Karen Sperling’s Blog

Editor’s note: I just received these reviews of my Artistry Bonus CD with its custom brushes that I created and my Painting for Photographers DVD.

Deborah Jeffrey

Hi Karen:

Thank you again for sharing your gifting with us. I absolutely LOVE using your techniques to use Corel Painter to create photo paintings and original works of art. Thank you!

Deborah

P.S. I am attaching a couple of images — one of my dog, Zoe, and the other of a little girl named Claire (original photo and photo painting).

Bob

Karen,

I wanted to write and tell you how excited I am to be receiving your new DVD as a companion to your wonderful book “Painting for Photographers.”

Fabulous, inspiring and fun are only a few words that I would use to describe your book “Painting for Photographers.” The book inspired and encouraged me to create more freely and expressively. The easy-to-follow descriptions and advice throughout the book have provided me with a wealth of knowledge that has improved my painting techniques, confidence, and ultimately my images. The information you provide would benefit not only the beginner but the seasoned artist as well.

Improving my art through your instruction has led to some very exciting news for me. Recently I painted a local historic building for the club that maintains the facility. I took the 24″ x 16″ print to a local gallery to have dry-mounted. The gallery owner was very complimentary of the image I created. He highly encouraged me to paint other historical places and even some of the local universities. He wanted to be able to offer his customers my paintings. It seems there is a shortage of distinctive images of local attractions and universities (including some prominent business buildings) for sale to those looking for gifts for graduations, retirement, awards, and other celebrations. To say I was excited would be an understatement (who doesn’t like this type of encouragement). Now I wasn’t finished with my painting. So, after taking my dry-mounted print home I continued to add acrylic paints and gels (as suggested in your section on Post Printing). Once finished and framed I showed the painting around and have been offered, what I consider, an amazingly high price for the original (but since I had already promised the painting to the club that maintains the historic site I wasn’t able to sell the original.) I of course offered to sell giclee prints.

I wanted to tell you all of this not to “brag” but to thank you for making a difference through your wonderful teaching that you have graciously provided through your writings, forum postings, blogs, videos and your book!… so to say the least I’m very excited that the companion DVD is on its way… I’m looking forward to learning even more!

Thanks, again, for helping me to learn and grow…all the best to you!

Bob

Rhonda Krambs

Hi Karen,

I did not have the pleasure of attending your Artistry Retreat, but have learned much from your book and Painter tutorials. This is my first offering to show you what I have accomplished so far - but am not totally happy with the eyes, but fortunately, the whites are not so bright on the canvas as they appear on the screen.

Painting of my mom from a group shot wedding photo (background replaced) in 1974. She was 45 years old - and all of our boyfriends had crushes on her.

Rhonda Krambs

Larry Fowler
Just a short note to let you know how much your Painting for Photographers book and Artistry Bonus CD have helped me.

I have been a photographer for 40 years professionally and had hoped to try Corel Painter for a retirement project. I had purchased several books and DVDs to get me started, but still could not get the idea.

I saw Karen Sperling’s Painting for Photographers book advertised and purchased it. What a good start, then the Artistry Bonus CD better still. I found the brushes great and gave me the look I wanted. I have now ordered the Painting for Photographers DVD and know that this will add more good information.

Keep the good stuff going.

Thanks,
Larry Fowler

Dan Bourne

Good Morning, Karen:

I received Painting For Photographers several months ago and have finally gotten to the point where I feel comfortable sending you one of my paintings.

I thank you for your efforts in the areas of training and encouragement. I will continue to follow what you are doing with interest and use your many examples and suggestions to improve my work. There is no way I could have done what I’m doing now without you.

Thanks again,

Dan Bourne

Tags: Artistry Bonus CD, Karen Sperling's Corel Painter brushes reviews // 2 Comments »

Alumni of the Artistry Painting for Photographers Retreats are submitting paintings they created from photos based on the lessons in the classes.

