We may earn an affiliate commission when you visit our partners.
Course image
Widhi Muttaqien, S.Kom, MMSI

Krita is a graphics application that is comparable to Photoshop. But, unlike Photoshop, Krita is free and open source. So you can download and use it without having to pay anything. Another thing that makes Krita different from Photoshop is that Krita focuses more on digital painting. So you will find many digital painting or drawing features in Krita that are not available in Photoshop. If you need software to draw or create illustrations, then Krita will make you feel right at home.

Read more

Krita is a graphics application that is comparable to Photoshop. But, unlike Photoshop, Krita is free and open source. So you can download and use it without having to pay anything. Another thing that makes Krita different from Photoshop is that Krita focuses more on digital painting. So you will find many digital painting or drawing features in Krita that are not available in Photoshop. If you need software to draw or create illustrations, then Krita will make you feel right at home.

If you want to master Krita quickly and easily, then -in sha Allah- this online course is the best solution for you. However, you should be aware that this online course is designed as a continuation of the previously released basic and intermediate Krita courses. So to be on the safe side, make sure you take those courses first before taking this one.

What will you learn?

As a macro overview, I have divided this online course into 8 chapters, apart from the introductory chapter. In the first chapter, you will learn about various transformation and distortion techniques. Such as "Perspective", "Warp", "Cage", "Liquify", "Mesh", and so on. Then, in chapter two, you will learn advanced layer features, namely "layer style", "clone layer", "file layer", and "fill layer". Next, in chapter 3, you will learn various techniques related to pattern and texture creation. You will use various pattern generators such as "multigrid", "Screentone', "SeExpr", and so on. Then learn to create repeating patterns using the "wrap around mode". Then, in chapter four, we will discuss the "Photobashing" technique. It is basically a technique of utilizing photos or external images to speed up the illustration process. Chapter 5 is the first big project chapter. Here you will learn to create an illustration of a deep-sea diver looking for treasure. You will learn the process in detail, from A to Z. In chapter 6, you will learn the ins and outs of the brush system in Krita. From the types of brush engines, sensors, to how to create your own brush presets and brush tips. With these, you will be able to create unique brush presets, such as creating sea plants or anemones on the fly, creating a rope in one stroke, creating a grass field in seconds, using plants that you design yourself, and so on. In chapter 7, you will learn painterly style drawing techniques, or digital illustrations that look like they were created with real brushes. In this chapter, you will also learn various "cheating" techniques. They are techniques that can help you create illustrations even faster. In chapter 8 or the last chapter, you will utilize everything you learned from the previous chapters to create an illustration of a cowboy cactus. The main challenge of this project is to create a painterly style illustration as quickly as possible. But also as flexible as possible, so that it's still easy if we have to make future revisions to the drawing.

So join now. And upgrade your Krita skills to the fullest potential.

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Advanced transformation and distortion techniques
  • Advanced layer features
  • Various techniques for creating patterns and textures
  • Photobashing techniques
  • In-depth understanding of how brushes work in krita
  • Create your own custom brush
  • Create illustrations with a painterly style
  • Various "cheating" techniques to speed up the workflow

Syllabus

INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Course information and disclaimer
Custom UI and shortcuts
Read more

Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Builds upon basic and intermediate Krita skills, making it ideal for artists looking to advance their digital painting abilities within the Krita environment
Explores photobashing techniques, which can significantly speed up the illustration process by utilizing photos and external images
Covers advanced layer features like layer styles, clone layers, file layers, and fill layers, expanding the possibilities for creating complex digital artwork
Requires prior knowledge from basic and intermediate Krita courses, so learners should ensure they have the necessary foundation before enrolling
Focuses on Krita 5.0, so users of older versions may find some features or UI elements are different or unavailable
Teaches 'cheating' techniques to speed up workflow, which may not align with all artists' preferred methods or ethical considerations

Save this course

Create your own learning path. Save this course to your list so you can find it easily later.
Save

