Official Magazine
Createdigital art today!
Vital brush commandsIn-depth pastel workshop
Quick start guide on the CD
Paint the cover!
PC and Mac
FREE CD INSIDE TEXTURES | STOCK PHOTOS | TUTORIAL RESOURCEFILES
Brush primerUse the F-X brushes to create wild and vibrantartwork
African art We show how to paint in the style of traditionalAfrican art
Paint likeGive your landscape photos an American Folk artmakeover
ISSUE SEVENTEENISSN 1753-3155
9 7 7 1 7 5 3 3 1 5 0 0 0
1 7
www.paintermagazine.com
6.00
Expert tipsInk and wash effectMerge the pen with paint andre-create this classic style
45pages oftutorials
Over
Official MagazineOfficial Magazine
Paint with natural light Top tips for creating the
illusion of sunlight
Issue seventeen Visit us online w
ww
.paintermagazine.co.uk
Of cial Corel Painter TM M
agazine
Take control of this set of brushes and paint your best-everportraitsTake control of this set of brushes and paint yourbest-ever portraitsTake control of this set of brushes
acrylic artPaint the cover!
Issue seventeen Visit us online w
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acrylic aLearn to create
Understand resolution
How to resize images without destroying pixels
Vital skills
Cover_OPM17.indd 1 29/4/08 15:25:03
stuartdixonRectangle
3
Jo Cole, Editor in [emailprotected]
WelcomeWhen youre dealing with traditional materials, it makessense to ind one or two that you really enjoy and donate all ofyour art funds to them. But you havent got to think that way inPainter. Once you buy
the software you can explore all the different mediums withoutpaying out any extra.
This issue we focus on the Acrylic brushes and look at how theycan be used to create a stunning portrait. The very portrait thatgraces our cover, in fact! So, if you have never used them before,turn to page 36 and give them a go.
Fans of the American Folk Art movement will love our tutorial onpage 46. Susi Lawson shows how to transform a photo into a rollinglandscape. We also have a lovely ink and wash tutorial on page 28,where Tim Shelbourne merges paint with pen for fantasticresults.
This issue also sees the start of a new series in Drawing 101,where we show how traditional media behaves. Youd be surprised howthis helps you understand Painters brushes.
Enjoy your painting!
This is THE magazine for anyone wanting to further their CorelPainter skills or learn how to become a better artist
ISSUESEVENTEEN
This is THE magazine for anyone wanting to further their CorelPainter skills or learn how to become a better artist
Visit our website!If you find that the magazine isnt enough tosatisfy your Corel Painter appetite, you can always visit ourwebsite. Pop on over to www.paintermagazine.co.uk and register as auser. Once this is out of the way, explore the pages and enjoygreat content such as: Downloadable resources Online galleries toshare your work Special forum for meeting other Corel Painterusers
Brush Primer: F-X
Pg 34You might have written them off as a one-trick wonder, butsee how these brushes can bloom
Art study: Sunlight
Pg 52
Inject realistic light into your paintings for impact andinterest
Paint like: Grant Wood
Pg 46
Have a stroll through the hilly vistas and bubbly
trees of Grant Wood
003_OPM_17_welcome.indd 5 1/5/08 18:01:27
news even ts resources even ts resources even ts letterswebsites websites websites letters websites letters
of costs, skill and software requirements, as well as durationof individual courses. DAA is proud to include many of the topnames in digital art training in the industry, including manyfamiliar faces from the Corel Painter Oficial Magazine. Myself, CatBounds, Scott Deardorff, Chris Price, Susi Lawson, Marilyn Sholin,Anne Carter-Hargrove and more bring innovative classes to lifeacross the whole spectrum of digital art software and inal outputthrough printing and embellishing, says Bonaker. If youve everwanted to take your learning further with targeted classes forCorel Painter, as well as other major software players in thedigital art world, drop by DAA and have a look at theever-expanding course catalogue. There truly is something foreveryone.
10
illed as the next generation in digital-art training, theDigital Art Academy (www.digitalartacademy.com) was
created speciically to offer an interactive learning communityelement to all aspiring digital artists. With DAAs fully equippedwebsite, with online classrooms,
TEACHING
Live interaction brings Corel Painter learning to lifestudentsare given a rich environment illed with opportunities to learnthrough written instruction, video, audio and live chat withinstructors and course-speciic forums, enthuses DAAs Karen Bonaker.The environment is set up to be very social, and students areencouraged to participate by answering questions in the forums andcritiquing each others work.
The classes cover not just Corel Painter but a range of leadingsoftware programs so you can expand and combine your skillsaccordingly, discovering new ways of being creative. The goals ofthe school are to offer a sound education emphasising thefundamental core principles of the software; however, the heart ofthe school lies in creativity and the love of digital art, explainsBonaker. DAA strives to be a creative centre of excellence, whereart, passion and talent converge with some of the foremost digitalartists, to nurture the inest digital artists of tomorrow.
A full list of course categories is available on the DAA websitealong with details
DAA interactive online classrooms combine
written instruction, video, audio and live
chat with instructors and course-specific forums
Something for everyoneAs a certified Corel Training Partner, DAAoffers many courses
geared specifically towards Corel Painter through world classPainter instructors, including some of the Painter Mastersthemselves
Tutorial xxxx
Commun ityNEWS EVENTS RESOURCES LETTERS WEBSITES INFO FORUM
Something for everyone
many of the top names
As a certified Corel Training Partner, DAA offers manycourses
010-011_OPM_17_News.indd 10 30/4/08 13:53:29
websites websites websites info news even ts resources even tsresources even ts letters website letters website letters
urrently offering lessons well into the autumn, Jill Garlsonline Corel Painter painting courses are increasinglyattracting
an international audience eager to study. I have students fromall over the world. This is one of the great advantages of beingable to do this online, enthuses the Michigan-based photographerand artist. With no experience necessary, those who enrol get tostudy at their own pace and from the comfort of their own homes. Atthe end of each lesson, students post their assignments forcritique. They really ind the critique helpful, learning not onlyfrom their own work but from the other students in the class aswell, adds Garl. The six-week course costs $325 and includes allsupport iles and movies mailed on CD, as well as additional emailand telephone support.
Sign up atwww.hannahseyesphotography.com/WelcomeToPaintingwithJillGarl
Extra special Painting In Five
TEACHING
Graphicxtras.com offers a range of Corel-compatible
add-ons and plug-ins to extend your
creativity
TIPS & ADVICE
Painting In Five showcases QuickTime-based tutorials fromGregory Sterling, highlighting many of the fabulous features foundin Corel Painter
creativity
Website offers affordable Corel Painter paper grains, nozzles,patterns and shapes
RESOURCES
Jill Garls six-week course covers a range of skills from CorelPainter basics to specifics such as painting hair, skin andeyes
mall but perfectly formed, Painting In Five is a website devotedto sharing tips and
tricks for creating digital art. As well as a gallery selection,a free collection of over 60 QuickTime video-based tutorialpodcasts are archived to watch online, covering a range of CorelPainter-based skills. The work of Gregory Sterling, a self-styledprofessional nerd, is accompanied by audio commentaries that helpset the scene. Topics include painting Sumi-e swirls andhighlights, depth painting, pastel smudging, auto Van Gogh paintingand capture dab painting. Point your browser athttp://web.mac.com/gregory.sterling/Painting_in_Five/Welcome.html.
Tips and tricks for digital artists
Painting with Jill GarlOnline Corel Painter classes attractinternational students
howcasing the work of Andrew Buckle, developer of AndrewsFilters, Graphicxtras.com offers
a huge selection of plug-ins for most major graphicapplications, including those from Corel. A selection of papergrains, nozzles, patterns and shapes are bundled in value-for-moneypacks that should expand your Corel Painter creativity signicantly.The array of paper grains and textures runs to 1,350, and over1,200 nozzles, 1,000-plus patterns and 240 shapes are offered. Allroyalty-free for use in commercial and hobby projects, full supportis offered by email and the forum. A range of demos, samplers andfreebies for PC and Mac are offered so you can try before you buy,including a range of Corel Painter and Corel Paint ShopPro-compatible plug-ins. Prices start from around 6, with discountsand offers regularly available. See more atwww.graphicxtras.com.
Jill Garls six-week course Jill Garls six-week course covers arange of skills from Corel Painter basics to specifics such aspainting hair, skin and eyes
website info news even ts
010-011_OPM_17_News.indd 11 30/4/08 13:54:03
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news even ts resources even ts resources even ts letters websiteletters website letters info news even ts resources resourcesresources even ts resources even ts
Wacom worryRecently, I changed from Windows XP to Windows Vista.I did a clean installation so I had to install Painter X and myWacom A5 Wide Special Edition Tablet absolutely fresh.Unfortunately, the tablet stopped working correctly in Painter X.It is now impossible to draw a brushstroke. When I put the pen tipon the tablet, a kind of menu appears on the screen, but no stroke.Ive attached a screen grab for you to see.
our LettersThe same happens in Painter Essentials 3 andPhotoshop Elements 4.0. The driver and the tablet are okay becausethey work in other programs. Have other readers installed Painter Xwith a Wacom tablet under Windows Vista? Were their experiences thesame and did they downgrade to XP?
