Painting Crystals And Gems – Digital Painting Walkthrough

“How do I get a translucent look when painting crystals and gems?”

Taking on the challenge of painting shiny, semi-transparent objects like crystals and gems, amber and sea glass is not for the faint of heart!

Understanding how to get a realistic see-through lighting effect on objects can give your digital painting skills and entirely new dimension.

In this video, I’ll show you how I approach painting 2 glowing, faceted crystals that bounce reflected light off of each other.

You’ll see some of the essential tools and techniques I use in my daily art processes, such as the pen tool, group masks, blur effects and more…

Tips to help you paint unique crystals:

Study the lighting on similar objects from a reference board
Draw multiple sketches to find a good design
Keep in mind the direction of the light source when painting the cuts (facets) on the crystal
Use texture brushes to add grains to the crystals and gems
Add small imperfections for a more realistic look

If you need a more in-depth tutorial on lighting and shadows in general, check out this video on painting from imagination.

Want to participate in free, fun digital art challenges like this one?

Join me and thousands of other digital artists like you on the Paintable Discord server!

New Challenges are happening all the time. See the “Challenges” section on the server, and jump right in!

Want the same set of brushes that I use in all of my paintings? You can download them here for free.

You’ll also get on the list to hear when I release my latest video tutorials and walkthroughs!