Here’s what they have sent to me.

Lori Hansen, M.D.

Hi, Karen!

I wanted to write and tell you how great the Artistry Painting for Photographers Retreat was.

I have gone to medical meetings on a national level for 25 years and if I could ever come home from one of those learning as much as I did at your Artistry Retreat, I would be SO thrilled.

I left feeling like I really COULD do this and I’m sending you my first attempts to show you. Two of them I worked on during the 3 days we were together and one is a friend of mine’s grandson who just died and they had no good pictures of him except one crummy, incomplete snapshot that was cut away from his girlfriend.

Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Lori Hansen, M.D.

Marilyn Peck

Hi Karen,

I?m doing a project on the bridges of Conde McCullough (he made a lot of them during the depression all over Oregon and most with arches). I wanted to show you how far I’ve gotten, thanks to you. Your book [Painting for Photographers] is very useful and of course your class [Artistry Painting for Photographers Retreat] was great. I’m coming along in applying gel and paint on the canvas. I apply all paints and varnish first and stretch at the very end.

After putting over 1000 landscape photographs on the web (we’ve stored about half as ~50Mb files and the rest have been matted and framed headed to the buyer), it is GREAT fun to be working on a painterly rendition of landscapes. I’m sure it will take me several more years to really conquer this style, but I am buzzed about trying to do my best.

Sincerely,
Marilyn Peck

Tags: Corel Painter classes, seminars, workshops reviews // Add Comment »

Painting by Karen Sperling. Background available on the Painting for Photographers DVD. Photo from http://freerangestock.com/

Why do you paint?
I ask because there are a lot of people out there who would like to be painting and who are either scared, or intimidated, or simply don’t think they can do it, yet, the thought never leaves their minds…maybe they could paint?
So I’d like to get everyone’s feedback about why they paint to both encourage those who would like to paint, and also to get us all thinking about the reasons to clarify our thoughts about the process.
You could like to paint because you like to express yourself through art, or because of the way it makes you feel, or because you make money at it, or maybe it reminds you of a favorite uncle, or maybe you like the Impressionists.
Whatever it is that you like about painting is interesting, and I think getting the input from a lot of different people will be enlightening and encouraging to everyone.
Post your answer in the comments section.
I’ll start the ball rolling.
I like to paint because I like the uniqueness of media, whether I’m using computer tools or traditional ones.
When you think about it, writing is like painting in the sense that you use symbols to get across your thoughts. In writing, the symbols are the letters and in painting the symbols are the brushstrokes.
I love to write, but I especially love to paint because the brushstrokes are more interesting, unusual, and many times more colorful (I like black and white paintings, too, so that’s why I say many times).
I find when I’m writing that I miss painting because I miss the different ways of creating brushstrokes that together form the art.
It’s probably why I enjoy creating Corel Painter and Photoshop DVDs, tutorials and books and teaching Painter and Photoshop classes, seminars and workshops. I like analyzing the brushstrokes and coming up with different ways to create them.
Your turn! Why do you paint?
Look forward to reading all your comments!

Tags: The process of art (Corel Painter) // 25 Comments »

I’ve been using Corel Painter since day one, when I wrote the program’s first manual nearly 20 years ago.
And I’ve become proficient in Adobe Photoshop, which I’ve been using for several years, now.
For many years, many of Painter’s tools and features were just theory. Computers weren’t powerful enough, yet, to handle the software. You could make the images only so big and you could use only so many layers and effects and anything beyond the narrow limits would freeze the computer.
I was reminded of how far we’ve come technologically as I created my brand-new Painting for Photographers Volume 1: Portraits DVD.
For this DVD, I demonstrated, recorded, narrated and edited 75.40 minutes of tutorial movies that show step-by-step how to paint a portrait from a photo in Corel Painter, including detailed looks at painting eyes, lips, hair, faces, jewelry, clothing, furniture and backgrounds. The steps are based on one of the tutorials in my book, Painting for Photographers, and show the actual painting of a photo, brushstroke by brushstroke.
This is the featured portrait on the Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 1: Portraits:

