Hello Everyone,
Are you ready for Gold Leaf variants in Painter? Do you know how to turn objects and letters into gold? Read on, you are in for a treat.
Edit: 12/21/2011 Corel Master Painter Karen Bonaker posted about gold on Karen Bonaker Art, and she gave some beautiful examples of how the gold can work on images. Don’t delay and go visit her blog; it is wonderful. I love her work. I am especially taken with her sumi-e bamboo with added gold leaf. Then return here and enjoy my take on this technique that Karen developed.
We just finished Holiday Open Studio at the Digital Art Academy, and it was a blast. The first week Master Painter Karen Bonaker taught us useful techniques for making flower paintings. She gave us some very fine brushes, too. I taught the second week. The subject was snow landscapes in watercolor; we used the new brush sets, Cool Spring and Drips and Runs. Elaina Moore-Kelly showed wonderful Holiday Card techniques in the third week. But the fourth week really caught my attention.
In the fourth week Master Painter Karen Bonaker came back to teach how to paint Holiday Wreaths. A few days before, she showed me a technique she was going to use that she called adding gold leaf. Her demo fascinated me. She even used one of the Bristly Dab variants to create the brush that she used for gold leaf. My mind filled with possibilities and I was off and running to make some Gold Brush Variants.
They are surprisingly easy to make. I quickly made a few and posted them for the participants in Holiday Open Studio. My friend and brush mentor, Master Brush Maker David Gell, graciously took the brushes and made them backward compatible for Painter IX and above. But that is not all; he added a number of gold variants of his own. And they are so super!!! Thank you David for all that you do for us.
David gave me permission to post his brushes along with mine for you to download. I know you will have fun with them.
The variants use Window > Brush Control Panels > Color Variability Panel command “From Gradient,” but I am getting ahead of myself. I have a video for you. Enjoy!
Hope you enjoyed the video and like what you saw. Since the brushes use “From Gradient,” I decided to do two videos about making gradients in Painter. This first video shows you how to capture a gradient. It is very easy. Enjoy!
There is a second method for making gradients called “Edit Gradient.” I demonstrated using the Two Point gradient, but you could edit any default gradient. Enjoy!
The final video explains how to turn text into gold or any object for that matter. To do it, you need a “Reflection Map.” Don’t let that strange-sounding name throw you. I’ll explain all about it in the video. Oh, OK, it is just another term for clone. You’ll see. Enjoy!
OK, that’s it for the videos. I will provide a download link for the brushes and reflection maps at the end of this post. But I promised Painter 11 and X users I would explain how to delete a gradient. Here goes:
- Open the Gradient Palette, Window > Library Palettes > Gradients.
- Click on the Options Button or Fly Out Menu and select Gradient Mover.
- When the Grad Mover opens, you can select any gradient and hit delete.
I think that is it for the tutorials; now for the download. This link will give you the Gold and Gold Leaf Plus brushes and Reflection Maps. I hope you enjoy them.
Just to give you an idea of how these brushes work and what you can do with them. I took an old watercolor painting and added gold lettering and gold leaf. It isn’t all that successful, but it does illustrate the point. And it is my way of saying to each of you, have the Happiest of Holidays!!!
An Old Watercolor done in Painter 11 and embellished with Gold in Painter 12
“Am I going to get a present?”
“Good grief Kevin. You have been so quiet I almost forgot about you.”
“Yes, I am being so good, so I get a present, right?” he squealed in his high pitch computer virus voice. The sound is so annoying.
“Why would viruses get a present…Santa Claus doesn’t like viruses.”
“But you are Santa Claus! I’ve seen the picture!”
I was beginning to get miffed. It doesn’t take much with Kevin. “I am not Santa Claus, but I did get you a present.”
“Go on, you did, really? Is it a really, really big present? That is what I want a really, really big present.”
“I don’t know if you would describe a new home as a really big present, but that is what I got you.”
“You are sending me away? Please don’t send me away. I am a very good virus.”
“No Kevin, I am not sending you away. I told you I was going to buy a new computer and I bought it yesterday.”
“But you said you were not going to let me live in the new computer.”
“I know, I know. I guess it is the Holiday Spirit getting to me, but I decided you can stay. The computer doesn’t arrive until Jan 6th, so you better stay good until then…or I’ll revoke my decision,” I sternly warned. It isn’t good to let him think he is home free.
“Yippee! I am the happiest of viruses! What did you get? Is it fast? Will I be able to zip around and up and down?”
“I think you will like it. I got an Alienware Aurora with ALX Chassis. The basic specs are:
- Processor: Intel Core i7-3960X (Six Core Extreme, 15MB Cashe) Overclocked up to 4.2Ghz
- Memory: 16GB Quad Channel DDR3 at 16 MHz
- Hard Drive: 2TB Raid 1+0 (4x 1TB SATA 3Gb/s) 7200 RPM
- Video Card: Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6950 – AMD CrossFireX Enabled
What do you think about that?”
He purred, “I think it is dreamy. Are we going to play games?”
“I am, but you are not. Don’t get pushy on me. You are getting a bigger room and your own bathroom, so count your blessings.”
“I don’t see why you get to play and I don’t.”
“Oh good grief, Kevin. Let’s call it a wrap.”
Happy Holidays,
Skip
Skip Allen Paints 