Skip received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Crafts with an Emphasis in Pottery from the Memphis College of Art. He was a studio potter for almost three decades and taught at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi for 21 years. An award-winning artist, he is published in Ceramics Monthly and The Crafts Reports, and has been included in articles from House Beautiful, Mississippi Magazine and Studio Potter.
So, what is his connection with digital art? Skip got his first computer in 1984 and began developing skills in graphics and desktop publishing. He started using CorelDRAW in the late eighties, but didn’t discover Corel Painter X until 2008. Since that discovery, Skip has immersed himself in digital art. Passionate about Corel Painter, he is a beta tester and member of the Corel Painter Advisory Council. In 2011 he was named a Corel Painter Master.
“I love to teach;” Skip remarks, “I find that it is a wonderful sharing experience. Skip is looking forward to sharing his knowledge of Painter 11 and 12 with those anxious to learn Painter and the digital creative process.
Besides teaching at the Digital Art Academy, Skip enjoys making custom brushes for Painter. While he has made Impasto and Liquid Ink brushes, his favorites are Watercolor. Articles written by Skip can be found at Digital Paint Magazine.
What a treat to see your wonderful blog Skip. I utterly love your paintings and know first hand how good you are as a brushmaker as well as a Painter.
I will be checking back often. I will also be following your work on the Painter Talk Forum!!!!
Hi Skip
Just read your post on Painter 12, there wasn’t a Comment area on that page,so I’m commenting here.
I LOVE Painter 12!! I think we are all going to have an ‘experience’ learning to use the new Real Watercolour Brushes, but in the end it will be well worth the effort.
All the other enhancements and new things are so very useful and well thought out! I keep coming across them with joy and suprise. I’ve been like a kid in a candy shop the last few days since I downloaded a trial version.
I hope to be blogging about some of them soon too!
Looking forward to your video’s on 12!
Happy Painting!
Joan
nice site skip – and the sumi-e paintings of your’s are terrific.
Thanks for the brushes too
I just joined the free Painter Talk site (for $5) which never expires ( except for sometime in 2014) – but I digress.
I was looking for the webinar that you and Karen did about using the Eastern brushes – but couldn’t find it. Could you provide an active link for it.
Thanks
Bob McCormick
Hi Bob,
Sorry for the delay in responding. My Painter 12 Class is going strong and has grabbed most of my time. Thanks for dropping by. I’m not sure I still have that video that Karen and I did, but I’ll take a look. Karen may have it if I don’t. When I find it, I will post it with the brushes.
Thanks,
Skip
Hi Bob,
I was able to find the link to the Eastern Water webinar. I have provided a link to see the video on Eastern Water Download Page. There is also a link for downloading the Eastern Water Category.
I found out about Painter Talk’s new fee. If you charge a nominal fee, it reduces the number of spams and bots. All new folks pay a life-time fee of %5.00. You are correct, there is now a fee to Painter Talk.
Thanks,
Skip
Skip,
I watched your videos on Splashing Water and they were very helpful.
Thanks.
Richard
Hey Richard,
Glad you came by and you are most welcome. I have fun with those Splashing Water brushes; I hope you do too.
Cheers,
Skip
I wonder if I may rock the boat? I am an 84 year old photographer and have recently become fascinated with the digital paint aspect – I do not share the photographers view which is tantamount to “illegal”. However I have no painting skills but the interest remains.
Photoshop has now woken up to the potential and is including brushes and controls that are being used very successfully by many. I use Photoshop – I cannot really afford Painter. While this blog concentrates on Painter in the final analysis if the SKILL is there should not Photoshop be just as good as Painter in the end. Would it not make sense for me to try to develop skill using the software I already have?
Hi Maurice,
Thanks for stopping by and posting a comment. You are not rocking any boat; I enjoy hearing from visitors.
My first comment would be that trying to compare Photoshop and Painter is like trying to compare an apple with an orange as they say. Painter and Photoshop are very different programs. The choice to use one over the other has more to do with the manor in which you wish to work. Currently, when I use Painter, it feels and looks like I am painting with traditional media…this is done in a dynamic way. Photoshop CS5 has its new mixer tool, which is the closest thing it has to painting traditionally, but it is limited compared to Painter. I don’t consider one program better than the other, they are just different. I like the way Painter works, so I use Painter. I also have Photoshop CS5, but I use it more for my photographs than for Painting.
I think what is most important in your choice to use one or the other is the one you mentioned…money. If you cannot afford Painter and Photoshop, then by all means, stay with Photoshop and find classes that will help you develop your Photoshop skills to produce the images that are pleasing to you. I think you will be very happy working with Photoshop.
Good luck and thanks for visiting and commenting…I really appreciate it,
skip
I have my intous5 up and running and I LOVE it. I am practicing with it and all the new touch features so I can be ready for the upcoming classes. I plan on taking many more, I want to do all of the beginning classes then do some of your watercolor classes.
You will be a head of all of us…sigh. I may not have a 5 by then. Enjoy your play.
skip
Hi Skip,
Your blog is wonderful. Thank you so much for the great tutorials and brushes you donated to the art community.
I found out about you and Karen Bonaker recently while browsing Painter tutorials online and found Karen’s article My Favorite Painter Brush. In that article she mentioned of your Digital Sq Cool Blender brush for Painter 12.1. I never used watercolor in Painter I would like to try it but couldn’t find it at your blog. I was wondering if that brush is available for download.
Thanks in advance.
All the best,
Cuela
Hi Cuela,
Thank you for you nice comment. The brush is called Digital Sq Pool Blender and it is in Splashing Water, which is available to download here. http://skipallenpaints.com/splashing-water-download/
It is a digital watercolor variant instead of a watercolor or real watercolor variant. It is one of my favorite brushes for blending, too.
Enjoy,
Skip
Thank you Skip. I got it. I will try to install it tonight.
Great…I hope you enjoy using it.
Skip
hello i really love how you create such beautiful pieces of art keep going….
Thank you Sandie. I hope you visit often.