Johs de Hoo
Welcome to the part of the magazine where you can come
and share your thoughts on anything you fancy!
Featured galleryOur favourite readers gallery this month
Nita Matawww.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/Nita MataNitas workcaught our eye with her Arias in Piggytails image, which becamePick of the Week way back in March. Her collection of portraits,both human and animal, have continued to delight us with theirexcellent use of light. One thing that really stands out in Nitasimages are their personality. Each one is imbued with life andvitality, so you really get a sense of the character of the personor animal being painted. But dont take our word for it visit hergallery and see for yourself!
Nita Matawww.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/Nita MataNitas workcaught our eye with her Arias in Piggytailsbecame Pick of the Weekway back in March. Her collection of portraits, both human andanimal, have continued to delight us with their excellent use oflight. One thing that really stands out in Nitas images are theirpersonality. Each one is imbued with life and vitality, so youreally get a sense of the character of the person or animal beingpainted. But dont take our word for it visit her gallery and seefor yourself!
Ofcial Corel Painter Magazine, Imagine Publishing, RichmondHouse, 33 Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset BH2 6EZ, UK
If youd prefer to contact us via email, send your message to[emailprotected]
Send your letters to...
Have you experienced
strange goings-on after installing
Windows Vista? Johs de Hoo has and we want to know if you
have as well
Our favourite readers gallery this month
Nita Mata Nita Mata
Lions Cooling OffChinese Lady
Corgi
Thanks for the email. Well see if we can find out a solution butin the meantime, has anyone else had the same problem? Let us knowif you have and more importantly, if you found a way around it!
Layer debateIn issue 16s Letters, you requested feedback aboutincluding layer information. I would like to join the debate!
I too would like more layers information but take your pointabout the ile size, so I suggest that the inal layer structure beincluded on the disc as its own ile, without associated pictures.It would be good if the layers (only) ile was interactive so thatclicking a layer would reveal associated information such as theblending mode. The simplest way to show layer palette
Nita Mata
012-013_OPM_017_letters.indd 12 1/5/08 16:26:58
13
Come and join our forum and website
resources resources resources letters website letters websiteletters info news even ts resources letters website letters websiteletters info
data may be simply to print it as a large panel in the magazine.Perhaps that is the best way. That would answer my needs but, inall probability, you would have page space issues. Nothing is easyin this world!
There are a couple of related issues that I would like tomention. In order to read a tutorial, I generally have a magnifyingglass to hand to read the palette information. For example, takepage 39 (issue 16), there is palette information given in stages09, and 14. Reading the information is not easy because it isscreened for cyan, magenta, yellow printing plates.
Chris RourkeHello Chris, thanks for the email. We are going totry and include more palette information, but getting it to work isa lot easier said than done! People are prone to collapsing as theygo, so I think a list is the only way forward. We do have thelayered file of our Acrylic tutorial this issue, so we are making astart!
As for the magnifying glass issue, the examples you give werewhere the palettes werent the most important thing. The steps weredescribing how paint was being applied, so you didnt have to seethe palettes. We will make sure they are big if the information isneeded. And because the palettes are screen grabs and thereforetreated the same as images, Im afraid we have no control over theplates. The only way around this would be to make the image blackand white.
Free iStockphoto imagesIve just joined iStockphoto.com andnoticed you can get free images. Do others know about this?
Sally BrownYou are indeed correct, Sally. Members can download afree image every week and also still get hold of the recent freeofferings. Its a great way to boost your reference library!
www.paintermagazine.com
Not only do we deliver inspirational and practical tutorials onyour favourite program every month, we also have a dedicated CorelPainter website that you can visit to get your artistic ix whileyou wait for the next issue. From here you can join up for a freeaccount, then create your own gallery for the world to see! You canexplain the process or inspiration behind each of your images,comment on other members artwork, share your wisdom and take partin regular challenges. Theres also an area to download tutorialiles from previous issues in case your CD has gone missing. If youfeel like a bit of creative interaction, we also have a forum foryou to come and leave your thoughts about the magazine. You can askCorel Painter questions and pass the time with other digitalartists. So what are you waiting for? Visit www.paintermagazine.comtoday!
Make yourself known!www.paintermagazine.com
Dont be shy everyones welcome to enter! Go towww.paintermagazine.co.uk/competitions.php
ENTER THE WEBSITE CHALLENGE
See AlsoOnline Communities: Best 25 to Join for Students and Young ProfessionalsC'est tout pour aujourd'huiEnjoy free high resolution images from iStockphoto atwww.istockphoto.comEnjoy free high resolution images fromiStockphoto at www.istockphoto.comat www.istockphoto.comat
We will start introducing information about the layers in futureissues, so you can make sure you are working as the artist
We will start introducing information about the layers in futureissues, so you can make sure you are working as the artist
Nita Mata
Yoda Kitty
Nita Mata
012-013_OPM_017_letters.indd 13 1/5/08 16:27:14
Interview Julie Dillon
14
ulie Dillon lives and works in North California, where she iscurrently a part-time illustration student, while takingprofessional
commissions and developing her distinct drawing and paintingstyle. A fan of Corel Painter and encouraged by online communitiessuch as deviantART, her work has won many fans and admirers.
How would you best describe your style?I think my style isheavily inluenced by fantasy and storybook art, not just in myapproach to the way I paint, but also in my attempts to focus onnarrative, story and character in my compositions. I try to paintfantasy images that still have some grounding in reality, so thatthey are otherworldly yet familiar, and accessible enough that theviewer can still connect to
With a flair for fantasy art and a strong emphasis on thenarrative, Julie Dillon is a young artist with a bright future.Nick Spence meets her
Julie Dillonthem. I tend to lean heavily on saturated colour andtheatrical lighting, and Ive been told I have a painterlystyle.
How does working with Corel Painter help you rene that style?Thevarious brushes and paper textures give me great speed andlexibility. They feel so much more intuitive and seem to know whatlook Im wanting to achieve as I work to the point that sometimes itfeels like Im cheating! I can build up thick rich colour quickly,but can also work very neat and tight on the inal renderings.
Can you briey explain your working process to us?I do almosteverything digitally with a tablet. I start out doing quickthumbnail sketches in a sketchbook to work out
work has won many fans and admirers.
An interview with
commissions and developing her distinct drawing and paintingstyle. A fan of Corel Painter and encouraged by online communitiessuch as deviantART, her
With a flair for fantasy art and a strong emphasis on thenarrative, Julie Dillon is a young artist with a bright future.
Julie Dillon
WEBSITE www.jdillon.net and www.jdillon82.deviantart.com JOBTITLE Freelance IllustratorCLIENTS Paizo Publishing, Fantasy FlightGames, Alderac Entertainment
Group, EDGE Scifi and Fantasy Publishing and FantasistEnterprises
[FAR TOP] Julie Dillons illustration for The Runehound for PaizoPublishing (best known for its role-playing games and gaming aidstie-ins)
poses and compositions. From there, I create a relativelydeveloped black-and-white drawing in Painter using a tablet, layingdown all my tones in the composition in greyscale. With the basicstructure is roughed in I put overlay and multiply layers of richcolour over the black-and-white drawing, similar to making anunderpainting for a painting done in traditional oils. Once thebasic rough colours are laid on top of the sketch, I create a newlayer and begin the real painting on top of that.
What reference points do you use when creating your images? I amheavily inluenced by fairy tales and nature, though I do absorbbits of ideas from all over the place and hold on to them until Ineed them. When working
014-018_OPM_17_interview.indd 14 30/4/08 13:41:00
15
All o
rigi
nal a
rtw
ork
by Ju
lie D
illon
Reassurance, another beautiful
fantasy based image that has won
Dillon many fans and admirers
014-018_OPM_17_interview.indd 15 30/4/08 13:41:17
Interview Julie Dillon
16
on a personal painting Ill usually start with a vague,intangible feeling or impression that I feel I need to convey,though I usually dont know how best to distil that idea down intoan image right away. Sometimes the composition for a piece willimmediately jump out at me, but often it takes weeks or months ofabsorbing new ideas and ways of approaching a subject until acomposition really gels in my head.
What would you say your favourite Corel Painter tools are? Myabsolute favourite is the Smeary Bristle Spray and the Paletteknife. If I was stuck with only two brushes it would be them. I wasa little slow in iguring out how to use them properly, but theyprovided so much more lexibility. You can just cut in and carve outedges and surfaces smoothly without the brush being jagged orheavy-handed, which is particularly useful when rendering organictextures.
