Monthly Archives: October 2011

Registration for Holiday Open Studio at DAA is Open; Join Us for a Fun Filled Month Working with Corel Painter

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

Corel Painter Master, Karen Bonaker, announced the opening of registration for Holiday Open Studio at Digital Art Academy (DAA) at Karen Bonaker Art, her wonderful blog. Do go by and take a look at the information  and syllabus for this 4 week course.  Holiday Open Studio is for anyone, beginner and expert a like.  Each week there is a new leader with a special topic.  Class begins 11/19/2011 and ends 12/16/2011.

The first week, Karen shows how to create and paint a perfectly balanced Holiday flower arrangement.  Take a look at this image, which can also be seen at her blog.

Lovely painting by Corel Master Painter, Karen Bonaker. Learn how she does it in Holiday Open Studio 2011

I have the second week.  Learning to leave white space in a watercolor is difficult.  I am focusing on snow scene landscapes with lots of white space.

Simple snow scene landscape done in Painter 12

Corel Painter Educator and Expert, Elaina Moore-Kelly, has the third week.  Elaina wows everyone with her beautiful Holiday Greeting Cards.  Discover her secrets for Corel Painter as she demos greeting cards.

Examples of Elaina Moore-Kelly Greeting Cards; Done in Painter 12

Karen returns for the fourth week.  Holiday Wreaths and winter scenes are the topic.  She has prepared a custom set of brushes for this workshop, which each student will receive.  I think Karen’s work is stunning.  What do you think?

Corel Master Painter, Karen Bonaker's Holiday Wreath.

That’s about it.  Do go by and check out Karen Bonaker Art and view her video from Holiday Open Studio 2010; you will be glad that you did.

Enjoy,

Skip

Wacom Intuos and Cintiq Driver Update for MAC OS X v 10.7, 10.6, and 10.5 (Intel)

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hey Folks,

On October 13, 2011, Wacom released a new driver for the Americas (the United States, Canada, and Latin America).  I glanced at Europe and it didn’t look like the driver was available for that region yet; I didn’t check any others.

There isn’t a new driver for the PC since the one released on Sept 13, 2011.

Wacom Driver Page

I suspect this is a significant update.  MAC users…go get it!

Skip

Thanks Carlos for letting me know about the update.

Corel Painter 12 Classes Start Saturday

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I’m always nervous prior to class starting.  I’m extra distraught this time because I have two new classes starting; The Basics of Watercolor in Painter 12 and The Basics of Brush Making in Painter 12.  My other class, Painter 12 a New Beginning, will also start on Saturday;  this class is for folks who have a good working knowledge of Painter 11 or earlier and are upgrading to Painter 12.  If you are new to Corel Painter and now have Painter 12, Elaina Moore-Kelly teaches the perfect class for you, Introduction to Painter 12 – Part 1.  Check out the Digital Art Academy and look at all the class offerings.

I was preparing class material and doing a watercolor made up primarily of washes.  In the end, I cropped several paintings from the original.  After class gets underway, I’ll post more videos about working with watercolor in Painter 12.

Landscape

Landscape with washes in Painter 12

Got to run and get back to work getting the classes ready.  Join Elaina or me for some fun in Painter 12.

Enjoy,

Skip

Pressure Sensitivity with Cool Spring for Painter 12

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I have heard from some folks that they cannot get the same sort of marks with Cool Spring and Bristly Dab variants that I can get.  I think I know why.  Pressure sensitivity is the key.  A Wacom Intuos 4, fabulous machine, is able to use 2048 levels of pressure.  That’s a wow in anyone’s book.  But, are we using all 2048 levels; I’m not sure, but I surely want to try.  And if I want to get any kind of decent marks with these variants, I must apply paint very sensitively.

“Ha, you sensitive? Never going to happen!”

“Awe, Kevin, you promised you wouldn’t bother me any more while I am making posts.”

“And you promised to feed me better, but all I get is bugs!  I know you like a bug free machine, but making me eat them is plain mean,” he whimpered in his best hurt voice.

“I thought you liked bugs.  Aren’t they nutritious and tasty?”

“I would like to remind you that good viruses eat memory, not bugs.  Making a good virus eat bugs is comparable to your dog eating the neighbor cat’s pooh!”

“Alright, that is enough…get in the closet…NOW!”

Sorry about that, now where was I?  Oh yes, pressure sensitivity is the key to making good marks with Cool Spring.  I did a quick video while making the following sky.

Sky created in Painter 12 using Cool Spring variants. See Video

I hope the video shows pressure sensitivity when using Cool Spring as well as Bristly Dabs is crucial.  It is very important to play with your brush tracking settings.  But, more importantly, practice making strokes.  Practice, Practice, Practice is key.

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, or console Kevin.

Enjoy,

skip

Free Corel Painter 12 Brushes; Cool Spring

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I finally got the Corel Painter 12 watercolor brushes finished and named them Cool Spring.  I hope you like them.  I would suggest installing these variants in their own library; like all watercolor brushes they are a bit slow, but putting them in their own library helps.  Don’t forget that my Basic Watercolor with Painter 12 and Basic Brush Making with Painter 12 start on Oct 22.  Come join the classes; I promise we will play a lot. 🙂

I produced two videos showing a bit about the variants.  In Part 1, I did the following image using 2 very wet brushes and about 8 stokes.  It is great fun to watch the paint bleed into the paper and create beautiful blends.

From Part 1 Cool Spring

Beginning image created with 2 very wet variants and about 8 stokes. See Part 1 Cool Spring video.

Let me know what you think of the brushes.  I’m always open to suggestions.

Cool Sping Download

Enjoy,

Skip

Corel Painter 12 Hot Fix for Mac OS 10.7 Lion is Available for Download

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Friends,

I missed this, but Elaina Moore-Kelly didn’t on her blog, Paint Spatter, Corel Painter 12 Tips, Tricks, and Topics.  Thanks Elaina.

Hot Fix for Mac OS® X Lion 10

Also visit Elaina’s blog for a good suggestion when installing the hot fix.

Thanks again to Elaina Moore-Kelly for keeping us up-to-date.

Enjoy,

skip