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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 RESOURCE
FILES
Brush primerUse the F-X brushes to create wild and vibrant
artwork
African art We show how to paint in the style of traditional
African art
Paint likeGive your landscape photos an American Folk art
makeover
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 and
re-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-ever
portraitsTake control of this set of brushes and paint your
best-ever portraitsTake control of this set of brushes
acrylic artPaint the cover!
Issue seventeen Visit us online w
ww
.paintermagazine.co.uk
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
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3
Jo Cole, Editor in [email protected]
WelcomeWhen youre dealing with traditional materials, it makes
sense to ind one or two that you really enjoy and donate all of
your art funds to them. But you havent got to think that way in
Painter. Once you buy
the software you can explore all the different mediums without
paying out any extra.
This issue we focus on the Acrylic brushes and look at how they
can be used to create a stunning portrait. The very portrait that
graces 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 on
page 46. Susi Lawson shows how to transform a photo into a rolling
landscape. We also have a lovely ink and wash tutorial on page 28,
where Tim Shelbourne merges paint with pen for fantastic
results.
This issue also sees the start of a new series in Drawing 101,
where we show how traditional media behaves. Youd be surprised how
this helps you understand Painters brushes.
Enjoy your painting!
This is THE magazine for anyone wanting to further their Corel
Painter skills or learn how to become a better artist
ISSUESEVENTEEN
This is THE magazine for anyone wanting to further their Corel
Painter skills or learn how to become a better artist
Visit our website!If you find that the magazine isnt enough to
satisfy your Corel Painter appetite, you can always visit our
website. Pop on over to www.paintermagazine.co.uk and register as a
user. Once this is out of the way, explore the pages and enjoy
great content such as: Downloadable resources Online galleries to
share your work Special forum for meeting other Corel Painter
users
Brush Primer: F-X
Pg 34You might have written them off as a one-trick wonder, but
see how these brushes can bloom
Art study: Sunlight
Pg 52
Inject realistic light into your paintings for impact and
interest
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
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news even ts resources even ts resources even ts letters
websites websites websites letters websites letters
of costs, skill and software requirements, as well as duration
of individual courses. DAA is proud to include many of the top
names in digital art training in the industry, including many
familiar faces from the Corel Painter Oficial Magazine. Myself, Cat
Bounds, Scott Deardorff, Chris Price, Susi Lawson, Marilyn Sholin,
Anne Carter-Hargrove and more bring innovative classes to life
across the whole spectrum of digital art software and inal output
through printing and embellishing, says Bonaker. If youve ever
wanted to take your learning further with targeted classes for
Corel Painter, as well as other major software players in the
digital art world, drop by DAA and have a look at the
ever-expanding course catalogue. There truly is something for
everyone.
10
illed as the next generation in digital-art training, the
Digital Art Academy (www.digitalartacademy.com) was
created speciically to offer an interactive learning community
element to all aspiring digital artists. With DAAs fully equipped
website, with online classrooms,
TEACHING
Live interaction brings Corel Painter learning to lifestudents
are given a rich environment illed with opportunities to learn
through written instruction, video, audio and live chat with
instructors and course-speciic forums, enthuses DAAs Karen Bonaker.
The environment is set up to be very social, and students are
encouraged to participate by answering questions in the forums and
critiquing each others work.
The classes cover not just Corel Painter but a range of leading
software programs so you can expand and combine your skills
accordingly, discovering new ways of being creative. The goals of
the school are to offer a sound education emphasising the
fundamental core principles of the software; however, the heart of
the school lies in creativity and the love of digital art, explains
Bonaker. DAA strives to be a creative centre of excellence, where
art, passion and talent converge with some of the foremost digital
artists, to nurture the inest digital artists of tomorrow.
A full list of course categories is available on the DAA website
along 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, DAA
offers many courses
geared specifically towards Corel Painter through world class
Painter instructors, including some of the Painter Masters
themselves
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 many
courses
010-011_OPM_17_News.indd 10 30/4/08 13:53:29
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websites websites websites info news even ts resources even ts
resources even ts letters website letters website letters
urrently offering lessons well into the autumn, Jill Garls
online Corel Painter painting courses are increasingly
attracting
an international audience eager to study. I have students from
all over the world. This is one of the great advantages of being
able to do this online, enthuses the Michigan-based photographer
and artist. With no experience necessary, those who enrol get to
study at their own pace and from the comfort of their own homes. At
the end of each lesson, students post their assignments for
critique. They really ind the critique helpful, learning not only
from their own work but from the other students in the class as
well, adds Garl. The six-week course costs $325 and includes all
support iles and movies mailed on CD, as well as additional email
and telephone support.
Sign up at
www.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 from
Gregory Sterling, highlighting many of the fabulous features found
in 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 Corel
Painter basics to specifics such as painting hair, skin and
eyes
mall but perfectly formed, Painting In Five is a website devoted
to sharing tips and
tricks for creating digital art. As well as a gallery selection,
a free collection of over 60 QuickTime video-based tutorial
podcasts are archived to watch online, covering a range of Corel
Painter-based skills. The work of Gregory Sterling, a self-styled
professional nerd, is accompanied by audio commentaries that help
set the scene. Topics include painting Sumi-e swirls and
highlights, depth painting, pastel smudging, auto Van Gogh painting
and capture dab painting. Point your browser at
http://web.mac.com/gregory.sterling/Painting_in_Five/Welcome.html.
Tips and tricks for digital artists
Painting with Jill GarlOnline Corel Painter classes attract
international students
howcasing the work of Andrew Buckle, developer of Andrews
Filters, Graphicxtras.com offers
a huge selection of plug-ins for most major graphic
applications, including those from Corel. A selection of paper
grains, nozzles, patterns and shapes are bundled in value-for-money
packs that should expand your Corel Painter creativity signicantly.
The array of paper grains and textures runs to 1,350, and over
1,200 nozzles, 1,000-plus patterns and 240 shapes are offered. All
royalty-free for use in commercial and hobby projects, full support
is offered by email and the forum. A range of demos, samplers and
freebies for PC and Mac are offered so you can try before you buy,
including a range of Corel Painter and Corel Paint Shop
Pro-compatible plug-ins. Prices start from around 6, with discounts
and offers regularly available. See more at
www.graphicxtras.com.
Jill Garls six-week course Jill Garls six-week course covers a
range of skills from Corel Painter basics to specifics such as
painting 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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12
news even ts resources even ts resources even ts letters website
letters website letters info news even ts resources resources
resources 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 my
Wacom 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 tip
on 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 and
Photoshop Elements 4.0. The driver and the tablet are okay because
they work in other programs. Have other readers installed Painter X
with a Wacom tablet under Windows Vista? Were their experiences the
same 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 work
caught our eye with her Arias in Piggytails image, which became
Pick of the Week way back in March. Her collection of portraits,
both human and animal, have continued to delight us with their
excellent use of light. One thing that really stands out in Nitas
images are their personality. Each one is imbued with life and
vitality, so you really get a sense of the character of the person
or animal being painted. But dont take our word for it visit her
gallery and see for yourself!
Nita Matawww.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/Nita MataNitas work
caught our eye with her Arias in Piggytailsbecame Pick of the Week
way back in March. Her collection of portraits, both human and
animal, have continued to delight us with their excellent use of
light. One thing that really stands out in Nitas images are their
personality. Each one is imbued with life and vitality, so you
really get a sense of the character of the person or animal being
painted. But dont take our word for it visit her gallery and see
for yourself!
Ofcial Corel Painter Magazine, Imagine Publishing, Richmond
House, 33 Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset BH2 6EZ, UK
If youd prefer to contact us via email, send your message to
[email protected]
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 but
in the meantime, has anyone else had the same problem? Let us know
if you have and more importantly, if you found a way around it!
