Digital painting is an excellent storytelling tool for capturing the spontaneity of everyday life and depicting scenes or attitudes. Nevertheless, digital drawings often end up looking too perfect and their strokes very two-dimensional. This is exactly what Julien Schleiffer tries to avoid by playing around with sketching and exploring the evocative power of each line. In this Domestika course, illustrate a story using digital painting as you would a sketchbook. Unlock your imagination with a few initial sketches for your narrative image, and before you know it, you’ll have created a vibrant illustration of full light while also exploring the secrets of Photoshop.

About this course
Start the course by getting to know your teacher, Julien Schleiffer, where he comes from, and who his main influences are as he introduces you to Egon Schiele and Alberto Mielgo, to name a couple.

He teaches you how to find inspiration by composing a mood board and through the creation of color palettes. Once you’ve got the hang of Photoshop’s functions, explore how to let go and see where digital drawing takes you. With Julien as your guide, learn to capture the essence of the human figure and play with movement; it’s all about improvisation!

Once you finish sketching, it’s time to shift your focus to the content of your narrative illustration. Determine what spin you want to give your piece and synthesize your sketches to create bodies before drawing the blocks that will be the main structure of your composition.

Next, give your image depth through the use of light and color. Finish off your drawing by taking a step back and then playing with layers. It won’t be long before you realise the endless possibilities of digital tools.

To wrap things up, have some fun making several variations of your composition. Change the perspective, the colors, you name it! Hear some final tips on how to retouch your designs for their publication on Instagram or to be added to your portfolio.