Free Sample
The Purple Guide to Learning Digital Illustration in 10 Days
A 10-day starter plan to make your first finished digital illustrations and decide if this is a skill worth building.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: First Day
Welcome. Take a breath. You have decided to try digital illustration, and this is the very first step. It is normal to feel a mix of excitement and raw, cold fear. You might be thinking about the beautiful art you see online and comparing yourself to it. Stop that. That is a one-way ticket to frustration. Today is not about being good. Today is about getting your hands (and your eyes, and your brain) used to a completely new way of making a mark.
What you are about to do is the equivalent of sitting barefoot on a piano bench for the first time. You are not playing a song. You are pressing keys. So, find a quiet place, a flat surface, and give yourself thirty minutes of uninterrupted time. Yes, a full half-hour. It sounds like a lot for "just trying," but half an hour is the minimum you need to get past the first few minutes of awkwardness and actually feel something change.
First, let's get your physical setup right. You do not need a fancy studio. You need a table, a chair, and your device. If you have a laptop or desktop, and a drawing tablet (even a cheap one), or even an iPad with a stylus, that is your kit. If you don't yet, or you're not sure if that $30 used tablet you bought is good enough, don't panic. For today, what matters is that you have the correct program open.