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Tutorial - Common Digital Painting Mistakes
Published: 2012-06-07 04:07:53 +0000 UTC; Views: 230929; Favourites: 12214; Downloads: 4631
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Description
A guide to common digital painting mistakes that I've either seen or done myself...hopefully it helps
UPDATE
If you have questions please visit my journal for a list of FAQ first, you might find them answered there.
[link]
Otherwise, ask away!
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Comments: 759
How would you go about making sure the palette you pick is vibrant and not dingy/dull?
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I think it's not so much about the actual hue of the colors you choose but the way that you combine them. Picking colors that are all in the same family tends to make a piece look dull really fast, like choosing all beige for skin tone instead of mixing in purples, blues and greens, since skin has those too. On the other hand, choosing colors that may seem dull at first but are in different "families" can come out very vibrant because you have contrast and interesting color harmony. For example, this piece by navate [link] does a great job of using a more muted palette without looking dull because of the use of purple with the browns. My best advice is to exaggerate the different tones in your picture - choose crazier color combinations rather than safe ones if you think you usually choose dull or too similar colors. This might compensate for that problem and leave the colors looking just right
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Awesomesauce.
Thanks heaps, mate.
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thanks for making this
it helped immensely
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Fantastic, helpful!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
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This is so true. And after years painting digitally, I still fall and make this kind of dumb mistakes (dumb when you have experience, like me, not when you're a beginner) just trying to save time. I need to have this article in mind always. Thank you so much!!
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Thank you thank you thank you! It took me literally months to figure out that "in the name of everything sacred and good don't use the smudge tool!" part. If I'd only had someone point it out like this...
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I think this is a very good list; and definitely beats having to figure it out all by yourself
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hmmm I think this is good because I suck at digital painting (a cursory glance at my gallery will reveal I favour vectored cartoons with solid or no shading!) and also because I am weak at colour theory. I think you're bang on with the 'misconception' section because these are all things I ignore when I know I shouldn't! 
Oh and sorry to be a downer but on point 3 you've labelled the image "smduge" tool instead of smudge :s
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Very helpful tips, thanks alot..will be watching you
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this has helped a lot.. i found that creating more art often lets us realize new techniques as we see how one thing goes wrong and how another works well.
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Thank you very much! This has been very helpful!!!
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Thanks so much for posting this, a little common sense goes a long way and certainly doesn't hurt to get a refresher from time to time!
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Well, finally I find a coloring tutorial on here that isn't exclusively for the Creative Suites. It's nice to see that this can be easily translated to Elements. I give you kudos for this.
Would you happen to have any coloring tutorials that I would be able to translate over to Elements, or do you have any that are specifically for Elements? I'm kind of reaching the point of what I can do through trial and error when it comes to digital coloring.
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i don't use elements but you might be able to translate coloring techniques on tutorials around DA into that program too. What I understand (this might be wrong) is that elements is a mini version of photoshop. If that's the case, I would recommend trying to switch over to Photoshop if you can because it's probably more powerful and easier to get better results than trying to squeeze them out of elements.
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Photoshop Elements is real Photoshop. The Creative Suites are just that. They're deluxe versions. Honestly, I'd go from Elements, but I just don't have $700 to buy the Creative Suites, so, I'm forced to squeeze every last drop out of Photoshop Elements. Unless I suddenly get a message from some philanthropist with a multiple subscription purchase or my bank account becomes 700 bucks heavier, I'll say what I tell the Adobe representatives.
You got anything that would help me use what I have to my fullest extent? Also...the GIMP is a bust. They pretty much removed support for tablets in their latest update of the program, so I'm stuck with PSE 8 and a version of SAI that I think is cracked. I dunno..I got it from a friend.
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no i know it's made by adobe, and yeah photoshop can get super expensive 
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What does fatal mean in this case?
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just that, in my experience, it's really difficult to do a successful piece that uses that combination of tools in the way described
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This is a really good reminder to even the best of artists c:
Glad to see this getting a dd, well deserved!
