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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Winifred Whitfield has created another class at the Digital Art Academy; Portrait Painting with Winifred Whitfield. Her classes are very popular and I know this one will be, too. Winifred is no stranger to portrait painting and has received national and international awards for her portraits. The class will include demonstrations of many painting techniques, but will focus primarily on blending. Winifred also shows the important step of preparing the photograph to paint. She gets the photograph ready in Painter, which negates the need for photography software…everything is done in Painter.
It is that time of year again. Holiday Open Studio, a tradition at Digital Art Academy, starts day after tomorrow, Saturday, November 8, 2014. As usual, it will be a fun packed few weeks. Do join us and click the link above and register for this session.
A beautiful image created by Corel Master Painter, Karen Bonaker.
This year, I start the party with lessons on calligraphy. OK, I’m not a calligrapher or a scribe, but I created some cool brushes and show you the basics of calligraphy. I teach a type style called Foundational Hand, which Edward Johnson developed from a 10th century manuscript. Want to see a quick video of me starting the alphabet with Foundational Hand. Well, it is below, but fair warning…it is really a shameless advertisement for the class…but you do see me making part of the alphabet.
Elaina Moore-Kelly reserved the second week for an old-fashioned nostalgic look at Christmas. She explains how to create a Christmas card that looks like a chalkboard card. It is very cool and this type of image is very trendy in craft circles this year. Elaina provides written and video lessons.
Elaina Moore-Kelly’s Chalkboard Christmas
Next up is Aaron Rutten with something fascinating. Aaron demonstrates how to paint totem art in a traditional Native American style. Totemic art is found in cultures all around the world, which allows the student to draw inspiration from a variety of places. Aaron encourages each student to choose their own totem animal or symbol, and paint it abstracted instead of in a realistic way.
Totem Art by Aaron Rutten
Corel Master Painter Karen Bonaker takes the lead for the two final weeks. She developed a wonderful technique to create digital Japanese woodcuts. I have seen some of her images and they are stunning. She is very excited about the process and I can tell it will be a lot of fun.
What color is snow? Karen tells us in her second week. I can’t wait to find out. I thought snow was white. Didn’t you? Karen paints snow scenes in a glorious rainbow of colors; after the class, we can too.
Winter Road – Digital Woodcut by Corel Master Painter Karen Bonaker