Digital Painting for the Complete Beginner

This book has some excellent pointers for those just starting out completely new. So they aren't kidding when they say "complete beginner". It goes over color settings, printing, image types (raster vs vector), etc. The book covers both Photoshop and Corel Painter and explains the difference between the two and which is better to use for certain styles.The book also has quite a few tutorials, many of which are around coloring and painting images you scan in. They go over step-by-step processes how to create the paintings displayed. Hence why the book is "Digital Painting for the Complete Beginner".If you are completely new to graphic design and digital art, this is a good place to start. If you're already familiar with the basics of digital design, this book will still offer some good advice and some decent instruction on ways to digitally paint. Most of the painting is with Corel Painter however. I will be using the book to learn about Corel Painter since I'm purely a Photoshop guy.I partially bought this book hoping it would cover tips and techniques of how to digitally sketch. It does NOT cover this topic at all. In most cases they just have you scan in a hand drawn sketch and do clean-up (which is a valid technique).Overall it's a great book for beginners and/or if you are not familiar with Corel Painter at all.

I am a traditional painter that wants to use to develop my compositions and do color studies digitally. I am a complete beginner; when I bought this book I had not yet used a tablet, Photoshop or Painter. I really wanted to give this book 5 stars, but there were a couple of flaws that were hard to overlook.First, what I liked:1) Overall this book is valuable for artists and I think good for traditional artists wanting to understand digital painting.2) The book is divided into two main sections - the first section is called "Digital Painting Essentials" and this section has a nice array of techniques that are immediately applicable - like how to scan and clean up a traditional pencil sketch for use in Photoshop or Painter.3) The author does a good job at showing how to do various tasks with Photoshop or Painter4) Everything is explained very clearly throughout with lots of helpful photos5) The author's work is whimsical yet very professional and really helps one see the possibilities of digital mediaWhat's not so good:1) This book really isn't for the complete beginner - I was a complete beginner and I had to go find some basic tutorials on Photoshop and Painter to go through before I could use this book. It is a "basic" book but what she shows won't be enough to actually start using these programs even if you follow along.The bad:1) The second section of the book is chock full of interesting and gorgeous tutorials. However, they are almost useless to a complete beginner. Trying to learn the concepts in the tutorials by applying them to a different piece of art that what is show would be extremely difficult for a beginner to digital art. The concepts are solid - it is trying to apply them de novo which is the tough part. I tried in a couple of cases and ended up very frustrated since I couldn't easily see if it was going right (and in some cases with nothing to reference I couldn't get the same effect).2) The most egregious is that the book references a companion website where you can access "some of the brushes, patterns and textured backgrounds in the tutorials" and "will also include extra resources, tips and links to video tutorials" is not available! I did track down the email of the author and sent her a note asking about it and she didn't get back to me (if I hear anything I will update this review). Note: it does not say that the art pieces used in the book tutorials would be available on the companion site - again without these the tutorials would be very difficult for a beginner (like me).Overall I did get some useful information out of the book but it fell short in some key areas for a complete beginner.

This books needs to get sold! Why? Simple, the author's method of teaching you the software (both painter and photoshop) is a welcome addition to my library. Then taking the time to drill down some techniques for both programs will get you going very quickly on to becoming an advanced digital painter. It helps to mention that the author may be drawing digitally, but she is pushing for a paper drawn look that you don't see much often when you use digital media. I'm glad to have bought this, and I believe it will help me push my drawings over to the realistic scale.For beginners and advanced users looking for an introduction to or a refresh for Photoshop CS5 and Painter 12. Then after learning the ropes with both you are then presented with tutorials of varying levels to teach you as many techniques as possible. Presented in full color and proper CMYK print. Not a book to be left out, get it now!

So glad I bought this book! I'm only on page 34 and have learned so much. I've used Photoshop for years and am shocked that there's so much I've missed. As a slow learner, it can be overwhelming to absorb so much at one time, but taking it slow, and really appreciate this info! Great things learned so far: the difference between Photoshop and Painter, how to clean up a bad scan, setting the "workplace" feature on Photoshop so same windows always open, using the quick selection tool etc. Look forward to reading more! Carlyn's recommendations and tips are given in a very fun and easy-going manner. She's very encouraging and really helpful!On a side note, if I'm 'stuck' trying to understand a particular topic (like using 'masks'), I'll do a Google search and watch a YouTube video of someone demonstrating it. Along with the book, this extra visual is helpful!

Great lessons but I wish it was a larger book (8 x 10 or so)

I bought this book hoping to learn more about using Painter 12, I have been a Corel fan since Paintshop Pro X. Painter 12 looks like I can really move ahead with my digital painting and I was looking for a book to walk me through the program, This book spends too much time and space showing me how to use Photoshop. (At one point it uses 6 pages in a row on Photoshop, before returning to a single page of Painter 12.) I will keep the book and try to find what I need to know partly because the cost and time to ship it back is not worth it, and I will continue to try to use it as for the most part, it has good reviews. Maybe I will rewrite this review later if somehow sticking with this book changes my mind. I hoped for help on Painter 12 but most of this book so far seems to be for Photoshop.

Have wanted to get to grips with digital painting for quite some time and this book really ticks all the boxes.One of the draws for this book is that it uses Photoshop CS5 AND Corel Painter 12, which are the two programs I have access to. I am really pleased that I chose this book as it covers the subject in gentle stages, first of all explaining the features of both programs, so you can get optimum results. Later stages of the book explain the techniques of digital painting, which I personally found extremely interesting.It is true that the author has put her own style of illustration at the forefront of this publication, but that would be true of any artist. It gives a really good grounding in the subject though and easy to adapt your own style once you have mastered the basics.If you are looking for a practical introduction to digital art, this is a good book to consider.

A great book by all intents and purposes which covers everything from understanding perspective, colours, brushes and palette mixing to speed painting plus much much more. I bought this having recently taken the digital painting plunge as a complete novice and was looking for a good starting book. The only down side is that the author has enforced her own style of painting as a guide so unless you are keen to get the same results in your own technique then this could be off putting. I would liked to have seen more on a broader range of techniques not within this art style depicted so frequently in the book but what this publication offers on other areas of digital painting is still extremely valuable information for the beginner to absorb.

A truly excellent book, well written with easy-to-follow instructions in Photoshop and Corel Painter. I was impressed by the knowledge and skill displayed by the author and the many "how to get rounds" included. The book itself is well produced and includes folded book marks on both covers for easy reference. This book is a well deserved 5 stars and I can thoroughly commend it from entry level up.

Bought as a gift, went down well. Can't say more.

Not a bad book for beginner wanting to find their way around Photoshop or Painter. The book is supposed to be linked to tutorial download material at carlynpaints.com but the website is not available. For a book printed in 2012 this is, IMO a pretty poor show. The author has their own website but the material does not appear to be available here either....hence only 3 stars