Karen Sperling’s Blog

I’m happy to announce that Painting for Photographers is now available at Amazon!
The reviews at Amazon have been amazing!
“Buy it! Read it! And then go paint your masterpiece!”
“Awesome Book!”
“Painting for Photographers Clear, Beautiful and Informative 5 Stars”
“Many new and exciting tips with excellent coverage of each subject.
A must for teachers and students.”
“Painting for Photographers Gets 5 Stars!”
I’m very honored and grateful for this fantastic feedback.
If you’ve wanted to paint photos, Painting for Photographers will help you do it!
Click here for the Painting for Photographers page at Amazon.

Tags: Painting for Photographers book (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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My book, Painting for Photographers, is now available at Amazon.

Here are just some examples of the many comments I’m receiving:

Hi Karen, your book arrived a few days ago and have not been able to put it down. It is so helpful, I’m an older lady so everything I learn means so much. Thank you again for the quick delivery.

Karen,
Received my “Painting for Photographers” today.
Thanks for the speedy delivery. The book looks beautiful, can’t wait to start learning Painter.

Hi Karen,
I received the book is a fantastic for me, thank you very much for your support
Tony in Spain

Karen
I just wanted to let you know I received my book.. That was quick work on your part. Thank you so much,,,I love it. Its on my living room table over my Monet book.
Andi

Hi Karen,
I have received your book and it looks great!
I love all the tutorials!
Ellen

Hi Karen:
Congratulations on a monumental achievement.
I can see you put your heart and soul into Painting for Photographers.
Danny

Hi Karen,
I wanted to let you know that I posted a review of your book on the NAPP forum. Here is the text of the post:
There have been several threads recently that all seem to ask the same question: “How do I get started painting photos in PS?”
The answers have been all good advice but one of the difficulties has been recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of both PS and Painter for this task.
I just received a new book out that seeks to answer some or most of the beginner’s questions [called Painting for Photographers by Karen Sperling].
Karen Sperling is no stranger to photo painting and has been doing it since the 90’s. What I like about Karen’s approach is that she is non-specific. She seems as comfortable with portraits as landscapes, traditional techniques and more experimental approaches. I’ve been a long-time recipient of her newsletter, “Artistry Tips and Tricks,” which is why I was very excited when her book came out this past month.
The book’s title, “Painting For Photographers” basically says it all.
There is an overview at the beginning and then gets right into the heart of the matter explaining how to get started with either Painter OR Photoshop (or both!). The book, btw, does not mince words and the pages are filled with a variety of techniques and how to achieve them. One piece of advice though stands above all others in the book; the more you practice, the better you’ll get. The point is well-taken. No book can do it for you but if, as the book says, you’re a reasonable photographer then you already possess most of the requirements to paint digitally.
Incidentally, I am NOT being paid to write this review and while I have spoken with Karen, she didn’t ask me to post this. I am, however, a fan of her approach and I think her book’s well worth a look.
Regards,
Steve Brown

Karen,
Just got the book: Congratulations.
The layout is the best I have seen. I am a photographer, using Corel Painter for 3 yrs, and this will be a great addition to my knowledge base.
Martin
P.S. Your Corel Painter pictures are a “knock out.”

I received the “Painting For Photographers” book in the mail this week and it is beautiful!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! The time you took to create it will certainly benefit many folks for years to come. The outcome is proof that you spent a lot of time putting it all together.

Karen,
Thank you for a wonderful job on a well-written, wonderfully illustrated, highly informative book.  From a reader’s standpoint, all your hard work was a great benefit to all of us.
Merry Christmas!
Jeff

I received my book and am thrilled with it! Definitely worth the wait - great job!!
Colleen

Hi Karen,
Your book is just beautiful.
I use it at home and with my students.
I am working on improving my color management and technique and it is a lifesaver!
I find something new every time I look in it.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful talent with us.
Shirley

I just received your book the other day. Absolutely beautiful. Very classy.

Dear Karen,
Wheew!! The book arrived yesterday! I would like to thank you for your attention to detail by making sure that my winter address was sent to the fulfillment house, the timely arrival of the book as originally promised, and your high business standards in helping to trace the whereabouts of the lost book. I will be sure that the many photography forums of which I am a member learn of your practices and standards.
Have a wonderful 2010!
Grace

I just wanted to let you know that I love how you explained the whole
color wheel in choosing colors.

Karen,
I received my book a couple of days ago…!! Wow worth the wait… I had read over the ebook but the actual book is sooo much better!!!! Great vibrant pictures, clear instructions and overall wonderful information… it will make me a better artist!!!
Thank you for your time and talent in this book!!!
Take care and Merry Christmas!
Best Regards,
Bob

Received book in Holland! I am so excited!

