Digital Painting for Beginners Course

Learn the essentials of digital painting in Adobe Photoshop with guidance from Joel Santana, a professional illustrator with 20 years of experience.

This beginner-friendly mini course combines expert techniques with a welcoming approach, making it easy to build your skills and confidence. Perfect for those new to digital art, it offers clear, practical lessons to help you bring your creative ideas to life.

This course includes:
• 7 EASY to follow Video lessons
• My Favorite Brushes

🖥 Software & Workflow

This course is taught in Adobe Photoshop CC (2021 and later). All demonstrations, interface walkthroughs, and keyboard shortcuts shown in the videos are Photoshop-specific.

What is Photoshop-specific:

• File setup, canvas settings, and document management
• Layer structure, blending modes, and layer masks
• Brush engine settings and the included custom brush pack (.abr format — Photoshop only)
• Keyboard shortcuts and workspace layout shown in lessons

What transfers to Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, or other tools:

• Core concepts — value, light, shadow, color temperature, and edge control — are fully software-agnostic and apply to any digital painting app
• The overall painting workflow (blocking in shapes → refining values → adding color → finishing details) works in any brush-based application
• Composition and observational drawing principles covered in the lessons apply universally

Procreate users: the brush pack is in .abr format and is not compatible with Procreate. However, you can follow along using Procreate's built-in brushes and apply every concept taught in the videos.

*Please note: This course was previously recorded for a mentoring program. Some of the dialog might mention things like zoom calls or a discord group — those are not a part of this course.