The DreamcatcherDillons favourite Corel
Painter tools are the Smeary Bristle Spray and
the Palette knife
As well as working for a number of clients,
Julie Dillon also attends college where she
created this recent striking image
014-018_OPM_17_interview.indd 16 30/4/08 13:41:42
17
Youre a deviantART member, how has that community helped youdevelop as an artist and illustrator? Ive been involved in andlurked at dozens of art forums and communities over the years.deviantART has provided me good exposure, and gives a quick andeasy way for people to see my new work and comment if they wish.Ive met lots of interesting people, some amazing artists, and evensome new clients. Ive noticed more and more professionals aregetting deviantART accounts, since you can potentially get a goodweb presence and therefore more exposure.
How valuable is it to gain feedback from other members?Feedbackfrom other artists is incredibly helpful, and over the years peercritiques
have helped me immensely with both small technical problems andbroader scope issues. That said, if you want your work to becritiqued you are better off going to an art forum likeConceptArt.org. Although deviantART is great for exposure andkeeping track of other artists, its not necessarily the best placeto turn to for constructive criticism. It feels more like a giantguestbook thats great for a little ego boost.
Do you think your work would have progressed in the way it haswithout the internet?Absolutely not. Without all the art forums andcommunities over the years I probably would have never realisedthere were careers available in the arts, as my college at the timedidnt encourage any
Artwork for an album cover by Noisia, more sci-fi inspired thanfantasy based, showing another side of Dillons workOften it takesweeks or months of absorbing ideas until a composition gels in myhead
Azazel In The Underworld, an apocalyptic image typical
of Dillons fantasy based work for a number of games
and book publishers
014-018_OPM_17_interview.indd 17 30/4/08 13:34:07
Interview Julie Dillon
18
of the commercial arts. The internet has introduced to me to thework of countless artists and has kept me up to date on theillustration world. Ive been able to help other artists out, takepart in community contests and challenges, and receive helpfulcriticism that I wouldnt have received from teachers or classmatesat the time. I work with virtually all of my clients through theinternet too, so obviously thats important!
Finally, youre still young and studying. Where would you like tosee yourself in ve years creatively?In ive years I would love tohave steady work doing book covers and storybook illustrations,perhaps even illustrate a story of my own. One of my big drivingforces in creating artwork is to help tell stories and createworlds for other people, to help them look past the mundane and indinspiration. The closer I can get to do that, in whatever form, thebetter.
I Shall Face Damnation For You
Dillons work is heavily influenced by fairy
tales and nature, as well as taking
inspiration from all around her
Alice In The Queen Of Hearts Court, by Julie Dillon. One of themany digital paintings that has won her admirers, especially amongher peers
One of my driving forces is to help people look past the mundaneand find inspiration
014-018_OPM_17_interview.indd 18 30/4/08 13:32:59
20
Feature Readers challenge
The original imageThis is the photo that inspired this feature.We knew it was a nice shot, but never thought wed get so manyentries from you all exhibiting so many different styles. It was areal pleasure to see them all and also to find out how some of youcreated them!
READERS TUTORIAL
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21
Readers challenge
arely a day goes by where we dont receive entries to our regularchallenge. But even we were amazed at the amount of images thatarrived with the
kingisher photo used as the starting point. It wasnt just theamount of images that
appeared, but it was also the range of styles. It made our braincells start to tick over and we decided it might be nice to showsome of the different styles and how they were achieved. Not onlydoes this mean you get to have a nose around someone elses way ofworking, but you also see
how the same photo can be interpreted in so many different ways.And thats the real message of this feature. Its very easy to fallinto a creative pattern and plump for the same style every time youwork. But force yourself to try something new, even if you trypainting one scene in different ways. Theres plenty of inspirationhere, so why not have a go?
We might make these sorts of features a more regular thing, sodo let us know if you found it useful. Maybe you were inspired totry one of the techniques yourself. If this is the case, do send inthe results!
Discover how fellow readers tackled the kingfisher photo fromchallenge number seven
020-26_OPM_17_Feature.indd 21 1/5/08 18:07:14
22
Feature Readers challenge
BrushesI m using only one brush for the whole painting. It s around brush with some brush spacing and based on an Oil Bristle.There is no secret, just play around with the Oil Bristle generalsettings until you get this effect. The main trick is to change thesubcategory to Flat Cover. Its really easy as you can see!
Brushes
01 Block in For the rst stage Im blocking out the generalcolours for the background really quickly and the general shape forthe bird and the trunk.
Im using the darkest darks Ill be using for the bird, so its agood idea to get the darkest darks now because it helps to get anice rich illustration instead of a muddy illustration.
02 Building colours Once we have the general shape right, we canstart adding some basic colours onto the bird and the branch. Asyou can see, Im very loose with the colours. I want to get thebasic colours quickly without worrying too much about thedetails.
Its really important to not go to the next step if you feel thecolour values are not right. Spend some time looking at thereference image and comparing side-by-side.
03 Introduce detail Now that we have the general colour valueswe can start detailing a little bit of the feathers. Im using areally small brush and Im painting one by one. It might sound alittle over the top, but I like to have control for each feather.Different colours for each feather will help to get a richerimage.
04 Always varied Once I had all the feathers right, withdifferent colour variations I started to add some colour variationonto the branch. Use colour variations in all the organic thingsyou paint. Variation is really important in birds/trees like this.I added more detail to the head, because I wanted it to be thefocal point for this composition, so its a good way to lead theviewer to the bird.
did a representation quite similar to the original picture inorder to do a tonal and colour study. I think the most importantpart of any painting is the colour values. If you get good colourvalues, you get a fantastic painting. This
is the reason I did this study based on the picture CorelPainter Magazine gave us.
Whenever I begin a painting I always start by blocking out thegeneral shapes. This is because it helps me to not concentrate onany of the small details at an early stage. The overall shape ismuch more important than the small details at irst; I think this isa good method.
I tend to work just like traditional media, from the backgroundto the foreground. In my opinion, it helps to get the bird (in thisparticular case) inside the illustration, rather than being seen asa separate part.
Sometimes if I paint a character, bird or house I tend not tobounce colours from the background onto the character, bird, etcirst. However, its really important to relect some colours from thebackground onto the character of the bird, as it gives a convincinglook to your illustration.
Using one brush
Reader 1: PereBalsachhttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/PereBalsachhttp://www.working-illusions.com
Sometimes simplicity is the best
020-26_OPM_17_Feature.indd 22 1/5/08 18:08:17
was attracted to the excellent photo of the kingisher straightaway it is the type of photo that I just cant resist playing with.However, I did not intend to enter the competition as I had seensome of the earlier competition
winners and realised the standards were high.I began byimporting the image into Photoshop and started
playing with the ilters. I often do this for inspiration. Iwanted to create a watercolour rendition of the image to get a feelfor how this might look. I used Photoshop to create a pale, wateryimage. I then thought that a pen and wash effect might look good.So I took the image into Painter and started work with the NervousPen tool. I liked the results but did not think they were worthy ofinishing or entering into the competition. In any case I thought Ishould only use Painter for a Painter Magazine competition!
After deciding to have a go at a Painter-only creation, I usedthe challenge photo to trace the outline using the Nervous Pen. Toadd vibrancy, I went for a black background. I then felt that theinished work was good enough to enter. I did not win, of course MegFranks picture was the very worthy winner. I enjoyed every minuteof the challenge, though, and am already sizing up the images forthe next challenge. It really is a great way to get the creativejuices lowing.
Pen and photo
Reader 2: MichaelEphgravehttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/MichaelEhttp://ephgrave.com
Strong colours add drama
Crop for cloutI felt the picture had an Impressionistic feel toit, although I thought the overall composition didnt feel quiteright so I cropped it to get a slightly more abstract feel. Itsalways worth playing around with composition and seeing if a tightcrop can help your image. Its amazing how often it sorts out adifficult task!
Crop for clout
01 Feeling nervous I created the wash effect in Photoshop andopened Painter. I put the photo in layer one and put the Photoshopimage in layer two. I created a third layer and lled it with acreamy white. I used a fourth layer to sketch with the Nervous Penset to black. I hid the Photoshop layer and set the transparency ofthe cream layer to 50%. I then sketched the kingsher with theNervous Pen.
02 Two images together At the end of this exercise I had a penand wash type image when the Photoshop image was set as thebackground. This was when I just used Painter and used the NervousPen to sketch the kingsher in colour. I used the original photo asthe rst layer. I also used a plain white intermediate layer set at50% transparency. I used the Eyedropper tool to pick up the colourson the rst layer and sketched on a third layer.
03 Colourful creation The technique I used to sketch was to pickup the main colour in a given segment and roughly ll the area. Insmall areas of colour I used quick, small strokes. In larger areasI used longer strokes. For the beak the strokes were quick andlong, which straightens out the nervous lines.
