Digital painting. Skills of a modern artist

A modern artist, like the multi-armed Shiva, juggles different tasks. The profession requires both artistic and technical skills, and now, due to the development of technology and increased interest in digital media, the demand for such specialists continues to grow. Photo from classes at Skills Up school

So, what skills should a modern artist develop?

First of all, basic skills. They are divided into artistic — knowledge of composition, color theory, high-level drawing skills, the ability to come up with original ideas, and technical — working with software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Procreate, and others. A true professional does not forget about the development of additional skills, or soft skills:

• Communication skills: the ability to work with clients and in a team, the ability to present your ideas and projects competently, to respond adequately to feedback, to accept feedback from clients or colleagues, to make corrections as necessary.
• Planning skills: organization of the workflow, setting tasks and completing them on time.
• Adaptability skills: following trends or breaking them, the ability to adapt to changes, taking into account current trends in art and design.

We talk about soft skills in detail in the course «Employment in game development». You will learn about positioning yourself in the labor market, building a personal brand, competently compiling a resume and portfolio, and effectively searching for work. Photo from classes at Skills Up school Fields of application of basic and additional skills are very diverse, which allows you to find a job you like. The most popular of them are the gaming and film industries. The main tasks for an artist in them are the creation of concept art of characters and environments, the invention of object designs, and the development of visual effects. The second most popular area of skill application is illustration for books, board games, and comics. Stylization skills are especially needed here. You can also express yourself in education — teach digital art courses and become a mentor for artists. This field requires not only a good knowledge of the theoretical base, but also developed social skills, and is perfect for artists who like working with people. If working in a team or under supervision is not interesting to you, you can direct your efforts to personal projects — create works for exhibitions, sell paintings, and participate in contests. Work by curator Yana Struchok

Okay, we've sorted out the artist. Now let's talk about digital painting!

Digital painting includes many styles and techniques. Now it is difficult to clearly classify styles, but digital painting is largely similar to traditional painting and is able to imitate a wide range of traditional materials:

• Oil — with the help of texture brushes and techniques that copy a brushstroke with paint, for example, mix brushes, you can achieve the effect of a pastose stroke or a textured canvas.
• Watercolor — the fluidity and transparency of watercolor can be reproduced with the help of special brushes and overlay effects, as well as in Adobe Fresco, Art Rage, or Corel Painter programs.
• Pastel, charcoal, and pencil — to imitate these materials, texture brushes are often enough. Some artists also add paper texture as a background for the most realistic effect.

These possibilities allow you to experiment with different techniques without the need to use physical materials, expensive paints, and canvases.

Paintings in digital painting

For digital art, there are their own galleries and museums — exhibitions dedicated to digital technologies are held there. This contributes to the recognition of digital art as an important area of fine art. Everydays: The First 5000 Days - Beeple This collage of 5000 images became one of the most famous NFT (non-fungible tokens) works and was sold for 69.3 million dollars at Christie's auction in 2021, making it the most expensive NFT ever. Evening, 2018 - Andrey Surnov This and many other works by the artist, made with digital tools and printed on canvas, took part in exhibitions and projects. Andrey prefers realistic art and fully recreates the process of traditional painting on a digital canvas.

Masterpieces of digital painting

A work of art can be considered a masterpiece if it has originality, a unique style or idea, high execution skill, evokes strong emotions in the viewer, and has a significant impact on culture. Such works often retain their relevance over time, remaining understandable to different generations and cultures. In addition, the opinion of experts and critics also plays a role in recognizing a work as a masterpiece. Digital art is less than 100 years old — it is difficult to single out specific works as masterpieces during this time, but we can note outstanding artists who have definitely made a great contribution to the development of this art. Work by artist Craig Mullins for the game Assassin's creed 2 Craig Mullins is an outstanding artist known for his work in the field of video games, animation, and digital painting. He is considered one of the pioneers of digital art and has had a significant impact on the development of this field. In 1995, DreamWorks Animation tasked Craig with creating a series of visual developments for their first animated film «The Prince of Egypt». He used Photoshop to draw them all digitally. The work made such an impression that Craig was hired to teach DreamWorks artists to draw with Photoshop. His innovative work made a big contribution to the creation of a process that is now standard in animation. In 2009, ImagineFX named him one of the «50 most inspiring living artists» in the field of digital art in the genres of fantasy and science fiction. Craig Mullins remains an important figure in the world of digital art to this day, inspiring a new generation of artists with his creativity and skill. Work by artist Nathan Fowkes Nathan Fowkes is another outstanding digital painter. Fowkes specializes in creating atmospheric landscapes characterized by bright colors and detailed elaboration. His style is distinguished by a combination of realistic and stylized elements, which allows him to create unique and memorable images. Nathan skillfully owns traditional materials. His portfolio includes works made with charcoal, watercolor, and gouache. He often goes to plein air and works with paints from натуры — this experience helps him create amazing landscapes. Fowkes is considered a master of working with color. He also teaches a lot, conducts training courses, writes articles, and shares work processes.

Portrait genre in painting

Thanks to its ability to capture the uniqueness of each person and convey emotions, a deep connection is created between the model and the viewer through the portrait genre. It allows artists to explore human nature and individuality. In addition, the variety of styles and techniques in portraits provides boundless opportunities for self-expression. Work by curator Marina Peregud The portrait genre has always been interesting to the viewer, and with the development of social networks, it has gained enormous popularity. Writing a portrait is not only a way to express yourself, but also an excellent opportunity to attract attention to your creativity and portfolio, to make yourself known. In Skills Up School, we have paid special attention to this topic, developing a whole course dedicated to the portrait. It contains not only knowledge from the field of digital painting, but also an anatomical base that will help you create cool portraits, maintaining similarity with the model, while adding stylization if you want.

Digital art and education

Digital painting is becoming increasingly popular in educational institutions: many universities and schools are introducing it into their programs. For example, the Stroganov University has a course on the basics of 2D graphics, and the Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design has a specialization «Artist of animation and computer graphics‎». These examples show that Russian universities are actively adapting to modern labor market requirements and introducing digital technologies into education. But so far, the higher education market cannot offer such a variety of directions and narrow specializations within the field of digital art, so most people choose courses — it's faster and more efficient. For example, the duration of courses in our school does not exceed six months. Also, modern schools have more experience, they adapt faster to modern trends and offer an individual approach. In Skills Up School, we have been teaching drawing and digital graphics for more than 10 years, and during this time we have graduated thousands of students, many of whom now work in the game and film industries. Fine art and digital painting in the modern world are in constant interaction, creating new forms of expression and expanding the boundaries of traditional art. Digital painting uses innovative technologies to create works, which allows artists to combine traditional techniques with digital tools and opens up new horizons for creativity. Below we want to recommend to you books that will help to expand knowledge about digital painting:

«Color and Light‎» — James Garney

James Garney presents a carefully thought-out study of color and light in paintings. Although this book is more about traditional painting, its concepts of color and light can be useful for digital artists. This guidebook on art is a continuation of the recognized book «How to Draw What Doesn't Exist», which we also highly recommend!

«Color and Light. A Complete Guide to the Theoretical Foundations» — 3dtotal

Professional artists, illustrators, and designers from all over the world took part in its creation. Based on their rich experience, they analyze in detail the subtleties of working with color and light. This book is an excellent guide from artists to artists. To learn more about digital painting and take your first steps, our article Digital painting for beginners will help you.

Try our master class on digital painting

Video lesson from our curator Elena Churkina