Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting in Photoshop

Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting in Photoshop is a new series dedicated to providing a comprehensive guide to the basics of digital painting in this versatile program. Whether you're new to this artistic medium or simply looking to improve existing skills, this book offers up a wealth of suggestions and advice to get you started, improve workflows, perfect techniques, and produce stunning images.

The step-by-step tutorials within this book don't just describe techniques, but actively demonstrate how these techniques can be applied to an artwork. Industry veterans including Nykolai Aleksander and Richard Tilbury share the benefits of their years of experience in a clear and methodical fashion. They examine the various basic Photoshop tools on offer, shedding light on these features and establishing ways of successfully integrating them into an artistic workflow. Fundamental art theory is also covered, including classic topics such as composition, story-telling, portraying emotion, lighting, and color, leading to a thorough understanding of the components that make up a successful image.

Instructive and inspirational, Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting in Photoshop is an ideal resource for anyone taking their first steps into the digital painting world.

Nykolai Aleksander is a UK-based freelance character illustrator and portrait painter, who has been working in the CG field for the past eight years.

Richard Tilbury is a freelance artist from the United Kingdom who works in both 2D and 3D and has been featured in a number of popular publications.

Nykolai Aleksander
A UK-based freelance character illustrator and portrait painter, Nykolai Aleksander has been working in the CG field for the past eight years, with publications in several Ballistic Publishing books and 3DTotal's Digital Art Masters series, as well as numerous magazines around the world.

Richard Tilbury
Richard Tilbury has had a passion for drawing since being a couple of feet tall. After studying Fine Art, he was eventually led into the realm of computers several years ago. Rich's brushes have slowly been dissolving in white spirit since the late nineties and now his graphics tablet has become their successor. He still sketches regularly and now balances his time between 2D and 3D, although drawing will always be closest to his heart.

3DTotal Publishing
3DTotal was founded in 1999 as a simple 3D resource website. Over the last decade the site has evolved into one of the premier CG art websites in the world, offering a variety of training products, an inspirational gallery, a free texture library and hundreds of free tutorials on a variety of subjects.

In 2006, 3DTotal entered into partnership with Focal Press and launched the popular book series Digital Art Masters and Digital Painting Techniques. The premise for these books was to provide high quality content that would inspire and educate the next generation of digital artists. Featuring the work of top industry professionals, detailed tutorials and image breakdowns, these series have become firmly established as indispensible resources for any digital artist.

After five successful years working with Focal Press, 3DTotal Publishing was launched in early 2010. As well as self-publishing the next volumes in the pre-existing Digital Art Masters and Digital Painting Techniques series, 3DTotal Publishing has launched a number of new titles including: The Art of Atomhawk Design: Volume 1, Photoshop for 3D Artists: Volume 1 and Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting in Photoshop.