Inspiring examples of examples of different digital painting techniques

When people ask for an example of digital painting, painterly character portraits are usually what they picture first: visible brush strokes, soft edges, and that “oil painting but on a screen” vibe.

A strong example of this technique is the kind of character splash art you see in big games. Artists often start with a loose grayscale sketch to nail lighting and form, then glaze in color with low-opacity brushes. Edges are sharpened only where the viewer should focus: eyes, jewelry, weapons. Everything else melts gently into the background.

In these painterly portraits, examples of different digital painting techniques often show up in one piece: hard-edged brushes for armor, smudgy textured brushes for skin, and airbrush-style tools for atmospheric lighting. If you’re trying to learn, grab a high-res piece you love and zoom way in. You’ll see the painter’s hand in the stroke direction, opacity changes, and layering.

To practice this style yourself, try limiting your brush set to just two or three brushes: one hard round, one textured, and one soft. The constraint forces you to think about value and edge rather than chasing the perfect brush pack.

Cel-shaded illustration: clean, graphic examples of digital painting

On the opposite end of the spectrum, cel shading is all about flat color, sharp edges, and clarity. This is the technique powering a lot of modern animation and stylized games.

A typical example of cel-shaded digital painting starts with a crisp line drawing. Artists then drop in flat base colors on separate layers, followed by one or two shadow layers, often set to Multiply. Highlights are placed with solid, unblended strokes—no soft gradients, just confident shapes.

Some of the best examples of this technique appear in animated series and webcomics, where speed and consistency matter more than painterly texture. You’ll see:

• Clear light direction with just one or two shadow tones
• Very selective use of gradients—if any
• Bold color palettes that read well on small screens

If you want a clean, graphic look, this is a perfect example of a controllable, repeatable digital painting workflow. It’s also beginner-friendly: you can get appealing results without wrestling with complex blending.

Textured concept art: examples of mixed digital painting techniques

Concept artists love mixing techniques like they’re making digital soup. A single environment painting might combine loose digital brushwork, photo textures, custom shapes, and even 3D blockouts.

Real examples of this hybrid approach show up in concept art for films and AAA games. An artist might start with rough value shapes using big, chunky brushes. Then they’ll paste in photo textures—clouds, rocks, metal—and warp, mask, and paint over them until the photo edges disappear into the painting.

In these examples of different digital painting techniques working together, you’ll often find:

• Hard brushes to define architecture and machinery
• Soft gradient passes for fog, light rays, and atmosphere
• Noise or grain overlays to unify the image
• Custom shape brushes for foliage, debris, or city skylines

This style is fast and flexible, which is why it dominates production art. If you’re curious about workflow, many art schools and universities now share digital painting demos and lectures. For instance, design and visualization programs at institutions like MIT and RISD often discuss how digital tools support visual storytelling in architecture and entertainment.

Painterly vs. photoreal: examples include both extremes

Digital painting lives on a spectrum between loose impressionism and screenshot-level realism. Looking at side-by-side examples of examples of different digital painting techniques on that spectrum can teach you a lot about control.

On the painterly side, you’ll see:

• Suggestion over detail—especially in backgrounds
• Visible brush strokes, often following the form
• Edges that oscillate between sharp and lost

On the photoreal side, examples include:

• Meticulous attention to reflected light and tiny value shifts
• Careful use of soft brushes to mimic lens blur and depth of field
• Color picked from real-world references or photos

An interesting real example of digital painting in a more scientific context is medical illustration. Digital medical illustrators often blend painterly rendering with photoreal accuracy so that organs, tissues, and procedures are both clear and believable. Organizations like the National Institutes of Health rely on high-quality visuals in educational materials, and many of these are painted digitally to allow precise control over color and clarity.

Stylized realism: the sweet spot in many of the best examples

If painterly vs. photoreal is a spectrum, stylized realism hangs out in the middle—and many of the best examples of modern digital painting live there.

Think: believable lighting and anatomy, but exaggerated proportions, simplified textures, or pushed color palettes. You’ll see this a lot in character art for RPGs, book covers, and splash screens.

In this style, examples of different digital painting techniques are layered thoughtfully:

• Rough painterly underpainting to establish mood
• Controlled blending on faces and focal points
• Simplified rendering on clothing and props
• Graphic shapes for hair, smoke, or magic effects

Stylized realism is especially popular in 2024–2025 because it translates well across formats: social media posts, prints, game UI, and animation. It’s also more forgiving than strict realism; your painting can still work even if a hand is a little weird, as long as the overall style is consistent.

Experimental and glitch styles: real examples from 2024–2025

Digital painting in 2024–2025 is getting weird in the best way. Artists are pushing beyond traditional “paint on canvas” metaphors and embracing the fact that screens are their own medium.

Some wild examples include:

• Glitch-inspired portraits where faces are fragmented into RGB channels or distorted like corrupted files
• Paintings that mix 3D renders, hand-painted layers, and code-based distortions
• UI-inspired compositions that treat interface elements—sliders, windows, cursors—as part of the artwork

These experimental pieces are great examples of different digital painting techniques being used less as “how do I imitate oil paint?” and more as “what can a screen do that paper can’t?”