I received mine yesterday and I love it!
Thanks so much!
Dan

Hi Karen,
I just wanted to let you know I have received your book, and only had a chance to thumb through it briefly, but I noticed the pictures are beautiful and the book’s quality is very nice! I can hardly wait to spend more time with it!
I know it has been a long journey for you and the completion of this book, and I appreciate your integrity and follow through, (even though many of us pestered you continually!!!)
Blessings this Christmas Season!
Alana

Hi Karen,
I got my “Painting for Photographers” in the mail a couple of days ago. I am loving this book. I am reading it cover to cover. I have learned so much already. Thanks again for this wonderful book. Happy Holidays to you and to yours!
Barbara

Hi Karen,
I just received your fabulous book on Christmas Eve. I also received a Wacom tablet for Christmas and I downloaded a trial copy of Corel Painter. I read through most of your book and then got started. Here is my first attempt… I tried to adjust the colours to an adjacent scheme and also reduce detail. I am so pleased that I wanted to share it with you. I cannot believe how easy it was to do and so much FUN! I love this!! Thank you so much! Shari

Your new book just arrived in my mailbox yesterday! Yeah! Just like a Christmas gift!

Karen,
Your book was certainly worth the wait. I just love it and find the instructions easy to understand. Thanks for all your hard work on this project.
Andie

Hi Karen!
I received my book yesterday and it is beautiful!
You should be so proud - like a mama who has given birth!
You have birthed this book out of your heart, mind and soul!
I am proud of it for you!
I can’t wait to read it and work through the exercises!
Maybe one day I can come to meet up with you in person in California!
Merry Christmas!
All the best,
Michelle

Got my book yesterday – it’s great.  And beautifully put together, gorgeous color, heavyweight, glossy paper.  Just started reading it last night.
Thank you!  And Happy Holidays to you and yours,
Carole

Hi Karen,
I have received your Painting for Photographers book and
I must say it was well worth the wait.
Very well done.
I am looking forward to many hours of learning.
Thank you.
Happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year.
S.J.

Hi Karen,
I received my book today and I’m so excited.
Can’t wait to get into it and try all the painting.
Thanks so much.
You’re making a lot of people very happy.
Thanks, Paulette

Book arrived on Saturday. Great job.

Karen-
I had emailed you a few weeks ago about a book for my dad….
I did get it today!
Thanks for everything. I know he will be reading away Christmas night!
Lisa

I got it and I’m reading it from cover to cover.
Thanks, Jackie
P.S. Happy Holidays!

Karen,
Congratulations….just got it and it looks awesome.
You did an amazing job and should be very proud of yourself.
Best regards,
Ken

I got the book, and it is fantastic! Everything I had hoped for!
What a wonderful job!
THANK YOU so much!
Frank

Karen:
I got my copy of the book yesterday and my daughter and
I can’t wait to dive into it.
I will share it on my blog and with other photographers in the
area to see if we can help support your effort in getting it out.
Willie

My book arrived yesterday. Beautiful! I spent a few hours going through it. This is something I’ve always needed. Many thanks.
Anne

Thanks, Karen. My book came yesterday and it looks marvelous.

Hi Karen,
I just wanted to let you know I received the book, looks good !
Kind regards,
Diane

Hi Karen, I did receive my book yesterday and it is great. Thank You and Happy Holidays.
Rhonda

Got it yesterday – in plain brown envelope/Christmas present wrapping!
Thanks – couldn’t be a better Christmas present!
Lorenzo

Karen:  Just wanted to let you know that your book arrived today…thank you for writing it and sharing with others.
I hope to take some time for myself soon and ‘play’ with it!
Merry Everything…Happy Always!

Hi Karen,
My book arrived yesterday - in time to be my Christmas present to myself. It looks beautiful - Gotta go start painting!!
Laurie

My book came in the mail today.  It is beautiful and definitely worth the wait.  Thanks for all of your effort!
Robert

I got my Christmas wish!  The book arrived today.  The long awaited arrival has finally come to be.  I can’t wait to sit down and read through it!
Thank you - Tom

I just received my Painting for Photographers book and it is WONDERFUL- certainly worth the wait. Karen did a great job.  It will be a valuable resource. Thanks Karen, you’re the best.  Regards, Bill

Thank you Karen,   I received my copy yesterday and have started reading.   What a great Christmas present….looking forward to painting soon.   Thanks again.
Shirley

Hi Karen,
I was surprised to get the book yesterday. I have barely scratched the surface, but it looks wonderful. I am hoping it will teach me something about using Corel Painter 11. I have not been too successful so far and I have been painting for 40 years, mostly portraits. Thanks and good luck with selling lots of these books.
Terry

Karen,
I got your book in the mail today in excellent condition! I will make it a Christmas present to myself this year. I will enjoy reading it this weekend. Thank-you for making one old man happy this year.
Thank-you so much for all your work and in all you do!
Happy Holidays,
Wayne

Hi Karen,
I received my copy last Saturday. Haven’t had a chance to really read it carefully yet.
Thanks for your efforts and sticking with a very long, time consuming project.
Linda

My book came the night before the night before Christmas- so instead of visions of sugarplums I have visions of Painter projects! Thanks so much, Gail

Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone!