04 Pump up the colour The sketching looked okay but the colourswere not as vibrant as I wanted. Also, the nuances of pattern thatgive a feathery feel to the composition were not clear. I then puta layer below the sketch layer and lled it with black. The coloursand the pattern of the sketch were then closer to the character ofthis ighty bird. The feathery effect was also much morevisible.
23
020-26_OPM_17_Feature.indd 23 1/5/08 18:09:17
24
always clone my image irst and save the new ile as a PSD ile.Once I reopen, I correct colour and use a ilter. I dont have a setmethod, I just go with what
my eyes like. I use a lot of layers and if I dont like somethingI delete the layer and try something else. With the challenge ile Iwanted my isher to have detail and depth. I knew I wanted to changethe background to one I felt was more complimentary to the coloursin the kingisher. I had been exploring the RealBristle brushes andwanted to use them for the birds feathers.
I also decided to call upon other peoples brushes. Robs Brushesare by Robert Chang and you can ind them at www.ethereality.info.Jeremy Sutton brushes are included on a CD when you buy his PainterIX Creativitybook. Filters 2 Unlimited can be purchased atwww.icnet.de/ilters_unlimited and Auto FX Mystical Lighting can bepurchased www.autofx.com.
Challenge winner, Meg Frank, reveals her techniques
Using custom brushes
Feature Readers challenge
colours in the kingisher. I had been exploring
Challenge winner, Meg Frank,
Using custom Using custom Reader 3: MegFrankhttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/Meghttp://www.mzmo.net
WINNER!
02 Masking My next step was to reopen the kingsher photo. I wentto Select>Select All and then Edit>Copy and Paste in Place. Iset up a mask layer and masked out the original photo using the 2BPencil brush with the colour set to black and 100% Opacity andResat values. I clicked the eye icon on the Canvas layer so I couldsee what I was doing. With the mask nished, I applied the masklayer.
01 Prep work I opened the photo, went to File>Clone and thensaved the le. I then went to Effects>CorrectColour>Curves>Autoset and clicked OK. I have Painter X, sodecided to use the Divine Proportion tool. I clicked Portrait andset Size to 100 and Rotate to 0. This allowed me to crop my le tothe divine proportion outline. I then went to Canvas>Resize andset Width to 798, Height to 1289 and had 300 as the resolution.
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04 Log painting Now work on the log. For the top, use RobsBlender Round brush size 5, Opacity 100%, Resat set to 0, Blend 50%and Feature set at 2.4. Follow the grain of the wood. Then usingRobs Painter Round set to Size 1.3, Opacity at 27%, Resat 100,Bleed 100 and Feature set to 1.0, select a darker brown and addsome lines in the wood and trace around the top of the wood. Blendusing Dens Funky Chunky on the yellow of the log, blend colour andadd colour until you are happy with it.
05 Painting Layers Add a new layer at the top and mix coloursfrom the bird using the dropper on the pad to pick up two coloursat once. On your blank layer, using Real Bristle brushes Fan Soft,Real Fan Short size 8.2, 100% Opacity, Feature 3.0, Blend 7%, RealRound size 5.0, 100% Opacity, Resat 35%, Bleed
35%, Feature 2.2, start adding your colours. I mixed colours, asI needed, applying them to new layers and swapping Real Bristlebrushes as I went. Add a new layer to the top, using Robs PaintingRound 02,-1 set to 1.3 paint lines in between your feathers andpaint a white crest at the top of the shers eye and blend.
06 Finish Open your PSD le again. Once you have your paintingnished and are pleased with the outcome, save your PSD le. Finally,go to File>Clone and then Effects>Focus and Sharpen the layerat 3.00 with Highlight and Shadow set to 20%. Save your nal imageas a JPEG.
03 Background Add a new layer below the mask layer and ll with abackground. To add a bit more interest, I used a couple of JeremySuttons brushes Jeremys Favs 2 FastFunkyChunky brush was used toblend the background, and then I switched to JeremysMishMashScumble brush for the nal touches. I grouped the backgroundwith the mask layer and collapsed, before going to File>Clone.This left the background and bird on one layer. Save! The next stepwas to go to Select>Select All to copy and paste in place asbefore. Using Robs Blender Brushes size 5, Opacity 100%, Resat setto 0, Blended 50% and Feature set to 2.0 to 2.5, I started to blendthe sher with the background. When blending, ensure to follow thebirds feathers and form, using nice, small strokes. I sharpenedthis layer and then set Highlight and Shadow to 20%. The layer wasduplicated.
TipAlways make sure your clone source is set to the image youare working on.Dont be afraid to add layers as you paint. I mayhave ten or more when I work. And always save your work after everystep!
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Feature Readers challenge
Reader: LesleyWellingshttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/RT
Reader: Barb Christensen http://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/BChristensen
Reader: GraceKelsohttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/GraceKelso
Reader: AnitaStanhopehttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/Skyopal
Reader: CarylRitterhttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/carylwithay
Be inspired by more stylish interpretationsOther favouritesItwas very dificult to choose which images to represent in thisfeature, and we wanted to try and squeeze in as many as we could!So heres a roundup of some of the other sterling entries wereceived. Study the styles, compositions and brush strokes andmaybe have a go at applying the technique to your own work. At thevery least, pay a visit to these artists websites for more greatimages.
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Tutorial Traditional pen and wash
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ften, in terms of ine art, less is more. Pen and wash is anideal example of this, and its a medium that can really test anartists mettle. Here youre relying on the power and immediacy ofsimple, very ine
lines, which can both delineate complicated outlines and createareas of subtle shading. Its a technique that dates back almost aslong as pictorial art itself, and its one that can still createvery beautiful and sophisticated illustrations. Its also a mediumthat is very suited to sketching on the spot, mainly because of thesimple equipment required to do the job. All of these points stillring true within the realms of Corel Painter, and here were goingto take this age-old medium and give it the digital treatment.
One of the most important things about drawing with a pen is theability to create many different tones, simply by the placement anddensity of line work, and weve included a boxout on page 32 toillustrate this point. In a pen drawing, the tones are created byplacing different thicknesses of lines closer together for darktones, or further apart for lighter tones. Unlike pencil, we cantrely on varying opacity to create different shades, so you have torely on an illusion of tone, created by these hatched lines mixingoptically. We also need lines and techniques that can describedifferent surfaces and textures, such as buildings and trees, andyoull learn how to do this here, too.
The wash is used to reinforce some of the main tones in thedrawing, and to add interest to areas of less detail. For this welluse a couple of Painter watercolour variants.
Traditional pen and wash
Artist
Time needed
Skill level
On the CD
Tim Shelbourne
1.5 hours
Intermediate
FInal image
Tutorial info
Prepare your painting with a basic outlineA sketchy start
01 Choose pen, paper and colour We used a photo from www.sxc.huas our reference (www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=209122).Download it and go to File>Quick Clone. Choose the Croquil Penfrom the Pens. Go to the Papers selector and choose Thick HandmadePaper. Set the Grain for the brush to 70% in the Properties bar.Now choose a very dark brown from the colour wheel.
02 Preparatory drawing Reduce the size of the brush to just 4pixels and add a new layer. Roughly sketch in the main elements inthe scene. Dont attempt to include any detail at this stage, asthis initial sketch is just so you can get your bearings around thescene and can always be deleted or reduced in opacity.
A sketchy start
Pen and wash is regarded by many as the prince of drawing mediaand, as we demonstrate here, its especially suited to architecturalsubjects. Sharpen up that quill!
the scene. Dont attempt to include any detail at this stage, asthis initial sketch outline the rest of the elements, 03 Justoutlines Continue to roughly
indicating the trees in the foreground. Dont add any detail tothe sky yet, as this will consist mostly of washes in the nishedpainting.
Original photo
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TutorialTraditional pen and w
ash
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Define your painting and add more detailTouristattractionTourist attraction
would be to dive straight in with the pen again and start to add04 Watercolour brush Youd think now that the best thing to do moredetail. However, its more useful to dene the main areas of thepainting with a few light washes, so change to the Watercolorcategory and choose the Watery Soft Bristle 20 variant.
a slightly lighter shade of sepia from the colour wheel andstart to 05 First washes Set Feature to 11 in the Properties bar.Now choose lightly brush in the main shadow areas in the building.Make sure not to paint these too dark at the moment were still justestablishing form and tone at this stage.
06 Adjust the pen settings Choose a very dark brown from thecolour wheel. Add a new layer to the image. Now choose the Pensvariants and select the Croquil Pen 5. Reduce the brush Opacity toaround 30% so that the ink is slightly translucent. Increase theGrain to around 90% to make the pen lines smoother.
of the building, using this pen at a very 07 Dark details Adddetail from the top small size. Again, concentrate mainly on thevery small, dark details rst, using a tight scribble. Try toindicate shapes rather than draw them exactly. By establishingthese dark details youll soon see where areas of lighter shadingneed to go.
