Digital paintings are one art and design trend that isn’t going away any time soon. Digital paintings (examples) are vibrant, display well on screen and take advantage of new technologies like the graphics tablet to make the digital look traditional. If you’re interested in learning to create art through this medium, here are over 40 tutorials to help you begin (or continue) the adventure.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Psdtuts in June of 2009.
1. Skin Tones Part 1
2. Skin Tones Part 2
3. Gunman by Craig Mullins
4. Revising Golongrias Picture
5. Happy Like a Broken Doll
6. Human Skin
7. Painting an Old Man
8. Painting Human Lips
9. How to Make a Planet
10. Space Craft Prototyping
11. Sci-Fi Environment Concept tutorial
12. Digital Illustration Workflow
13. Scene Rendering
14. Abstract Dragon
15. Liberate Your Colors
16. Painting a faerie scene
17. Paint a Sexy Siren
18. Portrait Speedpainting
19. Making of Hecate
20. A Traditional Approach to Creating Digital Art
As you know, each month, we round up some of the best Photoshop-related content from around the web. This month, there were some excellent Photoshop tutorials and articles to choose from so please take a moment to review our favorites from June 2011.
Photoshop Tutorials
Awesome Amp Controls in Photoshop
This tutorial from Abduzeedo will demonstrate how to create some nice amplifier controls using Photoshop.
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Make a Retro Space Themed Poster in Photoshop
This tutorial from WeGraphics will explain how to create a retro space themed poster in Photoshop.
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Make a Vignette Using Smart Filters
Smart filters have lots of uses. This video tutorial from Layers Magazine will show how to create a vignette using smart filters.
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Give Your Logo Work a 3D Edge
This tutorial from Computer Arts will explain how to use 3D apps to give your logo design work a 3D edge.
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Hard and Soft Shadow Edges
This short video from Ctrl Paint will explain how to apply hard and soft shadow edges to your digital paintings.
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Create a Black Swan Inspired Movie Poster
This tutorial from Creative Fan will explain how to create a Black Swan Movie inspired poster in Photoshop.
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The Basics of Typography
This tutorial from Design Instruct will explain the basics of typography and is a great start for anyone wanting to apply this knowledge to their Photoshop designs.
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Create Vintage Coupon in Photoshop
This tutorial from WeGraphics will explain how to create a vintage coupon in Photoshop.
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Articles and Inspiration
50 Mind Blowing Photo Manipulations
Looking for some new ideas for your next photo manipulation? This showcase from Noupe features some excellent examples for inspiration.
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35 Extraordinary "End of The World" Inspired Artworks
This showcase from Hongkiat features some stunning “End of the World” artworks. It’s definitely worth a look.
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Funny Caricatures by Anthony Geoffroy
It’s always entertaining to explore the works of a great caricature artist. This showcase from Web Designer Depot features some amazing and hilarious caricatures from Anthony Geoffroy.
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50 Creative and Clever Examples of Outdoor Advertising
Outdoor advertising can be a great source of inspiration. This showcase from Design Shack features some extremely clever examples.
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Exceptional Work of GMUNK for Disney’s Tron Legacy
Tron Legacy features some fantastic special effects. This post from Abduzeedo showcases some exception work by the production team.
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Be Creative, But Please Don’t Overdo It
Designers often have to fight the urge to be overly ambitious. This article from Just Creative Design explains how sometimes it’s best to just keep it simple.
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Rediscovering Humanity in Design
In many cases technology has isolated designers from their colleagues and clients. This articles explains how designers can rediscover their humanity.
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35 Examples of Typographic Business Card Designs
Looking for some inspiration for your next business card design? This showcase from Naldz Graphics showcases some excellent examples.
Speed painting is the act of recording of an artist’s screen while they paint a scene. The recording is then sped up so that you can see the piece come together much more quickly. In this round up we have gathered some of the most impressive speed painting videos that we have seen that include paintings of well-known subjects including Scarlett Johansson, Megan Fox, and Iron Man. Take a look at them below and be amazed at how these talented artists produce these fantastic pieces of art.
