In the new tutorial series with Ludovico Clovis, Rebelle Featured Artist, we are exploring traditional painting habits and their application to the digital painting process. Let's treat Rebelle as a physical painting setup from the get-go. The goal of this first exercise is to train yourself to rely on observation, value grouping, and stroke intent rather than tool switching.

If you have ever tried painting with traditional media, you already know how unforgiving the process can be. One mistake can ruin hours of work, and fixing it often requires repainting large sections. Digital painting may offer more flexibility, but it does not automatically guarantee better results. Even with unlimited undo options, artists frequently end up with images that feel confusing, flat, or visually unbalanced.

The difference between a successful painting and a frustrating one usually comes down to one thing: planning. Professional artists rarely jump straight into detailed rendering or color experimentation. Instead, they construct their paintings step by step, starting with the fundamental visual structure that controls how the viewer experiences the image.

Watch this tutorial on YouTube: youtu.be/C9FqmsEwqzM

Preparation Process for Painting

One helpful rule during the learning stage is to limit yourself to a single brush. Many beginners spend too much mental energy switching between brushes, adjusting settings, or experimenting with digital tools. While brushes can influence style and texture, they are not the foundation of a strong painting. By using one brush, you reduce distractions and force yourself to focus on what actually matters: shapes, values, edges, and composition. This approach also mimics traditional painting, where artists typically rely on a small set of brushes and focus more on observation and structure.

Where Should Your Composition Lead?

The first concept that must be understood before any painting begins is the center of interest. This is the element in the image that you want viewers to notice first. Every strong painting guides the viewer’s attention intentionally, and the center of interest is the destination toward which the entire composition leads. Without a clear focal point, a painting feels scattered because every element competes equally for attention.
Many art tutorials recommend starting with a black-and-white value study, but simply painting in grayscale does not automatically teach you how to control attention. The real purpose of working with values is to understand how artists manipulate light and dark contrasts to guide the viewer’s eye.

Values refer to how light or dark a shape appears. They are one of the most influential elements in visual art because human vision naturally detects contrast before anything else. This is why black text on white paper is easy to read, and why shapes with similar values can become difficult to distinguish from a distance. Our brains rely heavily on value contrast to recognize objects and navigate visual information.
Because of this, values play two major roles in painting. First, they make objects visible. Second, they control where attention goes. When all elements in a composition have equal contrast and brightness, everything becomes equally important, which weakens the visual hierarchy. When one element contains a stronger contrast than the rest of the image, it immediately attracts the viewer’s attention and becomes the focal point.

"Values play two major roles in painting. First, they make objects visible. Second, they control where attention goes."

Importance of Values

When planning a painting, it helps to decide early whether the image will be high-key or low-key. A high-key painting contains mostly light values with darker accents, creating a bright and airy atmosphere. A low-key painting, on the other hand, is dominated by darker tones with small areas of light. Both approaches can work beautifully, but choosing one early helps establish the overall mood and structure of the image.

Another important practice is limiting the number of values used during the planning stage. Many beginners attempt to include too many subtle tonal differences immediately, which complicates the composition and encourages premature detailing. Instead, professional artists often simplify value structure into three or four main value groups. These groups might consist of darks, mid-darks, mid-lights, and lights. By organizing the painting this way, the artist can focus on the major shapes and relationships without getting distracted by smaller transitions.

It is also helpful to think of values as groups rather than isolated tones. Instead of treating every shape independently, artists cluster similar values together into larger masses. These value groups create a clear visual structure and prevent the image from becoming fragmented. Once the major value shapes are established, smaller variations can be introduced later without disrupting the composition.

"Simplify value structure into three or four main value groups. These groups might consist of darks, mid-darks, mid-lights, and lights."

Values vs. Colors

After the value structure is working, color can be added on top. One of the most important principles to remember is that color should support the values rather than replace them. A painting with strong value relationships can still look convincing even if the colors are simple. However, beautiful colors cannot fix a painting that lacks clear value contrast.

Color contributes additional layers of contrast through temperature, saturation, and hue. Temperature refers to the perceived warmth or coolness of colors, such as warm reds and oranges versus cool blues and greens. Saturation describes how intense or muted a color appears. Highly saturated colors feel vibrant and energetic, while desaturated colors appear softer and more neutral. Hue simply refers to the color itself, such as red, blue, or purple.

These three properties allow artists to create subtle variations in attention. For example, a focal point might combine stronger saturation, sharper temperature contrast, and slightly higher value contrast than the surrounding areas. Meanwhile, less important parts of the painting can remain more neutral and subdued.

