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Lenovo introduces new laptop with built in Wacom tablet

Dave Toeg — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:42:00 GMT

I was wondering when they'd come up with something like this. I mean, sure you have a track pad, by why not have a mini-tablet that you could use your digital pen on. Well, looks like the folks at Lenovo thought "hey, that will work for those on-the-go graphic designers", and this is what they came up with:

17-inch Display
Intel Quad Core Extreme CPU
nVidia Quadro FX 370 graphics chipset with 1GB of video RAM
up to 8 GB of memory
dual hard drive bays configurable as RAID 0 or 1
and an optional Blu-ray burner

and the cool part:

a built-in Wacom tablet
an on-board color calibration system

The fully loaded system is around $3000, but that pretty much matches any mobile gaming systems that are out there too.

Check out the Engadget write-up about it.

Equinox Offered for Purchase

John Derry — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:33:00 GMT

Many of you may know that my wife, Pam, had a reoccurrence of leukemia earlier this year. Needless to say, this event radically changed our lives. We relocated to Omaha, NE in order to be close to the Lied Transplant Center at the Nebraska Medical Center. The Lied is a world-class transplant facility. Last month, Pam received an Matched Unrelated Donor (MUD) bone marrow transplant. So far, she is out of the hospital (although still under close supervision of the transplant specialists) and doing very well. The next phase is watching for any signs of rejection by the donor bone marrow. We are optimistic that this will all be a memory at some point.

The financial toll of the transplant has been pretty devastating for us. As a result, I am offering signed prints of Equinox for purchase to help pay for the costs associated with Pam's transplant.

Here is the story of behind the image:

Equinox represents a life-changing event in the Derry family’s lives. On March 20, 2006 —the first day of Spring, or vernal equinox— my wife, Pam, was diagosed with leukemia (AML). On that day, it was raining outside. The rainwater ran down our window, obscuring a grove of trees. This scene represented for me the emotions of that day. I felt compelled to record the moment and Equinox was born. Equinox has since been accepted into the prestigious Loan Collection of the 116th International Exhibition of Professional Photography and is being featured in Professional Photographer magazine.

Equinox is being offered both unframed and framed and is hand signed by the artist. If you are interested in purchasing a print, please visit the Equinox Print Page.

Thanks to everyone for the many messages, prayers, and good wishes during this time. We really appreciate it!

-john

Hello, everyone

cher pendarvis — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:42:00 GMT

A heartfelt "thank you" to the Painter team for providing this community for all of us Painter lovers! Lately I have been enjoying painting with the Artists Oils, Real Bristle Brushes and Pastels and of course my Wacom tablet. Even after all of these years, Painter continues to amaze me! Best wishes, Cher. My web site is: www.pendarvis-studios.com

Deja Vu All Over Again

Karen Sperling — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:59:00 GMT

I've been working on redesigning my web site:

http://www.artistrymag.com

I'm also working on my Painting for Photographers book.

http://www.artistrymag.com/docs/sperlingbook.html

It's funny how both things are taking me back and taking me into the future at the same time.

The web design is like moving into a new house. You have all your same furniture and
paintings, but somehow arranging the furniture and hanging the art in the new place
just makes them look so much better.

It's great to revisit some of the previous tutorials in redesigning their pages.

I'm also having a great time adding new information, including free stuff!

Visit this page for a new tip from the July 2008 issue of Artistry Tips and Tricks:

http://www.artistrymag.com/docs/tips.html

The Professional Photographers in Sacramento, CA liked the tip so much that they
posted it on their site, which was a real honor:

http://ppsv.blogspot.com/2008/07/free-painter-tutorial-from-karen.html

Meanwhile, I'm writing my fourth Painter book, entitled Painting for Photographers.

It's actually more like my 7th or 8th Painter book, if you count the Painter manuals I wrote
in addition to the Painter Companion, which was a book of tutorials that Fractal Design,
Painter's first publisher, produced.

As Yogi Berra said, it's like deja vu all over again.

I haven't written a book in a few years--though I never stopped writing Painter tutorials,
first for my printed Artistry newsletter and now for my current Artistry Tips and Tricks ezine.

It's such comfortable territory for me, since I've written books so many times before.

But what's new about it is how I'm using Painter.

I'm enjoying discovering new techniques for turning photos into paintings, based on
my experiences with working photographers at my Artistry Retreats and in private
training, and my own experiments in Painter, including for my abstract art,
and the techniques will be included in the book.

Here's my art web site:

http://www.karensperling.com

Speaking of Artistry Retreats, I have a new one coming up August 25-27, 2008 in Malibu, CA,
followed by an Artistry GARTEL Marketing Seminar August 28-29, 2008.

The Artistry Seminars are another case of Deja Vu all over again.

Though I've been teaching Painter since 1991, this is only the second class I'm holding in
Malibu, which everyone at the first session agreed was paradise.

I hold the classes at Pepperdine University, which is high up in the Santa Monica mountains
with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean.

It really is a special place.

Visit this page for more info:

http://www.artistrymag.com/docs/retreats.html

I'll be updating my web site with new information frequently,
so I hope you'll drop by my web site, link to it, bookmark it, and
visit often, so that it becomes like deja vu all over again for you!

Happy Painting!

