Pls recommend me a book on digital painting

[Xeon_OND]

One of my class module is digital painting, and all I'm doing now 101% of the time is pure trial-and-error and guesswork. I can understand tone and know the basics of Photoshop (been using it since 1998).

The thing is I'm confused by the brushes and options (dunno which brush to use and when, and which setting to use to get a certain effect).

I'm looking to purchase either one of the following books:

Bold Visions: A Digital Painting Bible (http://www.amazon.com/Bold-Visions-Digital-Painting-Bible/dp/160061020X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277136312&sr=8-1)

Digital Painting in Photoshop (http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Painting-Photoshop-Susan-Ruddick/dp/0240811143/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277136312&sr=8-2)

Digital Painting Techniques: Practical Techniques of Digital Art Masters (http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Painting-Techniques-Practical-Collection/dp/0240521749/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277136312&sr=8-3)

Could anyone kindly tell me which one is best for beginners? It's really best for me to start with grayscale and simple stuff first. I'm more interested in learning the basics and mechanics (WHY you use this brush setting to do this etc.).

If anyone has a better book to offer, pls post it here.

Thanks! ;)
Xeon

[Arshes Nei]

Honestly? I want to say none of them. I do like the first and last book you posted, but they're not for beginners.

The middle book seems to go into photo-painting with some work for beginners.

I think one book that was good for beginning exercises was http://amzn.com/0321168917 but it kinda went into some photo painting but it was good exercises to get you familiar with your tablet.

Really I find more information online than through books on the subject of digital painting to be very honest with you. Long ago I would definitely recommend the Photoshop Bible and such, but this is no longer the case.

Since you're a beginner, that Digital Paint thread in this forum is your best starting off point. The best thing is you don't even need Photoshop to do it. There are programs like Open Canvas which you'll be able to work with then progress to Gimp or Sai Paint to do the same thing.

[JohnMalcolm1970]

I clicked on those links hoping to find a couple of new books to buy... I love buying books :)

Already have the first and third in my collection :(

I think I'd recommend video tutorials over books though. There are some great ones on this site from Massive Black. It's the next best thing to standing behind someone watching them work... and if you can do that then I'd recommend that over videos.

Then you've got the forums here for questions, advice and criticism.

[Xeon_OND]

Ok, thanks Arshes and John Malcom! I do hope someone can write a comprehensive book on digital painting for beginners some day, though (like the equivalent of Loomis or Bridgman :D).

[soulmakossa]

Good luck in your search for tutorials Xeon_OND, I have some information for you here on learning digital painting. It's a wonderful world I stepped into during an internship I had at Fortune magazine the summer before started my 1st year of college. Check my avatar for an example of my digital painting.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rCNnpnd4L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240521749?ie=UTF8&tag=765imagi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0240521749)

"Digital Painting Techniques: Practical Techniques of Digital Art Masters" (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240521749?ie=UTF8&tag=765imagi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0240521749)is a tutorial book I respect because it seems to take an approach from the traditional art perspective and help people understand how to recreate some of those effects in the digital realm.

"Book Description
Start your mentorship into the world of digital painting today with some of the greatest digital artists in the world and delve into professional digital painting techiques, such as speed painting, custom brush creation and matte painting. "



I agree what JohnMalcolm1970 said about using videos in addition to books, I think nowadays it is definitely more convenient to utilize any technological resource you can to help you learn the most efficiently. There is nothing like having a teacher guide you in person though, I think that is how I learned programs like Photoshop the fastest, but this was before YouTube and online video tutorials.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51m1M4eMS9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUT F8%26x%3D9%26ref_%3Dnb%5Fsb%5Fnoss%26y%3D25%26fiel d-keywords%3Dstoski%2520painting%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Ddvd&tag=765imagi-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957)

I also found a digital painting technique book from an artist of George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic company. I respect their work and creative impact on the filming industry fully, I think they are generally a good source to look toward, I believe one of the directors of the company helped invent Photoshop for James Cameron's "The Abyss".

Chris Stoski Matte Digital Painting DVDs at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUT F8%26x%3D9%26ref_%3Dnb%5Fsb%5Fnoss%26y%3D25%26fiel d-keywords%3Dstoski%2520painting%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Ddvd&tag=765imagi-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957)

[Arshes Nei]

Someone is very close to getting banned. It's extremely disingenuous to plug books w/o even reading the OP's post which mentioned the very book you plugged. So you're coming off as a spam bot.

[Diarum]

Xeon lol I have amassed a huge amount of tuts on jsut about anything you could think about, but you have to look through the videos your self :D here (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=190861)

[Arshes Nei]

Well one book that might be good but it's still mostly intermediate users is Don Seegmiller's Character Design and Painting CS edition http://amzn.com/1584503408 It looks similar to the one in John's image post but this one is on Photoshop, and his is on Painter (I have that book too along with others on his shelf)

I'd go with Digital Painting thread first, but get the one above and not the CS3 edition as it was re-edited and left some things out.