If you’re interested in the health side of long hours at a tablet while you experiment, organizations like Mayo Clinic and NIOSH at CDC share guidance on posture, eye strain, and ergonomics—worth a read if your wrist is starting to sound like bubble wrap.

Lighting-focused examples: painting with light first

Some of the most striking examples of digital art are basically love letters to light. In these paintings, the subject almost doesn’t matter; the star of the show is how light wraps, bounces, and colors everything.

In practice, these examples of examples of different digital painting techniques usually share a few habits:

• Starting in grayscale to nail values, then adding color with gradient maps or color layers
• Using hard-edged brushes for sharp cast shadows and soft brushes for ambient light
• Painting subtle color shifts within the same light area—warm highlights, cooler midtones, etc.

A good exercise is to take a simple object—a mug, a sneaker, a plant—and paint it under three different lighting setups: harsh noon sun, cloudy day, and neon nightclub. By repeating the same subject, you’re creating your own small set of real examples that highlight how light alone can change the mood.

Texture-heavy examples: painterly, gritty, and tactile

Digital painting doesn’t have to look squeaky clean. In fact, a lot of artists in 2024 are obsessed with making their work feel gritty, grainy, or tactile, like it was dragged across sandpaper.

In texture-heavy examples of different digital painting techniques, artists:

• Stack multiple texture layers—paper, noise, scanned ink, or even photos of concrete
• Use textured brushes almost exclusively, avoiding perfectly smooth strokes
• Tint textures slightly to push color harmony

This approach shows up in editorial illustration, poster design, and even some indie game art. It’s a great way to hide small drawing mistakes; the eye is too busy enjoying the texture party to notice that one crooked finger.

If you want your own best examples of this style, try painting a simple scene—like a city street at night—using only textured brushes and at least two overlayed grain layers. Compare it to a smooth-brush version and you’ll immediately feel the difference.

Speedpaint and time-limited examples: training the eye, not the hand

Some of the most educational examples of digital painting aren’t polished portfolio pieces at all—they’re messy speedpaints. Artists set a timer for 20–60 minutes and focus purely on big shapes, lighting, and mood.

These speed sessions are a powerful example of how limiting time can sharpen your decisions. Instead of fussing over individual eyelashes, you’re forced to ask: Where is the light coming from? What is the main color temperature? What actually needs detail?

If you scroll through social platforms, you’ll find countless real examples labeled “30-min study” or “1-hour speedpaint.” They may not be perfect, but they’re honest snapshots of process. Collect a few that you like and study how the artists prioritize information under pressure.

Pulling it together: mixing your own examples of different digital painting techniques

The point of looking at all these examples of examples of different digital painting techniques isn’t to pick one and swear loyalty forever. It’s to build a mental menu.

You might:

• Use painterly strokes for skin, but cel-shaded edges for clothing
• Combine photo textures with hand-painted lighting
• Keep backgrounds loose and impressionistic while rendering faces in high detail

The best examples of digital painting in 2024–2025 almost always mix approaches. The trick is intentionality: knowing why you’re using a certain brush, blending style, or texture instead of throwing everything at the canvas and hoping something sticks.

When in doubt, pick a piece you admire, identify two or three techniques it uses, and try to recreate just those aspects in a small study. Over time, you’ll build your own library of real examples—finished works and messy experiments—that reflect how you like to paint, not how you think you’re “supposed” to.

FAQ: examples of common questions about digital painting techniques

Q: What are some good examples of beginner-friendly digital painting techniques?
Soft shading over flat colors, simple cel shading, and grayscale-to-color workflows are all beginner-friendly. These techniques let you focus on values and basic lighting without getting lost in fancy textures or huge brush libraries.

Q: Can you give an example of mixing traditional and digital techniques?
A popular approach is to sketch traditionally in pencil or ink, scan or photograph the drawing, then paint underneath the lines in a digital program. Many illustrators also scan watercolor washes or ink textures and layer them into digital paintings for extra depth.

Q: How do I study real examples of professional digital painting?
Collect high-resolution work from artists you admire (with respect for copyright, of course) and zoom in. Look for brush edges, layering, and how they handle transitions. Many art schools and universities host public lectures and process breakdowns—checking resources from institutions like Harvard or other universities with visual arts programs can point you toward workshops and open courseware.

Q: What is an example of a practice routine to improve my digital painting?
One simple routine: three 20-minute studies a day—one value study (grayscale), one color study, and one speedpaint from imagination. Keep them small, don’t chase perfection, and save them in a folder so you can see progress over time.

Q: Are there examples of digital painting being used outside entertainment, like in science or education?
Yes. Digital painting is widely used in medical illustration, textbook diagrams, museum exhibits, and scientific visualization. These fields rely on clear, accurate images to explain complex ideas, and digital tools make it easier to revise and update artwork as knowledge changes.