Karen

Icon Handler for RIF files in Windows

steve szoczei — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:57:00 GMT

So after we introduced the Quick Look plugin for viewing Painter files in the Finder in Mac OS, many folks asked why we can't do the same for Windows.

So the development team here is always up for a challenge, and between projects they built a little utility that will display the preview of the image as the Icon for RIF files.

Simply download the utility from here [4.1 mB file].

Install it and you should be ready to go.

Once installed all of your Painter RIF files should now have an image preview with a small application icon badge.

Enjoy!

Corel to Showcase Corel Painter X at Comic-Con International 2008

kellylm — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:23:00 GMT

Ottawa, ON – July 15, 2008 – Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL; TSX:CRE), a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, today announced that it will be showcasing Corel® Painter^TM X, the world’s most powerful Natural-Media® painting and illustration software, at booth #5402 at Comic-Con International 2008 in San Diego from July 24 - 27, 2008.

Corel Painter X is a next-generation art studio that offers a broad range of painting, sketching and illustration tools that blurs the line between traditional and digital art like never before. Artwork created with Painter X has appeared in films, comic books and video games that are favorites of Comic-Con attendees. Artists have used Painter X’s innovative composition tools and the revolutionary RealBristle™ Painting System to create images for everything from simple sketches to a fan fiction book to concept art for the recent Star Wars® motion pictures.

"Realism is paramount for any artist involved in the entertainment industry," said Rob MacDonald, Product Manager for Corel Painter. "Painter’s comprehensive toolset and superior performance give entertainment artists, commercial designers and photographers the ability to control the smallest details of their imagery, whether they are creating a dazzling shield for a superhero or the sinister mask of a frightening villain. With Painter X, artists can let their imaginations guide them as they create the exciting characters that inspire and entertain all of us."

The Gift of Life

John Derry — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:45:00 GMT

On July 12th at 2:30 CST, my wife, Pam, was blessed with one of life's miracles: a bone marrow transplant. It is a miracle on several levels. The bone marrow came from an anonymous donor. Someone we don't even know or have any idea of where he lives was willing to go through the painful process of a bone marrow donation in order to provide Pam with the distinct possibility of regaining a normal life. Thankfully, there are millions of such individuals around the world that have signed up as potential bone marrow donors. When someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia, blood testing is done to find a potential match in the bone marrow registry. This ultimately leads to the patient receiving a donor's marrow. Without it, she would die.

Donor bone marrow is processed to remove everything but blood stem cells. Blood stem cells have the ability to develop into all of the various crucial components of healthy blood: red cells—the carrier of oxygen, white cells—the infection fighters, and platelets—blood's natural coagulation agent. These stem cells are delivered as a simple transfusion and find their way to the patient's bones, where they replace the diseased marrow that has been destroyed by chemotherapy and/or radiation. The photo shows the stem cells making their way to Pam's blood.

These stem cells then set up shop and effectively replace the patient's former immune system. In the process, they kill any residual blood cancer found in the patient. The patient will even take on the blood type of the donor. All of this occurs under a blanket of drug mediated immunosuppression designed to prevent any of the patient's residual immune system from attacking the donor's replacement immune system. Because the patient has no immune system until the new one takes hold, she is temporarily at risk for opportunistic infections. Great care is taken to minimize introduction of infection by isolating the patient during this period.

Once the new immune system matures, the patient recovers and resumes life. There can be residual effects associated with a bone marrow transplant. Pam will always be more susceptible to infection. She will have to avoid overexposure to the sun. But the specter of leukemia will largely be removed. While Pam's journey is still ongoing, a major hurdle has been overcome. In a year, Pam will have the opportunity to communicate with her donor. Until then, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your donation.

You can take part in the gift of life by becoming a bone marrow donor. By being in the registry, you join a pool of over 11 million individuals worldwide that stand ready to give someone a future. You can find out more at the website of the National Marrow Donor Program. If you are not located in the U.S., you can find other countries' marrow donor registries here.

Miracles never cease.

On Inspiration and influence – and another monster

Stewart McKissick — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:16:00 GMT

Hello again. I’m using this blog primarily as a way to supplement my teaching. So this time I’ll post just a few of my own influences here, and then talk a bit about how I incorporated one into a personal piece. I’ll also mention a couple of Painter related technical things not covered in the previous lengthy tutorial.

Today, the Internet makes researching fast and easy. There are dozens of sites where artists blog about influences as well as their own work. Current students are lucky to have such a wealth of riches at their disposal, although some don’t take enough advantage and do research as often or as well as they should. Successful artists know you have to look beyond the limitations of your own vision and ability.

Of course you also need to guard against just stealing directly – this is a big temptation that the huge number of images instantly available now can make all too easy. Digital artists are especially vulnerable to “sampling” the work of others without proper attribution or really making it their own in a fair and legal way. Students are often confused about what’s right and wrong. Even the law is unclear and ever changing regarding these things. Ultimately I think you have to look to your own conscience.

It is clear why I love monsters and cartoons – I grew up watching them on television and reading monster magazines and comics. They were the pop-culture soup I was born in. Wanting to capture these things in the days before home video led me to drawing and making models. Most kids do this, but a few of us, for better or worse, stick with it.

