Karen Sperling’s Blog

Painting by Karen Sperling from photos by her and Ken Partington

I receive a lot of emails that start out like this:
“I would start painting from photos, but…”
followed by one or more of the following or something similar:
“You only have the ebook of Painting for Photographers available, I’m waiting for the printed book.”
“I’m waiting till I retire.”
“I’m waiting till I have time off.”
“I’m waiting till the next version of Painter comes out.”
“I’m waiting till you have another DVD.”
“I’m waiting till the kids get a little older.”
“I’m waiting till you have an Artistry Retreat in my town.”
I used to be the same way. I had a million excuses about why I couldn’t get around to painting though it was something I thought about all the time.
I am not talking about real roadblocks like health issues, which I have also experienced.
I’m talking about the rationalizations we make up for why we aren’t pursuing our creative dreams.
Hey folks who are putting off painting, here’s a newsflash from someone who has experienced the same waiting condition: You’re waiting because you’re scared to try something that you may not be any good at! And guess what else? Chances are, you’re going to find out that you’re very good at it! Professional photographers, you’re going to find out you can make money at doing something (else) you love (in addition to photography)! Hobbyists, you’re going to find out that you love to paint your kids and grandkids.
You just have to take the leap. Why? Because doing something you love to do is worth it!
All the excuses I’ve listed above are just that, excuses. People who are waiting for the printed version of my Painting for Photographers book aren’t really waiting for a book. The information is the same in the ebook. In fact, they’re putting off their fear of trying something they’re not sure they can do.
People who are waiting for an Artistry Retreat in their town know they’ll never take a class with me because they know I’ll never be in their town, so they’ll never have to learn to paint their photos, but they can blame it on me. “Well, if she ever came to my town, then I’d be painting.”
As for the other excuses listed above-we all lead busy lives and there’s never any time to do anything unless you make the time, it’s as simple as that.
Sorry for the tough love, but I know what it feels like to be frustrated by wanting to do something creative that interests me and to seemingly have no chance to do it. The years go on and the chance to do the thing you love gets further and further away.
So I’m advocating just doing it! Just start painting!
You don’t believe me? You think, what if she’s wrong and I really can’t paint?
I think it’s a mindset. If you think you can paint, you probably can. If you think you can’t paint, you probably can’t. So go in thinking you can paint, and you will! And again, I’m saying all this from personal experience!
Why is it important to be creative? It’s like asking someone why they breathe. It’s because you have to. Not everyone is creative. I’m talking to you if you have thoughts that you wish you were painting but you can’t because of the excuses listed above or your own variety. Wanting to be creative and not allowing yourself to be is a constant nagging on your creative psyche. I know because I did it for years.
Here’s why I love to paint:
• Whether I’m painting in Corel Painter or with traditional oils, acrylics or watercolors, I am amazed at how much fun it is and I wonder how I held myself back from it for so many years.
• I get a feeling of accomplishment when I complete a painting.
• I’m not going to say painting is easy, but it is exciting! Even after doing it for years, I always wonder while I’m in the middle of a painting if it’s going to turn out OK. In fact, the more I work on a painting, the better it gets, and the process is as exciting and as suspenseful as watching a Hitchcock movie–you’re on an emotional roller coaster and then everything comes out all right in the end. It’s better than watching a movie-the end means you have a finished painting to show for your efforts.
• If I never showed my art to anyone, I still would love to do it because I love both the creative expression through art and I also love the mechanical skill of painting. That I do show it to others and get great feedback about it is icing on the cake.
I highly recommend confronting your fear of painting. Read the list of excuses above or recognize your own. Then ignore them and get painting.
There’s only one excuse that is valid for not painting.
“I don’t want to.”
If that one didn’t occur to you, then you do want to paint and you’re missing out on one of the most satisfying, rewarding things you could be doing.
Stop waiting and get painting!
Corel Painter classes
Corel Painter DVDs
Corel Painter books
Corel Painter CDs

Tags: The process of art (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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I have received a lot of enthusiastic responses for my third, crowdsourced project, the Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 2: Landscapes, and I thought I’d show everyone what goes into creating a DVD like this.
I created my book, Painting for Photographers, and my first DVD, Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 1: Portraits with the support of preorders, and now the Landscapes DVD is my third crowdfunded effort.
Many people requested a Landscapes DVD with videos showing how to turn photos into paintings in Corel Painter, so I guess I knew there would be interest in one when I announced it, but I didn’t realize how much!
Here are just some examples of the feedback I’ve received:

Karen,
I’m excited to pre-order the Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 2: Landscapes. I already own the Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 1: Portraits and found the instruction clear and concise. Best of all it has improved my technique greatly (and results). I so enjoy turning photographs into paintings and your DVDs (and Artistry Tips and Tricks) have helped me break the “photographers” mindset (i.e. trapped into details) by being more “painterly”! You are not only a talented painter but a wonderful instructor and fantastic inspiration. Given how much I have received from your other instructional materials it was a no-brainer to pre-order the Landscapes DVD! I’d give your material “two thumbs up”!
Bob

Karen Sperling approaches teaching Corel Painter as both a gifted artist and fine educator. I found the initial Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 1: Portraits to be complete, fun to follow along, and I picked up lots of general art tips in addition to learning specific Painter techniques. I’m looking forward to the second DVD in this series, Photographers DVD Volume 2: Landscapes.

