TaruByte

Digital Art / Krita / Lesson 2

Choose your first brush.

A brush preset controls how a stroke looks. Let’s choose one, test it on the canvas, and then we’ll explore size and color.

First step

Select a brush preset

  1. Open your document and select the Brush Tool from the left toolbox. You can also press B.
  2. Open the brush choices either by clicking the brush preset control in the top toolbar or by clicking the Brush Presets tab in the right-side Dockers.
  3. Click a brush thumbnail in either list. Choose a simple basic brush for this first try. The selected preset becomes your active brush.
  4. Move to the canvas and draw a short test line. Try another preset to compare how the mark changes.
Krita workspace with the Brush Tool selected. Brush choices are open as a popup from the top toolbar, and the Brush Presets docker is also open on the right; both show brush thumbnails.
Choose a brush preset in either place. Click the brush control in the top toolbar to open its popup, then choose a thumbnail there. Or choose a thumbnail from the Brush Presets docker on the right. The green boxes point to the selected preset in each list. The Brush Tool is marked in the left toolbox.

Adjust the brush size

Use the Size field in the top toolbar to make the brush smaller or larger. A smaller size makes a thin line; a larger size makes a thicker line. You can click the number and type a size, or adjust it with the control. These sample strokes are on Paint Layer 1, the selected layer in the Layers docker.

Krita canvas with a thin line made using a smaller brush size and a thick line made using a larger brush size on the selected Paint Layer 1. A red and yellow outline marks the Size field.
Compare the marks. Both lines were drawn on the selected Paint Layer 1. The upper line uses a smaller brush size; the lower line uses a larger size.

Adjust brush opacity

Opacity controls how strongly the brush color shows. At 100%, a stroke is fully opaque. Lower values make it lighter and more transparent. In this example, the strokes go from 100% to 50%, 25%, and 10%.

Krita canvas with four blue brush strokes showing decreasing opacity from top to bottom: 100%, 50%, 25%, and 10%. A red and yellow outline marks the Opacity control in the top toolbar, currently set to 10%.
Compare opacity. The marks get lighter as opacity decreases. The toolbar control shows the current brush opacity.

Hide the Background to see transparency

In the previous image, both layer eyes were open, so the white Background layer covered the transparent canvas. Click the eye beside Background to hide that layer. Paint Layer 1 stays visible, so the two strokes remain while the checkerboard appears. The checkerboard means the canvas is transparent.

Krita canvas showing two black brush strokes on a transparency checkerboard. Paint Layer 1 remains visible and selected; the Background layer eye is off. A red and yellow outline marks the closed Background eye.
After hiding Background: the strokes remain on the selected Paint Layer 1. The closed eye beside Background is marked in red and yellow.

Choose a brush color

Pick a color in the Advanced Color Selector docker at the upper-right: choose a hue from the ring, then choose a shade inside the triangle. The foreground color swatch in the top toolbar shows the color you picked, and your next brush strokes use it. You can also click that toolbar swatch to open the color dialog.

Krita workspace with the Advanced Color Selector docker at the upper right and a red foreground color swatch in the top toolbar. A red brush stroke on the canvas shows the selected color.
Choose a color. The yellow and red outline marks the Advanced Color Selector. The toolbar outline marks the foreground color control; this screenshot shows red selected, and the red stroke on the canvas uses that color.

If you can’t find the Brush Presets tab, open Settings → Dockers → Brush Presets. The exact preset names and thumbnails can vary with Krita versions and installed brush packs.

Try different brush presets

Now try presets from the Brush Presets docker. Different brushes can make smooth, sketchy, textured, or dotted marks. Hover over a thumbnail to see a tooltip with its name, preview, and other details.

Krita canvas with test marks made using different brush presets. The Brush Presets docker is open on the right, and a hover tooltip shows the name and preview of a brush preset.
Explore and experiment. The yellow and red outline marks the brush thumbnails. The tooltip shows information for the preset currently under the pointer.

