Digital Art Tips for Beginners
In this article, we’ll focus on art tools and techniques that can help beginners work more efficiently. You’ll learn how to create canvases, understand layers, blending modes, and best utilize program features.
1. Key to Achieving High Quality Artworks
Before you start drawing, it’s important to set up your canvas correctly. Choosing the right canvas settings can make the drawing process easier and help avoid quality problems later on.
Canvas size depends on the type of artwork you create, whether it is a quick sketch or a detailed piece. For example, a smaller canvas size, such as 2000 × 2000 pixels, works well for sketches, while a larger canvas, around 3000 × 3000 pixels and above, is better for detailed, high-quality artwork because it keeps the image smoother and sharper.
Besides the sizes, the DPI of a canvas matters as well. DPI, which stands for Dots Per Inch, is the measurement of resolution. Similar to canvas sizes, the higher the DPI, the higher the image quality. A recommended DPI size would be at least 300.
Using a canvas that is too small can cause artwork to look blurry or pixelated, especially when zooming in. Larger canvases allow for more detail and cleaner lines, especially with a higher DPI. However, some apps may restrict layers or take up more storage depending on the canvas size, so be mindful while picking a size!
2. Brushes
2a. A brush is a tool used to apply color to a surface.
In digital art, brushes are customizable tools inside a software that imitates traditional brushes, letting you paint lines, textures, and effects digitally.
You can access brushes through a toolbar or a brush icon, depending on the program. For example, in Procreate, the brush icon is located at the top right of the screen, while in IbisPaint, it appears in the middle of the toolbox. In Adobe Photoshop, select the brush tool from the side toolbar. In Clip Studio Paint, brushes are found in the Sub Tool palette by clicking “Window” then “Sub Tool.”
Certain brushes, like hard brushes and airbrushes, are available across most art programs. This makes them especially useful for beginners, since they can be used no matter which software you choose.
Below are common types of brushes, each serving a different purpose:
- Flat Brush: for straight, flat edges
- Hard Brush: creates sharp, clean lines with minimal softness
- Round Brush: a basic brush with a round shape
- Textured Brush: for patterned details
- Airbrush: a tool that gives a smooth look/ soft shading
- Eraser: erases any marks made and uses the same settings as any brush tool
Don’t focus intensely on finding the perfect brush. Many artists believe a specific brush will instantly improve their work, but that’s not true. Even with a few simple brushes, you can still create high-quality artworks. As your skills improve, you’ll reach a stage where you can experiment with different brushes to achieve specific textures.
Besides making the mistake of trying to find the “perfect brush,” beginner artists also tend to make the mistake of overusing textures. This can make the artwork look cluttered, muddy, or flatten dimension. By blocking in the main shapes and de-cluttering texture in most areas, you’re able to create a more balanced piece.
2b. The key to smooth linework
Stabilization tools are useful for making drawing cleaner and easier to control by smoothing uneven brush strokes. This is especially useful for clean outlines, curves and linework. Many art programs have this feature, allowing you to change your stabilization settings. It is recommended that beginners start with higher settings while using this tool, then lowering it as their confidence in linework improves. While stabilization can be useful for achieving greater line quality, it is important to practice drawing without relying on it so you can naturally develop better hand coordination skills.
3. Using Layers Strategically
3a. Layers are an organizational tool that separate different parts of your artwork.
Layers can be moved by dragging them above or below another layer. By placing layers above or below another, you can easily control which elements appear in front of or behind others.
Layers can be edited independently. I recommend assigning your line-art, color(s), shading, and background onto their own dedicated layers, as this is a standard industry practice. That way, you can work to make adjustments to each component of the drawing efficiently without affecting the rest of your artwork.
You can toggle a layer’s visibility by clicking on the eye icon or checkmark next to it. This is useful for checking your sketch, lineart, and color layers or to temporarily turn off layers to avoid distractions. This also helps you compare different stages of your art by turning the visibility on and off to see the difference.
You can also lock a layer in order to prevent accidental edits.
3b. To help with organization, don’t overflow your canvas with more layers than you can handle.
Merging or grouping layers together when you’ve finalized its contents can simplify your workspace. This way, your layer space isn’t cluttered with thousands of layers to look from, which can slow down your drawing process due to lag. Merging layers also helps with saving storage and reducing file size.
Naming your layers is useful when working with multiple layers and need to identify specific content instantly without having to toggle visibility on and off.
3c. Utilizing program techniques will speed up your drawing progress.
A clipping mask creates a layer confined to the layer below it, trapping colors into a defined area. You can stack multiple clipping masks onto one single layer; this layer then serves as the container for every mask attached to it. This function provides a way to apply new details, like textures, shading, or highlights, that remain completely editable without changing the base layer.
Alpha lock locks transparent areas on the same layer; specifically, it restricts your brush to the pixels you have already painted onto the layer itself.
Both of these tools allow artists to draw onto a space without coloring outside of the intended lines. This makes it easier to add shading or highlights without affecting any other part of the artwork. They can also help maintain original edges when adding textures, allowing for organization.
3d. Use blending modes to easily adjust colors.
A blending mode is an effect that allows artists to control how the colors of one layer interact with the layer beneath it. If you apply a blending mode to an image below it, it will affect how the colors underneath it blend with each other. To use these modes, combine a base layer with a blending layer on top of it.
On a layer, there will be a dropdown box that contains different blending modes.
Use a clipping layer mask on top of the base layer to clip the blending mode onto your desired area.
Then, adjust the opacity to your liking.
Here are beginner friendly blending modes:
- Multiply: Helpful for adding shadows by darkening colors.
- Add/Glow: Adding light on top of objects.
- Hard light: Brighten paintings
- Overlay: Increases the drawing’s contrast.
