Just a quick reminder that Aaron Rutten and I are going to have a live painting event. It will be today, Friday, 8 May 2020, at 9:30 AM, PDT. PDT is Pacific Daylight time and it is the same time zone as Los Angeles, CA, USA. To join click this link.
Hope to see you there!
Enjoy,
Skip
Aaron Rutten has invited me to one of his artist’s chats. We did one before and I enjoyed it. This one will be on Friday, May 8th, at 9:30 PST time. To join, just click this link:
OK…that’s it…come on and join us. We have no idea what we are going to do…you will have to join us to find out.
Enjoy,
Skip
Happy Holidays Everyone,
I wish you a joyous season and a very happy New Year.
At the Digital Art Academy Community, Karen and I were doing some videos and giving away a few brushes. I decided to add a bonus brush to my group. For something different, I made three variants using Audio Expression painting. I was actually surprised at the results. The first attempt was a little on the funky side. I wasn’t sure how to control the variants. You can get a bit of control, but the excitement of these variants is to let them run wild and play off what the music brings to the table.
OK…so this was the first image I did.
Musical Flowers, Corel Painter 2020, Audio Expression Brushes
In the following video you can see me paint the above image.
After I posted the image and video, I heard from some that they couldn’t get the variants to work like they did for me. I did a few test and realized it had to be a difference in resolution. I provided this video.
Then i did a practice landscape and left it soft.
Audio Expression Landscape, Corel Painter 2020, Audio Expression Variants
The next painting I captured in a video. I do the initial painting and then bring in thick paint and pastels to give a few details.
Mixed media, Audio expression, thick paint, pastels, Corel Painter 2020
And here is the video:
Following are the three new variants I created to make these paintings. To load them, you need to open Painter, decide which category you want to put them in, then go to Brushes > Import > Brush and navigate to where you saved the variants. The brush will be installed in the currently active brush category. These variants are for Painter 2020. (EDIT) After posting, the variants have been altered to work with 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Enjoy and have the Happiest of Holidays,
Skip
Hello Everyone,
Any new brush set comes with a learning curve and Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint is no exception. Plus, when I make variants, I make them for me and hope that you like them or can use them. Most brushes can easily be manipulated especially in Corel Painter 2020. Everything I do in the following videos can be done in Corel Painter 2018 or Corel Painter 2019, but I will access the brush controls differently than in 2018 or 2019. Just remember all Brush Control Panels can be found under Window > Brush Control Panels regardless of your Painter version.
OK, so what might you want to change in a brush control panel? I love texture. My brushes will always show maximum texture. I suspect too much texture for most people. Not a problem, dialing back texture is easy. I like brushes to be wet and mix easily and quickly. Again, more than necessary for most people I venture. All you need to do is change the bleed slider to the setting that works best for you. Those are the types of things I show you in this set of videos.
I am brave, too. Most of the images posted are of work done while creating the variants and should never see the light of day. They are not excellent examples of the paintings, but show you that I struggle, too. I have the same learning curve you do…sigh. Let’s start with this one. I was using 012 Thin Stiff Worn Bristle. It didn’t take very long to complete, but it served a purpose. It began to address the learning curve. Don’t be afraid; paint and have fun. Allow yourself the freedom to fail.
Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint, Struggling Image 1, 012 Thin Stiff
Worn Bristle
Time to look at the first video:
Same theme, no more successful. This one has almost too much texture for my tastes.
Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint, Struggling 2, 002 Thin Wet Bristle, 007 Wet Short Bristle
OK, stop laughing and watch the next video.
Maybe the second try will be better…or not.
Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint, Scratchy Roses, sigh, 012 Thin Stiff Worn Bristle
OK, you are hurting my feelings now. I told you I have a learning curve, too.
I like brushes that can create single stroke imagery or flowers. Karen Bonaker is teaching a fabulous course at the Digital Art Academy called Romantic Roses. I love the class and thought I would try to see if thick paint could work. Thick paint can definitely paint romantic roses. However, I can’t. I know I will, but this type of work really takes practice and tweaking the brushes will be necessary. This first attempt is very clunky.
Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint, Single Stroke Thick Paint, Oh boy…lots of practice needed.
I love abstracted landscapes. Thick paint works well I think. Little by little, I am coming to grips with it.
Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint, Back Bay, 002 Thin Wet Bristle, 016 Grainy Opaque Knife, 022 Grainy Edgy Knife
I have also been in a dark mood. Painted this one Halloween night.
Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint, River Moonlight, several variants, sorry don’t remember which ones.
Here is a work in progress. The previous too images started like this. If and when I finish it…I will post it.
Work in Progress, Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint, 002 Then Wet Bristles.
Now it’s your turn. Give the brushes a try and post your work someplace I can see it. Hey…let’s post some on my blog. If you are willing to post an image using these variants, tell me in the comments below and I’ll contact you to make arrangements to get the digital version. I hope somebody will send me some images.
Enjoy,
Skip
Hello,
Several folks wanted the variants for earlier versions of Painter. Thick Paint was introduced in Painter 2018. I was able to take the brush category back to Painter 2018. I changed the name to Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint 18. If you have Painter 2018 or Painter 2019, you can upload this category and use it in either version. If you have 2020, it will work in it, too, but I would recommend that you download the version I made in 2020. That version will work best in 2020. You can download the category below. Click on the red type.
Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint 18
And don’t forget to donate if you can.