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Hey, great tutorial!
This will definiatly help me to improve!
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I have the problem with too many details T_T I'll spend hours and hours on hair, only to zoom out and realize that 80% of the cool strands i did, are basically invisible, so i start over, add less detail, and it looks worse T_T
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Wow a really interesting read. Thank you for the time you put into making this, it's really going to be helpful *print*
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This is awesome! I'm trying to get better at digital art but I always get annoyed with it. However I love the results when I print final products. I read lots of tutorials hoping for a boost of inspiration but there are so many that produce static results on my screen with tips like using grays and the smudge tool. I've probably come up with a good technique but I'm too busy questioning myself to get something good out. Reading this at least lets me know what not to do, and it makes perfect sense!
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I can't choose colors...end of story, i will try all day to figure out what color the skin should reflect off the background and if its a different color then the background or just slightly different. I suck pretty much giving up on art and computers and finding something that i'm good at..
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don't give up! nothing seems to come out right the first time for me either but its about development of the idea and building on the base. try putting down some basic colors first for everything and then see how they work together. i'm not sure if you're doing this but it might help if you are...if you try to do one whole element first (like the face or the background) and render this completely before moving on to the next you'll have a harder time united the objects in terms of global tones. start with a "sloppy" layer on everything and then slowly build up rendering on the entire piece
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You can actually get decent looking blending if you mess around with the scatter slider on the smudge tool. Not ideal for top layers, but it it's just laying down a smooth transition of base colors it's a lot faster to redo if you change your mind.
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thank you so much for this awesome tutorial! It is very helpful, coming from a traditional background, digital is a big change. I struggled with using the tools mentioned above, I will definately put them into practise! Mind you, I do not have a tablet or photoshop cs6, just my photoshop elements and my mouse pad. Haha, I am finding it difficult to let go of my need for the same level of control I have with traditional, but it is a good thing, helping me broaden my view and technique. Do you have any other exercises or suggestions?
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the best thing to do is get a tablet as soon as possible!! it will help you transition more easily from traditional to digital. i would just say that if you do get a tablet, it will feel a little different than drawing with a pencil, especially since there is less friction between then pen and the surface. It will feel more "slippery" but after 1-2 weeks you should get the right amount of muscle memory and calibration to work with it, just like playing a new video game.
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Wow, I will definitely try to find a tablet in my price range! Thanks for the tips, and hopefully there will be some more digital practice to follow!
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Very, very helpful.
I already know so many mistakes I've made just by checking this out
So basically a thank you is in order for you for creating this
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Hello! I've featured this resource in my latest journal !
Thank you for sharing with the community!
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This is what I was looking for, solid advice. I've been struggling with my digital painting for years now, trying to find good tutorials on color and what not. But the truth is, knowledge like this is better than any tutorial that I've came across.
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This is very helpful. I'm going to get into digital painting and its nice to see a tutorial that tells me what to avoid doing.
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A really good heads up! I myself have problems with monochromatic colours and overblending. This should help me fix them!
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Great tutorial, exactly what I was looking for and really helped!
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Hi!!!! this is a wonderful tutorial!! I did have a question or two though
1. When you blend, you use opacity blending, which is what I have been teaching myself as well. I always run into the problem of not getting a smooth transition... for example i will draw a stripe of opaque paint inbetween the 2 colors and then i try to blend that one so on so on... when should you stop? how do you know when you have blended too smoothly? Or is it just something you have to learn?
2. How do people use textures in their paintings? I have seen them used in things like walls or paper, or just to give a nice effect to the picture. I have never understood how to use these.
3. when you are paiting highlights, how do you decide what tint they should have? not so much the spectal highlights, those are white correct? but like the general highlighting on the figure? is it decided based on what is around it? or the color of the figure itself?
4. When drawing eyes, or glossy figures, do you have any tips that help to give the effect of the eye being wet and round? I have found it rather hard to make my eyes look lifelike. Any tips about painting eyes would be helpful
Thank you so much <3
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