-Michael Fleming

When it comes to Corel Painter, there is only one real source…Karen Sperling. Each book and DVD are beautifully done. They teach as well as amaze. This is the way to learn the system and improve your technique.

I decided to pre-order Karen Sperling’s Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 2: Landscapes partly because I love her work and have learned a lot from her. I also pre-ordered because I have experienced that there’s no question she’ll follow through and deliver a product well worth the price and well worth waiting for. Pre-ordering is not something I often do, but with Karen it was a no brainer for me; it helps her get the product out, and it helps me by promising me very helpful tutorials.

Hi Karen,
Thank you so much for taking on the development of a second Painting for Photographers DVD. When I saw that you are creating one on Landscapes I immediately knew I wanted it. I have the first DVD on Portraits and the Painting for Photographers book. I am new to Painter and they are my go to resource for learning how to use the Painter program and how to create paintings from my photos. Your lessons on art theory have me looking at my photos with a “new eye” (not only the ones I already have but the ones I am taking as well). I pre-ordered the first DVD and the book and now I am pre-ordering the second DVD because I know it will be well worth it.
Valerie

I’m having a great time creating the Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 2: Landscapes.
I start by looking through the tons of landscape photos I’ve taken during the previous century and this one, some of which you see above. Of course, not all will make it onto the DVD, but it is fun to view them and to choose which ones will make good candidates to be turned into paintings. Included on the DVD is information about how to make those decisions based on art theories.
Next, I create an outline to devise what I will cover in the DVD’s movies.
The DVD has three main tutorial videos–one each covering art lessons, painting oil-style landscapes and painting watercolor-style landscapes. These movies contain demonstrations of Painter steps, brushes and tools for painting landscapes from photos. The DVD has three additional bonus movies–one each showing how to paint cityscapes, how to paint seascapes and how to use landscapes as portrait backgrounds.
After the outline is complete, I write a script and design a storyboard with everything I say and show.

I like to streamline the demonstrations on the DVD. I don’t like videos where the speaker says “uh” a lot and moves the cursor around aimlessly making my eyes follow around aimlessly. It takes longer to completely write out a script and a storyboard and to rehearse before making the movie and doing the recording, but it pays off at the end with as seamless a movie tutorial as possible.
Next are the movie creation, the recording and the editing, which I will cover next time.
I’m moving full steam ahead and I appreciate everyone’s kind and enthusiastic support.
The Painter audience is a very small one and there are no development funds, seed money or corporate sponsors to help me to develop my instructional materials, and though I’ve had a great reaction so far, I can always use more help. If the Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 2: Landscapes sounds good to you, please consider preordering. Your card will be charged and the funds will be used to get the DVD done sooner. As a thank you for preordering, you receive a 25% discount off the cover price and a free issue of Artistry Tips and Tricks.
Click here to preorder.
And now, Mr. Demille, Painter is ready for its close-up!

Tags: Painting for Photographers DVD (Corel Painter), The process of art (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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If you want to make independent films, the time is now, if the recent Los Angeles International Film and TV Finance Summit is any indication.
At the two-day Summit held March 3-4, 2011 at the Sofitel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills, more than 40 panelists, from film producers, bankers, talent agents and individual financiers to accountants, lawyers, tax specialists and film commissioners, painted an optimistic picture of independent film financing and distribution.
Relatively inexpensive technology exists today that theoretically permits anyone to buy a camera and a computer to film and edit a movie, creating unprecedented possibilities for individuals to make films outside of the traditional studio system.
Although movies can be made for less nowadays, they’re not free, and the Summit panelists indicated that there are many opportunities for independent film financing today based on three factors:
• The major studios are focused on making tentpole movies, so there’s room for independent producers to make small- and medium-sized pictures.
• The economy seems to be improving and money that has been on the sidelines during the worst part of the recession years starting in 2008 is now available for investment.
• Both American states and foreign countries continue to offer “soft” money, i.e. tax incentives for making your movie in their location.
A good indication of the optimism surrounding independent film financing was that Summit attendance was up this year.
“Attendance at the conference has rebounded from the three recession years in 2008-2010,” said program director Robert Ross. “Compared to prior years, it seems that financing opportunities are coming back from investors, film funds and other financial intermediaries.”
The two-day Summit was wall-to-wall details about independent film financing, covering topics ranging from finding and monetizing tax incentives and attaching talent, to using product placement and product integration to help with film financing.
The panels comprised working industry experts with up-to-the-minute knowledge and insight. This meant that the information was good for everyone attending, from the neophyte who might not understand exactly what was being said at every moment, but got good ideas for later research, to the seasoned professional, who might be more familiar with the subjects and benefitted from the timely analysis by key Hollywood professionals.
Probably the most important point made throughout the two-day Summit was that despite all the complicated issues presented for financing and distributing independent films, the bottom line is that movies are still about the story. The script has to be good before anything else can happen.
At the same time, knowing who the audience is from the start is another key ingredient and can help in obtaining financing. For instance, situating a story in a country that offers tax incentives can help get the movie made. Adaptations of existing stories are a good place to begin because they have a built-in audience.
Once you have the script and know who your audience is, you think about getting financing. Making movies has always been a team effort, and today this is true more so than ever, with independent producers putting together projects themselves instead of relying on a studio to do it for them. Panelists said it isn’t necessary to have hands-on personal experience in every facet of filmmaking yourself before you can make a movie. Instead, they indicated that you can put together a team of experts to handle many of the financing and distribution details. And finding the right people for the team is as easy as attending a Los Angeles International Film and TV Finance Summit and exchanging business cards with the panel members.
Not that making movies is easy, but it’s encouraging that experts are available and optimistic about the present economic environment for financing and distributing independent films.