08 Lost and found Where you have long, continuous features, dontbe afraid of creating lost and found lines with gaps here andthere, or replacing part of a line with some tiny hatching stokes.Were not doing a technical drawing here, and these slightly nervousareas add to the spontaneity of the sketch.
Tutorial Traditional pen and wash
Bright ideaUnlike when youre drawing with pen and ink in thereal world, in Painter its easy to add bright areas of highlightdetail within areas of very dark shading even when youve completedthese dark areas. You can do this with one of the Eraser variants.Choose one of the hard Eraser variants and use it at 100% Opacityon the target layer to lift out small areas of ink. This is similarto using touches of white body colour to add highlight details withreal pen and ink.
Bright idea
09 Follow the contours For the moment concentrate mainly on themidtone areas in the image, and use the pen at a very small size ofaround 3 pixels. Try to make your strokes follow the contours ofthe area you are shading and remember to leave any highlight areasas blank paper showing through.
10 Larger dark areas Now you can start to establish the darkesttones in the upper part of the image, increasing the pen size hereto around 8 pixels. In bigger dark areas, use quite energetichatching strokes in varying directions. Refer to the source andnished images as you go.
Using a ghost imageIts always a good idea to start a projectsuch as this by making a clone of the start image. To do this,simply open the start image and go to File>Quick Clone. Thismeans that if youre not too confident about drawing such acomplicated subject, you can always turn on Tracing Paper and usethe ghost image as a guide to your drawing. Theres nothing wrongwith tracing, after all, the object of the exercise is to produce acompetent finished drawing. In fact, drawing aids have been usedthroughout history, even by some of the worlds greatestartists!
Using a ghost
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TutorialTraditional pen and w
ash
Using layersIts quite an advantage to use lots of layers in thisimage. The best way to approach this is to use a new layer for eachset of objects within the image from distance to foreground. So,you can start with a layer for the initial outline drawing and useanother for the main building tone. Use another layer for thedetails on the building, and another for the trees. This way itseasy to add details to an area behind the trees, for instance,simply by drawing on that specific layer.
12 Indicate, dont draw Start adding the darker tones to the restof the drawing, but not the trees or the sky, using the samemethods as above. Remember the importance of the lost and foundbroken lines, and also remember that you are indicating shapesrather than drawing them exactly. Often youll need to zoom in veryclosely to the image to render very ne, detailed shading.
Brush up on your scribbling techniqueFantastic foliageFantasticfoliage
see how important it is that your shading 13 Building tonesAgain, here you can follows the contours of the building. This addsform and depth to the objects. Its a good idea to rst ll the areawith midtone shading, preserving any highlight areas, and then goback in with the pen at a larger size to add a few real darks.
at surfaces in shade, its a good idea to 11 Judging tones Whenyoure shading use horizontal strokes placed closely together andparallel to each other. Remember, the closer your strokes aretogether, the darker the resulting tone will appear. You need toregularly zoom away from your drawing to judge these tonesproperly.
drawing. Use the brush at a very small size (around 2-3 pixels).Dont 14 Finer details Now you can start adding the ner details tothe be tempted to overdo this stage of the drawing, though itsimportant to remember that were suggesting detail here and notcarefully drawing every single part of the building. You can seehow simply the detail on the dome can be indicated.
Using layers
at the top and bottom of each column and the insets in thetower. 15 Less is more Continue to add the details, such as thedecorations Small, nervous lines work well here, roughly followingthe shape of these details. For the columns themselves, dontactually outline all of them, simply leave white paper showingthrough.
Rotating the canvasThere are lots of straight lines andgeometric shapes in this drawing, and you may find it easier todraw most of these horizontally rather than vertically. To do this,simply click and hold on the Grabber tool in the toolbar and choosethe Rotate tool. Now you can simply drag within your workspace torotate the entire canvas. Generally, its easier to draw horizontallines than vertical ones. When youre done, and you want to returnthe document to its normal orientation, simply choose the toolagain and drag it back into position.
Rotating the
16 Scribbled foliage Once youve added all of the details to thebuilding (using the methods described) move on to the foregroundtrees. To create the trees, refer to the boxout over the page anduse the scribble technique with the brush set to around 5 pixels toestablish the overall midtone for the trees.
17 Foliage shadows Having established the midtones, increase thesize of the pen to between 8-10 pixels and scribble in the darkertones in the foliage. Remember, we are going to add more sepia washover this area, so dont go too dark you can always add morelater.
18 Another watercolour brush Choose the Watercolour category ofvariants and select the Soft Bristle 20 variant. Choose a slightlylighter shade of sepia from the colour wheel and set the brushOpacity to just 15%. In the Water section of the Brush Controls(Window>Brush Controls>Show Water), set the sliders as shownin the screenshot. Set the minimum size of the brush to 75%.
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Use brushes to give your painting the perfect finishJust addwaterJust add water
Tutorial Traditional pen and wash
Individual tones and textures in pen and ink drawings arecreated purely by the placement of line. There are many shadingtechniques you can use here, but in this drawing we use mainly theones shown below. A variety of shading techniques not only helps toestablish effective tones, but also adds surface interest to thefinished drawing.
Emulate traditional effectsShading techniques
wash to the drawing, using the nished 19 Loose washes Start toadd the sepia image as a guide. This brush, because of the way weveset it up, stays wet for a long time so you can paint freely,overlapping strokes as you go. Use the brush at a large size inopen areas such as the sky, and smaller on the building.
this brush at a fairly small size to add more washes and dabs ofcolour 20 Smaller dabs Change to the Watercolor>Soft Bristlevariant. Use in the smaller areas of detail. Also add some moredabs to the outline of the trees, and a few larger dabs in thedarker parts of the sky.
21 Finishing touches You can now revert to the Croquil Pen andadd a few more touches of line here and there, including a fewstrokes in the sky. Remember, you can easily erase any unwantedpenwork by choosing one of the Eraser variants.
INDICATING DETAILSmall details are indicated with a very smallpen, rather than distinctly drawn. Think of this as a kind ofdrawing shorthand, which when viewed from a distance gives theimpression of intricate details and features. Part of the charm ofink drawings is the contrast between heavy and very light inklines.
DARK VS LIGHTThere are two factors that govern how light or darkshading appears in a pen and ink drawing namely the thickness ofthe strokes that make up the shading and how close together theyare. The further apart hatching lines are, the more white papershows through between them, and the lighter the tone appears.
CROQUIL PEN SHADINGThese two techniques are used for midtoneareas on the building, and the direction of the individual shadinglines should follow the contours of the area that youre shading.The further apart you place these lines to each other, the lighterthe tone will then appear in the nished drawing.
CROQUIL PEN HATCHINGThis hatching technique, where short,expressive lines are laid over one another at different angles, isvery good for the larger shadow areas in the main building. Placethese individual strokes close together to create deep shadowareas.
FOLIAGE DARK TONESOnce the overall foliage ll has beenestablished with the aforementioned technique, increase the pensize and then add some more loose, dense scribble over the rstlayer. This will effectively indicate the darker areas within thetrees.
FOLIAGE TECHNIQUEThis shading technique consists of using a veryloose, random scribble pattern to indicate random foliage. Thetechnique uses the pen at around 7 pixels at rst to establish themidtones of the foliage. Try practising this loose scribble beforeworking on the actual trees.
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nd now for something completely different! Most of the brushvariants in Painter X stand as direct clones of their real-worldcounterparts,
such as Chalks, Oils and Watercolour however, there is onecollection of brush variants that no conventional artist couldcontemplate creating, even in their wildest dreams. The variants inquestion here are the F-X variants, and its true to say that theyare a rather weird and wonderful bunch, but certainly not lackingin potential when it comes to adding that extra
zing to your creativity!As youll see from the brushstrokes
opposite, theres a huge variety within this group, ranging fromoddballs such as Fairy Dust and Fire, to brushes that impart a glowto existing painted pixels, to the more conventional, and possiblymore useful, Graphic Paintbrush
variants. Theres also a Confusion variant, which rather thanleave you
confused as the name suggests, can actually be used to impartsubtle blending
and textural interest to your paintings. Obviously, many ofthese variants are limited
to very speciic images, so weve created a painting here usingthe Graphic paintbrushes and the Confusion variants so you cantruly see the potential of these more conventional F-X variants.Thats not to say that the other F-X variants arent useful and theyare certainly fun to use. If youre a fan of special effects, divein and give them a go!
The Hair Spray variant is of particular interest as it does notpaint with colour, but has a high Resaturation value by default, soin effect it smudges and blends with the existing colour and pixelsalready on the canvas. This can be very useful, and really quitesubtle, if you reduce the brush opacity.
F-X Brushes
Hair Spray variantThe perfect blend Get creative!
Captured DabsCaptured DabsCaptured Dabs
Many of the F-X variants, such as Fire and Shattered, arecreated from Captured Dabs. You can see this within the BrushCreator (Window>Show Brush Creator). Captured Dabs are createdfrom a graphic image of some description, which in essence is whatgives the individual dabs their shape and varying opacity. You canfind a huge amount of creative potential here by changing thebrushes subcategory from its default value in the Brush Creator. Goon, give it a go after all, were talking special effects here!
