Took me 5 years to figure out I was painting with too much water

I used to think my digital paintings looked muddy because I just wasn't good enough yet. Then I watched a speedpaint from an artist I follow and noticed they barely touched the opacity slider. I had been treating my brush like real watercolor when it works nothing like that. Now I keep my brush opacity at 80% minimum and my stuff actually looks crisp for the first time. Did anyone else have a weird basic habit that held you back forever?

2 comments

2 Comments

emmafisher29d ago

@marymorgan you're acting like this is some huge life lesson when it's just paint settings.

marymorgan29d ago

isn't it wild how we carry over rules from one thing to another without even thinking about it? i did this with cooking for years. i kept burning stuff because i thought you had to use high heat to get that restaurant sear, never realizing my home stove just doesn't get as hot. same with using too much detergent in the laundry because more soap must mean cleaner, right? turns out it just gums everything up. it's like our brains latch onto one method and refuse to let go until something slaps us in the face with the truth.