I decided to create these live demonstrations of the actual painting because everyone who attends my Artistry Retreats tells me that watching me paint firsthand is the best way to learn how to paint their photos themselves. Since not everyone can attend an Artistry Retreat, I decided to create a DVD showing the painting so that more people could benefit from the demonstrations. Certainly, the Artistry Retreats are still the best way to get questions answered in person. Plus, I cover much more in the Artistry Retreats. This DVD shows one aspect of using Corel Painter and yes, I do plan to create more DVD’s for Painter and also for Photoshop.
And yet, in some ways, the DVD is actually better than the Artistry Retreat.
I created the DVD tutorials by recording my brushstrokes within Painter, and I included step-by-step instruction. There’s probably more brushstroke-by-brushstroke demonstrating and explaining on the DVD than there’s ever time for in the Artistry Retreat.
And speaking of time, the Artistry Retreat takes place over the course of three days and you have to be there if you’re attending, while with the DVD, you can use it on your own schedule.
And there’s no beating the price. It’s just $99.95 vs. the cost of tuition and travel for the Artistry Retreat.
My topic for this blog was technology, and having taught Painter live for the past 20 years, it was a thrill creating the tutorial movies on the DVD. Not only did Painter keep up with me, but also all the computer software for recording and editing the movies worked great.
Creating the bonus materials was especially fun.
I have two main audiences for my Painter and Photoshop tutorials, namely professional photographers and hobbyists.
I wanted to create bonus materials that would be useful for both groups for painting photos, and I think I came up with something for everyone, namely bonus brushes and backgrounds, based on the Image Hose, which paints by spraying image elements.
The bonus movie tutorials show you:
* How to use Painter’s Image Hose
* How to create custom Image Hose nozzles, which contain the image elements that the Image Hose paints with
* How to create custom backgrounds with the Image Hose
* How to combine the backgrounds with portraits in Photoshop
In addition, I’ve included bonus image hose nozzles and backgrounds on the DVD.
I’ve been taking advantage of computer horsepower to come up with unique Painter brushes and backgrounds, and I’ve been having a great time. I’ve been especially amazed at what you can do in terms of proportion and size. Check out this example.
I’ve been playing around with flowers, but you can use any object or abstract form to create interesting nozzles and backgrounds.
I started with this photo I took in Descanso Gardens, a lovely place nearby here in California.

Then I painted it and made it into an image hose nozzle and painted a background with it.

Then I edited it and combined it with a photo in Photoshop and used it as a background for a portrait.

Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/
All the Painter and Photoshop steps for how to create this magic are included in the bonus tutorial movies on the DVD in addition to the nozzles and backgrounds, too!
Here are some more examples:

Photo from http://www.emelbayram.com/index2.html

Photo by Phillip Stewart Charis

Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/

Photo from http://studiostyles.net/
The tutorials can be applied to using photos and paintings of all objects, not just flowers. For instance, here’s a background that I made with car parts:

Photo by Alfred Burgess.
and even geometric shapes:

Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/
I think flowers and plants are my personal favorite, and I can think of a zillion ways I’d like paint with them.

Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/

Photo from Sebastien Galletta
Whatever image elements you’d like to use, the Painting for Photographers DVD provides tutorials to show you the tools to come up with your own great designs. And if you happen to like my gigantic flowers, they’re yours on the Painting for Photographers DVD.
That’s one of the things that’s great about this DVD. You can have every level of creativity, from the simplest form of using the backgrounds on the DVD, to creating your own backgrounds with the brushes on the dvd to creating your own brushes. All the steps are explained in the bonus video tutorials on the Painting for Photographers DVD.
And by the way, if you don’t use Corel Painter, the background files are .jpgs that you can work with in Photoshop. Also, I do all the image editing to fit the figure with the background in Photoshop, and those steps are detailed in the movie tutorials, too.
You can order the Painting for Photographers Volume 1: Portraits DVD either at my Artistry web site or at Amazon.
I think between the main movie tutorials, the bonus movie tutorials, the image hose nozzles and the background files on the Painting for Photographers Volume 1: Portraits DVD, you’re going to get a lot of your questions about painting your photos answered and you’re going to have as great a time using technology to create portraits as I had creating the information for you!

