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Digital painting. The basics

from 8 weeks
Beginner

About the Course

Good digital painting is not about a program or a brush. It's about the ability to see: tone, light, color, air, balance. It is this skill that distinguishes a job that "works" from one that looks flat — even if technically everything is done correctly.

This is the legendary digital painting Skills Up School course — the one that existed for years only in a semester format. We have specially recorded and adapted it for online learning so that you don't have to wait for a semester's enrollment. The course consists of two parts.

The first part. In 8 weeks, you will go from the first sketch to colored still lifes and landscapes, building an understanding of tone, light, color, warmth, and composition step by step.

The second part. The student moves on to more complex forms and productions: plaster head, portrait, urban landscape with perspective, interior composition. In 7 weeks, you will delve into color theory and color schemes, master working with different types of lighting, and understand the principles of composition — in practice, not theory.

In both parts, each week the curator personally records a video analysis of the work for you.

Video preview

Coming soon

What You Will Learn

1. Light and tone: you will understand how light works in space, and how to convey volume and shadow.
2. Color and heat coolness: learn to see and transmit heat coolness, color balance and air in the work, work with color contrasts.
3. Color schemes and schemes: master the quick and informed selection of palettes and color solutions for any production.
4. Working with lighting: single light source, color light, dual source, natural light — understanding each type and working with different light sources.
5. Composition and balance: develop the skill of building a complete picture — balance, rhythm, emphasis.
6. Different genres: you will work in still life, landscape, interior and portrait — a versatile practice.
7. Final submission: the ability to design and present work at the portfolio level.

How the Learning Works

01

Watch video lessons at your own pace

02

Complete assignments and reinforce your skills

03

Gain knowledge and build your portfolio

Who Is This Course For

1

The course is suitable for beginning artists, those who are moving from traditional materials to digital, and practicing artists who want to improve their understanding of color and their work.

2

Beginners will build the right base from the very beginning. Artists with experience will systematize their knowledge and gain what is difficult to achieve on their own — an honest view of each work.

Course Instructors

Student works

What Students Say

Anna Ivanova

Egorenkov Dmitry

Julia Nekrasova

Kristina Taymukhina

Ivan Skrynnikov

Julia Feoktistova

Maria Dokuchaeva

Anna Kuznetsova

Julia Cardonova

Gregory Kapitsa

Nikita Cherepanov

Course Program

Theory
  • Physics of Light — how light works and affects shape and volume.
Practice
  • The opening sketch.

Club video archive

Lectures, masterclasses, movie nights and soft-skills sessions from school instructors. The archive keeps growing.

Access unlocks after any course purchase

Trial access

7 days free

We open the course lessons in full: watch the videos, do the assignment and get feedback from a tutor. If you like it, continue on any format.

7 lessons open right away
Assignment reviewed by a tutor
The same lessons our students study

Access opens right after you fill in the form — in your account

Format Selection

We'll find the right learning format for your lifestyle

Answer one question — and we'll show which format suits you best

?

Would you like to get work reviews from a curator?

A curator is a practicing artist who will review each piece and help you grow faster

Frequently Asked Questions

Digital painting. The basics
from $160$726
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from $80/mo

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