This workshop introduces different approaches to digital painting in Photoshop that prioritize efficiency and personalized workflow. Dave Neale's emphasis on adjusting shortcuts, workspace layouts, and settings based on usage patterns teaches artists how to create a more flexible work environment that can save them countless hours. Rather than a set of rigid rules, Neale encourages users to view this as a starting point for their own Photoshop journey.

Duration: 33m 39s

This lesson demonstrates that thoughtful customization of tablet settings and Photoshop actions can dramatically streamline digital art workflows. By investing time to create personalized shortcuts and automated actions, artists can eliminate repetitive tasks and remain focused on the creative process.

Duration: 19m 5s

This lesson emphasizes that digital painting tools, particularly brushes, are customizable and can be personalized to each artist's workflow and style. Artists should experiment extensively with different brushes and settings. Whether working with default brushes, downloaded presets, or custom-created tools, understanding brush settings enables artists to develop their unique digital painting style and efficiently tackle various artistic challenges, from sketching to creating organic textures.

Duration: 30m

This lesson emphasizes that while the Pen tool and path-based workflows have a learning curve, they provide superior control and editability for hard-edged illustration work. The techniques demonstrated establish a professional, non-destructive workflow that keeps files organized. Beginners are recommended to start with these core tools and gradually explore additional Photoshop features over time.

Duration: 36m 22s

This lesson demonstrates that understanding the use of adjustment layers, blend modes, and layer styles is fundamental to professional digital painting, and can even translate into photo editing. Artists are encouraged to cycle through different blend modes and adjustment options to discover creative solutions. By keeping adjustments on separate layers, artists are able to maintain flexibility while refining their work. This process helps to preserve the data from the original image.

Duration: 28m 42s

This lesson demonstrates that mastering Photoshop's transform tools can dramatically improve efficiency and open up new creative possibilities. Smart Objects are particularly powerful for maintaining editability while managing complex, multi-layered projects. Dave emphasizes that continuous learning and experimentation can lead to new workflows. There’s always more to discover within the software, and the journey of discovery is what makes creating digital artwork faster and more enjoyable.

Duration: 35m 32s

This lesson emphasizes the importance of thorough preparation. Getting the early stages of a digital illustration right can significantly mitigate problems during the painting phase. Time invested in understanding forms and structure pays off down the pipeline. In addition to preparation, maintaining flexibility between technical accuracy and creative stylization helps artists to create believable yet imaginative creature designs while avoiding costly reworks.

Duration: 21m 39s

This lesson demonstrates that by investing time up-front in proper layer organization and selection management, artists can create a framework that allows for rapid color exploration and lighting adjustments. The approach of blocking in grayscale first, then testing multiple color schemes, and finally refining lighting, demonstrates how early-stage planning pays dividends throughout the creative process, ultimately leading to better artistic decisions.

Duration: 43m 22s

This lesson demonstrates that working in layers with selections and regularly checking the piece without color or lines ensures that the fundamental forms and lighting are solid before you commit to final details. A key takeaway is the need to understand the technical rules of lighting well enough to break them for a more visually appealing result.

Duration: 28m 50s

This lesson showcases a professional workflow for character texturing that emphasizes flexibility and non-destructive editing. Building textures as Smart Objects and using channel selections maintains control over every element of the image while creating a realistic, organic surface. Creating tileable textures and carefully warping them to match the character’s forms showcases technical precision and artistic judgment working together in digital character design.

Duration: 27m 50s

This lesson demonstrates how methodically building up layers, masks, and lighting passes, while maintaining flexibility for edits, allows for continuous refinement without destructive changes. Investing time in organization early pays off in flexibility and quality throughout the creative process. Although the project shown took 21-22 hours to complete, the result is a high-quality portfolio-ready asset ready for 3D modelers to reference.

Duration: 1h 25s