Reviews summary

Advanced krita techniques and projects

According to students, this advanced course on Krita provides in-depth coverage of powerful digital painting techniques. Learners particularly appreciate the clear explanations and practical projects that demonstrate workflow applications. Many highlight the sections on custom brushes and photobashing as especially valuable. While largely positive, some reviewers note that having completed the prerequisite basic and intermediate courses is indeed essential, as this course moves at an advanced pace.
Instructor provides thorough explanations.
"The instructor explains complex topics like transformation and layers in a way that's easy to follow."
"Every step is explained clearly, making even the more challenging techniques approachable."
"I really appreciated the level of detail the instructor provided throughout the course."
"The explanations are very thorough, leaving little room for confusion on how things work."
Detailed guide to Krita's powerful brush engine.
"The section on creating custom brushes is incredibly detailed and useful. I can finally make my own tools!"
"Understanding the brush engines and sensors was a game-changer for my digital painting."
"This course goes deep into brushes, much more than any other resource I've found."
"Learning how to control and customize brushes opened up so many new possibilities."
Covers key advanced features like photobashing.
"Photobashing workflow section was incredibly useful and practical for speeding up illustration."
"Learned amazing techniques I didn't know Krita could do, like the wrap around mode for patterns."
"The 'cheating' techniques were a fun and practical addition that I can use immediately."
"The course covers essential advanced features like layer styles and file layers effectively."
Learn by doing through comprehensive projects.
"The projects like the Atlantic Treasure and Cowboy Cactus were fantastic for applying everything learned."
"Working through the projects really solidified my understanding of the workflows and techniques."
"I appreciated that the course included full projects from start to finish, showing how to integrate advanced features."
"The projects are the backbone of this course; they make the advanced concepts click."
Builds on prior knowledge, not for beginners.
"Make sure you take the basic and intermediate courses first. This course definitely picks up where those leave off."
"This is truly an advanced course. If you haven't taken the first two, you will likely feel lost very quickly."
"The pace is fast and assumes you know Krita fundamentals. The prerequisites are not optional."
"This course is definitely not for absolute beginners; you need a solid foundation in Krita first."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Digital painting with Krita 5.0 advanced level with these activities:
Review Basic Digital Painting Techniques
Reinforce foundational digital painting skills to better grasp the advanced techniques taught in the course.
Browse courses on Color Theory
Show steps
  • Practice basic brush strokes and blending techniques.
  • Create value studies of simple objects.
  • Experiment with color palettes and mixing colors.
Review 'Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter' by James Gurney
Deepen understanding of color and light principles to enhance the realism and visual impact of digital paintings.
Show steps
  • Read chapters on color temperature and light direction.
  • Analyze paintings in the book, paying attention to color and light.
  • Apply the concepts learned to your own digital paintings.
Brush Engine Parameter Experiments
Experiment with Krita's brush engine parameters to develop a deeper understanding of how they affect brush behavior.
Show steps
  • Create a new Krita document and select a basic brush.
  • Systematically adjust each brush parameter and observe the changes.
  • Document your findings and create custom brush presets.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Create a Texture Library
Build a personal library of textures to speed up the photobashing and pattern creation workflows.
Show steps
  • Gather high-resolution photos of various textures.
  • Edit the photos in Krita to create seamless, tileable textures.
  • Organize the textures into a library for easy access.
Illustrate a Scene Using Photobashing Techniques
Apply photobashing techniques to create a complex illustration, reinforcing the skills learned in the course.
Show steps
  • Choose a scene to illustrate.
  • Gather relevant photos and textures.
  • Combine the photos and textures in Krita to create the illustration.
  • Refine the illustration with digital painting techniques.
Custom Brush Pack Creation and Presentation
Design and create a custom brush pack tailored to a specific painting style, then present it to peers.
Show steps
  • Define a specific painting style or theme.
  • Create a set of custom brushes that support that style.
  • Prepare a short presentation showcasing the brush pack.
  • Present the brush pack and demonstrate its use.
Review 'Dynamic Light and Shade' by Burne Hogarth
Study the principles of light and shadow to improve the depth and realism of digital paintings.
View Melania on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read chapters on light direction and shadow formation.
  • Analyze the illustrations in the book, paying attention to light and shadow.
  • Apply the concepts learned to your own digital paintings.

