Paint a digital portrait

When working with a program as vast and nebulous as Painter, it’s often tempting to try and use as many different tools and effects as you can. Painter provides a plethora of stunning natural media simulation tools, and the key to using them wisely is learning a little bit about restraint. For a natural media painting to look convincing, you should obey the rules of traditional painting.

For this image, we researched what the most common tools were for traditional paintings of this nature. Oil paints have been a favourite for hundreds of years; the fact that they remain wet and pliable for so long makes them ideal for any type of painting that involves blending, such as skin. Acrylics are another skin-tone favourite, although they tend to dry much quicker. Such real world limitations are lifted in Painter.

Layers are an indispensable tool for this sort of work and the logic of using layers will reveal itself to you soon enough as you work through the tutorial. You’ll see how flexibility is preserved via careful use of layers and groups. But most importantly, you’ll see how intelligent use of a few carefully selected tools can yield stunning results.