Please let us know when your copy of Painting for Photographers arrives by posting to the comments section.

Want to join in on the fun? Order your copy of Painting for Photographers today! Click here for more information!

Thanks! Happy painting!

Tags: Painting for Photographers book (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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Painting by Karen Sperling from a photo by Evan Agostini.

One of the things that intrigues me about creating paintings is that I like artistic problem solving.
Some people do crossword puzzles, I devise painting techniques.
There’s something grand about the sweet victory of unravelling an artistic mystery.
One such conundrum was how to paint a portrait with a textured background for a chapter in my book, Painting for Photographers.
I wanted a background in the style of the great masters like Rembrandt and John Singer Sargent, and I wanted to show clearly defined brush strokes.
The background effects that I was going to develop would be special, which meant the person in the foreground would need to be strong enough to justify the elaborate background.
That was the first problem: Who would be a forceful enough presence to counterbalance an inventive background?
The answer was, a celebrity.
Not having any appropriate photos of famous people, I searched the internet for a suitable photo, which in itself became an interesting problem to solve.
Who to choose? And if I found a photo I wanted to paint, would I get permission to use the photo?
I came across this photo of Oprah, which I thought was one of the best I’d seen of her, and a painting of Oprah would justify the elaborate background I had in mind.
The photo had a byline, Evan Agostini, who I found on Facebook, also through an internet search.
I requested permission to use the photo and he agreed. First problem solved!
By the way, this happened just before the Shepard Fairey image of Obama came out and the subsequent coverage and questions about Fairey using the source photo illegally.
It never occurred to me not to ask permission to use the source photo for my painting of Oprah.
Once I had solved the problem of which photo to use, the question then became, which software program to paint with, and then, which brushes and settings inside the software programs to use.
I experimented with a lot of different brushes and customized settings in Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop, and wound up using mostly Painter to achieve the result in the painting.
I used a “scrap” image, where I just played around with textures and brush strokes with various brushes on various settings, looking for clues to solve the artistic mystery.
The chapter in the book describes the brushes and techniques that I used to create the portrait, seen above.
What my tutorials don’t show you are all the experiments I do. They only show the things that work!
Here’s a look at all the experiments I did for the Oprah background before I arrived at the one that’s included in the book.

I experimented with colors and tones in addition to brushes and settings to get the look of a Rembrandt/Sargent background with brush strokes.
When I found the looks I liked, I then painted the actual image, solving the artistic mystery of how to paint a portrait with a textured background.
Case closed!
People always ask me, how do you know when a painting is done?
The answer is, when you no longer have any problems to solve!
For more information about Painting for Photographers, click here.

Tags: Painting for Photographers book (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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Painting by Karen Sperling from a photo by Evan Agostini, from Painting for Photographers.

I’m happy to announce that Painting for Photographers is now available in a Deluxe Hardcover Edition and also in a print-on-demand softcover version!

The Painting for Photographers Deluxe Hardcover Edition has many bonus features in addition to all of the great art lessons, step-by-step software instructions and traditional painting-on-canvas techniques for turning photos into paintings found in the softcover and ebook versions that have been receiving rave reviews.

These include:

Each copy of the hardbound book will be signed by the author (me).

Accompanying every hardcover book is a CD containing:

• All the source photographs for you to use to follow along with the step-by-step instructions;

• Exclusive bonus tutorials for painting portraits, landscapes and pets in Corel Painter not in the softcover and ebook editions, and unavailable anywhere else except on the CD accompanying the hardbound book;

• Exclusive bonus brushes I’ve created for painting portraits, landscapes and pets in Corel Painter. These brushes are unavailable anywhere else except on the CD accompanying the hardbound book.

Meanwhile, I’ve arranged for 10% of every hardcover book purchase to be donated to your choice of one of 10 charities.

Deciding on which charities to support out of the thousands out there was very emotional and made me think how grateful I am that I’m in one piece and able to offer a book that can contribute to important causes. I’ve always enjoyed being able to help solve the mysteries of painting for people and to help them learn and enjoy how to create art. I love this idea of all of us taking this enjoyment to the next level and reaching out to help others while we’re having a great time painting.