Layer debateIn issue 16s Letters, you requested feedback about
including layer information. I would like to join the debate!
I too would like more layers information but take your point
about the ile size, so I suggest that the inal layer structure be
included on the disc as its own ile, without associated pictures.
It would be good if the layers (only) ile was interactive so that
clicking a layer would reveal associated information such as the
blending mode. The simplest way to show layer palette
Nita Mata
012-013_OPM_017_letters.indd 12 1/5/08 16:26:58
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13
Come and join our forum and website
resources resources resources letters website letters website
letters info news even ts resources letters website letters website
letters 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, in
all probability, you would have page space issues. Nothing is easy
in this world!
There are a couple of related issues that I would like to
mention. In order to read a tutorial, I generally have a magnifying
glass to hand to read the palette information. For example, take
page 39 (issue 16), there is palette information given in stages
09, and 14. Reading the information is not easy because it is
screened for cyan, magenta, yellow printing plates.
Chris RourkeHello Chris, thanks for the email. We are going to
try and include more palette information, but getting it to work is
a lot easier said than done! People are prone to collapsing as they
go, so I think a list is the only way forward. We do have the
layered file of our Acrylic tutorial this issue, so we are making a
start!
As for the magnifying glass issue, the examples you give were
where the palettes werent the most important thing. The steps were
describing how paint was being applied, so you didnt have to see
the palettes. We will make sure they are big if the information is
needed. And because the palettes are screen grabs and therefore
treated the same as images, Im afraid we have no control over the
plates. The only way around this would be to make the image black
and white.
Free iStockphoto imagesIve just joined iStockphoto.com and
noticed you can get free images. Do others know about this?
Sally BrownYou are indeed correct, Sally. Members can download a
free image every week and also still get hold of the recent free
offerings. Its a great way to boost your reference library!
www.paintermagazine.com
Not only do we deliver inspirational and practical tutorials on
your favourite program every month, we also have a dedicated Corel
Painter website that you can visit to get your artistic ix while
you wait for the next issue. From here you can join up for a free
account, then create your own gallery for the world to see! You can
explain the process or inspiration behind each of your images,
comment on other members artwork, share your wisdom and take part
in regular challenges. Theres also an area to download tutorial
iles from previous issues in case your CD has gone missing. If you
feel like a bit of creative interaction, we also have a forum for
you to come and leave your thoughts about the magazine. You can ask
Corel Painter questions and pass the time with other digital
artists. So what are you waiting for? Visit www.paintermagazine.com
today!
Make yourself known!www.paintermagazine.com
Dont be shy everyones welcome to enter! Go to
www.paintermagazine.co.uk/competitions.php
ENTER THE WEBSITE CHALLENGE
Enjoy free high resolution images from iStockphoto at
www.istockphoto.comEnjoy free high resolution images from
iStockphoto at www.istockphoto.comat www.istockphoto.comat
We will start introducing information about the layers in future
issues, so you can make sure you are working as the artist
We will start introducing information about the layers in future
issues, 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
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Interview Julie Dillon
14
ulie Dillon lives and works in North California, where she is
currently a part-time illustration student, while taking
professional
commissions and developing her distinct drawing and painting
style. A fan of Corel Painter and encouraged by online communities
such as deviantART, her work has won many fans and admirers.
How would you best describe your style?I think my style is
heavily inluenced by fantasy and storybook art, not just in my
approach to the way I paint, but also in my attempts to focus on
narrative, story and character in my compositions. I try to paint
fantasy images that still have some grounding in reality, so that
they are otherworldly yet familiar, and accessible enough that the
viewer can still connect to
With a flair for fantasy art and a strong emphasis on the
narrative, Julie Dillon is a young artist with a bright future.
Nick Spence meets her
Julie Dillonthem. I tend to lean heavily on saturated colour and
theatrical lighting, and Ive been told I have a painterly
style.
How does working with Corel Painter help you rene that style?The
various brushes and paper textures give me great speed and
lexibility. They feel so much more intuitive and seem to know what
look Im wanting to achieve as I work to the point that sometimes it
feels 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 almost
everything digitally with a tablet. I start out doing quick
thumbnail sketches in a sketchbook to work out
work has won many fans and admirers.
An interview with
commissions and developing her distinct drawing and painting
style. A fan of Corel Painter and encouraged by online communities
such as deviantART, her
With a flair for fantasy art and a strong emphasis on the
narrative, Julie Dillon is a young artist with a bright future.
Julie Dillon
WEBSITE www.jdillon.net and www.jdillon82.deviantart.com JOB
TITLE Freelance IllustratorCLIENTS Paizo Publishing, Fantasy Flight
Games, Alderac Entertainment
Group, EDGE Scifi and Fantasy Publishing and Fantasist
Enterprises
[FAR TOP] Julie Dillons illustration for The Runehound for Paizo
Publishing (best known for its role-playing games and gaming aids
tie-ins)
poses and compositions. From there, I create a relatively
developed black-and-white drawing in Painter using a tablet, laying
down all my tones in the composition in greyscale. With the basic
structure is roughed in I put overlay and multiply layers of rich
colour over the black-and-white drawing, similar to making an
underpainting for a painting done in traditional oils. Once the
basic rough colours are laid on top of the sketch, I create a new
layer and begin the real painting on top of that.
What reference points do you use when creating your images? I am
heavily inluenced by fairy tales and nature, though I do absorb
bits of ideas from all over the place and hold on to them until I
need them. When working
014-018_OPM_17_interview.indd 14 30/4/08 13:41:00
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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
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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 into
an image right away. Sometimes the composition for a piece will
immediately jump out at me, but often it takes weeks or months of
absorbing new ideas and ways of approaching a subject until a
composition really gels in my head.
What would you say your favourite Corel Painter tools are? My
absolute favourite is the Smeary Bristle Spray and the Palette
knife. If I was stuck with only two brushes it would be them. I was
a little slow in iguring out how to use them properly, but they
provided so much more lexibility. You can just cut in and carve out
edges and surfaces smoothly without the brush being jagged or
heavy-handed, which is particularly useful when rendering organic
textures.
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
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17
Youre a deviantART member, how has that community helped you
develop as an artist and illustrator? Ive been involved in and
lurked at dozens of art forums and communities over the years.
deviantART has provided me good exposure, and gives a quick and
easy way for people to see my new work and comment if they wish.
Ive met lots of interesting people, some amazing artists, and even
some new clients. Ive noticed more and more professionals are
getting deviantART accounts, since you can potentially get a good
web presence and therefore more exposure.
How valuable is it to gain feedback from other members?Feedback
from other artists is incredibly helpful, and over the years peer
critiques
have helped me immensely with both small technical problems and
broader scope issues. That said, if you want your work to be
critiqued you are better off going to an art forum like
ConceptArt.org. Although deviantART is great for exposure and
keeping track of other artists, its not necessarily the best place
to turn to for constructive criticism. It feels more like a giant
guestbook thats great for a little ego boost.
Do you think your work would have progressed in the way it has
without the internet?Absolutely not. Without all the art forums and
communities over the years I probably would have never realised
there were careers available in the arts, as my college at the time
didnt encourage any
Artwork for an album cover by Noisia, more sci-fi inspired than
fantasy based, showing another side of Dillons workOften it takes
weeks or months of absorbing ideas until a composition gels in my
head
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
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Interview Julie Dillon
18
of the commercial arts. The internet has introduced to me to the
work of countless artists and has kept me up to date on the
illustration world. Ive been able to help other artists out, take
part in community contests and challenges, and receive helpful
criticism that I wouldnt have received from teachers or classmates
at the time. I work with virtually all of my clients through the
internet too, so obviously thats important!
