Karen Sperling’s Blog

Here’s a look at the images covered in the extra tutorials available on the bonus Artistry CD that comes with the deluxe hardcover version of Painting for Photographers.
Alternatively, you can purchase the bonus Artistry CD by itself independently of the hardcover book as well.
I created all of the following images with custom brushes that I designed exclusively for this bonus Artistry CD.
In all, there are about 25 new brushes on the CD.
And after spending 20 years writing about, teaching and painting with Painter, I can say that the bonus brushes revolutionize painting in Painter, for both hobbyists and professionals.
I say that because I came up with a way to make painting in Painter fast and simple.
I invented my new brushes to match their function, including painting eyes and painting hair in the style of watercolors and oils.
The only adjustment you’ll have to make with these brushes is to change the size to fit your image. I’ve made all the other adjustments for you such as the right opacity for painting faces. All you have to do is choose a brush and paint.
Another way in which my brushes speed up the process for you is that many of them paint multiple brush strokes, so with a scribble, you have a section of your painting filled in.
The accompanying tutorials give you the easy steps for using these brushes that will simplify the process of painting photos.
There are about 52 pages of new tutorials for using the custom brushes on the bonus Artistry CD, covering the images and techniques below.
What’s really cool about using these new, simple brushes is that you’re still painting in Painter. Unlike filters that, though easy to use, create recognizable results, using my custom brushes will result in paintings that will be uniquely yours because you’re still painting them with your own hand and touch.
Here are the images that are covered in the bonus Artistry CD. All the original photos are included on the Artistry CD in addition to the source photos used in the tutorials in the Painting for Photographers book.
Painting Landscapes



Painting by Karen Sperling from her photo.

Detail of painting.
I painted this painting with a texture brush that I created and Auto-Painting, a simple technique that will give you great landscape paintings quickly from your own photos. Rather than paint one stroke at a time, this and the other custom texture brushes provided on the bonus Artistry CD allow you to add multiple strokes with each application, speeding up painting.
Painting Portraits



Painting by Karen Sperling from her photo.

Detail of painting.
Here’s another example of the texture brushes, used in the background of this new portrait from a photo I took of John Stamos. With a few swipes of the stylus you can get some great painted results from your photos with my new brushes. I painted the face with another new custom brush included on the bonus Artistry CD and explained in the accompanying tutorials.
Painting Foliage



Painting by Karen Sperling from her photo.

Detail of foliage brushes.
This painted landscape and source photo are covered in Painting for Photographers.
On the bonus Artistry CD I include extra custom foliage brushes that let you paint in the styles you see in the above image. Like the new texture brushes, these foliage brushes paint with multiple strokes so you don’t paint every leaf. You sort of scribble and you’re done.
Use these brushes to paint Impressionist landscapes either behind your portrait subjects or as standalone landscapes.
Painting Watercolor Portraits



Painting by Karen Sperling from a photo at http://www.sxc.hu/.

Detail of watercolor painting.
Painting a watercolor portrait becomes a possibility with the art lessons that you learn in Painting for Photographers and my easy-to-use custom brushes included on the bonus Artistry CD.
You can take one of the watercolor variants for a free test drive.
Click here to download the SperlingWC brush.
To install the brush in Painter:
Shut down Painter, open the zip file and put the .jpg file and folder in the following location, depending on your operating system.
When you move the file and folder inside the Painter Brushes folder, the brush will become a part of the current library in the Brush Selector.
Mac
Users -> [User Name] -> Library -> Application Support -> Corel -> Painter (X or 11) -> [Workspace Name or Default] -> Brushes ->Painter Brushes
Windows
Documents and Settings -> [User Name] -> Application Data -> Corel -> Painter (X or 11) -> [Workspace Name or Default -> Brushes ->Painter Brushes
Windows Vista
Users -> [User Name] -> AppData -> Roaming -> Corel -> Painter (X or 11) -> [Workspace Name] -> Brushes ->Painter Brushes
Painting Oil Painted Portraits



Painting by Karen Sperling from a photo at http://www.sxc.hu/.

Detail of oil painting.
And the grand finale is this oil painting I did with even more, new, easy-to-use, custom brushes, found on the bonus Artistry CD.
The tutorial on the Artistry CD tells you which of the new custom brushes to use when for both the portrait and the background, and the Painting for Photographers book tells you the art concepts behind the work.
Using Painter to turn photos into paintings was never easier.
Click here to read a rave review of the Artistry Bonus CD brushes!
To order the bonus Artistry CD either with the deluxe hardcover version of Painting for Photographers or as a standalone Artistry CD, click here.
Happy painting!

Tags: Artistry Bonus CD, Karen Sperling's Corel Painter brushes //