Primer F-X Brushes
BRUSH CATEGORY
PRIMER
If you have a taste for the wild side, the F-X variants are justthe ticket. Stand back and make way for the special effects
Captured Dabs
CONFUSED? YOU SHOULD BE!The Confusion variant is great forsoftening areas of a painting, and can add a subtlety that you justcant get with the standard Graphic Paintbrush. Vary the Strengthslider here and there to alter the amount of distortion. Again,this brush only works on an existing colour on the same layer.
SHATTERED VARIANT:The Shattered variant is great for adding realtexture and extra impact to the background in your images. You rstneed to paint in some rough varied colour and then use theShattered variant to distort and displace it. Its best to use thisone at high strength and a large size.
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Primer
F-X Brushes
The choice is yoursColour or Gradient?Colour or Gradient?Colouror Gradient?
With many of the F-X Brushes you can choose what the brushactually paints with. The Neon Pen, for instance, uses a gradientto paint with, and to do this it uses the currently selectedGradient. You can easily paint with another gradient simply bychoosing it from the Gradient Selector at the base of the Toolbox.To change the methods that the brush actually uses to paint, simplyclick the Source box within the Brush Creator. From here you canchoose Colour to paint with the currently selected colour, orPattern to use the currently active pattern.
Get to know your tools F-X brushes
Confusion
Fairy Dust
Fire
Furry
Glow
Gradient Flat
Gradient String
Graphic Paintbrush
Graphic Paintbrush Soft
Hair Spray
Neon Pen
Piano Keys
Shattered
Squeegee
GRAPHIC PAINTBRUSH VARIANTSThe Graphic Paintbrush variants areused here to establish the main painting itself. These variants canpaint using the pattern of the current paper, so youve got lots ofscope for experimentation. Its also worth experimenting with thesubcategory for the brush in the Brush Control for even morecreative possibilities.
WAY TO GLOW!The Glow variant can add a really effective graphicpunch to your more illustrative images, especially to outlines, byadding graphic accents. Make sure you have the Size Control set toPressure in the Brush controls so that the glow trails off as youreduce pressure on your stylus.
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Tutorial Create acrylic art
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TutorialCreating w
ith distanceAchieve a traditional-looking portrait using theAcrylic brushes in PainterCreate acrylic artAchieve atraditional-looking portrait using the Acrylic brushes inPainterCreate acrylic artAchieve a traditional-looking portraitusing the Acrylic brushes in PainterCreate acrylic artAchieve atraditional-looking portrait using the Acrylic brushes inPainter
Artist
Time needed
Skill level
May Yeoshen
A few hours
Intermediate
Tutorial info crylic paint, unlike oils, is a fast-drying mediumwhich can be diluted with water but becomes water-resistant whendry. The acrylic paint is a very
versatile one. Depending on how much the paint is diluted withwater or modied with acrylic gels, mediums or pastes, the nishedpainting can resemble a watercolour (in Corel Painter, with theglazing brushes) or an oil painting (using Painters Thick or Wetbrushes).
Because this paint dries faster than oil, the artist issometimes forced to work quickly, often producing a look of non-blended strokes. When using real acrylics, in order to slow thedrying aspect the artist uses retarders, allowing for more water tobe added and the paint made workable. In Painter, this is simulatedwith the Wet brushes.
Another great difference between oils and acrylics is theversatility offered by acrylic paints acrylic is very useful inmixed media, allowing
the use of pastel, charcoal, pen, etc on top of the driedacrylic painted surface, creating really original effects.
Acrylic paints can be used in high gloss or matte nishes. Toemulate the matte, dull nish, theres the Dry brush in CorelPainter. However, if you prefer a varnished look, the Thick brusheswith their Impasto feature can accomplish this nish.
The Dry brush can simulate this feature of the acrylic paintwhen dry, making it non-removable. And with the use of the BrushCreator option, the artist can emulate the versatility of theacrylic
paint, modifying the appearance, hardness, exibility, textureand other characteristics. Acrylic paint can also be used to buildthick layers of paint: gel and moulding paste mediums are sometimesused to create paintings with relief features that are literallysculptural (Thick brushes).
In this tutorial were going to create a bust portrait aiming foran oily look, taking our time and blending the colours in for asmooth nish. Were also aiming for a good amount of detail, usingthe Detail brushes. For that reason, the Thick brushes will beavoided.
TutorialCreate acrylic art
Acrylic is very useful in mixed media, allowing the use ofpastel, charcoal, pen, etc on top the dried acrylic paintedsurface, creating really original effects
Thick brushesThe Thick brushes emulate quick and opaque strokesperfect for those painters who are quick and dont want to blend incolours, for the sake of a raw, more painterly look.
Wet brushesWet brushes emulate a more oily based acrylic brush,the opposite of the Thick brushes. The higher the opacity, thedrier it will be. And when used constantly with the Eyedropper,they will let you blend as if you were using real acrylics.
Glazing brushesThe Glazing brushes emulate the glazingtechnique, which consists of building very thin layers of paint,showing the colours as translucent, almost transparent. Ideal tostart with on a new and fresh canvas.
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Reective light and cast shadowsWhen painting a portrait, alwaysremember that every object bounces light. In this case, the reddress bounces a red light onto the chin. Also bear in mind thatthese objects cast shadows onto adjacent ones. The hair casts ashadow onto the skin, otherwise it will look like a flat object.Having a basic knowledge of how light works will make yourportraits much more realistic.
Bring your model to lifeStart your acrylic masterpiece
line-art layer will be on top of any other, and it can bescanned from a 01 Setup First off, lets start with a line-art wewill use as a guide. This previous drawing or traced on top of thephoto we want to portray. Its on the disc in the layered le.
Start your acrylic masterpiece
02 Set up the background Lets set the mood by painting thebackground. Unless the painting will have a white background, youshouldnt leave it for later on. We can use a brush such as theGlazing and the Wet Soft. We used a golden tone for this one. TheGlazing brush should be used with a very low opacity (around 3%)for the dark tones. The Wet Soft brush is used for the light hints.It doesnt have to be perfect.
Tutorial Create acrylic art
Reective
Custom brushesOne of the many things unique in Painter is theway you can create custom brushes. To shade some parts of the skin,we used a variation of the Wet Soft Acrylic brush. Playing aroundwith the Randomizer and seeing the variations of it, you can nowuse a brush that will add richer textures to the skin whileblending the colours smoothly, always using the Dropper tool.
03 Create the layers for your model Lets set the rst tones ofour subject matter. Keep the Pick Underlaying Color option checked.Now create different layers for whats needed, in this case theskin, dress and hair. Block in the different elements using a bigbrush such as the Capture Bristle. Erase the extra bits.
05 Setting the light Repeat the process for the light area. Bearin mind the light source. Remember to constantly pick up colourswith the Dropper tool to maximise the blending properties of thisbrush. For subtle light in some areas, lower the opacity.
and add more tones to the skin, applying short, non-directional06 Add texture Use the Capture Bristle at very low opacity (say10%) strokes, as if it were a real brush on a real canvas. Add pinkand orange, mostly around the nostrils and cheekbones. For reallylight tones use a very pale cyan.
eyes. With a covering brush such as the Opaque, we throw in the07 The eyes Its time to add even more life to the face. Lets paintthe basic colours. Then we start some basic shading, not verydetailed, using the Wet Detail brush with a low opacity (20-30%).Remember that the cornea is not white! Most of the time its a warmgrey.
04 Shading the skin Now we can start shading the skin, pickingdarker tones than the base colour, with the help of the ColorMixer. Then we pick the Wet Soft brush with a high opacity and adifferent size, depending on the zone. Paint with short strokeswith various angles. Make constant use of the Dropper tool(Alt-click) to blend in the colours.
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TutorialCreate acrylic art
Zoom outWhen working with the Acrylic brushes youll notice that,like any traditional painting on a real canvas, the painting itselfis appreciated more when looking at it from a certain distance.Sometimes we work with a very close view of what were painting, andwe let the brush strokes and other details distract us. To reallyappreciate what youre doing, zoom it out. Depending on the sizeyoure working with, you can try viewing it with a 50% zoom. Also,if viewing it in thumbnail size (5%) you can see if your paintingis working or not, what its lacking and what you can pushfurther.
11 Dening the skin Create a layer on top of the skin. This onewill have more details and richer tones. Make sure the Pick upUnderlayer Color option is checked. With an Opaque brush, like theCapture Bristle with low opacity, start adding in the colours, withmore contrast than your base layer. You can start hiding theline-art layer. At this point, were trying to focus on getting thecontours right without the use of the lines.