When choosing colors, it is helpful to think in terms of dominant colors and accent colors. The dominant color shapes the overall atmosphere of the painting, while accent colors introduce contrast and visual interest. Many artists also use color harmonies to guide their palette choices. These harmonies are based on relationships on the color wheel, such as complementary colors, analogous colors, or triadic schemes.
A useful trick when analyzing a palette is to temporarily increase the saturation of the colors. Highly saturated colors are easier to identify on the color wheel, which helps reveal the underlying harmony. Once the relationships become clear, the colors can be desaturated again to achieve a more natural or painterly result. Many beginners make the mistake of leaving colors fully saturated, which can make a painting look artificial. Introducing muted tones creates contrast and allows the more vibrant colors to stand out.

"Color contributes additional layers of contrast through temperature, saturation, and hue. These three properties allow artists to create subtle variations in attention."

Final Stage: Painting Process

When the values and colors are planned, the final stage is the painting process itself. At this point, the focus shifts toward brushwork, edges, and refinement. Because the major decisions have already been made during the planning stage, the painting process becomes far more enjoyable and experimental. Instead of worrying about whether the composition works, explore textures, expressive brush strokes, and subtle variations.

Edges play an important role in directing attention during this stage. Sharp edges tend to attract the viewer’s eye, while soft edges fade into the background. By sharpening edges near the focal point and softening them elsewhere, artists can subtly guide the viewer through the composition. Details work similarly. Areas with dense detail draw attention, while simplified areas allow the eye to rest.

One advantage of planning a painting thoroughly is that it provides a reliable structure that supports creative freedom. Once the composition, values, and colors are established, the artist can experiment without fear of ruining the image. Unexpected brush strokes, texture variations, or lighting adjustments can enhance the painting rather than destabilize it.

In the end, successful paintings rarely happen by accident. They are built through a sequence of deliberate steps that guide the viewer’s experience from the first glance to the final details. By starting with values, supporting them with thoughtful color choices, and finishing with expressive brushwork, artists can create images that feel both intentional and visually engaging. The most important takeaway is that most of the difficult decisions in a painting should be made before the final brushstrokes begin.

We’ll dive deeper into this topic with Ludovico in the next part. Stay tuned!

Happy Painting,
Escape Motions Team

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Ludovico Clovis is a digital and traditional figure painter. His style is influenced by the visible brushwork and color usage of the impressionist painters, mixed with different abstract techniques. When he isn’t working digitally, he is using oils, acrylics, watercolor, and charcoal.
See his portfolio: www.escapemotions.com/featured-artists/ludovico-clovis

"I thought I could just draw the desserts I wanted to try, as a way to satisfy my cravings on paper instead of in the kitchen."

What's your first step when starting a food illustration? Do you sketch, plan colors, or something else?

Before I start drawing, I first decide on a clear food theme in my mind and what I want the illustration to express. Then I start collecting lots of different references based on that idea, not only photos of real food but also anything that inspires the shape, texture, or color mood I'm going for. I try not to rely on just one or two literal food photos, so my imagination can stay open, and I don't feel locked into a single real-life example. During this stage, I keep brainstorming, adjusting the picture in my head again and again until I have a blurry but solid direction. Once that direction feels stable enough, I start sketching.​

How do you choose which food or dish to illustrate?

For a long time, I mainly chose desserts. The original reason was honestly a bit lazy: making desserts at home by following tutorials was a lot of work and might still fail, and buying them outside was too expensive. So I suddenly thought I could just draw the desserts I wanted to try, as a way to satisfy my cravings on paper instead of in the kitchen. While I was drawing, I could almost imagine the taste, which made the process feel a bit like actually eating them. After a few pieces, I started to add more playful and imaginative ideas on top of the food, without worrying whether such dishes exist in real life. After finishing three dessert series, I moved on to savory dishes, and now I also like to paint foods related to different holidays.​

Do you use reference photos, real food, or rely on imagination?

I use a mix of reference photos, real food, and my own imagination, depending on the piece. For my early dessert series, I mainly relied on photos of actual food to study different textures, shapes, and moods. I would gather lots of references, not just food photos but anything that sparked ideas, to keep my creativity wide open instead of sticking to just a few images. Later on, I started creating fantasy-style foods from scratch, imagining magical recipes and drawing them with no real-world limits. In more recent food illustrations, I also add little scenes around them to give the picture some story and keep it from feeling too plain.​

Do you have favorite brushes, textures, or techniques that work especially well for food?

I mainly use brushes from the Watercolor brush library in Rebelle, as the default presets that come with it are already super versatile for food. I may tweak the opacity to 100% on a few of them, so when I save the illustration as a PNG, there are no strange transparency issues. For line work, I stick to two liner brushes; for coloring, I use four Round brushes most of the time; and for special textures, I go with Splat, Flat Dry, and other dry brushes, plus I make good use of the quick-dry shortcut to keep those textures crisp without water bleed messing them up.​

Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/yptY8kwWwZM

What's your approach for rendering textures like glossy fruits, creamy sauces, or flaky pastry?

