Tag Archives: Skip Allen and Painter 12

New Driver for Wacom Pen Tablets

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

Wacom released a new driver 9/13/2011 for the Intuos Pen Tablets.  Here is the link for the Americas Wacom Product Drivers.

Links for other areas:  (Update…just heard from Tim Shelbourne after I posted that the driver for Europe is not updated.  We checked Asia/Pacific and it isn’t updated either.  I do not know about China and Japan.  So apparently, the update is available only for the Americas at the moment.  Hopefully Wacom will post to the other sites soon.  If you are a CS5 user, the updated driver enables full pressure.  Thanks Tim.)

Wacom Europe

Wacom China Site

Wacom Asia/Pacific

Wacom Japan Site

I have used a Wacom Intuos tablet for several years.  Currently I am using the Wacom Intuos 4.  I love this product.  The 2048 levels of pressure are fantastic and make painting with Painter 12 an absolute joy.

Have Fun,

skip

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.

Real Watercolor Brushes

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

Skip

Painter 12 SP1 Patch Adds New Feature

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I can’t wait to tell you about the Patch that Corel Painter 12 released a couple of weeks ago.  If you haven’t gotten SP1, yet, do not delay and download it today.  You will be very glad that you did.  But before I start talking about the patch, I want to give you some links to developer blogs at the Corel Painter Factory site.  These blogs have information that I don’t think you can find anywhere else.  Here are the three blogs :  SP!LOG; musings from sp!ke, a Painter user experience designer…; DAN’S PAINTER INSIGHTS; and CHRIS’ BRUSH BLOG.  If you haven’t been watching these blogs, you missed some terrific information.  I don’t believe there is an email subscription, but there is an RSS feed.  In my video, I will refer to Dan’s blog a couple of times, but there is information on Chris’ blog about multicore options, too.  And on Steve’s blog, you will find a list of all the changes made in SP-1.

The biggest change is a new feature called Multicore Usage added to Edit > Preferences > Performance.  It is similar to Memory Usage.  I found a number of my Painter 12 students had upgraded the patch but didn’t have a clue about the new feature.  I realized I needed to do a video for the class and thought I could make it for my blog, too.  I am thinking there are others out there who are not aware of the new feature.  I am a little late in spreading the word.  Here is the video:

“You think you are a little late? The party’s been over for a week”

“Oh Kevin don’t start.  Just be glad that I am here and adding the video.  I haven’t been absent from the blog for that long”

“Yes you have,” Kevin the good virus screamed.

Maybe he isn’t so good.  For a long time I thought he was an imaginary friend, but I discovered that he is really a computer virus, but a good one.  He likes to compare himself with Glenda, the good witch in the Wizard of Oz.

“Do you realize that you have been a way for over a month.”

“OK, so it has been a month.  Big deal!”

I don’t know what his beef is about.  He can visit with any visitors to the site.  I think he really is mad because most folks ignore him; poor guy.

“It is a big deal and if you don’t start posting regularly, I will make you wish you had!”

“Yeah, you and who else.  If I remember correctly you are a good virus.  How could you hurt me?”  I said that laughingly.

I heard a quick intake of his breath with that last quip and then, “I can turn into a bad virus at the snap of my finger.”

Again laughingly, “Last time I looked you didn’t have any fingers.”

Another audible gasp, the sound of little “feet” running across the floor, followed by the slam of a door.  A very dramatic exit.  I wonder if he could turn into a bad virus.  No way…he is a good virus.

I haven’t finished my new watercolor brushes, yet.  Every Time I think I am going to finish, I make three or four more variants.  And if I don’t have enough to do, I have started another set, but not watercolor.  This set is using opaque paint and each brush is a captured dab.  To make the brushes work like Artist’s Oils or RealBristles, I am using the dryout slider in the Well brush control panel.  I have already started some videos about those brushes and will post soon.  I have some other great news, too, but I’ll wait for the next post to tell you about it.

I guess that’s it for this post.

Enjoy,

Skip

Painting Demo with Corel Painter 12 Real Watercolor

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I think I have mentioned that I am working on some new brushes for Painter 12 using the Real Watercolor brush engine.  I really love the brushes created with this new engine. The watercolor and digital watercolor categories mixed with the real watercolor category can create a watercolor look and feel.  At this point in the brush making process, I paint with the new brushes; I take them for a spin and kick their tires.  I will do a number of paintings each with a different technique or approach. It is a fun exercise, but not all the paintings are successful.

I created 7 videos that will show you the step by step process of painting with the new Real Watercolors in Painter 12.  This is the first time I have done a project like this; I don’t know if it will bore you to death or be fun to watch.  Just remember, you can always fast forward.  The finished painting looks like this:

Orange Flower

Painted in Corel Painter 12 using Real Watercolor type brushes

I guess we better get started.  Each video is 10 to 15 minutes long, with most being close to 10 minutes.

Whew, that is a bunch of videos.  I hope you enjoy them.  Painter 12 Rocks!!!

Don’t forget to visit Studio|Chris and pick up the MXSMaker.

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

Offset Sampling – Two videos from my Painter 12 Class.

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

The first session of my class, Painter 12, A New Beginning, just ended and registration for the second session is now open at the Digital Art Academy. Click on Registration Page to register.  The second session begins August 27, 2011 and ends September 23, 2011.  I hope to see a you there.

As a teaser, I am adding two more videos from the class.  The subject is Offset Sampling, which has been added to the Clone Source Panel.  It offers some unique ways to clone, and also can mimic the way you cloned in Painter 11.  I created most of this image during the videos, but added later.

Table and Lamp
Created in Painter 12 using Offset Sampling
 
 “It’s not nice to tease,” Kevin comments.
 
“Viruses are not nice, either.  Remember, I found out what you really are!”
 
“A very good virus; not a bad virus.  I’m like Glenda from the Wizard of Oz.  She is a good witch; not a bad witch.  I told you that already,” he corrected.
 
“Whatever, I’m busy.  Go away and don’t bother me.”
 
Sorry for the interruption.  In the following two videos, you will see how to clone with offset sampling.  The above image wasn’t completed during the videos.  I didn’t do much more, but later I will explain the few things that I did to arrive at the final piece.  These videos come from week four of the class, so you may think I am going over stuff pretty quickly, but remember we have already covered a great deal up to this point and I can up the pace for the students.   I hope you enjoy the videos.  BTW, I had a little static in a couple of places.  I’m not sure where it is coming from; I probably bumped the microphone or something similar.
 
 
 
After finishing the videos, I decided to do a little more to the image, which consisted of duplicating the top layer 3 times and playing with the composite method of each layer.  The other layers that were made, also had composite method changes and I tweaked the opacity slider a bit more.  And that was it.  I do enjoy working with offset sampling; I think it is a power but underused tool for Painter.
 
Well, that’s it for this post.  If you have questions of comments, please do make them.
 
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