When I went to art school, I initially felt ashamed of my juvenile interests and pursued more “realistic” imagery. I have no regrets, because the training made me much better technically. But eventually I realized that you have to do what you love as an artist to really grow. So even though I’ve done lots of styles and subjects as a commercial illustrator, as I’ve gotten older I indulge my youthful interests whenever I can.

Just as today, lots of merchandise was sold to go with the television content of my youth, including books, many of them from Western Publishing in Racine, Wisconsin. They held licenses for many cartoon characters and published the Golden Books.

I loved Woody Woodpecker and Huckleberry Hound in particular. The EASY WAY TO DRAW BOOK was a big influence on me as I tried to make my own comic books out of folded up notebook paper.

Aurora Plastics put out a line of model kits based on Universal Pictures monster characters that were appearing on TV in the late 50’s and early 60’s. I loved these kits, and the box art in particular was wonderfully vivid. Imagine my delight when years later I learned that the artist who painted these, James Bama, went to school in New York with my college illustration professor.

When I was in high school, my aunt, an elementary art teacher, gave me an old college book of hers, 40 ILLUSTRATORS AND HOW THEY WORK, published in 1946. In it was the work of Boris Artzybasheff, one of the greatest “anthropormorphizers” of all time. I loved his carefully rendered bizarre characters. In graduate school I got to see many of his beautifully painted gouache originals.

It would be years later in art school that I actually learned many of these artist’s names by asking and reading. As I said, today it’s pretty easy to look these folks up. One book I had for years was this HUCKLEBERRY HOUND GIANT STORY BOOK. A little internet search revealed another surprise - the artists who did this, uncredited in the edition I have, were the same pair that did the EASY WAY book, Frank McSavage and Norm McGary.

As it turns out, these guys, as well as several others who often worked for Western such as Hawley Pratt, also worked in the animation business, so they were naturals at translating the flatter animated cartoon style into more rendered, dimensional versions for these books, especially for the covers. I loved them then, and I love them now!

For this latest monster, I was again trying to make a scene from my own cartoon. This one was a rejected sketch for a commercial job, but I liked the design and decided to have him walking a dog late at night, something I sometimes do. As I was playing around with a background environment to put him in, I remembered a favorite Huckleberry Hound cartoon with a giant monster wiener and mad scientist. This one was depicted in the story book, so I got my old copy out and found this image, probably drawn by McSavage.

I clearly “borrowed” it for my setting. (Also notice the similarity of the lightning to the electricity on the Bama BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN box.) I just sketched it in directly in Painter behind my scanned creature sketch until I had a layout I liked. Is this plagiarism? I like to think of it as a tribute. For one thing, I’m not trying to hide the source. For another, I did it for fun, not profit. I just wanted to make my own little story set in a world I fondly remember from my childhood.

Obviously my drawing style is derived from all these great cartoonists of the past. Hundreds of artists working today can say the same – other bloggers around my age mention the EASY WAY TO DRAW BOOK as an influence. All of us should have influences and heroes, but hopefully we’ll be able to add our own touches as we learn and grow.

I was also influenced by the painting style of the rendered Western covers. I still worked basically the same way as I always do, but specifically in the sky, I went for a more stroke- oriented approach and tried to get a slightly more “painterly” look instead of the airbrushed, uniform one on the previous piece. I find Painter did a pretty good job of getting this look, a kind of direct gouache style that uses dry-brush and textures to give richness to the cartoon form.

After I had my sketch, I began as always by working back to front, that is putting in the environment first. One different brush category I used here was the Digital Watercolor. This is another of my favorite Painter brushes – I like it better than the “regular” Watercolor brush because it’s faster. I also like the fact that it stays “wet” until you dry it, and the diffusion effect option that makes soft organic edges on strokes.

I have my own custom Variant that I made by “capturing” a brush tip. This is an easy way to make a shaped dab – one thing I don’t like about a lot of the Digital Watercolor Variants are their overly mechanical round tips. So I just drew a more organic shape and used the CAPTURE DAB command from the menu on the Brush Selector bar. The variant I started with was Diffuse Water. Using the SAVE VARIANT command from the same palette, I renamed my new one DIFFUSE WATER CAPTURED. The result is a more random, textured looking stroke.

I used this in the sky, as well as some of the Acrylic variants for linear strokes.

I continued along painting the various elements on their own layers, such as the castle and tree.

At one point, I tried making a custom “leaf brush” using the capture method, but I found the results too repetitive for the look I was after here – sometimes you have to edit yourself. Remember, often “it’s not what it does, it’s what it UNDOES”.

I used lots of different textures as I created the various objects, always trying to get that “fresh” look that the Western covers had – if something started to look over worked, I just deleted it and took another shot at it. Here’s a detail from another Golden Book cover, LIPPY THE LION by Pratt and McGary. Pratt probably drew this and McGary painted it. You can see the use of dry-brush texture.

One thing I did differently from their style was try to put more light and shadow into my piece – this is my favorite thing to do as an artist, along with creating mood through color. I wanted this to be very dark and atmospheric, so I went with a much cooler color scheme than in the telephone-pole piece.
Here the work is nearing completion, but as you can see it’s still lighter and lacking cast shadows. I love the way Artzybasheff rendered forms with a great sense of volume, and I tried to do that here. As I mentioned before, I use GEL layers to build up transparent values in a kind of glazing technique to bring the work to its final form.