Finally, youre still young and studying. Where would you like to
see yourself in ve years creatively?In ive years I would love to
have steady work doing book covers and storybook illustrations,
perhaps even illustrate a story of my own. One of my big driving
forces in creating artwork is to help tell stories and create
worlds for other people, to help them look past the mundane and ind
inspiration. The closer I can get to do that, in whatever form, the
better.
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 the
many digital paintings that has won her admirers, especially among
her peers
One of my driving forces is to help people look past the mundane
and find inspiration
014-018_OPM_17_interview.indd 18 30/4/08 13:32:59
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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 many
entries from you all exhibiting so many different styles. It was a
real pleasure to see them all and also to find out how some of you
created them!
READERS TUTORIAL
020-26_OPM_17_Feature.indd 20 1/5/08 18:06:58
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21
Readers challenge
arely a day goes by where we dont receive entries to our regular
challenge. But even we were amazed at the amount of images that
arrived with the
kingisher photo used as the starting point. It wasnt just the
amount of images that
appeared, but it was also the range of styles. It made our brain
cells start to tick over and we decided it might be nice to show
some of the different styles and how they were achieved. Not only
does this mean you get to have a nose around someone elses way of
working, 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 fall
into a creative pattern and plump for the same style every time you
work. But force yourself to try something new, even if you try
painting one scene in different ways. Theres plenty of inspiration
here, so why not have a go?
We might make these sorts of features a more regular thing, so
do let us know if you found it useful. Maybe you were inspired to
try one of the techniques yourself. If this is the case, do send in
the results!
Discover how fellow readers tackled the kingfisher photo from
challenge number seven
020-26_OPM_17_Feature.indd 21 1/5/08 18:07:14
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22
Feature Readers challenge
BrushesI m using only one brush for the whole painting. It s a
round brush with some brush spacing and based on an Oil Bristle.
There is no secret, just play around with the Oil Bristle general
settings until you get this effect. The main trick is to change the
subcategory to Flat Cover. Its really easy as you can see!
Brushes
01 Block in For the rst stage Im blocking out the general
colours for the background really quickly and the general shape for
the bird and the trunk.
Im using the darkest darks Ill be using for the bird, so its a
good idea to get the darkest darks now because it helps to get a
nice rich illustration instead of a muddy illustration.
02 Building colours Once we have the general shape right, we can
start adding some basic colours onto the bird and the branch. As
you can see, Im very loose with the colours. I want to get the
basic colours quickly without worrying too much about the
details.
Its really important to not go to the next step if you feel the
colour values are not right. Spend some time looking at the
reference image and comparing side-by-side.
03 Introduce detail Now that we have the general colour values
we can start detailing a little bit of the feathers. Im using a
really small brush and Im painting one by one. It might sound a
little over the top, but I like to have control for each feather.
Different colours for each feather will help to get a richer
image.
04 Always varied Once I had all the feathers right, with
different colour variations I started to add some colour variation
onto the branch. Use colour variations in all the organic things
you paint. Variation is really important in birds/trees like this.
I added more detail to the head, because I wanted it to be the
focal point for this composition, so its a good way to lead the
viewer to the bird.
did a representation quite similar to the original picture in
order to do a tonal and colour study. I think the most important
part of any painting is the colour values. If you get good colour
values, you get a fantastic painting. This
is the reason I did this study based on the picture Corel
Painter Magazine gave us.
Whenever I begin a painting I always start by blocking out the
general shapes. This is because it helps me to not concentrate on
any of the small details at an early stage. The overall shape is
much more important than the small details at irst; I think this is
a good method.
I tend to work just like traditional media, from the background
to the foreground. In my opinion, it helps to get the bird (in this
particular case) inside the illustration, rather than being seen as
a separate part.
Sometimes if I paint a character, bird or house I tend not to
bounce colours from the background onto the character, bird, etc
irst. However, its really important to relect some colours from the
background onto the character of the bird, as it gives a convincing
look to your illustration.
Using one brush
Reader 1: Pere
Balsachhttp://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
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was attracted to the excellent photo of the kingisher straight
away 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 seen
some of the earlier competition
winners and realised the standards were high.I began by
importing the image into Photoshop and started
playing with the ilters. I often do this for inspiration. I
wanted to create a watercolour rendition of the image to get a feel
for how this might look. I used Photoshop to create a pale, watery
image. I then thought that a pen and wash effect might look good.
So I took the image into Painter and started work with the Nervous
Pen tool. I liked the results but did not think they were worthy of
inishing or entering into the competition. In any case I thought I
should only use Painter for a Painter Magazine competition!
After deciding to have a go at a Painter-only creation, I used
the challenge photo to trace the outline using the Nervous Pen. To
add vibrancy, I went for a black background. I then felt that the
inished work was good enough to enter. I did not win, of course Meg
Franks picture was the very worthy winner. I enjoyed every minute
of the challenge, though, and am already sizing up the images for
the next challenge. It really is a great way to get the creative
juices lowing.
Pen and photo
Reader 2: Michael
Ephgravehttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/Michael
Ehttp://ephgrave.com
Strong colours add drama
Crop for cloutI felt the picture had an Impressionistic feel to
it, although I thought the overall composition didnt feel quite
right so I cropped it to get a slightly more abstract feel. Its
always worth playing around with composition and seeing if a tight
crop can help your image. Its amazing how often it sorts out a
difficult task!
Crop for clout
01 Feeling nervous I created the wash effect in Photoshop and
opened Painter. I put the photo in layer one and put the Photoshop
image in layer two. I created a third layer and lled it with a
creamy white. I used a fourth layer to sketch with the Nervous Pen
set to black. I hid the Photoshop layer and set the transparency of
the cream layer to 50%. I then sketched the kingsher with the
Nervous Pen.
02 Two images together At the end of this exercise I had a pen
and wash type image when the Photoshop image was set as the
background. This was when I just used Painter and used the Nervous
Pen to sketch the kingsher in colour. I used the original photo as
the rst layer. I also used a plain white intermediate layer set at
50% transparency. I used the Eyedropper tool to pick up the colours
on the rst layer and sketched on a third layer.
03 Colourful creation The technique I used to sketch was to pick
up the main colour in a given segment and roughly ll the area. In
small areas of colour I used quick, small strokes. In larger areas
I used longer strokes. For the beak the strokes were quick and
long, which straightens out the nervous lines.
04 Pump up the colour The sketching looked okay but the colours
were not as vibrant as I wanted. Also, the nuances of pattern that
give a feathery feel to the composition were not clear. I then put
a layer below the sketch layer and lled it with black. The colours
and the pattern of the sketch were then closer to the character of
this ighty bird. The feathery effect was also much more
visible.
23
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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 set
method, I just go with what
my eyes like. I use a lot of layers and if I dont like something
I delete the layer and try something else. With the challenge ile I
wanted my isher to have detail and depth. I knew I wanted to change
the background to one I felt was more complimentary to the colours
in the kingisher. I had been exploring the RealBristle brushes and
wanted to use them for the birds feathers.
I also decided to call upon other peoples brushes. Robs Brushes
are by Robert Chang and you can ind them at www.ethereality.info.
Jeremy Sutton brushes are included on a CD when you buy his Painter
IX Creativitybook. Filters 2 Unlimited can be purchased at
www.icnet.de/ilters_unlimited and Auto FX Mystical Lighting can be
purchased 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: Meg
Frankhttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/Meghttp://www.mzmo.net
WINNER!
