When I begin a painting using one of my photos in a layer, I think of it as a highly detailed finished but not dry oil painting. I want to be able to scrape away with a palette knife and add paint strokes to the "wet" photo painting. That is how I can go beyond the limits of naturalistic and photo-realistic paintings. The feature would essentially change the photo into a thick paint layer of many colors which I could change with brushes and palette knives. Maybe this feature exists, but I am just not aware of it.
Hi Micheal,
I_think_it exists (at least in Painter 2021 and newer)....here are the steps.
1. Open the Photo. If it is a JPG, nor further action is needed.
2. If it is a PNG, RIF, PSD etc....go Menu > Layers > Drop All
3. Now you can go Meny > Layers > Lift Canvas to Thick Paint layer
4. A dialog pops up with a lot of options...I like to set "Thickness source" to "Image Luminance" (which means light/dark areas of the photo will determine how thick the paint will be)...I also like to increase thickness a bit
5. Select your favorite thick paint knife and go!
Note that this can also be used with cloning, so if you're interested in those additional steps let me know....
Hi Stephen,
I thought the process I was looking for was reasonable within Painter 21, but I wasn’t able to find it. Thank you so much for your solution. I hope to use it soon. I’ll let you know about the results.
Stay healthy,
Michael