- Color: Recolors and artwork without changing shading/lighting.
These blending modes are most commonly used by beginners because they are the most simple, making them easier to understand compared to other complex modes.
Using different combinations of blending modes on top of each other can provide for a visually balanced and pleasing artwork.
4. Use all your program’s tools to your advantage!
4a. Lasso Tool/Magic Wand
The lasso tool’s purpose is to select an area in order to edit, delete, or fill.
Here are some of its functions:
- Block in shapes
- Resize elements
- Cleanly color shapes that require sharper edges
- Combine both a hard edge and soft bridge
- Quickly fill in colors
Additionally, the magic wand automatically selects the area of an image based on the color.
4b. Liquify Tool
The liquify tool is a distortion tool that allows users to push, pull, pinch and expand an artwork to correct proportions without the need of redrawing them. Changing the settings of this tool can allow for more precise adjustments and edits. Increasing the brush size affects larger areas, while decreasing it will support smaller details being made. Pressure controls the intensity of the brush, distortion allows for a greater “swirl” effect, and momentum determines the duration of the liquify effect after you stop using the tool.
4c. Blending/smudge tool
The blending or smudge tool is used to soften and mix colors together. Artists typically use this tool when creating soft edges, blending skin tones, or smoothing out a rougher brush stroke. By adjusting the settings of this tool, you can change the intensity of the blending.
While the smudge tool at low pressure mixes colors more subtly, creating smoother gradients, at high pressure, it drags the colors and smears them around and creates more of a painterly effect. Note that over-reliance on these tools can make a painting look muddy and flat due to the lack of contrast. To learn more about this in depth, check out this article on edges.
5. Flipping Canvas for a Fresh Perspective
Flipping your canvas horizontally allows your eyes to gain a fresh perspective on your work. Just as you look different in a mirror compared to a photo, reversing your artwork reveals mistakes that you might have missed after staring at the screen for too long. Using this tool regularly, from the initial sketch to the final rendering, ensures your proportions remain balanced. Additionally, you can easily adjust proportions through using both the liquify tool and flipping the canvas. I’d recommend to flip between every major process: sketch, lineart, coloring, rendering, and at the end.
6. Zooming out more often than you zoom in
It can be incredibly easy to get lost in the details of your painting. If you constantly stay zoomed in, you may lose the ability to read the overall composition. While details are incredibly important, you should zoom out frequently to evaluate how the entire drawing reads as a whole.
You can do this by simply drawing while zoomed out, or using the canvas tool to see the entire artwork and the zoomed in art at the same time.
The canvas tool allows you to keep a smaller version of your canvas visible while working on detailed areas, and also attach an image to use as a reference. To do this on Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint, go to windows then navigator to open the preview. On iBis Paint X, you can access this by going to the top right button, then clicking “reference window,” and with Procreate by clicking the wrench icon, then “Canvas.”
7. Using a Non-White Background
Drawing on a purely white canvas can strain your eyes due to the high screen brightness and change perception on certain colors. Since white is the brightest value, it can make mid-tones and highlights appear darker than they actually are, leading to inaccurate value placements. Starting with a neutral gray or desaturated blue color can allow for a more accurate judgement on lighting and saturation.
8. Hotkeys/Shortcuts
Hotkeys and shortcuts are commands or gestures that help speed up your art progress by allowing quick access to tools like the eraser, brush, or undo button, just by clicking. Hotkeys are keyboard commands that are customizable in most programs to match personal preference. For mobile users, simple gestures like two-finger or double tapping to undo, three-finger tapping for redo, and holding down to activate the color picking tool. Learning these hacks can make drawing time more efficient.
9. Which software/app is best suited for beginners?
For beginners, the best art apps come down to having a readable interface, as well compatibility with devices and pricing. Procreate and iBis Paint X are best recommended for mobile users because they are beginner friendly, while Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint are recommended for computer artists.
Below are the pros and cons of each app (click ▶︎ to view):
Procreate
Pros:
- Easy, navigable interface
- Diverse brush catalogue (able to download more outside the app)
- Many tutorials + resources from community and website
- Ability to create your own brushes
- One-time purchase
Cons:
- Only available on certain devices
- Costs money, $12.99 as a one-time purchase
- Many hidden features
- Layer limit based on canvas size
iBis Paint X
Pros:
- Built in tutorials + resources from community and website
- Extensive library of brushes and tools
- Easy layer system
- Free app and opportunity to unlock paid features by watching ads
Cons:
- Constant ads
- Can be laggy
- Paywall for many permanent features
Adobe Photoshop
Pros:
- Useful for editing
- Good for graphic design/visuals
- Considered industry standard
Cons:
- Confusing interface
- High subscription cost
- Consumes a lot of storage space
Clip Studio Paint
Pros:
- Massive catalogue of brushes
- Great perspective rulers
- 3d Models
- Comic related features
- Asset store
- Customizable layout
- One-time purchase
Cons:
- Confusing layout (especially for mobile users)
- Higher price point
10. Closing Thoughts
Starting digital art can feel overwhelming with all the tools, materials and styles to browse from, but hopefully these tips can help your drawing process improve efficiently. Understanding digital art basics can accelerate your learning curve, so make sure to keep this knowledge in mind. Good luck to anybody starting their art journey and remember to keep practicing!
References
- Envato Tuts. (2022). Photoshop Brush Tool: A Basic Guide. Youtu.be. https://youtu.be/Q7MnXostsac?si=wW7ecXa3zbFYd0f6
- Samijen. (2024). Guide to Clip Studio Paint Brush Settings. Youtu.be. https://youtu.be/P-7AI5xTXTg?si=w_As4ZNKatcyoMEG
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