The finished piece - I call it MIDNIGHT CONSTITUTIONAL.

I hope someone finds these tips useful, and I’ll post again when I think I have something worthwhile to share.

Show your Facebook friends how much you love Painter!

kellylm — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:51:00 GMT

If you're on Facebook, why not add yourself as a 'fan' to the official Corel Painter fan page? Follow this link to get started - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Corel-Painter/18862149282.

Painter X Essential Training with John Derry

John Derry — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:55:00 GMT

I'm pleased to announce the availability of my new lynda.com Painter X Training title. Here is the promotional blurb from lynda:

Painter X Essential Training with John Derry

"Expressive brushes." This is instructor John Derry's two-word answer as to why Painter is such an effective tool. When used with a Wacom tablet, Painter can elevate digital mark-making to a form of creative self-expression. Combining the aesthetics of traditional media with the freedom to experiment, Painter X Essential Training not only delves into each tool, palette, material, and brush, it also speaks to the artistic concepts of simplicity, stroke, proportion, and perspective. Exercise files accompany the course.

Topics include:

Understanding and customizing a Wacom table

Creating brushes

Painting with compositional aids

Working with layers

Cloning and using effects

Using Painter and Photoshop effectively

This is the first of multiple Painter titles I'll be doing in conjunction with lynda.com.

On the "Life Happens" front—Pam is now in remission after 2 rounds of chemo and is scheduled for her bone marrow transplant in June. We are currently in the process of moving to Omaha. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Rendered Cartoon Illustration Technique Part 4

Stewart McKissick — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:45:00 GMT

Moving forward to the monster, I continue the same basic methods, drawing shapes such as the eye, nostrils, mouth and teeth with the pen tool and rendering them in with the “grainy” airbrush. I turned off the grain for the teeth to keep them smooth looking. I used the Oval Selection tool for the eye and nostril masks.

One final technique variation I used here is Gel layer overlays to build up value on the monster. I just put flat color on a new layer set to the Gel composite method above the monster’s body layer. This will be transparent, and I can also increase or decrease the layer’s transparency to further control the value effect using the transparency slider on the Layers palette.

In this detail you can see how I put highlights back on top of the Gel layer on another regular opaque layer. These give a sense of form and reflected color and light.

I added the claws on still another layer above the monster’s body. I put final details on the telephone pole, hydrant, and water. For the straight lines of the wires I just set the brush to the straight line strokes option (button on Property bar or lower case v on the keyboard). I make final adjustments of color and value throughout the piece until I’m satisfied.

To sum up, I think one should remember that the real key to an illustration such as this is working on the drawing, style, and composition BEFORE you start to render it in on the computer, no matter what techniques you finally use. I often point out to my students that a common mistake beginners make is to rush to the finish too fast without doing preliminary planning. I call this “icing a cake before it’s baked”. A stylized image requires a different approach than a more expressive or reference-based picture.

I hope someone will find this information useful. I’ll try to post a new image and some pointers (although not such a long tutorial-whew!) monthly or so.

Rendered Cartoon Illustration Technique Part 3

Stewart McKissick — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:30:00 GMT

As I said earlier, one thing I like about Painter is how it can draw and import vector shapes. Not only do I use these to make my “friskets” or masks, but also to create clean graphic shapes.

An example in this illustration is the smoke coming out of the monster’s nostrils and behind him. I want these shapes to have a smooth, decorative curling, a look difficult to achieve and control with a regular brush. But once you’ve mastered the Pen tool, you can easily control and edit curves.

To start, I’ve set the tool to draw black strokes with no fills in the Set Shape Attributes menu.

Then I trace my sketch with the Pen tool as before, but in this case I leave the shapes with a stroke instead of converting them to selections.

However, I wish to soften these shapes as they are supposed to represent smoke. To do this I’ll need to convert them to one of Painter’s regular pixel layers rather than the vector Shape layer (indicated on the Layers palette by a circle and triangle rather than a stack of 3 rectangles). To do this you can click the icon on the Property Bar while in the Pen Tool or use the Convert To Layer command in the menu when the shape is selected.

Once I have done this I duplicate the shapes by clicking on them with the Layer Adjuster arrow while holding the Option Key (or going to Layer>Duplicate Layer in the menu). Now I have two of each smoke shape one on top of the other. I select the lower one and apply an Effect from the menu – in this case I use Focus>Soften to blur the shape.

The result is a soft haze around each smooth line.

I eventually color the lines and haze, and soften some of the lines above the blurred ones with the Photo Brush set to Blur and Diffuse Blur. This way I can just blur the parts of the top lines I want to rather than the entire line.

In the next part of this tutorial I’ll finish up the monster and foreground and make a few final points.

Rendered Cartoon Illustration Technique Part 2

Stewart McKissick — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:08:00 GMT

Once I have all the basic layers created, I start shading them in. Understanding shading and form are also things one must practice. This is my favorite part of image making. I usually imagine a light source, but I never get too obsessed with this – I have learned that the most important thing is to make a picture FEEL correct, especially a fantasy-oriented one like this. Edges need to stand out in the foreground and on important shapes, and can recede to create distance.