Use special brushes for a special taskDetails, detailsDetails,details
zones where the other brushes were too big. With the aid of the13 Skin details There are two special brushes to add details forthose line-art layer, start adding details with the Opaque brush ina very small size (2-3px). It doesnt matter about the opacity, asthis brush is just plain opaque. Then you can blend with the WetDetail brush, using the Eyedropper over the lines you previouslydrew with the Opaque brush.
14 Keep on with the details Have fun adding as many details asyou want. Key zones are the eyes, nose, ears, eyebrows and mouth.Since were going to use these two brushes quite a bit, it would bea good idea to keep them on a oating window.
skin dont let the strokes ruin its tri-12 Keep going Follow thesurface of the dimensionality. Change the size from time to time,and use the Dropper tool to let the colours blend. Dont worry toomuch about detail, well deal with that later. Try zooming out (seeside tip) to get a better idea of your work. For very dark areas,pick the hair colour and shade with it.
dress. Taking a custom brush with a nice 15 The dress Its nowtime to rene the texture, like a custom Wet Soft Acrylic brush (seenote), rene what we did before. The advantage of this brush is itconsumes fewer resources and is better for slower computers. Makesure its Min size is almost as big as its general size.
to ow, we can shade the hair as well. 10 Shading the hair To getthe painting It doesnt have to be perfect, but as we did with theskin and dress, we use the Opaque/Wet Soft brushes to give volumeto the hair. As the light source comes from the left, the rightside of her hair will be really dark, with almost nohighlights.
09 Shaping the dress and clothes Just as we did with the face,we need to set the lights and shadows on the dress. As a generalrule the clothes take up more space than the skin. We can startwith an Opaque brush, and then rene with the Wet brush. In thiscase the dress is made of silk, so the shades will be very dark andthe lights very bright.
start colouring in the mouth. Drop in a 08 The mouth As with theeyes, we can light pink as a base using an Opaque brush, then bringin the tri-dimensional shape, adding shadow and light with the Wetbrush. Were not going for details right now; were just worriedabout the overall look and volume.
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Work on the hair, clothes and backgroundStyle and glamourStyleand glamour
detailing. This is silk, so there are going to be very darkzones against 16 Dress details With the same brush but at a smallersize, rene the light ones. To add the buttons and other details,lets create another layer and use the Opaque Detail brush. And justas we did before for the skin, we smooth some of the details withthe Wet Detail brush, varying the size and opacity according towhats required.
choose an orange/yellow to start with and draw with the Opaque17 Clothing motifs To add the dragons and owers to the dress,Detail brush. It doesnt have to be very precise. Using referenceson how embroidery reects on silk, note which parts are very brightor very dark.
with the rest of the painting. For example, we need to see partof the 19 Blending in The hair is looking good, but lacks properblending scalp, otherwise it will look like a wig. Picking theunderlaying skin colour with the Eyedropper and using the CaptureBristle, paint some of the shown scalp. Remember that the haircasts a shadow onto the skin and clothes.
18 Start on the hair Using a nice textured bristle (such as theCapture Bristle, Dry brush or the Wet Soft Bristle), we rene thehair. Change the brush size from time to time to add variety to thestrands, and always follow the ow of the hair. Bear in mind thelight parts against the dark ones. To make the contours smooth,erase some bits with a low opacity brush.
Tutorial Create acrylic art
hair richer, draw some strands with the 20 Rich and glossyFinally, to make the same Capture Bristle. To make it even richer,take the Opaque Detail brush and draw several strands following thelocks of hair, in a very subtle way. Dont overdo it!
21 Blending everything together Collapse all the similar layers(skin, dress and hair) that you may have, and carefully erase thetiny bits with the aid of the line-art layer. Now proceed to denethe contours with a thin brush, such as the Opaque.
22 The background The background is practically untouched, sonow it looks unnished. We werent pleased with the tone, so changedit to a redder one, using the Adjust Colors option. Then we usedthe Wet brush to make the background hom*ogenised. Using the ColorWheel, we painted it so it had more contrast in certain areas,painting lighter and darker spots randomly so it looked like ablurred background.
Alter colourYou may have noticed that the background, hair andlips are different on the cover to how they are in the step images.The changes had to be made to fit with the cover, but they weresimple to do because of working in layers. All the tweaks were madewithout affecting anything else and is a very good example of whyyou should always use layers!
Alter colour
Painting embroidery on silkWhen some sort of design is on silk,youll notice that its colour follows a pattern, depending on thelocation of the silk-covered object and the light source. A niceway to emulate painted details on silk quickly is to create a newlayer and draw the details with the Opaque Detail brush, using justone colour. Once you are done, preserve the transparency, and withan Opaque Acrylic brush, paint on top of it using different shadesdepending on the place (in this case, tuscan red, carmine red andorange were used).
Painting
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TutorialCreate acrylic art
THICK BRUSH SERIESThe Thick Brush series (Acrylic Bristle,Acrylic Flat, Acrylic Round and Opaque) provide the traditionaleffect thats created with the tri-dimensional effect of realstrokes. Dont bother changing the opacity, because this brush ismost likely to act like paint straight from a tube.
24 Finishing touches Check the image and make sure youre happywith it. There might well be something we missed. Also, this is agood time to improve the image generally, adjusting the contrast,brightness, hue, etc.
Is there room for improvement?Final flourishesFinalflourishes
23 Eyebrows In the hair layer, use the Capture Bristle brush tocapture the texture of the eyebrows. Remember, they show less inthe lighted area of the face. Then, with a really tiny Opaque brush(2px), draw several individual strands of hair. There are alsoother areas with loose strands of hair, such as the eyelashes andthe outside of the hair.
paintings, we can create a new layer on top of the others, setit to 25 Optional step To add that Impasto effect seen in realacrylic Multiply, and with a white brush and the Impasto optionselected (Thick Acrylic brushes), apply random touches, followingthe shape of the surface, mostly on the hair and dark areas of theface. This will give a really neat traditional touch to yourillustration. Now we can consider it done!
Make the most of your brushesIn detailAs we said, the differentsets of brushes in the Acrylics category simulate the varioustechniques used when working with real acrylic paint on a realcanvas. In this tutorial we were trying to emulate a non-quicklook, like an artist who takes their time, using acrylic retarders.Thats why the Capture Bristle and Wet Bristle as well ascustomisations of them were mostly used. The possibilities areendless with the Create Brush option, making your brushes richerthan before.
CAPTURE BRISTLEThis brush is great, due to its fastness andfeatures. Perfect for shading big areas used with low opacity(20-40%), and also ideal for texture of hair.
DETAIL BRUSHESThe Opaque and Wet Detail brushes act just liketiny brushes we usually have for details. The Opaque has a mattelook, while the Wet one works more as an oily blender.
WET BRUSH SERIESThe Wet Brush series (Acrylic and Soft Acrylic)are the perfect blenders. With custom settings, they can makeeffective shaders for skin and smooth areas such as the silkydress.
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ainter is an artists dream, a virtual art shop in a box. We cantry, experiment and create with a limitless supply of art materialsand supports. And just like any good box of chocolates we want tounwrap it and dive in
headirst to savour the delights, while choosing to ignore thelist of ingredients and the guide to the contents.
Thats just human nature, and adventure and experimentationshould never be discouraged. But how many of us have spent hourscreating our own digital masterpieces only to be disappointed bythe quality of the inished artwork when we print it? This is thePainter equivalent of ending up with the coffee cream.
With Painter, you do not need to make the extensive preparationsoften required in traditional art pursuits there are no watercolourpapers or canvases to be pre-stretched or surfaces to be primed andprepared to take the paint. However, you do need to make somepreparations. You should consider
how your inal artwork will be used; will you print it and frameit, post it on the web, use it for commercial reasons
or simply save it for posterity? Whatever you choose to do, itis vital that you do justice to your work by creating and saving itin the appropriate ile format and resolution.
Painter is primarily a pixel-based program, which creates imagesmade up of tiny pixels arranged in a grid, and helps us to deinethe resolution of the image. Painter
saves image iles in a variety of formats that come in all shapesand sizes and can be used for a variety of purposes.
Some formats are designed for saving space and, in doing so,compress the image and lose a degree of detail. Some allow
for detailed printing processes, while others allow more complexinformation (such as layers) to be saved for use in speciicprograms. Here, we will help you explore resolution and ileformatting to allow you a more informed choice when setting up yourartwork. Then when it comes to printing out your artwork or sharingit with others, you wont be left with a pixellated mess, but abeautifully crisp image.
If you desire real quality in your artwork, setting the rightfile format and resolution is vital
Painter images are made up of pixels. Digital images are oftendescribed in terms of the pixel grid dimensions, eg 640 x 480,which is a measurement of the grids horizontal and vertical sides.Resolution is measured in pixels per inch (or ppi) and tells youabout the images quality. The more pixels per inch the more detailthere is. Increasing the size of a pixel-based image requires thecomputer to create additional pixels and the image loses detail. Itis therefore important to set the appropriate resolution whenstarting a painting in Painter. A higher resolution painting can beprinted out and reduced in size without any problems, however, alow-resolution painting will not increase in size without loss ofdetail.