Career center

Learners who complete Digital painting with Krita 5.0 advanced level will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Illustrator
An illustrator creates images for books, magazines, websites, and other media. This course is a strong fit for illustrators because it focuses on mastering Krita, a software specifically designed for digital painting and illustration. The course offers in-depth knowledge of various techniques, including advanced layer features, patterns and textures, and creating illustrations in a painterly style. Learning how to create custom brushes, as covered in the course, unlocks a vast potential for an illustrator to develop their unique style. The project-based chapters, such as creating a deep-sea diver scene and a cowboy cactus illustration, provide practical experience.
Digital Matte Painter
A digital matte painter creates photorealistic backgrounds and environments for films, television shows, and video games. This course is designed to aid a digital matte painter, given that it goes into depth on digital painting techniques within Krita. The course may be very useful for digital matte painters, due to the focus on photobashing, texture creation, and advanced transformation techniques. The ability to seamlessly integrate photographs and create realistic textures is essential for matte painting. The chapter on Painterly style drawing techniques will also aid in creating visually stunning environments.
Concept Artist
A concept artist creates visual representations of ideas for use in various media, including video games, film, and animation. This course may be useful for concept artists since it deeply explores Krita, a free and open-source digital painting software, comparable to Photoshop, with a focus on digital painting features. The course's exploration of advanced transformation and distortion techniques, pattern and texture creation, and photobashing can greatly benefit a concept artist's workflow. The chapters dedicated to creating custom brushes and painterly style illustrations are also particularly valuable.
Game Artist
A game artist creates the visual assets for video games, including characters, environments, and user interfaces. The skills taught in this course are very relevant for a game artist. The coverage of Krita's digital painting tools, texturing techniques, and brush customization is directly applicable to game asset creation. The ability to create custom textures, design characters, and paint detailed environments using Krita contributes to the visual quality of video games. The knowledge of photobashing and efficient illustration methods are especially valuable for game artists working under tight deadlines.
Comic Book Artist
A comic book artist creates the visual content for comic books, graphic novels, and webcomics. This course is well-suited for comic book artists looking to enhance their digital art skills using Krita. The course's coverage of advanced drawing techniques, brush customization, and efficient workflows can greatly benefit comic book creation. The in-depth exploration of brush parameters and creating custom brushes allows a comic book artist to develop a unique style. The painterly style techniques are valuable for artists looking to create visually stunning comic art.
Texture Artist
A texture artist creates the surface details and textures for 3D models in video games, films, and animations. This course may be a boon to aspiring texture artists with its attention to detail on creating patterns and textures using Krita. The course delves into various pattern generators and techniques for creating tileable textures and applying custom patterns. The photobashing techniques taught here can also significantly speed up the texturing process by incorporating real-world images. The 'Wrap Around mode' is particularly helpful for creating seamless textures.
Character Designer
A character designer creates the visual appearance of characters for various media, including animation, video games, and illustration. This course is quite useful for character designers, especially those who want to use Krita for character design. The course's emphasis on digital painting techniques in Krita provides a strong foundation for creating compelling character designs. The detailed exploration of brush customization allows the designer to create unique textures and visual styles for their characters. The project-based chapters offer valuable practice in creating detailed illustrations.
Storyboard Artist
A storyboard artist visualizes stories for films, television shows, and commercials by creating a sequence of drawings that represent the scenes. This course may benefit aspiring or current storyboard artists, especially with its focus on Krita's digital painting capabilities. The advanced transformation and distortion techniques, along with the brush system exploration, can help storyboard artists quickly and effectively convey visual narratives. The painterly style techniques and cheat methods for faster illustration can be incredibly useful when working under deadlines.
Freelance Artist