Choose an exact color with RGB values

If you know the exact color you want, open the Specific Color Selector tab. Enter its R (red), G (green), and B (blue) values in the marked fields. You can also enter a color code in the Color name field. The foreground color updates to match those values.

Krita workspace with the Specific Color Selector open in the upper-right. Red, green, blue numeric values and a color name field are highlighted.
Set a precise color. The green box marks the RGB values and Color name field. In this example, the color is R 197, G 239, B 26, with the code #c5ef1a.

Erase with the brush

Select the layer that contains the marks you want to erase. In this example, Paint Layer 1 is selected. Click the eraser control in the top toolbar, adjust the Size field, and drag over the canvas. When the eraser control is selected, your current brush erases instead of painting, so its shape and texture affect the mark. Click the control again to return to drawing. You can also choose a different eraser-style preset from Brush Presets.

Krita workspace with the eraser control selected in the top toolbar, the Size field set to 333.90 px, and Paint Layer 1 selected in the Layers docker as erased areas appear on the canvas.
Erase a mark. The blue toolbar button shows the eraser control is selected. The green box marks Paint Layer 1, where the marks are being erased. The Size field controls how wide the eraser is.

Practice: draw an apple with layers

Here is a small example using the brushes, colors, and layers from this lesson. Start with a simple apple outline on Paint Layer 1.

Krita canvas with a red apple outline drawn on the selected Paint Layer 1. The eraser control is active in the top toolbar.
Step 1: draw the apple body. The outline is on Paint Layer 1. Before painting, check the top toolbar: this screenshot shows the eraser control active, so click it to return to drawing.

Add a new paint layer for each part you want to edit separately. In this example, the stem is on Paint Layer 2 and the leaf is on Paint Layer 3. The Layers docker lists the leaf above the stem and the apple outline.

Krita canvas showing the red apple outline with a brown stem and green leaf. The Layers docker has Paint Layer 3 selected above Paint Layer 2, Paint Layer 1, and Background.
Step 2: add the stem and leaf. The stem is on Paint Layer 2; the leaf is on Paint Layer 3, which is selected. Separate layers let you edit each part without changing the others.

You can show or hide a layer without deleting its contents. Click the eye icon beside a layer to toggle its visibility.

Krita canvas showing the apple outline and green leaf with the stem hidden. In the Layers docker, Paint Layer 2 visibility is off while Paint Layer 1, Paint Layer 3, and Background remain visible.
Step 3: toggle the stem layer. The eye beside Paint Layer 2 is off, so its stem is hidden. The apple outline and leaf remain visible because their layers are still on. Click that eye again to show the stem.

After checking the layer visibility, paint the apple and refine any details you like. When you are ready to keep your work, save it as a Krita document so the layers stay editable.

Krita File menu open with Save As selected. The canvas shows the red apple with a brown stem and green leaf.
Step 4: choose Save As. Open the File menu and select Save As….
Krita Save As dialog with apple_krita as the filename and Krita document (*.kra) selected as the file type.
Step 5: name and save the document. Choose a folder, enter a filename, keep Krita document (*.kra) selected, then click Save. The .kra format preserves your layers for future editing.

To make an image you can easily share or upload, export a PNG copy. Your saved .kra project remains available with its layers.

Krita File menu with Export selected for the saved apple_krita.kra document.
Step 6: choose Export. Open File → Export… to create an image copy.
Krita export dialog with its supported file format list open and PNG image (*.png) highlighted.
Step 7: choose PNG. Enter a filename such as apple_krita.png, then choose PNG image (*.png) from the file type list and save. The list also includes other formats, such as JPEG and GIF.
The exported apple_krita.png opened in an image viewer beside the saved apple_krita.kra file in the file browser.
Step 8: check the exported image. Open the PNG to make sure it looks right. Keep the .kra file too; PNG is a flattened image and does not retain the editable layers.

Practice files

Download the apple example

Open the Krita file to inspect and edit its layers. The PNG is the exported, flattened image.