02 Masking My next step was to reopen the kingsher photo. I went
to Select>Select All and then Edit>Copy and Paste in Place. I
set up a mask layer and masked out the original photo using the 2B
Pencil brush with the colour set to black and 100% Opacity and
Resat values. I clicked the eye icon on the Canvas layer so I could
see what I was doing. With the mask nished, I applied the mask
layer.
01 Prep work I opened the photo, went to File>Clone and then
saved the le. I then went to Effects>Correct
Colour>Curves>Autoset and clicked OK. I have Painter X, so
decided to use the Divine Proportion tool. I clicked Portrait and
set Size to 100 and Rotate to 0. This allowed me to crop my le to
the divine proportion outline. I then went to Canvas>Resize and
set 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 Robs
Blender 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 using
Robs 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 add
some lines in the wood and trace around the top of the wood. Blend
using Dens Funky Chunky on the yellow of the log, blend colour and
add colour until you are happy with it.
05 Painting Layers Add a new layer at the top and mix colours
from the bird using the dropper on the pad to pick up two colours
at once. On your blank layer, using Real Bristle brushes Fan Soft,
Real Fan Short size 8.2, 100% Opacity, Feature 3.0, Blend 7%, Real
Round size 5.0, 100% Opacity, Resat 35%, Bleed
35%, Feature 2.2, start adding your colours. I mixed colours, as
I needed, applying them to new layers and swapping Real Bristle
brushes as I went. Add a new layer to the top, using Robs Painting
Round 02,-1 set to 1.3 paint lines in between your feathers and
paint a white crest at the top of the shers eye and blend.
06 Finish Open your PSD le again. Once you have your painting
nished and are pleased with the outcome, save your PSD le. Finally,
go to File>Clone and then Effects>Focus and Sharpen the layer
at 3.00 with Highlight and Shadow set to 20%. Save your nal image
as a JPEG.
03 Background Add a new layer below the mask layer and ll with a
background. To add a bit more interest, I used a couple of Jeremy
Suttons brushes Jeremys Favs 2 FastFunkyChunky brush was used to
blend the background, and then I switched to Jeremys
MishMashScumble brush for the nal touches. I grouped the background
with the mask layer and collapsed, before going to File>Clone.
This left the background and bird on one layer. Save! The next step
was to go to Select>Select All to copy and paste in place as
before. Using Robs Blender Brushes size 5, Opacity 100%, Resat set
to 0, Blended 50% and Feature set to 2.0 to 2.5, I started to blend
the sher with the background. When blending, ensure to follow the
birds feathers and form, using nice, small strokes. I sharpened
this layer and then set Highlight and Shadow to 20%. The layer was
duplicated.
TipAlways make sure your clone source is set to the image you
are working on.Dont be afraid to add layers as you paint. I may
have ten or more when I work. And always save your work after every
step!
Tip
25
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Feature Readers challenge
Reader: Lesley
Wellingshttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/RT
Reader: Barb Christensen http://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/B
Christensen
Reader: Grace
Kelsohttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/GraceKelso
Reader: Anita
Stanhopehttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/Skyopal
Reader: Caryl
Ritterhttp://www.paintermagazine.co.uk/user/carylwithay
Be inspired by more stylish interpretationsOther favouritesIt
was very dificult to choose which images to represent in this
feature, and we wanted to try and squeeze in as many as we could!
So heres a roundup of some of the other sterling entries we
received. Study the styles, compositions and brush strokes and
maybe have a go at applying the technique to your own work. At the
very least, pay a visit to these artists websites for more great
images.
020-26_OPM_17_Feature.indd 26 1/5/08 18:11:32
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Tutorial Traditional pen and wash
28
ften, in terms of ine art, less is more. Pen and wash is an
ideal example of this, and its a medium that can really test an
artists mettle. Here youre relying on the power and immediacy of
simple, very ine
lines, which can both delineate complicated outlines and create
areas of subtle shading. Its a technique that dates back almost as
long as pictorial art itself, and its one that can still create
very beautiful and sophisticated illustrations. Its also a medium
that is very suited to sketching on the spot, mainly because of the
simple equipment required to do the job. All of these points still
ring true within the realms of Corel Painter, and here were going
to take this age-old medium and give it the digital treatment.
One of the most important things about drawing with a pen is the
ability to create many different tones, simply by the placement and
density of line work, and weve included a boxout on page 32 to
illustrate this point. In a pen drawing, the tones are created by
placing different thicknesses of lines closer together for dark
tones, or further apart for lighter tones. Unlike pencil, we cant
rely on varying opacity to create different shades, so you have to
rely on an illusion of tone, created by these hatched lines mixing
optically. We also need lines and techniques that can describe
different surfaces and textures, such as buildings and trees, and
youll learn how to do this here, too.
The wash is used to reinforce some of the main tones in the
drawing, and to add interest to areas of less detail. For this well
use 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.hu
as our reference (www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=209122).
Download it and go to File>Quick Clone. Choose the Croquil Pen
from the Pens. Go to the Papers selector and choose Thick Handmade
Paper. 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 4
pixels and add a new layer. Roughly sketch in the main elements in
the scene. Dont attempt to include any detail at this stage, as
this initial sketch is just so you can get your bearings around the
scene and can always be deleted or reduced in opacity.
A sketchy start
Pen and wash is regarded by many as the prince of drawing media
and, as we demonstrate here, its especially suited to architectural
subjects. Sharpen up that quill!
the scene. Dont attempt to include any detail at this stage, as
this initial sketch outline the rest of the elements, 03 Just
outlines Continue to roughly
indicating the trees in the foreground. Dont add any detail to
the sky yet, as this will consist mostly of washes in the nished
painting.
Original photo
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29
TutorialTraditional pen and w
ash
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30
Define your painting and add more detailTourist
attractionTourist attraction
would be to dive straight in with the pen again and start to add
04 Watercolour brush Youd think now that the best thing to do more
detail. However, its more useful to dene the main areas of the
painting with a few light washes, so change to the Watercolor
category and choose the Watery Soft Bristle 20 variant.
a slightly lighter shade of sepia from the colour wheel and
start 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 just
establishing form and tone at this stage.
06 Adjust the pen settings Choose a very dark brown from the
colour wheel. Add a new layer to the image. Now choose the Pens
variants and select the Croquil Pen 5. Reduce the brush Opacity to
around 30% so that the ink is slightly translucent. Increase the
Grain to around 90% to make the pen lines smoother.
of the building, using this pen at a very 07 Dark details Add
detail from the top small size. Again, concentrate mainly on the
very small, dark details rst, using a tight scribble. Try to
indicate shapes rather than draw them exactly. By establishing
these dark details youll soon see where areas of lighter shading
need to go.
08 Lost and found Where you have long, continuous features, dont
be afraid of creating lost and found lines with gaps here and
there, or replacing part of a line with some tiny hatching stokes.
Were not doing a technical drawing here, and these slightly nervous
areas add to the spontaneity of the sketch.
Tutorial Traditional pen and wash
Bright ideaUnlike when youre drawing with pen and ink in the
real world, in Painter its easy to add bright areas of highlight
detail within areas of very dark shading even when youve completed
these dark areas. You can do this with one of the Eraser variants.
Choose one of the hard Eraser variants and use it at 100% Opacity
on the target layer to lift out small areas of ink. This is similar
to using touches of white body colour to add highlight details with
real pen and ink.
Bright idea
09 Follow the contours For the moment concentrate mainly on the
midtone areas in the image, and use the pen at a very small size of
around 3 pixels. Try to make your strokes follow the contours of
the area you are shading and remember to leave any highlight areas
as blank paper showing through.
