Tag Archives: Corel Painter

New Brush Packs from Corel Painter

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hey Y’all,

Here is something really new.  I just noticed that Corel Painter has a new product available, Brush Packs.  There are nine different brush packs created by professionals in specific fields.  All look very interesting.

Don’t have Painter 2015, no problem, six of the sets are compatible with Painter X3 and 12.  Three of the sets are particle brushes and those, of course, are not compatible with versions earlier than 2015.

I haven’t downloaded and played with any of the brushes, but I will.  I’m reviewing them now to decide what I want to buy.  There is a watercolor set; I must have those. 🙂  I am very curious about the Particle sets, so I am sure I will try one of those.

OK…go check the New Brush Packs out.  As soon as I download one and give it a try, I’ll let you know what I think.

New Brush Packs for Corel Painter

New Brush Packs for Corel Painter

Enjoy,

Skip

Free Brushes, Corel Painter 12, Buttery Oils, Tim Shelbourne Tutorial

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I am so excited about this post for several reasons.  First, the number of followers of my blog hit 1000 a couple of days ago.  I can’t believe it.  I want to thank you all for visiting and commenting.  We have one thing in common; a passion for digital painting, especially with Corel Painter 12.  I wish I knew what to say that would let you all know how thankful I am.

The second excitement for me and I hope for you is a new set of brushes.  I’ve named them Buttery Oils because that is the way they feel.  Oh yes, that is right, these are not watercolor variants.  I know many of you have asked for more opaque type media.  I do think this is one of my best sets.  After you try them, do let me know what you think.

But the real excitement comes next  My friend, Tim Shelbourne, has made video using Buttery Oils.  I love to watch Tim paint and talk about what he is doing.  He does give you technical information that will help with any project, but more importantly in my book, he shows us how to paint.  He is a traditional and digital artist and he is good at both mediums. We are in for a real treat; we will come away from the videos inspired.

Tim has a wonderful site called The Artist’s Quarter (TAQ).  To gain entrance, you do have to register, but registration is free.  Inside there is a store, lots of tutorials…both Painter and Photoshop, but more importantly, the TAQ community is passionate about making art and willing to share with each other.  There are various levels of membership.  I am sure there is one just right for you.

Let’s start this post with Tim’s videos.  I was going to show mine about the technology of the variants, but realized that Tim talks about that too.  His will probably be all that some need.  If you want a bit more technical information, then look at my two videos.

In concert, I present Tim Shelbourne with Buttery Oils.

OK…need more information?  In the next video I take one of the Buttery Oils variants and tweak it in different ways.  It really is a brush lesson for these types of variants.  If you are at all interested in brush making, this video is for you.

The last video and the shortest, is a quick rundown of the other variants in the set.

Well folks, that is about it, but I have one more bit of news.  I have purchased the Wacom Intuos 5 and I love it.  The next set of videos will be about installation and set up for Painter 12.  I can’t wait to do the videos…the new tablet is that nice.

You can find the links to download Buttery Oils on the Buttery Oil Download Page.

Bye for now,

Skip

PS: a note from our favorite good computer virus, Kevin.

Skip has completely ignored me on this post.  I’m a good virus so I cannot retaliate.  He is so mean.  When he bought the new computer I thought we would have lots of room to play…and there is lots of room, but I play alone.  Does anyone know another nice computer virus that might like to room with me.  Let me know.

Sincerely,

Kevin, the good computer virus.

Corel Painter 12 Demo, Real Watercolor Category Brushes

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

It is amazing how easy it is to emulate traditional watercolor in Painter 12.  I decided to do another painting demo for a couple of reasons.  The first is I love painting with this new brush engine, and I am having a blast making new brushes.  The second is to let everyone know that I am teaching a class at the Digital Art Academy called The Basics of Watercolor in Painter 12, which begins Oct 22; registration is now open.  My custom watercolor brushes that I keep promising will be ready by then, hopefully sooner.  You do not have to join the class to get them; I will post them here for everyone.

With the basic class in mind, I did this very simple watercolor.

Bud Vawe

Simple watercolor done in Corel Painter 12

During the first part of the session as we would do if we were taking a traditional watercolor class, we will focus on brush use and how to develop washes and other typical watercolor marks.

The last painting demo I did was 7 videos long, which is way too long.  This time, I am providing only one video that is about 27 minutes long.  You can view all or skip over the dull parts. 🙂

But before I forget, I want to mention that I am also going to teach a class at DAA  called The Basics of Brush Making in Painter 12.  In this class I am going to demystify brush making and make it fun.

Hope you enjoy the video; please let me know what you think.