I’ve always looked at celebrities contributing to various causes and wished I could do the same.

Having a portrait in my book of Oprah, who I consider to be a great humanitarian, got me thinking some more about this idea of helping the greater good, and I’m really excited to be doing it.

So get my collectible Painting for Photographers Deluxe Hardcover Edition, and let’s do some good for the world.

I’ll keep everyone posted here in my blog on our progress.

The hardcover books are currently available 3-4 weeks from the time you order. The printer tells me that this will change as we get closer to Christmas and the holidays and he gets more backed up with orders. The Painting for Photographers Deluxe Hardcover Edition is a great Christmas/holiday present for you or for your favorite painter. Order right away to be sure to get your copy in time for the holidays.

Meanwhile, a limited number of softcover Painting for Photographer books are being printed traditionally and are due on or around November 30, 2009.

I went the traditional-printing route to keep the costs down.

Everyone wants their books sooner, so I investigated print-on-demand printing, and I’m happy to announce that I’m now offering a print-on-demand softcover version that will arrive a week after you place your order for a little more money than the cost of the traditionally printed books.

If you ordered the traditionally printed softcover version of Painting for Photographers, you can trade up to either the hardcover deluxe version or to the print-on-demand softcover version until the traditionally printed softcover books arrive.

For more information about the Painting for Photographers print-on-demand softcover version and the Painting for Photographers Deluxe Hardcover Edition, including the list of 10 charities, and to order, click here.

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Detail from Painting for Photographers

Back in the last century, I studied playwriting and wrote plays.
At one point, I attended a seminar at the Dramatists Guild, where I was a member. On the panel was Death of a Salesman playwright, Arthur Miller.
Most creatives have the question that was posed by an audience member to one of the most successful writers of all time: How to make it in the midst of so many who are trying.
Arthur Miller’s response was, “Cream rises to the top.”
The response seemed profound to me then and still does, today.
It means that anything is possible, if you work hard, have what it takes and you’re persistent.
This to me is very optimistic.
I’d rather believe that cream rises to the top than think that no matter how hard you work and how good you are, you will never succeed, which, I suppose, is probably how my family viewed a career in a creative field.
I was reminded of Arthur Miller today because my book, Painting for Photographers, has made it to Amazon.com.
No, I’m not offering it there for sale just yet because it is still being printed and should be available on or around November 30, 2009.
In the meantime, I’m still selling the book exclusively through my web site as an ebook and taking orders reserving printed copies.
By the way, I’m not offering Painting for Photographers as a kindle book, Amazon’s ebook format, because of the book’s elaborate design and illustrations.
You can translate into the kindle format only those books that have minimal design, like novels.
And Amazon doesn’t allow ebook sales anymore unless they’re in the kindle format.
Otherwise, I’d be offering the ebook version at Amazon.
No, how my book has made it to Amazon is through a rave review.
You can see it at the Amazon site by clicking here.
Included in the review by P. Falcioni “Ducatisti” about Painter 11 was this:
“I also bought Karen Sperling’s Painting for Photographers ebook that has step-by-step instructions tailored for Corel Painter. It is easy to follow and you also get some relevant painting theory and practices which were very helpful. Her software mastery with Corel Painter is impressive and her ability to teach me made the tutorial worth every penny spent.”
So now I have a review on Amazon.
Thank you, P. Falcioni “Ducatisti.”
It really is a great feeling.
I decided to write Painting for Photographers because I thought I could do it.
And, as I say in Painting for Photographers, if you think you can do something, you probably can.
I thought the chances were pretty good that the book would come out OK since I’ve been writing about and teaching Painter for 20 years, plus I’ve exhibited my art.
Even so, all of the rave reviews that have been pouring in really have been an unexpected bonus.
I’m so glad everyone loves the book so much!
And now there’s a great review at Amazon!
To see more of the book’s glowing reviews, click here.
And to order, click here.
The bottom line is, it’s nice to know that everyone who reads the book is finding it so helpful.
Maybe now that the book has the stamp of approval of a review at Amazon, if you’ve been thinking about learning to paint photos, you’ll have the courage to actually take the step toward learning how by reading Painting for Photographers!
Then witness the cream rising to the top firsthand in the form of people loving your paintings!

Tags: Painting for Photographers book (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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A friend publishes comic books, and I am running this ad in one of his publications, Mr. Phelps Space Detective issue #1.

I like the way it came out, and thought I’d show it here.

Gregg Scott drew the Leonardo da Vinci caricature in Painter.

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