Digital Painting

Video Tutorials

Stop Painting with Generic Brushes: How to Build Free, High-Quality Custom Brushes in Photoshop

Every so often I’ll be retouching a composite for a client and I hit the same wall: the default Photoshop brush set just doesn’t have what I need. The standard round brushes are fine for blocking in masks, but the moment a project calls for realistic texture, organic edges, or painterly detail, they fall flat fast. I’ve bought brush packs over the years, and some of them are excellent, but there’s a constant nagging feeling that a pre-made pack is always someone else’s creative fingerprint, not mine.

July 25, 2026

News

Building Cinematic Worlds: A Matte Painting Workflow That Actually Works

I’ve been diving into matte painting techniques lately, and I’ve noticed something frustrating: most tutorials skip over the structural stuff. They show you the final result, but not the why behind the layering decisions and compositional choices that make a cinematic environment actually feel believable. That’s why I got genuinely excited learning about how professional concept artists like Killian Prevost approach this discipline from the ground up. It’s not just about beautiful renders—it’s about building a repeatable, organized workflow that scales whether you’re creating a game environment, film concept, or personal illustration.

January 26, 2026