Here is a little teaser. This is a test piece…I doodle with the brushes as I am making them. This is an example of a doodle.
Doodle testing Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint. Corel 2020, Thick Paint
Enjoy,
Skip
I have just finished a set of Corel Painter brushes called Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint Category. When Thick Paint was introduced two years ago, I loved it and still do. I like anything painted thickly. Naturally I used them thickly. After all, they were called thick paint. I also noticed that they didn’t seem as popular as I thought they should be. It appeared folks didn’t like to paint thickly.
The more I used thick paint the more I felt like it emulated oil paint better than any other category in Painter. But my mindset was that thick paint needed to be used thickly. It didn’t occur to me to use them thinly and more like traditional oils that are not painted with a palette knife or gobs of paint on a brush.
I think the turning point came when I was looking at a Sargent painting at Google Arts and Culture. You can zoom in and look at the various brushstrokes. I didn’t think the marks looked at all like our current Sargent Brush. The strokes were bold and simple. I have always heard that Sargent was the king of Bravura strokes. I kept thinking that his brushstrokes looked like thick paint…thinner of course.
I created a few “thick paint” brushes that painted thinly. And in no time at all, I developed Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint category for Corel Painter 2020. You can download them for free at the end of this post. But first, I want to post 7 videos that talk about the brushes. I am not going to post images at first…I want to see what you do with them. Please download the variants and paint away. Post your work on FB or at the Digital Art Community…or anywhere I might see it. I am curious how these variants will be received. As I said, I love them, but I can’t speak for you.
You can download the brushes here. Please remember, these variants were made in Painter 2020 and are only compatible in Painter 2020. And if you like the brushes, please consider donating to the blog. I really appreciate it.
Click the red type below to download the brushes.
Skip’s Ultimate Thick Paint brush category.
Enjoy,
Skip
Hello,
I wanted to remind everyone that my class, Corel Painter 2020, “Speed of Light” is a “work at your own pace” class and is open for registration. It opened one month ago, and we have been having a blast. Go here to register.
Beside exploring all the new features of Painter 2020, we created images using the new variants available. This one was made with the new Fast and Ornate category.
Corel Painter 2020, created using Fast and Ornate brush category.
Of course, I love doing inky, runny, landscapes. I had a lot of fun with the demo of this piece.
Corel Painter 2020, watercolor brushes
Using some of my custom brushes, we painted a pastel and a thick paint landscape using the new Color Harmony Panel.
Custom pastel brushes, Corel Painter 2020
Custom Thick Paint brushes, Corel Painter 2020
The performance enhancements in Painter 2020 are fantastic. I especially love the faster watercolor variants. I am partial to watercolor, so of course, I played in watercolor a good bit.
Corel Painter 2020, watercolor
I enjoyed showing various techniques using Painter’s watercolor variants.
Working wet into wet and letting the paint run in Corel Painter 2020
Showing various watercolor techniques in Painter 2020
It’s easy to make thick paint run; I show how.
Corel Painter 2020, Runny thick paint
As I mentioned before, I am partial to watercolor. I did a painting similar to this before the class. I liked it so much, I decided to re-create it as part of a Painter 2020 demonstration.
Corel Painter 202, watercolor
There is more in the class. Do join us, it is only $45.00 US. Follow this link to Register. The class will remain open for a year or more, so you will have plenty of time to “work at your own pace.” Hope to see you in class very soon.
Enjoy,
Skip
Hello Everyone,
I am so excited to announce registration is now open for my new “what’s new” class called Corel Painter 2020, “Speed of Light.” Register Here. The first lessons will be available on July 21, 2019.
On June 25, 2019, Corel announced its release of Corel Painter 2020. This is an exceptional upgrade. The new “performance optimization” is worth the price of the upgrade. Painter can now utilize the power of your GPU, graphics processing unit. The GPU is a specialized chip set designed to handle images, animations and videos on the computer screen. The GPU usually comes on your video card, but can be in a chip set on the motherboard. The GPU takes away the graphics processing from the CPU, central processing unit, or the brain of the computer. Having the GPU handle graphics speeds up the process. Many of Painter’s brushes require a lot of computer power to render a stroke. This new feature gives the brushes the power they need. It is important to run a report that optimizes your computer for Painter 2020. Please watch this video about Brush Optimization:
In this class, I cover all the new features of Painter 2020 and then some.
List of Features:
Performance Optimization – Painter can take advantage of multi-core systems, AVX2, and most important, the GPU on the video card.
Enhanced User Interface Elements and Brush Visual – Painter 2019 improved the UI; Painter 2020 revamps it and makes it easier than ever to paint. Do not be fooled and think this is just a small change. The UI changes touch all areas of Painter. The result is ease of use but there is a learning curve. I help you tame the learning curve.
New Color Selection Features – Oh boy, wait till you play with the color harmonies features. This is a very useful and well thought out function of Painter.
Enhanced Layer Work Flow – Almost every layer function is now one right click away. I love that.
And last but not least…4 New Brushes – I designed these watercolor variants. Watercolor is so much faster in Painter 2020; the medium is a joy to use.
I promise a fun and informative class. Registration starts on July 7, 2019 and the class begins July 21, 2019. Register Here:
Here are a couple of fun images done in Painter 2020:
Thick Paint and Watercolor in Corel Painter 2020
Thick Paint, Corel Painter 2020
Hope to see you in class.
Enjoy,
Skip
Skip Allen Paints 