10 Larger dark areas Now you can start to establish the darkest
tones in the upper part of the image, increasing the pen size here
to around 8 pixels. In bigger dark areas, use quite energetic
hatching strokes in varying directions. Refer to the source and
nished images as you go.
Using a ghost imageIts always a good idea to start a project
such as this by making a clone of the start image. To do this,
simply open the start image and go to File>Quick Clone. This
means that if youre not too confident about drawing such a
complicated subject, you can always turn on Tracing Paper and use
the ghost image as a guide to your drawing. Theres nothing wrong
with tracing, after all, the object of the exercise is to produce a
competent finished drawing. In fact, drawing aids have been used
throughout history, even by some of the worlds greatest
artists!
Using a ghost
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31
TutorialTraditional pen and w
ash
Using layersIts quite an advantage to use lots of layers in this
image. The best way to approach this is to use a new layer for each
set of objects within the image from distance to foreground. So,
you can start with a layer for the initial outline drawing and use
another for the main building tone. Use another layer for the
details on the building, and another for the trees. This way its
easy 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 rest
of the drawing, but not the trees or the sky, using the same
methods as above. Remember the importance of the lost and found
broken lines, and also remember that you are indicating shapes
rather than drawing them exactly. Often youll need to zoom in very
closely to the image to render very ne, detailed shading.
Brush up on your scribbling techniqueFantastic foliageFantastic
foliage
see how important it is that your shading 13 Building tones
Again, here you can follows the contours of the building. This adds
form and depth to the objects. Its a good idea to rst ll the area
with midtone shading, preserving any highlight areas, and then go
back 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 When
youre shading use horizontal strokes placed closely together and
parallel to each other. Remember, the closer your strokes are
together, the darker the resulting tone will appear. You need to
regularly zoom away from your drawing to judge these tones
properly.
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 to
the be tempted to overdo this stage of the drawing, though its
important to remember that were suggesting detail here and not
carefully drawing every single part of the building. You can see
how simply the detail on the dome can be indicated.
Using layers
at the top and bottom of each column and the insets in the
tower. 15 Less is more Continue to add the details, such as the
decorations Small, nervous lines work well here, roughly following
the shape of these details. For the columns themselves, dont
actually outline all of them, simply leave white paper showing
through.
Rotating the canvasThere are lots of straight lines and
geometric shapes in this drawing, and you may find it easier to
draw most of these horizontally rather than vertically. To do this,
simply click and hold on the Grabber tool in the toolbar and choose
the Rotate tool. Now you can simply drag within your workspace to
rotate the entire canvas. Generally, its easier to draw horizontal
lines than vertical ones. When youre done, and you want to return
the document to its normal orientation, simply choose the tool
again and drag it back into position.
Rotating the
16 Scribbled foliage Once youve added all of the details to the
building (using the methods described) move on to the foreground
trees. To create the trees, refer to the boxout over the page and
use the scribble technique with the brush set to around 5 pixels to
establish the overall midtone for the trees.
17 Foliage shadows Having established the midtones, increase the
size of the pen to between 8-10 pixels and scribble in the darker
tones in the foliage. Remember, we are going to add more sepia wash
over this area, so dont go too dark you can always add more
later.
18 Another watercolour brush Choose the Watercolour category of
variants and select the Soft Bristle 20 variant. Choose a slightly
lighter shade of sepia from the colour wheel and set the brush
Opacity to just 15%. In the Water section of the Brush Controls
(Window>Brush Controls>Show Water), set the sliders as shown
in the screenshot. Set the minimum size of the brush to 75%.
028-032-OPM_17-Sepia.indd 31 30/4/08 13:46:34
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32
Use brushes to give your painting the perfect finishJust add
waterJust add water
Tutorial Traditional pen and wash
Individual tones and textures in pen and ink drawings are
created purely by the placement of line. There are many shading
techniques you can use here, but in this drawing we use mainly the
ones shown below. A variety of shading techniques not only helps to
establish effective tones, but also adds surface interest to the
finished drawing.
Emulate traditional effectsShading techniques
wash to the drawing, using the nished 19 Loose washes Start to
add the sepia image as a guide. This brush, because of the way weve
set 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 in
open areas such as the sky, and smaller on the building.
this brush at a fairly small size to add more washes and dabs of
colour 20 Smaller dabs Change to the Watercolor>Soft Bristle
variant. Use in the smaller areas of detail. Also add some more
dabs to the outline of the trees, and a few larger dabs in the
darker parts of the sky.
21 Finishing touches You can now revert to the Croquil Pen and
add a few more touches of line here and there, including a few
strokes in the sky. Remember, you can easily erase any unwanted
penwork by choosing one of the Eraser variants.
INDICATING DETAILSmall details are indicated with a very small
pen, rather than distinctly drawn. Think of this as a kind of
drawing shorthand, which when viewed from a distance gives the
impression of intricate details and features. Part of the charm of
ink drawings is the contrast between heavy and very light ink
lines.
DARK VS LIGHTThere are two factors that govern how light or dark
shading appears in a pen and ink drawing namely the thickness of
the strokes that make up the shading and how close together they
are. The further apart hatching lines are, the more white paper
shows through between them, and the lighter the tone appears.
CROQUIL PEN SHADINGThese two techniques are used for midtone
areas on the building, and the direction of the individual shading
lines should follow the contours of the area that youre shading.
The further apart you place these lines to each other, the lighter
the 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, is
very good for the larger shadow areas in the main building. Place
these individual strokes close together to create deep shadow
areas.
FOLIAGE DARK TONESOnce the overall foliage ll has been
established with the aforementioned technique, increase the pen
size and then add some more loose, dense scribble over the rst
layer. This will effectively indicate the darker areas within the
trees.
FOLIAGE TECHNIQUEThis shading technique consists of using a very
loose, random scribble pattern to indicate random foliage. The
technique uses the pen at around 7 pixels at rst to establish the
midtones of the foliage. Try practising this loose scribble before
working on the actual trees.
028-032-OPM_17-Sepia.indd 32 30/4/08 13:47:02
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34
nd now for something completely different! Most of the brush
variants in Painter X stand as direct clones of their real-world
counterparts,
such as Chalks, Oils and Watercolour however, there is one
collection of brush variants that no conventional artist could
contemplate creating, even in their wildest dreams. The variants in
question here are the F-X variants, and its true to say that they
are a rather weird and wonderful bunch, but certainly not lacking
in 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 from
oddballs such as Fairy Dust and Fire, to brushes that impart a glow
to existing painted pixels, to the more conventional, and possibly
more useful, Graphic Paintbrush
variants. Theres also a Confusion variant, which rather than
leave you
confused as the name suggests, can actually be used to impart
subtle blending
and textural interest to your paintings. Obviously, many of
these variants are limited
to very speciic images, so weve created a painting here using
the Graphic paintbrushes and the Confusion variants so you can
truly see the potential of these more conventional F-X variants.
Thats not to say that the other F-X variants arent useful and they
are certainly fun to use. If youre a fan of special effects, dive
in and give them a go!
The Hair Spray variant is of particular interest as it does not
paint with colour, but has a high Resaturation value by default, so
in effect it smudges and blends with the existing colour and pixels
already on the canvas. This can be very useful, and really quite
subtle, 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, are
created from Captured Dabs. You can see this within the Brush
Creator (Window>Show Brush Creator). Captured Dabs are created
from a graphic image of some description, which in essence is what
gives the individual dabs their shape and varying opacity. You can
find a huge amount of creative potential here by changing the
brushes subcategory from its default value in the Brush Creator. Go
on, 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 just
the ticket. Stand back and make way for the special effects
Captured Dabs
CONFUSED? YOU SHOULD BE!The Confusion variant is great for
softening areas of a painting, and can add a subtlety that you just
cant get with the standard Graphic Paintbrush. Vary the Strength
slider 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 real
texture and extra impact to the background in your images. You rst
need to paint in some rough varied colour and then use the
Shattered variant to distort and displace it. Its best to use this
one at high strength and a large size.
