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How To Create Digital Art Illustration

Creating digital art is a lovely way to express yourself or create designs for your own website, app, or product! It’s also a great way to make some extra money if you have a creative bone in your body. And it doesn’t matter what kind of artistic style you like, there are many ways to […]

By
LNGFRM Team
Published December 21, 2022

Creating digital art is a lovely way to express yourself or create designs for your own website, app, or product! It’s also a great way to make some extra money if you have a creative bone in your body. And it doesn’t matter what kind of artistic style you like, there are many ways to get into making beautiful illustrations.

There are several different styles that can be considered digital artisty-ness. You don’t need to know how to draw well to do this, some people start with very simple shapes before moving onto more elaborate ones. Or maybe you’re already a pro at drawing and want to try experimenting with other styles. No matter who you are, there are plenty of free resources online and in apps that can help get you started.

This article will go over all the steps needed to begin creating artwork and exploring new styles. From choosing an illustration style to finding software to experiment with, we will discuss them all here.

Practice making lines

how to create digital art illustration

Line drawing is one of the most fundamental forms of digital art illustration. Starting with just practicing your line drawing can help you move onto other styles. There are many ways to learn how to draw lines, but the best way really depends on what style you want to pursue!

Some artists start by drawing lots of very thin lines or even tracing simple shapes before moving onto more advanced drawings. It does not matter which method you use, as long as you feel comfortable with it.

Practice: On a piece of paper, make an outline of the following picture using any shape, size, thickness, or color of line you like. Then, add some details to show off your skills.

Image: Try creating your own designs inspired by this picture!

You do not have to say anything while doing this practice exercise except “I” and “me.” Add whatever you want to convey eventually. We will talk about how to take advantage of textures in another article.

Learn some basic shapes

how to create digital art illustration

Starting with something familiar is always your best bet when learning anything new. When you are able to recognize, understand, and create the basics of an art style, then moving onto more complex styles becomes much easier.

The easiest way to learn about creating digital illustration art is by starting with squares, circles, and triangles. These are simple shapes that can be built upon later!

There are many free resources available online for beginners to start designing and exploring different art styles. Some examples include:

* kd-zone.com/articles/the-basic-shapes-of-designs/ – A beginner friendly article explaining the three basic shapes
* www.pixiv.net/en/easyart – An easy tool to access all sorts of art styles including sketches, watercolor, oil painting, and others
* pinterest.com/search?q=digital+illustration+tutorials&sortBy=relevance%20A-Z%2C%20Z-A&filter=all — Many beautiful illustrations that could be adapted or improved as artists

These sites have lots of designs that can easily be modified, redesigned, or reworked to look like what artist originally created them.

Design concepts come from every area of life; people take things ideas and inspiration from everywhere around them.

Learn how to use the paintbrush

how to create digital art illustration

The second way to create digital art illustrations is by using the tool that many artists have as their first drawing instrument; the brush! You can learn how to use brushes for creating beautiful still life, landscape or figure studies.

There are several ways to start practicing with brushes in Photoshop. One of the most basic things you can do is choose any area of your image canvas to add new layers. Then, go into the tools tab at the top and select the brush tool.

You will then be able to pick which type of brush you would like to use. There are three main types: airbrushed, wet-into-dry, and texture. Each one does different things depending on what effect you want to achieve.

The first kind is an airbrushed look where very few areas of the picture contain textures or markings. This creates a smooth looking painting style impression.

Wet-into-dry brushes work the other way around, leaving some parts of the paper dry and others watery. A good example of this is taking a close look at flowers, leaves, or grass when they emerge from the ground after a rainfall.

Texture brushes apply various patterns onto your chosen surface. These could be patterned clothing, wallpaper, or even marble effects. All of these match together making it possible to mix and match them easily later.

Learn how to use the eraser

how to create digital art illustration

The first tool you will need to learn is the Eraser! The best way to learn how to use the eraser is to do so with some blank space. You can pick any site that has an empty canvas or create your own by taking time to explore and figure out what tools you want to add onto yours.

The easiest way to begin using the eraser is to take away all of the lines in your illustration. This removes weight from your drawing, making it look more like a painting than a sketch. If needed, you can re-add line elements later but starting off with no lines helps establish the style of your artwork.

After this, choose the hardness of the eraser (how soft or hard it is) and drag it across the paper. As it passes over the shapes and components of your image, it will slowly remove parts of the design.

Your art may not look very good at first as there are sometimes too many things being removed at one time, but this allows you to start picking and choosing what pieces you want to keep. Use the eraser until the piece looks finished then wash down your page to restore the weight back into the picture.

Learn how to use the smudge tool

how to create digital art illustration

The first way to create digital art is by learning how to use the smudge tool! This tool helps you blend colors together, creating beautiful shades. You can apply it directly onto your image or texture layer to mix up the color of the surface, for example, applying it to a paper background.

The second way to do this is using an effect called overlay. An overlay adds another layer to your image or text, which then you need to edit and design.

You could choose to add textures or patterns as overlays, for instance.

Learn how to use the dodge tool

The next tool you will learn to use is the Dodge Tool. This tool allows you to add or take away shades from an element of your image. To use the dodge tool, hold down Alt/Option and choose Lens Correction – Adjust Exposure, Contrast, Color, and Sharpness. Click within the picture to apply one of these settings, then move the slider up or down to change the effect.

You can also go into More Settings and pick either Lighten Or Darken or Expand or Contract. These are very helpful for creating lighter or darker images, respectively. After applying any of these settings, press Enter to test run the program!

After testing out all four options, we would recommend lightening up the color in the eye area as well as expanding the skin tone. For example, if your art does not look naturalistic, try doing this! Many artists do this at some stage of their artistic journey.

Learn how to use the burn tool

how to create digital art illustration

The next most important tool for creating illustration is the burn tool. This tool allows you to burn away parts of your image or shape so that it disappears into the background, leaving only its imprint.

The burn tool can be used in two different ways– either as an eraser to take away pieces of an object or as a modifier to add depth to an element in your design.

To use the burn tool as an eraser, choose the brush type to be Soft Burn and pick a color to apply it with that is similar to the content of the image. Then drag the brush across the area you want to remove and press delete to test out your design.

To use the burn tool as a effect, choose the brush type to be Hard Burn and increase the hardness until there are no longer any edges. Now, paint over the areas of the picture that you would like to make seem farther apart or closer together.

Learn how to use the heal tool

how to create digital art illustration

The first way to create your own illustrations is by using the Heal Tool. This tool allows you to add textures or layers onto an image. For example, you could take a photo of something and then apply drop shadows, glows, reflections, and other texture effects using the Heal Tool.

You can also blend parts of one thing with another. For instance, let’s say you have text next to a picture that looks boring. You could use the Heal Tool to mix in some shapes, colors, or textures from the picture to make it more interesting. Then, you could go in and edit those pieces as needed!

The best way to get familiar with this tool is by practicing creating simple images yourself. Pick any empty area of an illustration program like Photoshop or Gimp and test out the Heal Tool.

Author

  • LNGFRM Team

    Frank DiBernardo handles LNGFRM's Foodie and Miscellaneous writing tasks. He's always getting ideas from users, so don't be afraid to send an email to the editor.

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