Because I use watercolor brushes, which can easily bleed and blur together, rendering textures requires extra care with canvas wetness and dryness. When using dry brushes for rough textures like bread crumbs, powder, or flaky pastry, I hit the quick-dry shortcut and Dry button in the Layers panel right away to make sure the paint doesn't smear. For glossy surfaces like syrup or soup that need clean, sharp highlights, I keep those edges crisp with dry layers too. For matte surfaces, I let the layer stay wet so the colors blend naturally, then use the Blend tool to smooth out anything that looks off.​

How do you make food look appetizing and realistic without overworking it?

I learned the hard way after a few pieces that you shouldn't obsess over every tiny detail. Instead of zooming in with a small brush and painstakingly copying the reference, I now zoom out the canvas often to check the big picture, like overall light and shadow, and use bigger brushes for a more natural flow, which actually makes the illustration look real and lively. Early on, I would spend days perfecting complex details, but the results weren't as good as I hoped, and it killed the fun. Now, I save time with texture brushes like Spatter or Splat, pencil, and patterns for details, so the piece stays fresh and inviting.​
Comparison of Gloria's early food illustration vs. now

"Most of my food illustrations include some kind of slightly translucent syrup. To make it look appetizing, I always add bright highlights that catch the light."

Do you have tips for arranging food elements in a composition?

I haven't done too much formal study on food composition myself, but for arranging food elements, a great tip is to check out professional food photography or gourmet magazines for inspiration. You'll often spot fresh, clever layouts that really make everything look mouthwatering and give you new ideas.​

How do you decide on perspective or camera angle?

It depends on which part of the food I want to highlight. If the focus is on showing what's on top, I go with a higher angle. For instance, my Dutch pancake piece has a thick, round pancake topped with bacon and a sunny-side-up egg in the center.
For something like a layered cake where I want to show the colorful cross-section inside, a 45-degree angle works best, as it reveals the cutaway while still showing some exterior and top. For burgers and layered foods like that, a full side view is perfect to display all the stacked layers clearly.​

Do you use special effects, like reflections, highlights, or wet edges, to make food look more realistic?

Yes, I love drawing syrup. Most of my food illustrations include some kind of slightly translucent syrup. To make it look appetizing, I always add bright highlights that catch the light. For illustrations where the food is the main subject, I also apply a Gaussian blur to the background, which helps the food pop out more and grab attention.​

Are there common mistakes beginners make when illustrating food, and how can they avoid them?

One common mistake beginners make when illustrating food, and one I fell for myself, is obsessing over unnecessary details and sticking too closely to the reference photo's colors, which often makes the whole image look muddy or dirty. Another is getting the big light and shadow relationships wrong at first, leaving the main subject flat and unappealing. To avoid this, regularly switch your canvas to black and white to check if the lighting feels right overall. For colors, limit how much you pull directly from the reference. Once you set the base hues, experiment with mixing your own shades.​

Do you have any tips for preparing food illustrations for print versus digital display?

For print-quality food illustrations, aim for at least 300 DPI resolution. I always start new canvases at that setting. The key difference is color modes: digital displays use RGB, which has a wider gamut and makes colors pop brighter on screens, while print uses CMYK, so printed results often look a bit duller or grayer. If you know it'll be printed, avoid super-saturated colors from the start to prevent big color shifts, or after finishing, use the proof color feature in Rebelle or Photoshop to tweak until it matches the intended look.​

What's one tip that dramatically improves a food illustration?

Ambient lighting and a simple, non-distracting background. Early on, I drew food without any background. Pure white made the food stand out, but it felt boring and flat. Now I add subtle backgrounds that match the mood, nothing detailed: just some decorative elements with a Gaussian blur. This instantly boosts the overall polish. Or add a light source, like morning warm light coming through a window, casting a rectangular glow on the table, partly hitting the food, darkening and cooling the unlit areas to create an instant atmosphere.​

Apart from the food illustration, what is your favorite subject to draw? 

Explore the genius of Anders Zorn and rediscover the masterful clarity behind his watercolor practice. In this study, Jacinto September recreates one of Zorn's striking watercolor portraits, using Rebelle and its dynamic watercolor engine. By analyzing value, temperature, and the power of simplified form, this piece uncovers what truly made Zorn's work so enduring and exceptional.

Swedish artist Anders Zorn (1860-1920) is often acknowledged for his bold and expressive oil portraits, as well as the infamous limited Zorn palette of just four basic colors. But before oils, he was a master of watercolor. What makes Zorn exceptional isn't just his approach and technique, but clarity of thinking.

Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/qk4u7Cq5kik

Why Study Zorn's Watercolor Paintings?

Zorn's watercolor paintings feel effortless, but convincing. He focused on and allowed the fundamentals to do the heavy lifting: strong drawing, clear value grouping, controlled temperature, economy of brushwork, and restraint.

Watercolor is extremely unforgiving. You simply can not rework specific areas without losing a sense of freshness. That's exactly why Rebelle's watercolor engine is such a powerful tool for studying his work. The software responds to the unpredictability. The wetness, pigment load, opacity, and diffusion. And it mirrors traditional watercolor brilliantly. It also forces you to think before you actually paint, to anticipate what could happen.

Step 1: Simple Drawing

Before applying any paint, let's begin with a very simple, but accurate sketch. All that is needed are the basic lines to anchor the proportions and placement and certain shapes. Zorn didn't rely heavily on an intricate drawing. He thought in terms of mass. How one shape relates to another. In watercolor, especially inside Rebelle, applying this is important. Once you place a wash, you have to commit to it (unless you use Undo). The medium can easily reward clarity, but can punish hesitation. So during this drawing stage, the goal is accuracy, not a beautiful drawing.

Step 2: Backgrounds' Importance

One of the first major decisions to recreate Zorn's painting is to lay the wet, blue background. We mustn't underestimate the importance of the background. Zorn used backgrounds strategically. They aren't just empty spaces; they frame the head, and it allows for contrast. Inside Rebelle, adjust the wetness of your brush to allow for natural pigment diffusion. Increasing the wetness of a brush creates soft transitions, while reducing it helps control edges. The key principle here: the background should always support the focal point (which in this case is the head) and not to compete with it. The cool blue enhances the warmth in the face and clothing. And that's called temperature contrast.

Step 3: Protect the Lights

When it comes to traditional watercolor, the white is not painted. It is the color of the paper.

Rebelle works the same way. The untouched surface or canvas becomes your highlight. It is necessary to be cautious in preserving the white of the paper. Of course, Zorn understood this very well. His lights feel luminous because they were preserved early. Instead of painting highlights later, you design around them from the very start. Building up the darks, while 'washing' over the lights. And this forces us to think ahead.

Step 4: Value Before Color

If you squint at Zorn's paintings and especially his portraits, they hold together. The lights are all grouped and read as one mass, while the shadow side reads as another.

Color will always be secondary to value. Remember, when thinking about painting: the understanding of drawing and structure comes first, tonal values second, color and temperature third. In Rebelle, lowering opacity and building transparent layers allows for establishing darker tones gradually. Watercolor is all about building the darks slowly and not jumping to them too soon. The tonal values are very important here. Once the values are clear, everything else should become easier.

Step 5: The Power of Edges

Zorn was a master of lost and found edges. He understood the power. He reserved sharpness for focal areas. In portraiture, this is typically around the eyes, and he allows secondary areas to dissolve. Rebelle's control over wetness and pigment flow allows for this to happen almost naturally. A wetter brush will soften transitions, and a drier brush will increase control. But the most important lesson is all about restraint. Zorn placed strokes confidently with intention and left them alone. Overworking a watercolor painting can kill its freshness.

Step 6: Applying This to Your Own Work

After completing the study of Zorn's painting, apply his principles to your own original portrait. This isn't only about copying or mimicking his style, but trying to think like him. With Rebelle's watercolor brushes, focus on economy of brushwork, brush wetness, and paint opacity. Paying careful attention to where the hard edges should be, and where soft edges apply and diffuse.

Jacinto's painting in Zorn's style reflects the real purpose of doing master's studies. The inspiration wins over imitation.

Final Thoughts

Studying Zorn's watercolors is about understanding why his paintings feel so effortless and strong. When accuracy of drawing, value clarity, and control of temperature come first, the detail becomes secondary. When the structure of a painting is strong, loose strokes feel more decisive and intentional.

When working in Rebelle, try copying a master watercolorist. Not to imitate them, but to observe, analyze, and be inspired. You may find that painting can become easier if you don't focus on the types of brushes and effects, but simplifying the process.

Happy Painting, 
Escape Motions Team

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Jacinto September, a South African artist who has long been devoted to portraiture and figure painting. Deeply influenced by the old masters, Jacinto is inspired by the use of warm, muted earth tones and the powerful sense of drama achieved through even the simplest portrait.
A traditionally trained, self-taught artist at heart, all of his experience has been shaped by hands-on work with traditional paints, embracing the tactile process and, quite literally, getting his hands dirty. This strong traditional foundation made the transition to digital painting seamless, particularly when working with Rebelle.

Reference images used for the study:
https://share.google/y9jgIeng74g9nx0ke
https://pin.it/4r9MFpDdc