Tracing Can Help
If you need a little help getting started with digital painting, try this: Open your photo (or a royalty-free stock image), then click the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a layer above the photo. Fill this new layer with a slightly off-white color (R:249, G:244, B:225), and then lower the layer's Opacity to 50% to simulate tracing paper. Add one more layer above this and trace away.
thanks for the tip. I’m still learning photoshop but curious why you wouldn’t just change the opacity of the original photo. Is the idea to preserve the integrity of the photo layer?
Thanks again!