See John Shannon's tutorial to create photorealistic grass like this.

In the world of digital painting and illustration, the tool of choice seems to be Photoshop. That’s right: the number one painting application in use today was originally designed just to edit photographs. Corel Painter comes in a distant second. I’m basing this observation on the total number of painting tutorials for Photoshop vs. Painter, plus the work I see in galleries online, and in magazines such as Imagine FX. It’s pretty hard to find good tutorials written about Corel Painter. Professional work is almost always done in Photoshop. Not sure why, but there it is.

The following is a collection of tutorials about painting with a computer, a tablet (or a mouse), and either Photoshop or Painter. I’ve tried to list only the best tutorials I could find, going for quality over quantity. If you know of a good tutorial you feel belongs here, please leave a comment below. Enjoy!

Realistic grass in Photoshop

John Shannon’s technique involves duplicating a single blade of grass over and over, using multiple layers and (I imagine) immense patience. The results are astounding (see image at top). Shannon uses a mouse, by the way, not a tablet.

Corel’s tutorials for Corel Painter

Corel has a page with tutorials for version 10 (Painter X) here. If that link doesn’t work for you, go to www.corel.com, and look for the Products area. Under Products, choose Painter > Resources > Tutorials.

Corel still has a page up with version 9 tutorials by Don Seegmiller, and they are very worthwhile. You can find them here.

Stephen Stahlberg’s Cloud Tutorial for Photoshop or Painter

This tutorial by professional illustrator Stephen Stahlberg shows how to paint clouds at sunset and at noon. He makes it look easy!

Creating a Space Scene in Photoshop

Greg Martin has detailed his thoughts and process for creating realistic views of deep space in this tutorial. Martin also has a how-to-make-a-planet tutorial here. Be sure to stop by his gallery to check out the wonderful space art. Very inspiring.

Linda Bergkvist’s tutorials

Linda Bergkvist, a very talented and generous artist, shares some tips on her site here. Click on the “tutorials” link. She also has a terrific eye tutorial here.

Photoshop Tutorials from deviantArt

• 
  Digital Painting Tutorial by Dianae
• Blending Tutorial by Acidlullaby
• Painting a Realistic Eye by Edana
• Skin tutorial by Engelszorn

Chris Beatrice’s tutorials

Professional illustrator shares his techniques and walks us through his paintings step by step here. He also has brushes for download. Beatrice works in both Photoshop and Painter.

ImagineFX Workshops

ImagineFX magazine hosts over 120 workshops (tutorials) on their site here. The tutorials are PDF files you can download, and usually there are accompanying resources for download. This is a real treasure trove.

Portrait Painting in Corel Painter 8

This step-by-step shows how DrmzRmyne paints a portrait, with Painter 8.

…more tutorials to come, as I find them! Know of a great tutorial that belongs here? Drop me a comment!

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