does this planning come from? I can tell you one thing: it doesn’t come from the urge to do it perfectly the first time!

Forget about doing it perfect. You will never learn that way. You have to let your hands loosen up first of all with the right sketching techniques. Sure, anyone can scribble. But what are the right sketching techniques to control them?

You will discover a few drawing techniques such as contour drawings, gesture drawings, fundamental digital brush strokes, and the use of color gradients that are essential to planning a composition.

All this is important to help you get your first digital inking idea off the ground and on to the digital canvas.

2. Taking a look at perspective!

Learning how to draw people, animals, and objects are great. But as you learn more, you will need to know how they will fit in their environment. As well, if you become a digital scenery painter, it is very important to know about perspective.

Most of us know what perspective is already. If you haven’t guessed it yet, it’s how our eyes see objects in relativity to other objects.

Your main unit of measurement will be the perspective cube. With it, you can learn how to properly build 3d shapes and objects.

As well, you will learn the digital art techniques to create first point perspective, two point perspective, three point perspective, and multiple point perspective on the computer.

Most of us know the first point perspective. However, very few of us know multiple point perspective. Fewer still know about zero point perspective and its advantages. It is a very challenging thing to learn but very rewarding once you figure it out!

I have also supplied some perspective diagrams for you to download and follow along as a means to aid you in your learning.

On the next step, perspective scaling of an object is the next level of understanding once you learn about the various points of perspective. After all, what good is an object if you don't know what it will look like in perspective?

The key word here is eye level when it comes to perspective. How does the object appear when it’s above you and below you? Where do you want the audience to look? Eye level is essential to your development as a 2d digital artist.

In addition to perspective, you will need to learn the false perspective horizon and how it interacts with the background, middle ground, and foreground. Each of these areas holds a key in determining depth.

Naturally, this leads in well to what we will need to know next after you understand perspective: creating depth.

3. The digital art techniques for depth!

Let’s say you draw a circle. How will you distinguish it between a disk and a ball? It’s when the light hits the object, and creates a shadow, that we know it’s one from the other.

To put it bluntly, light and the absence of light (what we know as the shadow) is what we are the most concerned with when it comes to creating depth. You need to concentrate on how to draw light and simplify the shadows!

The best analogy would be that of a spot light shining down on an object in a dark room. Any object away from the center of the spot light looses its shine literally. There are more colors and values near then center than the rest.

Of course, you will learn about light source and where it will hit an object when you start to draw shadows. There are obviously an infinite amount of possibilities when it comes to light sources.

In addition, you will learn what digital art techniques will work best for creating depth through light and shadows from the digital brush as you learn how to draw complex objects.

Learning how to create depth is easier than you think. Why? It is because you have the tools to play around with them. Plus, digital art programs will give all the space you will need to learn without wasting valuable resources.

4. Finally, adding color!

Are you familiar with the color wheel? Most of us will learn the color wheel at some point in our lives. However, not all of us know how to use this tool. The wheel is created as a mean to convey how color interacts with one another.

You may not know it, but there are four color properties associated with every color: hue, value, intensity, and temperature. Use it to paint landscape backgrounds as a simple exercise! How you will paint and what colors you should use is dependent on what you know about these properties.

Besides, doing any digital painting in color should be the last thing on the list. You should always sketch with very limited amounts of color first. If possible, do black and white drawings.

Don’t worry about wasting time. With the advantage of a digital program, you will find that you are able to add color to black and white images with ease. Of course, I will teach you how to add digital colors.

After you understand these four basic digital art techniques and concepts, I will teach you how to apply them in learning to draw realistic objects on the computer.

Remember, stay motivated to learn these digital art techniques. I will be with you all the way!

Return from Digital Art Techniques to the 2d Digital Art Guide.