"Digital Character Design and Painting: The Photoshop CS Edition"

This is a book on digital painting, so you need certain equipment in order to follow the demonstrations and exercises. You obviously need a computer with lots of hard drive space as well as a monitor capable of displaying at least 16-bit color. You will have greater success if you use some sort of stylus to use when painting. Painting with a mouse is possible but feels a lot like painting with a bar of soap.

As far as software, the author is using Photoshop CS. It's assumed that you have a fundamental understanding of this software. If you do not have Photoshop CS, Photoshop  will suffice. Earlier versions of Photoshop are not recommended as the brush engine in both CS and version 7 were significantly improved over earlier versions. In Part III, where the exercises appear, great detail on how to achieve a particular effect is not necessarily provided since this is not a Photoshop 'how-to' section. Rather, Part III is more about getting into my brain and watching the process as each painting is completed.

Many other 2D applications will suffice if you do not own Photoshop CS. Be aware that you will not be able to reproduce the effects exactly, but you will be able to use the general principles discussed.

It is the author's hope that this book will serve you as you strive to be a better character designer and artist.