Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
ChAPteR 4
Painting
By providing you with
digital painting tools, Photoshop can keep you from
suffering the fate of many a traditional painter: turpentine, mercury, and
heavy metal poisoning linked to the use of chemical solvents and pigments.
In addition, Photoshop is infinitely more flexible and efficient compared to
traditional media. Digital painting skills aren't just for creating fine art; you'll
use what you learn in this chapter later in the topic to select pixels, retouch
photos, and work with layer masks.
Creating gradients
Selecting paint colors
Using painting tools
exploring brushes
painting with a tablet
painting from history
Using the mixer brush
Creating Gradients
Gradients are used to create smooth tonal variations between different col-
ors or pixel luminance values. Creating perfect gradients is very difficult in
traditional painting, but they can be created quite simply in Photoshop by
dragging from one point to another. In the following steps you will create
an artist's color palette using the Gradient tool that you will then use in the
next section to select paint colors.
1.
Press Cmd+N to create a new document. Change the Width drop-
down to Pixels and type
800
in both the Width and Height text
boxes. Type
Color Gradient
in the Name text box (see Figure 4.1)
and click OK.
