Natural Illustration with Digital Painting

Begin the course by getting to know freelance illustrator Jessica Roux. She takes you through her creative journey and how she developed a love for flora and fauna, which has shaped her career. She also discussed the influences and artists that inspire her work.

Discover how to come up with ideas and transform them into a story. Then begin researching your concept to help you decide on what to draw. Collect imagery and references to create a mood board for your work, and use it to choose a color palette for your illustration. Jessica then demonstrates how to use different graphite techniques to create textures like fur and leaves.

Create your digital sketch in Photoshop and discover why the software is useful for illustration. Print your sketch, then transfer it onto paper using a lightbox. Put the graphite techniques from earlier in the course into practice and create your pencil drawing. Scan your graphite pencil illustration ready for editing. Begin the process of digital painting, blocking solid colors and shapes before moving on to the finer details like shading and highlights.

Use Adjustment Layers to color correct your work, by experimenting with hue, saturation, and more. To finish the course, Jessica shares her expertise in preparing your artwork for different purposes, from prints to cards.