A freelance artist works independently, taking on various art and design projects for different clients. This course may be useful for freelance artists who want to expand their skillset and offer digital painting services using Krita. The course's comprehensive coverage of Krita's features, from advanced layer techniques to custom brush creation, equips a freelancer with the tools to handle diverse projects. The sections on efficient workflows and cheat methods are also particularly valuable for managing time and delivering projects on schedule. It also avoids the expense of using more costly software.
Animator
An animator creates moving images for films, television, video games, and other media. This course is a good starting point for animators looking to enhance their digital painting skills, particularly in creating backgrounds and visual development art for their animation projects. While the course doesn't focus specifically on animation techniques, the knowledge of Krita's digital painting capabilities, brush customization, and texture creation can significantly improve the visual quality of their work. Understanding advanced layer features is also crucial for creating complex animation scenes.
Medical Illustrator
A medical illustrator creates visual representations of medical and biological subjects for use in textbooks, medical journals, and patient education materials. Medical illustration often requires advanced degrees. This course may be useful to medical illustrators who need to accurately depict textures and details in their illustrations. Medical illustrators will find that learning about digital painting techniques within Krita as it also allows them to produce high-quality visuals for communicating complex medical concepts effectively. The ability to create custom brushes can enable precise rendering of anatomical details.
Art Director
An art director is responsible for the overall visual style and images of a project, such as a film, television show, or advertising campaign. This course may be useful to art directors. While art directors typically manage teams, some understanding of digital painting with software like Krita can be helpful in communicating their vision to artists. By gaining a better understanding of the techniques and capabilities of digital painting, an art director could better inform the visual direction of a project.
Motion Graphics Designer
A motion graphics designer creates animated graphics and visual effects for various media, including television, film, and websites. The principles taught in this course are relevant for a motion graphics designer. This course helps a motion graphics designer build a better understanding of digital painting with software like Krita, which is helpful in creating assets and backgrounds for their animations. Gaining expertise in advanced transformation techniques can better inform the visual direction of a project.
Graphic Designer
A graphic designer creates visual concepts, using computer software or by hand, to communicate ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers. A graphic designer might find this course helpful for some aspects of their role. The course may be useful for graphic designers; the discussion of layer styles and fill layers can be very helpful. The section on patterns and textures may also be useful for creating background elements or adding visual interest to designs. However, many aspects of graphic design, such as typography and layout, are not covered in this course.
Web Designer
A web designer plans, creates, and codes internet sites and web pages, many of which combine text with sounds, pictures, graphics and video clips. This course may be helpful to web designers. The course's discussion of layer styles and fill layers can be very helpful. The section on patterns and textures may also be useful for creating background elements or adding visual interest to designs. However, many aspects of web design, such as coding, UI design, and UX design, are not covered in this course.

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Digital painting with Krita 5.0 advanced level.
While not specific to Krita, this book classic resource on understanding color and light in painting. It is highly relevant to the course's focus on painterly styles and creating realistic illustrations. The book provides a strong foundation in color theory and lighting principles, which are essential for creating convincing digital paintings. It valuable resource for any artist looking to improve their understanding of these fundamental concepts.

Share

Help others find this course page by sharing it with your friends and followers:

Similar courses

Similar courses are unavailable at this time. Please try again later.
Our mission

OpenCourser helps millions of learners each year. People visit us to learn workspace skills, ace their exams, and nurture their curiosity.

Our extensive catalog contains over 50,000 courses and twice as many books. Browse by search, by topic, or even by career interests. We'll match you to the right resources quickly.

Find this site helpful? Tell a friend about us.

Affiliate disclosure

We're supported by our community of learners. When you purchase or subscribe to courses and programs or purchase books, we may earn a commission from our partners.

Your purchases help us maintain our catalog and keep our servers humming without ads.

Thank you for supporting OpenCourser.

© 2016 - 2025 OpenCourser