The next International Film and TV Finance Summit will be held September 22-23, 2011 in New York. For more information visit http://citeusa.org/.

Tags: The process of art (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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David Baker is a guy who lives in Glasgow, Scotland.
He’s made two films and he’s looking to make his third.
He’s running a Kickstarter campaign with two other filmmakers, Oklahoma Ward and Nicole Alonso. The plan is for David to travel to Oklahoma and make his movie, Screen, and for Oak and Nikki to make their movie, Crawl, and to do a documentary, Hardcore Indie, chronicling the process.
I’ve backed their Kickstarter campaign, and I think you should, too. These three filmmakers are not only passionate and brilliant with innovative ideas, but they are also plain old nice, a rare quality these days.
I know all three through Twitter, and I know David the best and longest. David’s Mission X is a witty and gritty second film that he made for a song and that harkens back to early Scorsese and Robert Rodriguez with David’s unique Scottish take. Screen, the movie he wants to make, has not just a cool premise, but also an innovative distribution plan.
Besides his filmmaking talents, David has that rare ability of connecting with people on Twitter beyond the hyping of his projects. He’s interested in and supportive of others and he’s appreciative when others are interested in and supportive of him. I find that unique not just on Twitter, but in real life, and it makes me want to root for him and everything he is trying to do.
I also take vicarious pleasure in seeing him succeed. I like to think that when I finally get it together to tackle my own movie projects that I’ll be able to carry them off with half of David’s creativity, passion and compassion.
You can help out the Kickstarter campaign by clicking here.
I hope you’ll toss a few dollars into their Kickstarter hat and help three talented artists follow their dreams.
Let’s see the nice guys finish first for once.

April 13, 2011 Addendum
Nice guys finish first–they’re 100% funded! Congratulations to Hardcore Indie!

Tags: The process of art (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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I hear five myths about Corel Painter all the time. Here they are and why they’re myths.

Myth No. 1
Knowing Adobe Photoshop will help you to learn Painter.
While there is some logic to this myth, after all, they’re both software programs, the fact is, it’s a little more complicated than that.
Software programs are programmed by people, and not all people think alike.
Corel and Adobe have always been separate companies with separate programming staffs.
It would be nice if they got together once a week over coffee and donuts and agreed about how the programs worked so they would operate the same way, but sadly, they don’t.
Therefore, although Painter and Photoshop do similar things and in some instances in similar ways, the truth is, knowing Photoshop doesn’t really help you to learn Painter.

Myth No. 2
Buying an art software program will allow you to create art.
That’s like saying, buying a piano will allow you to play the piano. Obviously, you need to take some music lessons to play the piano, and you need some art lessons to paint with Painter (I include the art lessons that you need in all my Artistry instructional materials and classes).

Myth No. 3
All Painter instructors and authors are alike and interchangeable
Just like in any field, Painter instructors and authors come from different backgrounds and bring different talents and abilities to teaching Painter. You will learn different things from all of us and in different ways. And I’m the only one who wrote the original Painter manuals.

Myth No. 4
Either you can paint in Painter or you can’t.
Painting is a learned skill and gets better with practice. The painting you do today will be better than the painting you did yesterday. Keep painting!

Myth No. 5
Painter is hard to learn/use
I think there are two reasons that many photographers think Painter is hard to use. The first is they expect it to act exactly like Photoshop, which it doesn’t–see Myth No. 1 above. I think the second reason is that many photographers haven’t had art lessons and they don’t really know what they are trying to accomplish beyond “turning a photo into a painting.” Once you know the art theories behind painting photos, using Painter gets a lot easier.

Now that these myths are dispelled, here’s how you can learn the art concepts and software steps for painting photos in Corel Painter!

Books

DVDs

Classes

Tags: The process of art (Corel Painter) by Artistry
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