If you desire real quality in your artwork, setting the
Pixel perfectResolutionResolution
Mathematical artVector tools in Painter
Drawing programs such as Illustrator are known as Vectorprograms. These use mathematical instructions to describe theoutline and filling of objects within a drawing. These images aremuch smaller in file size than pixel-based images and can bere-sized without any loss of quality. Vector images have hard-edgedlines with little thickness variation and flat colour fills, asopposed to the continuous tone variations seen in pixel-basedphotos and paintings.
Although Painter is mainly a pixel-based program it does havesome vector-based capabilities, including type, shapes, shape pathsand outline selections.
Feature focus File formats and resolution
preparations often required in traditional art pursuits thereare no watercolour papers or canvases to be pre-stretched orsurfaces to be primed and prepared to take the paint. However, youdo need to make some preparations. You should consider
how your inal artwork will be used; will you print it and frameit, post it on the web, use it for commercial reasons
saves image iles in a variety of formats that come in all shapesand sizes and can be used for a variety of purposes.
Some formats are designed for saving space and, in doing so,compress the image and lose a degree of detail. Some allow
for detailed printing processes, while others allow more complexinformation (such as layers) to be saved for use in speciic
FEATUREFOCUS SAVING FOR THE WEB When saving a le for use on theweb, keep le size small
to cut down on downloading times and to avoid the viewer havingto scroll down the screen to see full image. Artwork should beshown in an appropriate scale that allows enough detail to dojustice to your work, but at the same time would not allow someoneto print off a quality print
File formats and resolution
SAVING ARTWORK When saving your artwork, either in progress orin its nal state, choose the appropriate le format. This shoulddepend on how you wish to progress a painting or how you wish touse the nal image. Save in a format that allows you to return toPainter and continue, or that allows you to transfer your image toanother program, to print the image or publish to the internet
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Feature focusFile form
ats and resolution
When time is of the essenceWorking with large filesWorking withlarge files
When working with large resolution files Painter may slow down,depending on the size of the file. As you add layers to yourcreation this will add to the slowing process. To help alleviatethis you could work in a lower resolution at the outset and paintin background and basic forms. When this is completed, scale up thepainting to your desired size and add your details.
If your work is very large, it can be sketched out, then cutinto pieces and saved as several files, which will allow you towork on each file separately. Some artists will paint on layers asseparate files and will cut and paste them into the finalimage.
BACK UP WORK Digital les are fragile. Every computer userexperiences the loss of work when a computer crashes or the wrongkey is accidentally pressed. To avoid losing your precious artworkit is vital to back up your work frequently using an appropriate leformat
File formats and resolution
03 Saving as a GIF This image shows how much your artwork woulddeteriorate if you saved it as a GIF le. GIF les are used mainlyfor non-photographic images on the internet. Once saved in thisformat, if a backup copy has not been made you will not be able torecover the detail in your painting.
02 JPEG Here we see the le saved as a JPEG. It should be notedthat this image shows the painting after it had been saved as aJPEG le and re-saved in Painter 20 times. The image hasdeteriorated quite noticeably in several areas and would no longerbe suitable for printing. Pixelation is evident throughout theimage. It is quite easy to resave an image 20 or 30 times on yourcomputer without realising that the damage is being done.
When saving a file in a space-saving format such as a JPEG itleads to a deterioration of image quality. Here we use a large,high-resolution TIFF file and look at how saving it in a lowerresolution degrades the image.
Low resolution file savingSpot the difference in imagequality
01 The original TIFF le Here we see a small detailed section ofthe original TIFF format le in Painter. The image was painted inPastels and saved at 300ppi, as the nished artwork was to beprinted.
SHUT UP SHOP It is good practice to save your artwork and exitfrom Painter every so often. While working in Painter the programcreates a fairly large temporary le that eats up precious memoryspace. Closing and then reopening Painter clears this le. Thishelps the program work more efciently, particularly with highresolution les
Substitution solutionReference LayersReference Layers
The use of Reference layers can also help with large,high-resolution file sizes. Painter can create Reference layerswith a low resolution of 72ppi, which act as replacements orsubstitutes for the actual image layers. You can then rotate,re-size, move and skew these substitute layers more quickly thanthe original layers. When you have completed your changes convertback to your original layers and Painter will update your changeson the original file.
To make a Reference layer, select an Image layer and selectEffects, Orientation and Free Transform. Then select LayerAdjuster. Use the Control and Shift keys to help you make changes.When complete, select Effects, Orientation, Commit Transform andclick the Commit button to return to the original image.
HIGH RESOLUTION When you create images at a higher resolution itallows exibility in how you use the image when it is completed.After all, the higher the resolution, the better the results willbe in the nal printing
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RIFF files are the native file format for Painter and are theonly format that preserves all the elements in your painting thatare unique to Painter, eg layers, Watercolor layers, Referencelayers, Shapes, etc. RIFFs are generally fairly small files, but ifyou have a lot of disk space check the Compressed box in the Savedialog when saving the file. Although this will make the filelarger, it will open more quickly in Painter and will also savemore quickly. It is recommended that you save your work regularlyin the RIFF format while working on a painting. If you wish to useyour painting in another program, eg Photoshop, then ensure thatyou also save your image in a format that will be suitable foropening it in that program.
Painters very own formatRIFF filesRIFF files
Photoshop/printer compatiblePSD and TIFF file formatsPSD andTIFF file formats
Saving your Painter file in the PSD file format allows you tomove your image file backwards and forwards between Photoshop andPainter while preserving the layers. It should be noted that when aPainter file is saved in PSD it does not preserve thePainter-specific layers wholly, such as Watercolor, etc. Itconverts them to image layers.
The TIFF file format is the most universal file for pixel-basedimages and can be read on PCs and Macs. When all work is completedin Painter and you wish to print your final work, the TIFF file isthe perfect choice for printing.
Feature focus File formats and resolution
the RIFF format. The le is placed in a new folder that will saveall the 02 Our rst save Now that the le is set up we immediatelysave it in images relating to this painting. We now have ahigh-resolution image ready for painting.
Prepare your image and save as you goSet up resolution and saveyour artworkSet up resolution and save your artwork
In this walkthrough we will show you how to set up theresolution for a painting and how to save it in different ileformats. The painting used in the demonstration was a commissionfor the cover of a brochure.
FEATUREFOCUS
painting process, you can stop for a rest 04 Using Save At anypoint in the or cup of tea and save the image by simply using theFile, Save feature. This will save the le in the format currentlybeing used.
01 Setting up the canvas As this painting is to be used as abrochure cover it requires having a resolution suitable forprinting. It will also be used on posters to advertise thebrochure. With this in mind we set up the canvas. We click on Newand set the size of the canvas to Width 15.5 inches, Height 22.5inches and Resolution 300ppi. This high resolution will give us aquality print.
03 Iterative Save Using a thick and thin pencil the image isroughly sketched on the canvas. During the sketching process alonethe image will be saved about ten times. This allows us to go backand change things if we are unhappy about the progress.
The le is saved using Iterative Save. This useful featurequickly saves sequentially numbered versions of the artwork, makingles easy to identify. To do this choose File, Iterative Save.
Shoot to paintIf you use a digital camera to get photographicreferences for painting in Painter, keep in mind that most digitalcameras save in the JPEG file format. They will also offer severaldifferent quality settings, which are really different JPEGcompression levels. Never shoot at the lowest level; although youllget more photos on your disc, the quality will be poor whenprinted. Shoot at the highest level and immediately afterwardstransfer it into the computer and save as TIFF files. This willpreserve quality.
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Feature focusFile form
ats and resolution
Perfect for saving space JPEG formatJPEG format
Know your coloursImage modes for printingImage modes forprinting
The advantage of saving an image in the JPEG format is one ofspace saving. When saving a JPEG file you are given the choice ofsaving it in one of four categories: Excellent, High, Good andFair. If saved as Excellent the resulting JPEG file is about onetenth of the size of the same image saved as a TIFF. If saved asFair the JPEG would be approximately one hundredth the size of theequivalent JPEG. However, this space saving comes with a heftyprice detail in the image is lost in the compression process. It isalso important to note that every time you save a JPEG the qualityof the image deteriorates.
Go largeAlways try to work at the final resolution that yourequire. On occasions, when you are working with large,high-resolution files, you should experiment with increasing thebrush size and also the paper texture. This will have a bearing onyour final painting. To do this, choose a brush and in the propertybar adjust the size using the slider or by inputting a size.Similar adjustments can be made to the paper texture within thePapers palette.
FEATUREFOCUS
Saving and protecting your image in other formats Future-proofyour painting
Most commercial printers use one of two image modes. RGB(red-green-blue) is used by most fine-art inkje
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