034-35_OPM_17_F-X Primer.indd 34 1/5/08 13:12:19
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35
Primer
F-X Brushes
The choice is yoursColour or Gradient?Colour or Gradient?Colour
or Gradient?
With many of the F-X Brushes you can choose what the brush
actually paints with. The Neon Pen, for instance, uses a gradient
to paint with, and to do this it uses the currently selected
Gradient. You can easily paint with another gradient simply by
choosing it from the Gradient Selector at the base of the Toolbox.
To change the methods that the brush actually uses to paint, simply
click the Source box within the Brush Creator. From here you can
choose Colour to paint with the currently selected colour, or
Pattern 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 are
used here to establish the main painting itself. These variants can
paint using the pattern of the current paper, so youve got lots of
scope for experimentation. Its also worth experimenting with the
subcategory for the brush in the Brush Control for even more
creative possibilities.
WAY TO GLOW!The Glow variant can add a really effective graphic
punch to your more illustrative images, especially to outlines, by
adding graphic accents. Make sure you have the Size Control set to
Pressure in the Brush controls so that the glow trails off as you
reduce pressure on your stylus.
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Tutorial Create acrylic art
36
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37
TutorialCreating w
ith distanceAchieve a traditional-looking portrait using the
Acrylic brushes in PainterCreate acrylic artAchieve a
traditional-looking portrait using the Acrylic brushes in
PainterCreate acrylic artAchieve a traditional-looking portrait
using the Acrylic brushes in PainterCreate acrylic artAchieve a
traditional-looking portrait using the Acrylic brushes in
Painter
Artist
Time needed
Skill level
May Yeoshen
A few hours
Intermediate
Tutorial info crylic paint, unlike oils, is a fast-drying medium
which can be diluted with water but becomes water-resistant when
dry. The acrylic paint is a very
versatile one. Depending on how much the paint is diluted with
water or modied with acrylic gels, mediums or pastes, the nished
painting can resemble a watercolour (in Corel Painter, with the
glazing brushes) or an oil painting (using Painters Thick or Wet
brushes).
Because this paint dries faster than oil, the artist is
sometimes forced to work quickly, often producing a look of non-
blended strokes. When using real acrylics, in order to slow the
drying aspect the artist uses retarders, allowing for more water to
be added and the paint made workable. In Painter, this is simulated
with the Wet brushes.
Another great difference between oils and acrylics is the
versatility offered by acrylic paints acrylic is very useful in
mixed media, allowing
the use of pastel, charcoal, pen, etc on top of the dried
acrylic painted surface, creating really original effects.
Acrylic paints can be used in high gloss or matte nishes. To
emulate the matte, dull nish, theres the Dry brush in Corel
Painter. However, if you prefer a varnished look, the Thick brushes
with their Impasto feature can accomplish this nish.
The Dry brush can simulate this feature of the acrylic paint
when dry, making it non-removable. And with the use of the Brush
Creator option, the artist can emulate the versatility of the
acrylic
paint, modifying the appearance, hardness, exibility, texture
and other characteristics. Acrylic paint can also be used to build
thick layers of paint: gel and moulding paste mediums are sometimes
used to create paintings with relief features that are literally
sculptural (Thick brushes).
In this tutorial were going to create a bust portrait aiming for
an oily look, taking our time and blending the colours in for a
smooth nish. Were also aiming for a good amount of detail, using
the Detail brushes. For that reason, the Thick brushes will be
avoided.
TutorialCreate acrylic art
Acrylic is very useful in mixed media, allowing the use of
pastel, charcoal, pen, etc on top the dried acrylic painted
surface, creating really original effects
Thick brushesThe Thick brushes emulate quick and opaque strokes
perfect for those painters who are quick and dont want to blend in
colours, 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, the
drier 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 glazing
technique, which consists of building very thin layers of paint,
showing the colours as translucent, almost transparent. Ideal to
start with on a new and fresh canvas.
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38
Reective light and cast shadowsWhen painting a portrait, always
remember that every object bounces light. In this case, the red
dress bounces a red light onto the chin. Also bear in mind that
these objects cast shadows onto adjacent ones. The hair casts a
shadow onto the skin, otherwise it will look like a flat object.
Having a basic knowledge of how light works will make your
portraits much more realistic.
Bring your model to lifeStart your acrylic masterpiece
line-art layer will be on top of any other, and it can be
scanned from a 01 Setup First off, lets start with a line-art we
will use as a guide. This previous drawing or traced on top of the
photo 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 the
background. Unless the painting will have a white background, you
shouldnt leave it for later on. We can use a brush such as the
Glazing and the Wet Soft. We used a golden tone for this one. The
Glazing 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 the
way you can create custom brushes. To shade some parts of the skin,
we used a variation of the Wet Soft Acrylic brush. Playing around
with the Randomizer and seeing the variations of it, you can now
use a brush that will add richer textures to the skin while
blending the colours smoothly, always using the Dropper tool.
03 Create the layers for your model Lets set the rst tones of
our subject matter. Keep the Pick Underlaying Color option checked.
Now create different layers for whats needed, in this case the
skin, dress and hair. Block in the different elements using a big
brush such as the Capture Bristle. Erase the extra bits.
05 Setting the light Repeat the process for the light area. Bear
in mind the light source. Remember to constantly pick up colours
with the Dropper tool to maximise the blending properties of this
brush. For subtle light in some areas, lower the opacity.
and add more tones to the skin, applying short, non-directional
06 Add texture Use the Capture Bristle at very low opacity (say
10%) strokes, as if it were a real brush on a real canvas. Add pink
and orange, mostly around the nostrils and cheekbones. For really
light tones use a very pale cyan.
eyes. With a covering brush such as the Opaque, we throw in the
07 The eyes Its time to add even more life to the face. Lets paint
the basic colours. Then we start some basic shading, not very
detailed, using the Wet Detail brush with a low opacity (20-30%).
Remember that the cornea is not white! Most of the time its a warm
grey.
04 Shading the skin Now we can start shading the skin, picking
darker tones than the base colour, with the help of the Color
Mixer. Then we pick the Wet Soft brush with a high opacity and a
different size, depending on the zone. Paint with short strokes
with 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 itself
is appreciated more when looking at it from a certain distance.
Sometimes we work with a very close view of what were painting, and
we let the brush strokes and other details distract us. To really
appreciate what youre doing, zoom it out. Depending on the size
youre working with, you can try viewing it with a 50% zoom. Also,
if viewing it in thumbnail size (5%) you can see if your painting
is working or not, what its lacking and what you can push
further.
11 Dening the skin Create a layer on top of the skin. This one
will have more details and richer tones. Make sure the Pick up
Underlayer Color option is checked. With an Opaque brush, like the
Capture Bristle with low opacity, start adding in the colours, with
more contrast than your base layer. You can start hiding the
line-art layer. At this point, were trying to focus on getting the
contours 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 the
13 Skin details There are two special brushes to add details for
those line-art layer, start adding details with the Opaque brush in
a very small size (2-3px). It doesnt matter about the opacity, as
this brush is just plain opaque. Then you can blend with the Wet
Detail brush, using the Eyedropper over the lines you previously
drew with the Opaque brush.
14 Keep on with the details Have fun adding as many details as
you want. Key zones are the eyes, nose, ears, eyebrows and mouth.