Here the obvious strong light source depicted by the fire has to be respected to a large degree, but you can still take liberties to make the overall mood and color harmony work for the good of the design and composition. It’s seldom a good idea to “zone isolate” colors to one part of a picture – they need to move throughout to create balance and unity, and to move the eye.

For instance, I use a lavender-blue color on the buildings in the distance, partly for design effect (I just like bright cartoony color!) and partly because city buildings are often cool colors, and cool colors tend to recede. Yet I also want to make sure they contrast well with the very warm flames behind them. I make sure to carry an accent of that blue into the pictorial foreground in the water squirting from the fire hydrant.

As I start to add details to layers such as the buildings, I make “sub-selections” again using the pen tool as detailed in Part 1. Many of these I DO save to channels so I can turn them on and off. I could continue to make layers, but the more layers you make, the more memory it requires, and the program can start to slow down. You can load selections and invert them for “positive and negative” masks, and combine them with other ones for various new masks.

As to the brushes I’ve used, I tend to keep things simple – I don’t use a large number of different brush categories in a single illustration – again, I think this can lead to disharmony and call too much attention to the method itself, rather than the subject at hand. I love texture, and as I’ve stated earlier, I think the way Painter uses the pressure sensitive paper textures is one of its very best features.

Much of this picture was painted with the basic Digital Airbrush, but I make one important modification – I make it paper texture-sensitive by changing its Method Subcategory from Soft Cover to Grainy Hard Cover in the Brush Controls>General palette. Now I can bring out the grain of the basic paper texture, which I’ve used here at 150% scale. I also used the Variable Splatter Airbrush variant for some larger “speckles” in the flames.

I continue working back to front, occasionally changing things as the picture develops (notice how I rethought the most distant buildings, simplifying them to make the hand stand out better). Next, I’ll show a couple of simple “tricks” I used to make the smoke coming out of the monster’s nostrils.

Rendered Cartoon Illustration Technique Part 1

Stewart McKissick — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:57:00 GMT

So here we go. I do hope someone finds this useful. All I ask is that you please don’t copy this tutorial verbatim and reproduce it elsewhere. I’m happy to share for free, but I wish to keep my copyright. I’ve also published a similar tutorial of a simpler image in Corel Painter Magazine, issue 8, called “An Introduction to Airbrushing” for those who might be interested.

I start by taking my scanned line drawing and copying it to its own new layer, which I make a GEL composite method layer.

This makes it transparent, and I can turn it on and off as a guide as my image develops. I also leave the original red scan as the Canvas layer.

I do a lot of work in this style using the Pen Tool. Drawing vector-based shapes takes practice, but there’s no better way to digitally create precise paths than this. Painter’s Pen Tool works pretty much the same way Illustrator’s and Photoshop’s does, placing straight-line points and allowing you to pull “handles” that control the curves.

What I’m really doing is the equivalent of “frisket” cutting for traditional airbrushing. I design these illustrations to be broken into a series of major shapes that will each be on its own layer.

Here you see the completed “Shape” path (look carefully - you can give these strokes and fills, but mine is just a path indicated in light blue with red points drawn to define the edges of the back-most flame shape). You can of course re-arrange layers easily, but I try to work logically “back-to-front” as I go.

Here I’ve converted the shape path to a selection. You can do this with a button on the Property Bar while the Pen Tool is selected , or from the Shapes Menu anytime the shape is selected. Selections are masks that control where digital “paint” or effects can go. The active selection is a moving dashed line sometimes called “marching ants”.

Now I fill the active selection with a flat color. You can use the Paint Bucket tool or go to Effects>Fill on the menu bar. At this point you can save the selection to the Channels palette, which I sometimes do, but often I don’t bother if the selection is ultimately going to be it’s own layer. This is because you can control where pixels go on a layer by using Preserve Transparency on the Layers Palette.

Here you see the filled shape layer and the Gel layer with the line drawing turned on. As I cover the Canvas layer, I can still see where I am by turning this on anytime I want. This will not be a part of the finished image.

Here I repeat the process for the next major area of flames. I don’t worry about the edges in common with the first shape, because I can load the selection to intersect with the transparency from the first shape’s layer. This gives a perfectly aligned edge when I fill it (as the second shot shows). I also don’t worry about edges that I know will be covered up by succeeding layers.

Here I’ve added a third shape layer over the last two.

I continue along using this method to establish the major elements of the illustration on layers. This is also a good way to begin creating your color scheme. Here is the progress with and without the Gel layer on. At this stage I already have 8 or 9 layers. Once I have this basic image, I’ll begin to add the details. We’ll talk about this in the next installment.

Finally back!

Stewart McKissick — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:24:00 GMT

I knew when I started that I’d have trouble finding the time to keep this up properly. The only really good blogs are regular ones. Still, I don’t think there’s much point to posting just for the sake of it. The only reason someone might want to read this is for some useful information. I’m on spring break from my teaching this week and no pending freelance deadlines, so I swore to myself I’d get something posted here in between doing my taxes and painting my bathroom!

I’d like to start by answering a question I’m frequently asked: Why do I use Painter instead of Photoshop for my illustration work?

