Chapter 11: Blending Edges in Your Digital Paintings

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Overview

Blending your edges and colors in digital painting programs is not hard. Maybe it is actually too simple. In most programs, the default Airbrush tool makes it very, very easy to make gradated transitions between colors. It also makes it extremely easy to get soft edges. Some painting programs, Photoshop included, also offer a smudge or smear tool. Some talented artists use only these tools and get marvelous results. However, for the majority of digital artists , these tools leave a sterile and soulless handling of blended color and edges.

This chapter will show you two distinct things: a new method of blending color and edges using Photoshop and a method that does not really blend but gives the impression of blending.

One of the beautiful things about traditional painting is that for the most part the strokes that blend the different colors together are visible. Although this chapter is not about trying to duplicate the traditional blending of strokes, for the most part the image you are painting will be much more interesting if you can see some color variations in your blended areas.