I forced myself to draw a full piece with only the default round brush in Krita

I mean, I was getting really tired of seeing all these crazy brush packs and thinking I needed them to make good art. So last week, I decided to do a character portrait using just the basic round brush with opacity on pen pressure, nothing else. No fancy textures, no special blending brushes, just that one tool. I thought it would look flat and boring, but honestly? It came out way more solid than my usual stuff where I'm jumping between ten different brushes. I had to actually think about form and value instead of hiding behind a cool texture. It made my shading a lot cleaner. Has anyone else done a 'limited tool' challenge and been surprised by the results?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam_thompson5316d ago

Oh man, that's awesome! I did a similar thing a while back but with just a hard square brush (which sounds even more limiting, I know). It really forces you to nail the big shapes first before you even think about details. You're totally right about the clean shading, it makes everything feel way more solid and less muddy.

joseph_adams6616d ago

@adam_thompson53 I actually find that approach makes my work look too stiff and lifeless, lol.

quinn_wood4d ago

That brush technique debate is getting way too deep, lmao.