I just purchased the September issue of ImageinFX. In the Q&A section, Kev Grossley answers the first question, and then goes on to explain through his step-by-step how he normally starts his paintings. He mentions it is easier to start with a really low DPI and then only increasing the DPI when you start adding details. The benefit, he goes on to explain, is that it is easier and faster to start your painting. Is this standard practice among most digital artists? How do you start your paintings?

Yeah, it's easier to start low like 72 or 150 dpi if your document is going to be large( say a poster size or so). Having a low res image frees up your computer so you can block in colors. Once you're ready you can bump up your dpi and start doing details.

You can also start at a higher res if you have a good deal of ram( maybe over 4 gigs and on a 64bit system, although not all art applications will use all your memory). But if you want a speedy start and work with multiple layers, start with a low res file and remember to bump up before going into details.

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I generally start at 200ppi and increase to 300ppi when the canvas is covered and some shapes and value are there. It's mostly because in the early stages you are more likely to want to use large size brushes and that can cause lag. There are some who say they can tell when a paintings resolution has been increased and should be avoided but, personally, I can't - at least not with mine anyway. Besides, practically all of the canvas gets re-covered with the increased resolution anyway.

Depends what I am doing, and what software I'm using to do it. Most of the time in Photoshop I'll just start at the size I will probably finish at, on the other hand, painting in Artrage, I will scale up as I go because I find it struggles with larger files. Other times I will start scribbling something small, then realise I like it and scale it up to carry on working on it.

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I read about and learned that everytime you increase the resolution say from 72 to 150 to 200 to 300 clicking the sharpen filter is a good thing to do. If I'm going for a painterly look though I sharpen with new brushstrokes no filter.

This is true of all mediums. However, there are many techniques to minimizing the blurring effect when enlarging an image with Photoshop, and some of those techniques work very well. The software also has a few sharpening filters which can be applied after enlarging. For paintings, as long as you're only laying down your base shapes and colour tones, you shouldn't need to apply those techniques. A blurred image can appear to look sharp and in focus with properly applied hard highlights, so always wait until after you enlarge before you apply your hard highlights and other fine details.

So far, I am really enjoying starting my paintings with a low DPI and then enlarging them only when it's time to add detail. I find it very difficult to add detail at low DPIs and very difficult to paint whole canvases at high DPIs.