Avatar Speed Painting by Mike Gore
Our first video features a speed painting of one of the most popular movies ever created, Avatar. The final product which can be seen here shows off the amazing result of 12 hours of work. The specs for this piece are posted in the video description so look it over if you are interested.
Scarlett Johansson Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
Our next speed painting video gives us some rather attractive visuals of the designer painting actress Scarlett Johansson. The artist
didn’t go for extreme realism on this painting but the result is still extremely accurate and amazing to see put together in such a short period of time.
Sea Monster Speed Painting
It’s hard to believe the artist who created this painting said its only a doodle, but this is probably one of the most detailed paintings in this set. The ferocious sea monster is put together in only 4 quick minutes and the result looks simply phenomenal.
Iron Man Speed Painting
This speed painting video gives us a dual shot while the designer is painting away, we can see the stock photograph of Iron man that the designer is painting from. This is very cool since we can now see how much artistic freedom was taken with the final product and you can see the artist
definitely put his own spin on how this one was painted.
Toy Story 3 Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
If you got a look at the finished product first before viewing the video it would be hard to tell that this wasn’t a screenshot from the movie,
that’s how good this painting looks. Everyone should check this one out for the sheer talent that this guy has.
Undead Speed Painting by Rune Bodker
Only done in an hour and a half this creepy speed painting of a zombie is nothing but awesome, the only
criticism that comes to mind is that the body isn’t as detailed as the face is but we cant really nitpick when the result still looks this good.
Kanye West Speed Painting by Williams Shamir
Kanye West gets the speed painting treatment here and the result is extremely impressive, put together in around 6 hours this designer used a nice brush touch to give this painting a smooth as well as realistic look.
Megan Fox Speed Painting by Stephanie Valentin
Megan Fox is the next celeb in this list to get painted and 6 hours worth of work culminate in another fantastic product. This almost 6 minute video zooms in on specific areas of the painting for the viewer to get a better look at the techniques used to create this.
M.I.A. Speed Painting by Salena
This off color painting features some colorful and vibrant visuals of singer M.I.A. The impressive part about it is how a whole different color
palette was used for this painting yet all of the shading and coloring still looks on point, watch this one to see some great painting techniques used.
Mechanical T-Rex Speed Painting by Chris Scalf
The thought of a mechanical dinosaur is already awesome but when you combine the idea with a talented artist who can draw it into reality makes for a mind explosion. This very cool painting was done in 3 and a half hours and although it lacks detailed coloring it still features an incredibly detailed scene.
Travis Barker Speed Painting by Sean McCoy
All the crazy tattoo art on Travis Barker make for a really fun and interesting speed painting to watch. The way this painter goes about realistically painting all of Barkers heavy
tattoo’s is incredible and the final product does not shy away from looking like a photo.
Indiana Jones Speed Painting by S. Maguire
This painter’s childhood hero and most likely many other peoples hero as well gets the speed painting treatment in this video. All of these videos including this one are instrumental and educational for artists who are looking to start digitally painting themselves, this detailed shot of Mr. Ford is a great example of something you should strive for.
Terminator Caricature Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
Nico Di Mattia switches gears for a second and goes towards something a little more comical and less realistic, painting the terminator in caricature form. There is not much difference in the technique used but the final product
definitely bares a resemblance to Arnold in his former role. An interesting look at how caricatures are painted.
Dr. House Caricature Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
This guy’s paintings are just so good we had to post a few more, here is
everyone’s favorite Doctor Dr. House in another amazing looking caricature, watch this and take notes.
Darth Maul Speed Painting
The fore was definitely with this painter when he decided to start painting Darth Maul. The complete painting which took roughly 3 hours to paint features not only Maul but also a nice backdrop that we
rarely see designers actually go into when speed painting.
