Demystifying Krita with Comics

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If you're like most people, getting started with an app like Krita can be intimidating. Working with a graphics tablet takes as much getting used to as learning to draw with ink and paint. How all the settings and tools work together when "used correctly" is a whole other problem. Fortunately, Krita has just released a training DVD that shows novices how it's done, and helps fund development at the same time.

Linux painting apps like Krita can produce stellar results — just look at the showcase and forum gallery to see what the pros are doing. You too can (eventually) produce similar results with some practice and guidance.

The DVD is called Comics With Krita, and features the work of one of Krita's contributors, comic book artist Timothée "Animtim" Giet. Giet works entirely digital, but in comics his style reflects the look of traditional comics. Traditionally, the workflow for such a comic would involve sketching out panels in pencil, inking them in black (perhaps even by a separate artist), adding other colors in a separate layer, and adding dialogue and caption text by hand.

The disc contains a series of videos that show you how that traditional paper workflow translates into Krita, as well as some tools to get you started in your own Krita creations. There are two main sections: the Tutorial, which is an annotated screencast walk through — in real time — as Giet completes a comic panel from start to finish, and the Timelapse section, which shows the development of a full multi-page comic book accelerated to high-speed.

There is no annotation to the Timelapse segments, but most of it follows on directly from the Tutorial material. The disc also includes Giet's Krita brush pre-sets (which you can load into the application yourself), the source .KRA files, and the finished products as full-color PDFs. When you order the package, you also receive a printed copy of the comic produced in the videos as a bonus gift.

Exploring the DVD Contents

The disc is a DVD-ROM, not a video DVD designed for viewing on a TV screen. This is definitely the right choice to make, since you will want to be at your PC (perhaps even with Krita open) while you watch the videos. The actual files are encoded as WebM, which is high-definition and playable in any web browser as well as most desktop video players. There is an HTML "menu" file that links to each section in turn, and each video presentation is broken into segments covering different topics one at a time.

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