Since were going to use these two brushes quite a bit, it would be
a good idea to keep them on a oating window.
skin dont let the strokes ruin its tri-12 Keep going Follow the
surface of the dimensionality. Change the size from time to time,
and use the Dropper tool to let the colours blend. Dont worry too
much about detail, well deal with that later. Try zooming out (see
side 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 now
time to rene the texture, like a custom Wet Soft Acrylic brush (see
note), rene what we did before. The advantage of this brush is it
consumes fewer resources and is better for slower computers. Make
sure 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 get
the painting It doesnt have to be perfect, but as we did with the
skin and dress, we use the Opaque/Wet Soft brushes to give volume
to the hair. As the light source comes from the left, the right
side of her hair will be really dark, with almost no
highlights.
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 general
rule the clothes take up more space than the skin. We can start
with an Opaque brush, and then rene with the Wet brush. In this
case the dress is made of silk, so the shades will be very dark and
the lights very bright.
start colouring in the mouth. Drop in a 08 The mouth As with the
eyes, we can light pink as a base using an Opaque brush, then bring
in the tri-dimensional shape, adding shadow and light with the Wet
brush. Were not going for details right now; were just worried
about the overall look and volume.
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Work on the hair, clothes and backgroundStyle and glamourStyle
and glamour
detailing. This is silk, so there are going to be very dark
zones against 16 Dress details With the same brush but at a smaller
size, rene the light ones. To add the buttons and other details,
lets create another layer and use the Opaque Detail brush. And just
as we did before for the skin, we smooth some of the details with
the Wet Detail brush, varying the size and opacity according to
whats required.
choose an orange/yellow to start with and draw with the Opaque
17 Clothing motifs To add the dragons and owers to the dress,
Detail brush. It doesnt have to be very precise. Using references
on how embroidery reects on silk, note which parts are very bright
or very dark.
with the rest of the painting. For example, we need to see part
of the 19 Blending in The hair is looking good, but lacks proper
blending scalp, otherwise it will look like a wig. Picking the
underlaying skin colour with the Eyedropper and using the Capture
Bristle, paint some of the shown scalp. Remember that the hair
casts a shadow onto the skin and clothes.
18 Start on the hair Using a nice textured bristle (such as the
Capture Bristle, Dry brush or the Wet Soft Bristle), we rene the
hair. Change the brush size from time to time to add variety to the
strands, and always follow the ow of the hair. Bear in mind the
light 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 glossy
Finally, to make the same Capture Bristle. To make it even richer,
take the Opaque Detail brush and draw several strands following the
locks 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 the
tiny bits with the aid of the line-art layer. Now proceed to dene
the contours with a thin brush, such as the Opaque.
22 The background The background is practically untouched, so
now it looks unnished. We werent pleased with the tone, so changed
it to a redder one, using the Adjust Colors option. Then we used
the Wet brush to make the background homogenised. Using the Color
Wheel, we painted it so it had more contrast in certain areas,
painting lighter and darker spots randomly so it looked like a
blurred background.
Alter colourYou may have noticed that the background, hair and
lips 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 were
simple to do because of working in layers. All the tweaks were made
without affecting anything else and is a very good example of why
you 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 the
location of the silk-covered object and the light source. A nice
way to emulate painted details on silk quickly is to create a new
layer and draw the details with the Opaque Detail brush, using just
one colour. Once you are done, preserve the transparency, and with
an Opaque Acrylic brush, paint on top of it using different shades
depending on the place (in this case, tuscan red, carmine red and
orange 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 traditional
effect thats created with the tri-dimensional effect of real
strokes. Dont bother changing the opacity, because this brush is
most likely to act like paint straight from a tube.
24 Finishing touches Check the image and make sure youre happy
with it. There might well be something we missed. Also, this is a
good time to improve the image generally, adjusting the contrast,
brightness, hue, etc.
Is there room for improvement?Final flourishesFinal
flourishes
23 Eyebrows In the hair layer, use the Capture Bristle brush to
capture the texture of the eyebrows. Remember, they show less in
the lighted area of the face. Then, with a really tiny Opaque brush
(2px), draw several individual strands of hair. There are also
other areas with loose strands of hair, such as the eyelashes and
the outside of the hair.
paintings, we can create a new layer on top of the others, set
it to 25 Optional step To add that Impasto effect seen in real
acrylic Multiply, and with a white brush and the Impasto option
selected (Thick Acrylic brushes), apply random touches, following
the shape of the surface, mostly on the hair and dark areas of the
face. This will give a really neat traditional touch to your
illustration. Now we can consider it done!
Make the most of your brushesIn detailAs we said, the different
sets of brushes in the Acrylics category simulate the various
techniques used when working with real acrylic paint on a real
canvas. In this tutorial we were trying to emulate a non-quick
look, like an artist who takes their time, using acrylic retarders.
Thats why the Capture Bristle and Wet Bristle as well as
customisations of them were mostly used. The possibilities are
endless with the Create Brush option, making your brushes richer
than before.
CAPTURE BRISTLEThis brush is great, due to its fastness and
features. 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 like
tiny brushes we usually have for details. The Opaque has a matte
look, 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 make
effective shaders for skin and smooth areas such as the silky
dress.
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ainter is an artists dream, a virtual art shop in a box. We can
try, experiment and create with a limitless supply of art materials
and supports. And just like any good box of chocolates we want to
unwrap it and dive in
headirst to savour the delights, while choosing to ignore the
list of ingredients and the guide to the contents.
Thats just human nature, and adventure and experimentation
should never be discouraged. But how many of us have spent hours
creating our own digital masterpieces only to be disappointed by
the quality of the inished artwork when we print it? This is the
Painter equivalent of ending up with the coffee cream.
With Painter, you do not need to make the extensive preparations
often required in traditional art pursuits there are no watercolour
papers or canvases to be pre-stretched or surfaces to be primed and
prepared to take the paint. However, you do need to make some
preparations. You should consider
how your inal artwork will be used; will you print it and frame
it, post it on the web, use it for commercial reasons
or simply save it for posterity? Whatever you choose to do, it
is vital that you do justice to your work by creating and saving it
in the appropriate ile format and resolution.
Painter is primarily a pixel-based program, which creates images
made up of tiny pixels arranged in a grid, and helps us to deine
the resolution of the image. Painter
saves image iles in a variety of formats that come in all shapes
and 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 complex
information (such as layers) to be saved for use in speciic
programs. Here, we will help you explore resolution and ile
formatting to allow you a more informed choice when setting up your
artwork. Then when it comes to printing out your artwork or sharing
it with others, you wont be left with a pixellated mess, but a
beautifully crisp image.
If you desire real quality in your artwork, setting the right
file format and resolution is vital
Painter images are made up of pixels. Digital images are often
described 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 you
about the images quality. The more pixels per inch the more detail
there is. Increasing the size of a pixel-based image requires the
computer to create additional pixels and the image loses detail. It
is therefore important to set the appropriate resolution when
starting a painting in Painter. A higher resolution painting can be
printed out and reduced in size without any problems, however, a
low-resolution painting will not increase in size without loss of
detail.
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 Vector
programs. These use mathematical instructions to describe the
outline and filling of objects within a drawing. These images are
much smaller in file size than pixel-based images and can be
re-sized without any loss of quality. Vector images have hard-edged
lines with little thickness variation and flat colour fills, as
opposed to the continuous tone variations seen in pixel-based
photos and paintings.
Although Painter is mainly a pixel-based program it does have
some vector-based capabilities, including type, shapes, shape paths
and outline selections.