Tags: Painting for Photographers DVD (Corel Painter) // Add Comment »

The Artistry Retreat was held at the downtown Atlanta Hampton Inn. The hotel staff was friendly and helpful, the classroom and guest rooms were great and you couldn’t beat the free breakfast! Photo by Karen Sperling.


Our home away from home became Ted’s (as in Ted Turner) across the street, where we had most of our lunches and dinners. Their specialty is all things bison, but I stuck to the salmon salads. Photo by Karen Sperling.


The class learned to turn photos into paintings in Corel Painter. I always offer to include Adobe Photoshop, but as usually happens, everyone preferred to stick with Painter. Photo by Karen Sperling.


In addition to the step-by-step hands-on painting instruction, the Artistry Retreats include the art lessons like how to know if a photo is a good candidate to be turned into a painting and how to choose colors. I keep the classes small so that everyone gets individual attention throughout the Artistry Retreat. Photo by Karen Sperling.


The Artistry Retreats cover how to paint portraits and landscapes from photos in styles ranging from Impressionism to Photorealism. The information is based on my bestselling book, Painting for Photographers. Photo by Karen Sperling.


By the end of the 3-day Artistry Retreat, everyone was up and running and painting their photos in Corel Painter. Everyone said they had a great time, and I had a blast. Photo by Karen Sperling.

Hi, Karen,
I thoroughly enjoyed your class and will get many hours of enjoyment (and maybe a little profit) from the techniques and theory you taught us. While I had read a great deal about Painter, and painting in general, I had never really gotten to the point where I could put it all together and produce an outcome. Your Artistry Retreat gave me the knowledge and courage to give it a try, and I found I completely enjoyed the creative experience. Thank you again. Jim Burch

Hi Karen!
Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to come to Atlanta and allow us to sit with you and learn from the ‘master’.
Thanks again…Jeff


Next up is the Artistry Retreat in Los Angeles, July 26-28, 2010.
Click here for information about the Artistry Retreats and to register. See you at an Artistry Retreat! Photo by Shirley Miers.

Tags: Corel Painter classes, seminars, workshops // 1 Comment »

Detail of painting by Karen Sperling from her photo taken at the Butterfly House in Topanga, CA.