The answers are:

A.    – Painter is the first program I learned to use on a computer, so I have a long familiarity with it.
B.    – I like the interface that comes from traditional artist’s materials rather than photography (as I do!).
C.    – I prefer the brush customization interface, and the pressure-sensitive paper texture feature.
D.    - I often like to use Painter’s vector Shapes feature or import vector art from Adobe Illustrator. I prefer the way Painter handles this to Photoshop.

I know that much of what you can do in Painter you can do in Photoshop, so to each their own, but for me it’s Painter.

I’m a “jack of all trades” kind of illustrator, but my favorite things to do are cartoony humorous illustrations. Like many a little boy, I loved drawing monsters and rocket ships and the like. Like many an illustrator, I’ve never quite grown up. So I still love these things.

Here is a piece that’s actually posted elsewhere on this site in the ADAPT Expo gallery. I did it for a proposed show a friend of mine was trying to get off the ground. Since it was not a “real” job, I took the time to document the creation for possible teaching use.

I’ll share it with you here over the next few days.

The way I’ve made this piece is basically my favorite way of working in Painter. It’s not for everybody, because it’s rather indirect, labor intensive, and creates large files.

The style is what I’ve come to call “rendered cartoon”. I’m not really a great natural draughtsman, really more a designer. I need to carefully shape and plan things. If I have any gift it might be for color and lighting. So I love to take the stylized world of the cartoon and shade it into a sense of rounded form. I’m highly influenced by animated cartoons and often imagine I’m creating my own little self-contained scene from one when I’m making a picture such as this.

All my work starts with traditional drawing – lots of struggle with thumbnail sketches to find what I’m after – I like to paraphrase the writer Dorothy Parker by saying “I don’t like drawing, I like having drawn”. I work hard to get all the things I want right in the line drawing stage. I just use lots of sketching and tracing paper and go through lots of revisions, finally making a careful drawing in hard red pencil on vellum paper. I use this kind of pencil because I like the way it feels better than graphite. None of this has much to do with being “digital”, although I do use the computer at this stage to find reference, and to re-size and distort parts of drawings on occasion. I scan the finished drawing into the computer.

Once I have this, the real fun for me begins, because while I mostly “think” my way to this point, I “feel” my way through the color and light. And even though my approach is pretty technical, I still find it intuitive. I really enjoy making the image “come to life” with color and texture. This is what I love about Painter.

Next I’ll start the step by step of how I do this style. Hopefully I’ll get these up in a regular fashion.

Corel® Painter™ X To Be Featured at WPPI 2008

kellylm — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:29:00 GMT

Three Painter Masters to Participate in Show’s “First Ladies of Photography” Panel

Ottawa, ON – March 5, 2008 – Corel Corporation today announced that it will be showcasing Corel® PainterTM X, the world’s most powerful Natural-Media® painting and illustration software, at booth #739 at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) Convention and Tradeshow taking place in Las Vegas from March 12 - 20.

According to TheKnot.com, 2.4 million weddings are performed and $72 billion is spent each year on weddings in the United States. Professional photography, a crucial element in every couples’ wedding experience, consumes up to 10 percent of the total wedding budget. Through the blending of natural media elements with digital photographs, Corel Painter X provides professional photographers with new creative options and revenue streams by enabling them to offer their clients unique, highly personalized work that goes beyond the standard wedding photography packages.

“Painter X provides professional photographers with new creative options and new revenue streams, whether they are making subtle artistic enhancements to an image, creating dramatic painted portraits, or adding painted backdrops to their original photographs,” explained Robert MacDonald, Product Manager for Corel Painter. “We are excited to showcase Painter’s capabilities at WPPI and are very proud that three of our Painter Masters will be featured speakers at the conference’s ‘First Ladies of Photography’ panel.”

Painter Masters are creative professionals recognized for their unique vision, creativity and passion for their work. This year, three of Corel’s Painter Masters - Jane Conner-ziser, Maura Dutra and Helen Yancy - will be featured at the show’s First Ladies of Photography panel, taking place on Tuesday, March 18 at 8:30 p.m. Back by popular demand, this panel includes nine of the most recognized photographers in the industry and will focus on how each of the artists has succeeded in a highly competitive market. In addition to participating in the panel, Dutra will also be at the Corel booth (#739) throughout the conference to demonstrate how she uses Corel Painter X. During these demonstrations, she will be available to answer questions and discuss the benefits Painter X offers professional photographers who are looking for new ways to explore the digital medium and expand their range of photographic services.

Corel Painter X is the world's most powerful natural media painting and illustration software, delivering a next-generation art studio that blurs the line between traditional and digital art like never before. Working closely with photographers and other design professionals, the Painter X team explored the relationship between the artist's hand and the canvas. As a result, Corel Painter X has become the industry standard for digital painting and illustration, with the introduction of unparalleled performance, new composition tools and the revolutionary RealBristle Painting System.

For more information on Corel Painter X or to download a fully-functional trial version, please visit www.corel.com/painter. For more information about WPPI, please visit www.wppionline.com.

Why I've Been AWOL

John Derry — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:52:00 GMT

I haven't posted here recently and I feel I owe an explanation. Unfortunately, it is an explanation I wish I didn't have to use.

