ArtRage Vitae ENHANCE YOUR DIGITAL SKETCHES

Daniel Ibanez details how to make the most of ArtRage's unique toolsets, from customising brushes to utilising the selection tool

- Daniel Ibanez

Artist PROFILE

Daniel Ibanez LOCATION: US A traditional and digital artist, Daniel uses the same techniques found in his oil paintings for his ArtRage portraits, creating textured and lively art with a nod to the Old Masters. www.danielibanez.net

This month's ArtRage tutorial will show you how I create and use custom brushes to give my ArtRage sketchbook an original aesthetic.

I will also detail how almost every Photoshop painting I do gets finished in ArtRage. It is an essential part of my digital painting workflow, even when I am using other software to get the job done.

I also demonstrate how to paint with the selection tool - a great way to force yourself to paint through seeing shapes of value.

1 FINISH A PHOTOSHOP SKETCH IN ARTRAGE

As you know from Issue 210's tutorial, the default Oil brush is great for adding the illusion of paint strokes into an already finished Photoshop painting. The question is, what else can be done to a painting when imported to ArtRage? Well, in my opinion, a lot! I often finish both quick sketches and full Photoshop paintings in ArtRage. Here is a quick look at some of my go-to techniques:

A The initial image

Here is a raw Photoshop sketch. This was a fast and loose painting with no focus on finish. It is a pure sketchbook practice.

В Tweak the paint strokes

I have imported the painting into ArtRage and added a new layer. I get pure white paint and the Oil brush, then! add white paint strokes over the entire canvas. When done, I change the layer's blend mode to Multiply and see the realistic paint strokes emerge.

C The best tools

Here you can see the tool icons for each of the techniques like to take advantage of.