Skip

Karen Bonaker’s Nature Water Brushes – Fabulous

Posted by Skip Allen on

Corel Master Painter Karen Bonaker has just posted her new Nature Water Brushes to her Blog.  These are fabulous brushes.  They are not watercolor brushes; Karen made them with painting rivers, lakes, oceans and waterfalls in mind, but in reality, they are so much more useful.  In this image she used her Pure Water brush a lot.  It is an amazingly versatile brush.  Following is what she says on her blog:

“My Fall Open Studio is just coming to an end and I wanted to share with you the brushes that were used in this session and some of the wonderful paintings created by my students. Open Studio is always special and so much individual growth takes place with each artist, it is wonderful to see.

Nature water brushes are not Watercolor brushes, they are derived from a blender brush variant called Water Rake. Please view the videos to understand how to use them in your creative process.”

Do visit Karen’s blog and download her brushes!

Karen Bonaker’s Nature Water Brushes

Enjoy,

Skip

Corel Painter 12 Hot Fix for MAC OS X 10.7

Posted by Skip Allen on

Update:  You no longer need the Hot Fix, Sp-1 has now been released for the Mac and PC.  It is the only update you currently need and you can find both here.

I was browsing the Core Painter 12 Site and noticed that there is a hot fix for Mac OS X 10.7.  I just wanted to let my MAC user friends know; I’m not sure how long the fix has been out.  I don’t see a patch or hot fix for the PC, yet.

Painter 12 Logo

Painter 12 Rocks

Enjoy,

Skip

Quick Tip on Blending Watercolor Digitally

Posted by Skip Allen on

I was in Karen Bonaker’s Paint with Me class recently and was working in watercolor. Frequently, I will mix watercolor and digital watercolor variants to get the look I want. I guess I never noticed this before, or never tried it with watercolor, but the Pickup Underlying Colors option was active in the layers panel. And when I began to paint with a digital watercolor variant over the watercolor layer, it picked up the colors and began to blend them. I know what most of you are thinking. He never tried Pickup Underlying Colors before, right? Well, I have; I use it all the time with other media, but for some reason I had not used it with watercolor.

“And you think I am going to believe you?”

“Kevin, leave me in peace. May I write one blog post without your interruptions.”

“I’m just trying to keep it real.”

“But, you are not rea….”

“I am to real! We established that with Uncle Tim. I am a good virus like Glenda the good witch in the Wizard of Oz,” he screeched.

“Whatever.”

I turned back to my computer and began typing, but I guess you know that. Sometimes I get confused and wonder who I am talking with, the imaginary virus or the imaginary folks who may be reading the blog. But I digress.

So I was in Karen’s class, and I started applying paint using my Splashing Water > Digital Sq Pool Blender and was shocked to see very rich colors and some cool blending happening. As you would expect, color from the previous layers added to the richness of the current layer colors. To demonstrate, I didn’t know which would be better, a painting or a video. I decided a video, but in the video, I mentioned that I hadn’t used the technique in a painting, which is only partially true. There was the painting in Karen’s class, but I haven’t actually finished the painting. That means I haven’t actually used it in a painting, right?

“Exactly, now do you see why I cannot believe you. Your thoughts are so frigging convoluted.”

“Oh good grief.”

To continue: I then decided it would be fun to use the Kaleidoscope Painting tool and make a finished example, which I did. However, even though I used the blending technique, it doesn’t show very well. I lost myself in the pretty colors. That Kaleidoscope Painting tool is addictive. It is hypnotic. I know it can be used to make beautiful paintings; one of my students used it to make an umbrella being held by a bathing beauty. It was terrific and very creative. I was just playing for the sake of playing. Hey, I’m retired, I can do that.

Next is the image I made and following that will be the video tip. I hope you enjoy them. Don’t be afraid to leave comments.

Watercolor blended Kaleidoscope
Painted in Painter 12 with Real Watercolor variants and Digital Watercolor variants.

Next is the quick tip video.

That’s it for this post. I am getting a fair number of hits these days and I really appreciate the visitors. Stop by often.

Skip

Sample Video from my Corel Painter 12 Class

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I have been so busy with my class I haven’t had time to add anything to my blog.  It occurred to me that I could add one or two of the videos I created for the Painter 12 Class.  I guess I could call it a preview or sample from the class.   There are about 30 class videos, so showing one or two will not give away the plot.  There are so many new and enhanced features it takes that many videos to cover everything.

“It takes so many videos to cover everything because you are so verbose, long-winded, effusive, loquacious, rambling…  Have you got the picture, yet?”

“Kevin, my frien…”

“Don’t you my friend me!  Where have you been since the end of May when you last visited?  It gets lonely in here and even though you are not good company, you are the only company I get.  Sure folks drop by to look at your blog or watch a video, but they never say hello to me.  If I could make the first move, then it would be different…but alas, the visitors have to make the first move and they can’t even see me.”

“Oh Kevin, I am so sorry,” I said holding in a small chuckle, but not well enough.

“Now you are laughing at me.  I may tell every little dirty secret I know about you!  I really should,” he shouted.

Wow, Kevin isn’t usually this emotional; yes he throws barbs at me, but this time he seems genuinely hurt.

