Essentials of Painting

In this course, you’ll gain the tools and techniques to create intentional, impactful paintings by mastering design elements like shapes, value, color, edges, and texture. Whether you’re a beginner just starting your artistic journey or an experienced artist seeking a fresh perspective, this course is perfect for anyone wanting to dive deeper into the art-making process. The key to creating great art is developing the ability to see and think as a painter, and that’s exactly what this course is designed to help you achieve!

Please note: While the key concepts in this course can be applied to any medium, this course focuses on digital painting using Adobe Photoshop 2023, not gouache or traditional painting. Most lessons and demos will be taught within Photoshop. To get the most out of this course, you should have a basic understanding of how to use Photoshop before beginning.

who is this course for?

Objective:

This course is all about mastering the fundamentals of painting so you can trulysee and think like a painter. The aim is to strengthen your skills by focusing on digital painting master studies and plein air studies—the core practices that will make you a better painter through careful study and observation. By consistently practicing and repeating these techniques, you'll build a strong visual library of lighting scenarios and artist references to pull from in your own work. It’s all about consistency and repetition to sharpen your abilities and grow as an artist!

What you get with this course:

  • 20+ hours of course content +demos

  • Digital AND gouache demos included to show I think apply concepts in both mediums

  • Homework briefs with different tiers to choose your level of difficulty with each video module

  • Student homework examples and extra resources from books

  • PSD files of demos

  • Download of Tiffanie’s brush and tool presets

  • Discord community where students can share work and get feedback from peers

  • 3 LIVE one hour zoom sessions throughout the year where current and past students can all meet each other and ask Tiffanie questions about anything.

  • DATES of 2025 sessions: April 18th, August 8th, Dec 5th // 9-10am PST

Please note: This is an on-demand, online course so there are no weekly online or physical meetups.

If you are curious about my teaching style, check out my Youtube Channel here!

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If you have any questions about the course before purchasing, please email me at tiffaniemangart@gmail.com and I’d be happy to answer any! :) You can also read the FAQ down below!

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Student Work

  • Vicky Poon

  • Lucía Garcés

  • Joanne Tang

  • Nataly Dorofeeva

  • Karolina Wiśniewska

  • Xiao Chen

  • Claudia Yu

  • Kelsey Holland

  • Victor Ha

  • Kseniia Botsuliak

  • Jason Hyatt

  • Jesus Lebron

  • Jade van der Zalm

  • Marina Tycool

  • Janna Vliet

Testimonials

“You are an incredible teacher and such a kind, gentle soul - having the chance to give some of the love back to you meant a lot to me. You helped me so much these past few months, not only in my art. Being given this precious opportunity to learn played such a big role for me in finding a new direction in life when I needed it the most and words cannot describe how thankful I am for that. Really Tiffanie, thank you so much, being your student meant the world to me.” - Leonie Kantratowicz

“Tiffanie is a very great teacher and dedicated to his students. She changed my vision forever literally when i am outside i am staring and observing long shadows. I learned A LOT from her. I wouldn't have the same confidence starting my new illustration job without her teachings. She tells you what you need to hear not what you would want and I think that's the best way. I will and I already miss her actually!” -Charles Hunter

I have taken a few painting courses over my career and I have memorized a library of art tips gathered from books to online tutorials, but Tiffanie's mentorship not only weaved all the fundamentals together in a step-by-step curriculum, but has filled that missing piece that I've been searching for throughout my artistic journey, an euphoric eureka milestone! Like all learning courses, you get what you put in, but I can absolutely attest that Tiffanie can push you to your very best in understanding color.  - Victor Ha

Before Tiffanie’s guidance, I had little understanding of value and what makes a good painting. I kind of just painted what I saw. Tiffanie really taught me the importance of  an interesting composition and value structure to create a well made painting. I cannot stress how much I recommend this class. Before I had no idea even the first step in painting but now I am confident. My artist friends outside of class comment all the time about how much I have improved and I owe it all to Tiffanie. I learned more in my three months with Tiffanie than I did in my two years of art school. -Sophie Ni

  • This course is perfect for artists looking to gain a fresh perspective on painting, focusing on developing both technique and a painter's mindset. It’s great for:

    • Fine artists who want to incorporate digital painting into their workflow. (A basic understanding of Photoshop is recommended, with a month of practice suggested to familiarize yourself with basic tools. Click here for a helpful beginner’s Photoshop guide is available for those new to the software.)

    • Beginner to intermediate artists who have some experience with Photoshop and want to strengthen their foundational skills to take their art to the next level.

    • Experienced digital painters looking for new techniques and approaches while revisiting core fundamentals.

  • My course is designed to use simple tools in Photoshop to focus on the actual fundamentals. Please refer to this playlist I made to understand all the things you’ll need to know in Photoshop.

  • This course focuses on digital painting, so you’ll need the following:

    • A device: A laptop, desktop, or iPad. If using an iPad, an Apple Pencil is essential. I use an iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd generation), but any model works for plein air painting.

    • Tablet or stylus: For laptops or desktops, you’ll need a tablet or stylus like a Wacom Intuos. If you're just starting out, I recommend the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium, but older models will work fine too.

    • A Cintiq: If you already own one, you’re all set!

    • Software: Adobe Photoshop (2023 version) is the primary software I’ll be using in this course.

    • ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS: If you don’t have Adobe Photoshop, other programs like Procreate, Corel Painter, Heavy Paint and Infinite Painter will work. My two choices are Infinite Painter and Heavy Paint.

  • There is not wrong time to take this course because you can learn on your own time at your own pace. Your progress will be saved on the progress bar on the top, and you can rewatch lessons as many times as you want!

Course FAQ

  • You will have two year access to the course!

    Please note that this is just not lecture on a topic but a full on course with curated homework designed to help you succeed. You should be able to finish the course within years, and you will have lifetime access to the discord community where you can get feedback from peers and me.

  • In this course, you need to know how to use the brush tool to paint, how to use and organize layers, and how to use the lasso tool, gradient tool, and U tool. You should also know how to use clipping masks and layer masks as well as a basic understanding of adjustment layers. Beyond that, this course focuses on painting rather than Photoshop tricks, so the concepts learned can translate to other apps (such as Infinite Painter, Heavy Paint, Procreate, etc).

  • Yes, while I use Photoshop in this course, you can follow along with other apps such as Infinite Painter and Heavy Paint Classic, which is much cheaper. Check those out, as those are two of my favorite apps for plein air painting.

  • This course is on-demand, so you will be doing homework on your own time and self critiquing, which is an important skill to build up. However, there is a discord channel where students can post their work at any time. Tiffanie will hop in at least once a month to check out any posts and homework!

  • If you don’t understand the homework, fear not! Join the Discord server (you will receive access upon purchase of course) and ask any questions you have. I will be on there, as well as other students to answer your questions.

  • I can’t guarantee you’ll paint exactly like me, as everyone develops their own style at their own pace. However, with two years of access to this course, consistent practice and repetition of the lessons will be key to strengthening your painting fundamentals. My goal is to help you see and think like a painter, so you can understand my design and color choices and apply them to your own work.

  • No, after you have purchased the course, you cannot get a refund.

  • Since you have your own login, you can log back in at any time and resume. Your progress will be saved and you can continue where you left off.

  • YES! This is what this course is designed for. If you need to rewatch a lesson, or do the homework a couple rounds to get it right, it is UP TO YOU! you control the speed, and you are also responsible for your own progress.

  • No, I do not use any AI whatsoever. This course is designed for you to be able to paint using YOUR skills, so you can be better then AI!