Hidden Treasures
Sometimes I feel like a mad scientist, running through Corel Painter, inventing new brushes, figuring out new techniques. Even though I’ve been using Painter for over 20 years, it never ceases to amaze and enthrall me how many things you can do with Painter and I wind up thinking of new things or rediscovering old ones just by switching around combinations of tools and brushes.
My latest revelation happened when I created a new painting from a photo in anticipation of my Artistry Landscapes Extravaganza Retreat.
I’ve been scouting locations in the Santa Monica mountains near Los Angeles to make sure I have the right one that lends itself to painting photos and I’ve seen some beautiful landscapes in the process like this one:
And here’s the painting I created in Corel Painter 12 based on the photo:
And here’s a detail of it:
I got some great reactions at Facebook, and it was great because it just meant that the art theories and Painter tools that I teach, work.
I chose a color scheme and experimented with a lot of brushes, but nothing was hitting the spot. Finally, I thought about the art theories that I teach and one of them is that you don’t have to paint every detail, you paint areas of light and dark and then suggest detail.
For instance, in this painting by Monet:
He doesn’t actually paint every last detail. He paints areas of light and dark and suggests flowers, leaves and shrubs.
Then it occurred to me that I thought of this before when I created the landscapes brushes on my Artistry Bonus CD Volume 2.
I looked at the chart that comes with the CD:
and found a texture brush, namely the Texture02 brush, that I could paint with to create areas of light and dark and the impression of the leaves in the trees and on the ground.
I used the Chalk’s Square Chalk and painted outlines on the trees, then with the Texture02 brush chosen, I lowered the Size slider in the Property Bar and painted texture between the outlines on the trees. Then I blended with the Blenders’ Smudge tool a little. The result was the texture you see on the trees and the smooth outlines.
I’m looking forward to taking some more photos and painting them with the class in the Artistry Landscapes Extravaganza Retreat. If you can’t make it to the class, you’ll find art lessons and Painter steps for turning landscape photos into paintings on the Artistry Bonus CD Volume 2, which contains my landscape brushes listed in the chart above; on the Landscapes DVD, in the Artistry webinars and in my book, Painting for Photographers for Painter X and 11 and for Painter 12.
So next time you are turning a photo into a painting in Corel Painter and feel stuck, it’s a good chance that if you use art theories, Painter steps and Painter brushes that you’ve used before in a different way, you’ll get “unstuck” and if you don’t know what the art theories, Painter steps and Painter brushes are, let me show you with my Painter classes, Painter webinars, Painter CD’s, Painter DVD’s and books!