Feature focus File formats and resolution
preparations often required in traditional art pursuits there
are no watercolour papers or canvases to be pre-stretched or
surfaces to be primed and prepared to take the paint. However, you
do need to make some preparations. You should consider
how your inal artwork will be used; will you print it and frame
it, post it on the web, use it for commercial reasons
saves image iles in a variety of formats that come in all shapes
and 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 complex
information (such as layers) to be saved for use in speciic
FEATUREFOCUS SAVING FOR THE WEB When saving a le for use on the
web, keep le size small
to cut down on downloading times and to avoid the viewer having
to scroll down the screen to see full image. Artwork should be
shown in an appropriate scale that allows enough detail to do
justice to your work, but at the same time would not allow someone
to print off a quality print
File formats and resolution
SAVING ARTWORK When saving your artwork, either in progress or
in its nal state, choose the appropriate le format. This should
depend on how you wish to progress a painting or how you wish to
use the nal image. Save in a format that allows you to return to
Painter and continue, or that allows you to transfer your image to
another 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 with
large files
When working with large resolution files Painter may slow down,
depending on the size of the file. As you add layers to your
creation this will add to the slowing process. To help alleviate
this you could work in a lower resolution at the outset and paint
in background and basic forms. When this is completed, scale up the
painting to your desired size and add your details.
If your work is very large, it can be sketched out, then cut
into pieces and saved as several files, which will allow you to
work on each file separately. Some artists will paint on layers as
separate files and will cut and paste them into the final
image.
BACK UP WORK Digital les are fragile. Every computer user
experiences the loss of work when a computer crashes or the wrong
key is accidentally pressed. To avoid losing your precious artwork
it is vital to back up your work frequently using an appropriate le
format
File formats and resolution
03 Saving as a GIF This image shows how much your artwork would
deteriorate if you saved it as a GIF le. GIF les are used mainly
for non-photographic images on the internet. Once saved in this
format, if a backup copy has not been made you will not be able to
recover the detail in your painting.
02 JPEG Here we see the le saved as a JPEG. It should be noted
that this image shows the painting after it had been saved as a
JPEG le and re-saved in Painter 20 times. The image has
deteriorated quite noticeably in several areas and would no longer
be suitable for printing. Pixelation is evident throughout the
image. It is quite easy to resave an image 20 or 30 times on your
computer without realising that the damage is being done.
When saving a file in a space-saving format such as a JPEG it
leads to a deterioration of image quality. Here we use a large,
high-resolution TIFF file and look at how saving it in a lower
resolution degrades the image.
Low resolution file savingSpot the difference in image
quality
01 The original TIFF le Here we see a small detailed section of
the original TIFF format le in Painter. The image was painted in
Pastels and saved at 300ppi, as the nished artwork was to be
printed.
SHUT UP SHOP It is good practice to save your artwork and exit
from Painter every so often. While working in Painter the program
creates a fairly large temporary le that eats up precious memory
space. Closing and then reopening Painter clears this le. This
helps the program work more efciently, particularly with high
resolution les
Substitution solutionReference LayersReference Layers
The use of Reference layers can also help with large,
high-resolution file sizes. Painter can create Reference layers
with a low resolution of 72ppi, which act as replacements or
substitutes for the actual image layers. You can then rotate,
re-size, move and skew these substitute layers more quickly than
the original layers. When you have completed your changes convert
back to your original layers and Painter will update your changes
on the original file.
To make a Reference layer, select an Image layer and select
Effects, Orientation and Free Transform. Then select Layer
Adjuster. Use the Control and Shift keys to help you make changes.
When complete, select Effects, Orientation, Commit Transform and
click the Commit button to return to the original image.
HIGH RESOLUTION When you create images at a higher resolution it
allows exibility in how you use the image when it is completed.
After all, the higher the resolution, the better the results will
be in the nal printing
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RIFF files are the native file format for Painter and are the
only format that preserves all the elements in your painting that
are unique to Painter, eg layers, Watercolor layers, Reference
layers, Shapes, etc. RIFFs are generally fairly small files, but if
you have a lot of disk space check the Compressed box in the Save
dialog when saving the file. Although this will make the file
larger, it will open more quickly in Painter and will also save
more quickly. It is recommended that you save your work regularly
in the RIFF format while working on a painting. If you wish to use
your painting in another program, eg Photoshop, then ensure that
you also save your image in a format that will be suitable for
opening it in that program.
Painters very own formatRIFF filesRIFF files
Photoshop/printer compatiblePSD and TIFF file formatsPSD and
TIFF file formats
Saving your Painter file in the PSD file format allows you to
move your image file backwards and forwards between Photoshop and
Painter while preserving the layers. It should be noted that when a
Painter file is saved in PSD it does not preserve the
Painter-specific layers wholly, such as Watercolor, etc. It
converts them to image layers.
The TIFF file format is the most universal file for pixel-based
images and can be read on PCs and Macs. When all work is completed
in Painter and you wish to print your final work, the TIFF file is
the perfect choice for printing.
Feature focus File formats and resolution
the RIFF format. The le is placed in a new folder that will save
all the 02 Our rst save Now that the le is set up we immediately
save it in images relating to this painting. We now have a
high-resolution image ready for painting.
Prepare your image and save as you goSet up resolution and save
your artworkSet up resolution and save your artwork
In this walkthrough we will show you how to set up the
resolution for a painting and how to save it in different ile
formats. The painting used in the demonstration was a commission
for the cover of a brochure.
FEATUREFOCUS
painting process, you can stop for a rest 04 Using Save At any
point in the or cup of tea and save the image by simply using the
File, Save feature. This will save the le in the format currently
being used.
01 Setting up the canvas As this painting is to be used as a
brochure cover it requires having a resolution suitable for
printing. It will also be used on posters to advertise the
brochure. With this in mind we set up the canvas. We click on New
and set the size of the canvas to Width 15.5 inches, Height 22.5
inches and Resolution 300ppi. This high resolution will give us a
quality print.
03 Iterative Save Using a thick and thin pencil the image is
roughly sketched on the canvas. During the sketching process alone
the image will be saved about ten times. This allows us to go back
and change things if we are unhappy about the progress.
The le is saved using Iterative Save. This useful feature
quickly saves sequentially numbered versions of the artwork, making
les easy to identify. To do this choose File, Iterative Save.
Shoot to paintIf you use a digital camera to get photographic
references for painting in Painter, keep in mind that most digital
cameras save in the JPEG file format. They will also offer several
different quality settings, which are really different JPEG
compression levels. Never shoot at the lowest level; although youll
get more photos on your disc, the quality will be poor when
printed. Shoot at the highest level and immediately afterwards
transfer it into the computer and save as TIFF files. This will
preserve 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 for
printing
The advantage of saving an image in the JPEG format is one of
space saving. When saving a JPEG file you are given the choice of
saving it in one of four categories: Excellent, High, Good and
Fair. If saved as Excellent the resulting JPEG file is about one
tenth of the size of the same image saved as a TIFF. If saved as
Fair the JPEG would be approximately one hundredth the size of the
equivalent JPEG. However, this space saving comes with a hefty
price detail in the image is lost in the compression process. It is
also important to note that every time you save a JPEG the quality
of the image deteriorates.
Go largeAlways try to work at the final resolution that you
require. On occasions, when you are working with large,
high-resolution files, you should experiment with increasing the
brush size and also the paper texture. This will have a bearing on
your final painting. To do this, choose a brush and in the property
bar adjust the size using the slider or by inputting a size.
Similar adjustments can be made to the paper texture within the
Papers palette.
FEATUREFOCUS
Saving and protecting your image in other formats Future-proof
your painting
Most commercial printers use one of two image modes. RGB
(red-green-blue) is used by most fine-art inkje