Wesley Gardner presents: Draw and Paint Better with Krita

Some time ago we reached out to Wesley Gardner because, a bit belatedly, we saw he has published a great book on Krita, titled Draw and Paint Better with Krita.

For krita.org, Wesley wrote an introduction to his book!

Teaching art has been a passion of mine for a long time, and seeing students find their “inner voice” and push through barriers they thought insurmountable is one of the coolest things in the world. In 2021, I was approached to write a “how to digital paint” book, geared towards beginners to digital art, but with the goal of also having enough weight to give intermediate and advanced digital artists some fun exercises as well. Without second thought, I agreed, and knew that Krita would be the focal point of the book. Thus, in 2022, ‘Draw and Paint Better with Krita’ was published worldwide, and has become a sort of “guardian angel” guide for artists around the world, which I’m super humbled by and grateful for.

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Krita’s everything that I believe digital art is about: Open access, customizable to fit your needs, easy to get started, and impossible to master. There’s always something new to learn in art, and likewise, there’s always something fun to learn in Krita. Whether it’s the various effects you can get with the ever-expanding layer management and adjustments, or the near-infinite pool of incredible custom brushes made by the community, there’s ALWAYS a new way to push yourself to that next level in your journey.

I’ve been a Krita user since Krita 3, and seeing how much it has evolved and expanded in the past few years has been unbelievable! It’s always installed on EVERY machine that I make art on, and is one of my “must-download” softwares the moment I get a new machine. It’s one of those programs that grows with you, and can handle absolutely anything you can throw at it. I’ve produced personal work and art prints, as well as professional client work for the likes of Star Wars, Warhammer 40k, and Riot Games, and the program never breaks a sweat. When I’m stumped on what type of video to make for my YouTube channel, I can always fall back on playing around in Krita, as it’s always a treat to poke around and learn new workflows.

Writing the book on Krita was a no-brainer, as I think learning Krita can help you learn ANY digital painting software, as the workflows are so similar. It’s the perfect entry-point for every artist that wants to work digitally, and it’s the perfect ending point for tenured veterans that need a little bit of “extra spice” to finish off their work and build their brand. If there’s one digital art program every single person needs on their machine, it’s Krita.

For real, what CAN’T Krita do? Go join the forums, be part of the community, and (if you’re financially able to, of course) donate somewhat regularly to the Krita Foundation. They do incredible work, and the fact that Krita’s available on Windows, Mac, AND Linux, for FREE, is still some sort of wizardry I can’t wrap my head around. For the Krita Team: Keep knocking it out of the park, it’s an honor to be a part of the Krita legacy, and for the team, and all artists out there:

Go make cool art.