Upsidedown Mona Lisa Speed Painting
Probably the coolest speed painting out of this set but also the oddest, why paint the famous Mona Lisa upside down?
I’m not sure, but it does make for an interesting 10 minute video. The result looks perfect as it has every detail the original one does, this is just a case of digital art being inspired by
rational and we can all learn from the result.
Landscape Speed Painting
No celeb or mechanical T-Rex here, just a simple yet awesome looking grungy landscape. It is interesting to see how the techniques to painting this are similar/different from those used to create some of the other paintings featured in this set, so browse through this video and be the judge of that.
Abstract Speed Painting
We cant be sure what exactly was painted in this video but we can be sure that the final product looks simply amazing. The colors work
extremely well with each other in this rather odd scene.
Samus Speed Painting
Lastly we have a speed painting of popular video game character Samus. The multicolored reflections that are on her suite make for an interesting painting that uses the best set of color
pallets possible as the final result looks like its right out of a video game.
As you know, each month, we round up some of the best Photoshop-related content from around the web. This month, there were some excellent Photoshop tutorials and articles to choose from so please take a moment to review our favorites from May 2011.
Photoshop Tutorials
Create a Wacom Product Advertisement in Photoshop
This tutorial from Creative Fan will demonstrate how to create a cool Wacom product advertisement using pandas and bonsai trees.
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Photoshop Tutorial: Create a Photo-Realistic Orange from Scratch
This tutorial from Pxleyes will demonstrate how to create a realistic looking orange from scratch using only Photoshop.
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Vintage 3D Typography in Photoshop with Repoussé
The repousse tool in Photoshop CS5 has many uses. This tutorial from Abduzeedo will demonstrate how to create a vintage 3D typographic effect.
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Video: 3D DNA Strand with Photoshop Extended
Strands of DNA can be challenging to create with standard 2D applications. This tutorial from Layers Magazine will demonstrate how to create a DNA strand using Photoshop CS5’s 3D tools.
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Illustration Tutorial: Creating an iOS Device Connector in Photoshop
This tutorial from Wegraphics will demonstrate how to create an iOS device connector in Photoshop.
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Photoshop Tutorial: Effectively Remove Facial Hair in CS5
This tutorial from Pxleyes will demonstrate how to remove a man’s beard using Photoshop CS5.
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How To Create a Dramatic Action Scene in Photoshop
This tutorial from Spoon Graphics will demonstrate how to create a dramatic action poster in Photoshop.
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Create a Surreal Landscape Using Photo Manipulation
In this tutorial from Wegraphics you will learn how to create a surreal landscape photo manipulation in Photoshop.
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Articles and Inspiration, and Freebies
Tips on Design Pricing, Estimates and Invoices
The business side of design can be just as challenging as the design side of the industry. This article from Cute Little Factory gives some tips on running your design business.
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30 Examples of Smart Print Advertisements
This round up on Web Design Ledger showcases some examples of smart print advertisements.
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Super Creative Illustrations
This collection of illustrations on Abduzeedo showcases some excellent digital paintings from Nithin Rao Kumblekar.
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18 Essential Grunge Textures
These grunge textures from Lost and Taken will make an excellent addition to your design arsenal.
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Useful Photoshop Tutorials for Designing Abstract Backgrounds
Looking for a creative background for your next design? This collection of tutorials on Noupe will give you plenty of ideas.
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30 Epic Graffiti Illustrations by Yok Yoker
This post from Creative Overflow showcases 30 amazing graffiti illustrations by Yok Yoker.
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34 Awesome Poster Designs
This article on DesignM.ag showcases 34 awesome poster designs for inspiration.
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Fantastic Wakeboards to Inspire Your Designs
While wakeboards are a lot of fun to ride, they are also a lot of fun to look at and create. This showcases from Web Designer Depot showcases some excellent examples.