My wife, Pam, was diagnosed with leukemia (AML) two years ago. She went through chemotherapy and quickly went into remission. We recently found out that she has relapsed. We are now in the process of preparing for a bone marrow transplant. We will be temporarily relocating from Overland Park, KS to Omaha, NE. Pam will be receiving her transplant at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Over the past 2 years, I've necessarily had to learn more about hematology and AML than I ever wanted to know. A bone marrow transplant—actually, a peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT} these days—is a pretty amazing process. Bone marrow is the "factory" that generates our red and white cells, as well as platelets. Red cells are responsible for supplying oxygen. White cells fight infection, and platelets coagulate blood to prevent bleeding. This triumvirate is our immune system. A PBSCT effectively replaces the donor's malfunctioning immune system with a new replacement.

The most perfectly matched transplant is between siblings. In Pam's case, this is not an option (Her only sister was tested and was not a match—there is only a 25% chance that they would match). The alternative is an matched unrelated donor (MUD) transplant. Through genetic testing, several markers (HLA) can be identified that both the donor and patient share in common. Currently, a "10 out of 10" match is considered optimal. We were fortunate to learn that there are currently two of this level of potential donors for Pam (The donor base is administered by the National Bone Marrow Program).

A bone marrow transplant is not without potential complications. Following the transplant, the patient has no immune system and is at risk for a variety of infections. Post-transplant care has improved over the years and a variety of immuno-suppressive drugs are available to fight and counteract infection. A bone marrow transplant is the only form of transplant procedure in which the donor immune system can potentially view the patient as a foreign entity. As a result, Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD) is a potential long-term complication. A small amount of GVHD is desirable—any residual leukemic cells are veiwed by the donor immune system as foreign and are eradicated. Severe GVHD can be life-threatening or even fatal. Again, a variety of immuno-suppressive drugs have been developed to counteract GVHD. Chronic GVHD can impact long-term patient quality of life by impacting various organs, skin, etc.

This is a photo I took of Pam and I for our 25th anniversary. I shot it just a few days before we found out Pam had relapsed. We drove up from Overland Park to Omaha today. Pam enters the Med Center tomorrow to begin the process of induction chemotherapy to destroy her leukemic marrow in preparation for the transplant. When we left, we realized that a chapter of our lives was ending and a new one beginning. We don't know what the future holds for us, but we are both positive thinkers and believe that we will come through this to eventually arrive at a "new normal".

Life Happens.

-john

Welcome to the Painter Factory!

Marilyn Sholin — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:29:00 GMT

While it is daunting to learn another blog site, I welcome the challenge and Corels support for us.

I am on a quest to create new "self portraits" and it's one of the hardest tasks to paint oneself.

How do the rest of you approach that task? I am creating a number of paintings that are all from the same reference

and yet are each individually totally different.

My old avatar is just that...old, but it has a certain fun about it I like. Now I am looking to still retain the fun but

change it up.

Would like to see more posting here also and will try to update more often.

Mac OSX.5 Quick Look Plugin for Painter RIF's now available

steve szoczei — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:16:00 GMT

For all the Mac folks out there, we have created a Quick Look plugin for viewing Painter files in the finder.

Simply download the plugin from here [450kB file]. (Link updated Feb 14.08)

Install it and you should be ready to go.

To use it - navigate to a Painter '.rif' file and press the spacebar and you should see a nice preview of your Painter file. This will also allow you to see your Painter files with a nicer preview in Cover Flow mode in Finder Windows.

For more info on Quick Look visit the Quick Look page at Apple.com.

Enjoy!

steve

Corel Introduces The Painter Factory.com

kellylm — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:44:00 GMT

Online Community Connects Corel® Painter™ Artists Worldwide

Ottawa, ON – February 14, 2008 – Corel Corporation (NASDAQ: CREL; TSX: CRE), a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, today announced that it has launched The Painter Factory, a new online community open to all Corel® Painter™ artists and enthusiasts. This global community site is the newest in a series that Corel is launching to support its various user communities.

Through The Painter Factory, artists, designers, and photographers can share their ideas and projects, find solutions to design challenges, and provide feedback on Painter to the product’s design, development and marketing teams. The site provides members with a centralized location where they can access community news, participate in discussions in the Painter Discussion section and download content from the Painter Resources area. In addition, members can learn from some of Corel’s Painter Masters by reading their blogs on the site or viewing their latest works on the Factory Wall.

"We are thrilled to offer a forum where Corel Painter artists and those who simply love Painter can share their artwork, experiences and ideas with one another ," said Rob MacDonald, Product Manager, Corel Painter. "The Painter Factory has already attracted hundreds of members and we anticipate that this forum will continue to grow as members realize the benefits of communicating with other digital artists.”

For more information about Corel Painter X or to download the full-featured trial version, please visit www.corel.com/painterx .

Neuschwanstein Castle

John Derry — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:57:00 GMT

Here is the castle image. We are going to print them all in order to emphasize the nature of the workshop. All of the castles are local and are familiar to personnel and dependents at Bamberg Army Garrison. This is Neuschwanstein, It is the castled the Disneyland castel is modeled after..

Here is the finished image:

Here is a close-up of the castle:

And here is a 100% crop of the entry to the castle:

Viva la castles!

-john

It's Castlemania!!!