“Kevin, I really am sorry that you are lonely.  I’ll tell you what I will do.  I’ll paint your portrait using Painter 12.  How about that.  When I get it done, I am sure lots of folks will want to talk with you.  Shoot, you know as much about Painter 12 as I do; they may start asking you questions.”

“You promise to make me look good.”

“You do look good, I just need to capture your winning personality.  But Right now I need to post the video from my class.  And Kevin, you have my cell number.  Why not give me a shout when you are lonely.”

“You never answer your cell!”

“I know; I keep forgetting to carry it around with me,” I admitted.  “I’ll try to do better, but for now, let me finish the job at hand.”

Kevin is a nice enough guy, and I have known him all my life.  Sometimes, though, he can be so clingy.  If anyone wants to strike up a conversation with Kevin, feel free…I’m sure you will be happy that you did.

Following is the video from Week 1 of the class.  We are in the third week and the final and fourth week starts Saturday.

If you enjoy the music by Michael Moore-Kelly, do check out his album, “Piano Without Makeup” at Amazon.com.

Well that’s it for this post.  I hope you enjoy the video and if you are looking for a place to learn the new stuff in Painter 12, consider my class at Digital Art Academy.  Registration starts Saturday.

Enjoy,

Skip

New Video – Cloning in Painter 12

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Friends,

ANNOUNCEMENT: I have a class starting Digital Art Academy called Painter 12, A New Beginning.  To find out more and register, follow this link: Painter 12, A New Beginning

I have just completed another video tutorial about Corel Painter 12.  The more I use the program the more I like it.  This tutorial is about cloning and using Painter 12’s new Clone Source Panel.  I show how the method works, but I don’t actually complete a piece; I wanted to keep the video short.  Also, if you like to auto-paint, you can do it easily.  Once you have set up the Clone Source Panel, just open the Auto-Painting Panel and proceed as you would in Painter 11.  This tutorial will be a two-parter.  There are a number of other things I want to show you using the Cloning Panel instead of using the Clone Source Panel.  Both tools are terrific and fun to do.  Here is the video.

If you love the music, it is by Michael Moore-Kelly. You can get his album, “Piano Without Makeup” from Amazon.com.

Look for another video soon.

Skip

Splashing water download

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Friends,

I am trying to do a bit more with this blogging and add another download of one of my watercolor brush sets for Corel Painter 11.  Actually, there are two downloads.  One is called PIX Splashing Water and the other is called P11 Splashing Water.  Why two downloads?  Well, when I make brushes in Painter 11, they are not backward compatible to earlier versions of Painter.  David Gell , an incredible brush master for Corel Painter, has a way of making the brushes backwardly compatible, and he generously makes them compatible for me.  However, this time, there were two brushes that were using the Hard Media brush engine, which is not backwardly compatible.  To alleviate the problem, David changed the two brushes in a way that it is impossible to tell the difference from the ones that I originally made and the ones that are backwardly compatible.

So what does this mean to you? When you click on the link below, if you are using Painter 11 select the P11 Splashing Water brushes for download.  If you are using Painter IX or X, then select the PIX Splashing Water Download.  If you have all three versions, then PIX Splashing Water will work for IX, X or 11.  Or shoot, if you like, just download both.

“Now you are confusing folks,” quipped Kevin.

“Oh hey, Kevin.  I was wondering if you were going to show up.”

“Present and here to help.”

“Oh good grief,” I sighed.  “Look it isn’t really hard.  If you are working in Painter 11 and would like the set as designed, then download P11 Splashing Water.  But, if you have all three versions, you can get by with just PIX Splashing Water and you will not really miss the original design because to be honest, I can’t tell the difference after David changed the variants.”

BTW, both zip files are compatible with StudioChris Brush Manager. Here is the link for the brush downloads:

Splashing Water

Now for the next surprise.  I am experimenting with videos added to the blog.  Here are a couple that are 10 minutes long and show a bit about how I envisioned the use of the brushes.  However, I find that folks use them in very different ways than I expect, which is great.  I love to see what folks do with the brushes.

Here is the second video and it is a little longer than 10 minutes.  I didn’t demo all the brushes, but if you have any problems or questions, please feel free to add a comment and I’ll try to help in any way I can.

Well that is it for this post.  I hope it is enjoyable and useful to you.

“I’m impressed.  You did good.”

“What? Kevin you are giving me a compliment,” I replied skeptically.

“Yes, you are learning about blogging and are picking up a few new tricks.  For an old dog, that is pretty impressive.”

I don’t think I’ll answer him.  I know there is a catch here, so it is best to just leave it alone.

I just noticed something.  The second video doesn’t seem to have the HD option in the upper right corner like the first video does.  Both were done in HD format and the video press upgrade is supposed to show the videos in HD.  I have deleted the video several times, reproduced it several times, but it always posts as if it isn’t HD.  Got to figure that one out.  Anybody having the same problem?

Enjoy!