John Derry — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:32:00 GMT

Here is yet a thrid castle image. We are going to print them all in order to emphasize the nature of the workshop. All of the castles are local and are familiar to personnel and dependents at Bamberg Army Garrison. This latest painting is Mespelbrunn, located in a hidden valley on a small lake.

Here is the finished image:

Here is a close-up of the castle:

And here is a 100% crop of the entry to the castle:

Viva la castles!

-john

An Interpreted Photograph: Step-by-Step

John Derry — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:13:00 GMT

I'm in the process of prepping for a workshop to be held in Bamberg, Germany. This class will be primarily landscape oriented. I'm working on a demonstration image for the event and I thought I'd share the step-by-step interpretation of an image.

Here is the final image:

Original Photograph
The initial image was sent to me by the organizer of the workshop. It is the old city hall in Bamberg, which is one of the few cities spared from bombing during WWII. As a result, there is a wealth of well-preserved architecture in the town:

Image Evaluation and Corrections
Before beginning the painting process, I evaluated the image and made a few adjustments. I cropped it a bit to eliminate some unnecessary imagery at the left edge.

I desaturated and lightened some background scenery on the right edge that was distracting the profile of the town hall.

I re-composed the town hall to place it a bit more centrally in the frame.

I added a more dynamic sky to give the overall image a bit more sunny disposition. I shoot interesting clouds whenever I see a good example and maintain a library for just this purpose.

Finally, I pumped up the saturation in the image. These colors will be applied as brush strokes later on over a somewhat desaturated version of the same image. (See next step)

Detail:

Underpainting
Now I create a second iteration of the image. The first iteration is the saturated image in the previous step. This second iteration will be a simplified and somewhat desaturated version. I used Painter's Smart Blur filter to "drain" the photo of high detail and emphasize edges. I then desaturated the resulting simplified image.

This second iteration acts as an underpainting, a common preliminary step in the traditional painting process. I will then paint on this desaturated underpainting using color that is derived from the initial saturated iteration. This probably sounds a bit like a shell game—and it does require keeping track of where your brush is sourcing its color—but it is actually pretty straightforward (although hard to fully illustrate here).

Here is the second iteration:

Detail:

Removing Photographic Detail
Next, I "scrubbed" the image to add roughing-out brush strokes. This is largely done to eliminate the photographic detail from the image, as well as move it to a more traditionally appearing underpainting. Keep in mind that I also have access to the initial highly saturated photographic rendition, as well.

Here is the completed underpainting:

Detail:

Texture Addition
Now I add a variety of textural elements. My brushes are set up to sample their color from the initial over-saturated version. This enables me to paint on the desaturated underpainting and add detail and color emphasis:

Detail:

Detail Brush Strokes
At this point, I add brush strokes that provide additional structural detail to the painting:

Detail:

Color & Brush Stroke Blending
Now I go back in and smear and finesse the painting surface with a dry brush that blends the colors on the canvas. This serves to integrate various elements together:

Detail:

Varnish Coat
Finally, I added a clear varnish layer to provide a textural patina to the surface:

To add the appearance of clear varnish, I use a specially prepared Photoshop PSD file that I created, called "John's Impasto Varnish". The "varnish" is actually a layer that is overlaid atop the painted image. If you'd like to use this special layer on your own images, you can download it here:

John's Impasto Varnish.zip

John's Impasto Varnish is 8X10@300dpi. The two included PSD files (horizontal and vertical orientations) are in Grayscale Mode to reduce file size. Because Painter does not support Grayscale Mode, you'll have to use Photoshop (or any application that understands Grayscale mode) to open and convert the files to RGB Mode for use in Painter. Instructions are contained in the John's Impasto Varnish PSD file.

Be advised before you start downloading, the ZIP file is 33MB!

I hope this is useful information for you.

Viva la Painter!

-john

Some thoughts about Painter...

Stewart McKissick — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:22:00 GMT

I've both used and taught Painter for many years. As someone who spent the first years of his professional career using traditional media such as acrylics, watercolor, and airbrush, Painter was the first computer program I learned, even before a word processor. It immediately appealed to me with its natural media emulation, and clearly I was its target audience. It became the reason I bothered to learn how to use a computer.

I've taught it to hundreds of students over the years, although I don't so much "teach" it as introduce it. I work with art students who in many cases are looking to transfer their traditional skills to the computer. Of course these days many have grown up with digital media, but I still find students who dislike the computer because they feel it imposes it's own mechanical look on artwork.

In my opinion Painter remains the 2D graphics program that best overcomes this perceived limitation. In one session many folks who are accustomed to drawing with pencil or pen find they can begin to get their "look" quickly and without the sense of distance that one sometimes feels when working in say a vector graphics program.

I use a couple of other programs in my professional work, but Painter remains my favorite. Here is a pair of images I did to promote Saturday art classes for elementary and high school students at our college. The first one was painted traditionally with acrylics, while its sequel was done several years later primarily in Painter. As I like to point out to my students, the computer doesn't change who you are as an artist - it doesn't think for you, make design decisions, or necessarily dictate your sense of color or drawing style.

Finally setting up!

Stewart McKissick — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:26:00 GMT

Here's a test post to see if this all works and to play with the look. I'm new to this (blogging), but a long-time Painter user, since 1994. It's the "art" program I use most often. I'll try to update this once a month at least, probably won't have time to do much more, but we'll see.