I had a great conversation with Rodney Washington today. I’ll be a guest on his radio blog show on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 1 p.m., Pacific Time.
I was impressed with Rodney’s take on the importance of marketing.
He tells photographers that instead of thinking about marketing as dreading having to make another phone call, think about what your niche is, “what’s your message, what’s the reason behind why you’re doing what you’re doing and how it’s affecting people,” and then speak that message. “The money will come if the message is in alignment” with who you are and what you believe in.
Nowadays, anyone who has a business has to do marketing in one form or another. I never think of myself as a master marketer, but I certainly have to do it to keep my business going.
And what Rodney said really hit home for me. I told him I never really thought about it before, but my message, my reason behind why I do what I do, is what I wrote in my book, Painting for Photographers, and that is, if you think you can paint photos, you probably can.
The reason that’s so important to me is because I want to offer encouragement to others to paint and to pursue creative interests because no one ever encouraged me.
When I was younger, I thought no one encouraged me because no one thought I was very good at anything.
Now that I’m older, I realize that there are zillions of reasons preventing people from encouraging you, and most, if not all, have nothing to do with you.
Some people don’t need encouragement. They are made of tougher stuff and they can go out and realize their potential without any feedback from anyone.
Not me.
I took to heart all the negative feedback and lack of encouragement and waited all my life to realize my creative potential. And I’ve only just begun to do so, I have a lot more I want to accomplish.
What got me going was some encouragement from an editor of a magazine. She was the only person who ever said to me about art, you can do it, and I did, and she published my first painting.
Click here to read the story.
So that’s my message, if you think you can do something creative, you probably can, and as for painting photos, I’m here to help you turn your interest in painting photos into a passion by showing you not only the art concepts and the software tools, but also by being the example of what I’m teaching. I never finished a painting before 2001 and now I’ve exhibited my art in New York and Los Angeles and during Art Basel Miami, and I’ve sold my art and commissioned portraits to private collectors.
So if I can do it, you can do it!
I guess this is marketing, then, but it sure doesn’t feel like it, and I guess that was Rodney’s point, and it’s a good one–do what you believe in and everything will fall into place.
I titled this blog the aha moments because that’s when I get the most satisfaction out of teaching Corel Painter workshops, when I’m showing photographers the art concepts and the Painter steps for painting their photos, and their expressions go from fear and confusion to aha! That’s how you do it! For me as a teacher, those aha moments are fantastic!
I’m sure readers of my Artistry Tips and Tricks and my Painting for Photographers book also have aha moments, but I don’t see them! I do see the aha moments in my Corel Painter classes, though, and they’re the reason I love teaching Painter, to give people who think they’d like to paint the tools to get them painting.
And you can experience your own aha moments live at an Artistry Painting for Photographers Retreat, where you learn the art concepts and receive step-by-step Painter instruction for turning photos into paintings. The next Artistry Retreat is May 12-14, 2010 in Atlanta, followed by a Los Angeles Artistry Retreat May 24-26, 2010, then again in Los Angeles June 21-23, 2010 and in New York, June 28-30, 2010. Click here for details.
Are you someone who has had an aha moment from my Corel Painter tutorials, books or classes about painting photos? Please share your aha moments in the comments. You’ll be encouraging those who are afraid to paint to learn the art concepts and Painter steps and to paint their photos!
And tune in to Rodney Washington’s radio blog show on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 1 p.m., Pacific Time. Between his insights about marketing and my painting information and experience, it should be a pretty interesting conversation!
Aha!

Tags: The process of art (Corel Painter) // 2 Comments »

I just got an email that not only just made my day, but also just made yours, if you’ve been trying to paint photos.

The email brought the news that my new fast and easy Corel Painter brushes WORK!

My idea was to create brushes that cut to the chase. With my 20 years of Painter experience, I thought I’d make up a bunch of brushes for painting portraits and landscapes that were basically pick and paint. The only adjustment needed would be brush stroke width to fit the size of the space that you’re painting.

In addition to the brushes are tutorials that list step-by-step which brushes to use where. My thought was that the tutorials would be a work flow cheat sheet. Need to paint a portrait? Use these steps and these brushes. The theory is kind of the idea behind Photoshop’s filters. However, unlike the filters that are easily recognizable, my quick and easy brushes would still provide unique results because you’re still doing the painting yourself.

My other idea was to make the process quick. I’ve done elaborate tutorials where you get sensational results, but they do take awhile. These new tutorials are intended to give you great results quickly.

And now, for the email I just got. Here’s the vote:

Karen,

In response to your brushes and tutorials. I have spent the last couple days working with them all and I can attest that they are amazing in achieving the results I desire. You have made these brushes intuitive and extremely responsive. I especially love the oils for creating beautiful portraits! The tutorials are easy to follow allowing you to create a masterpiece with minimal effort and in a short amount of time! Thank you for taking the time to produce this cd.

Sincerely,
Linda Wehler
Digital Fine Artist

Now that’s exciting!

You can get these 25 magic brushes and 50 pages of tutorials on the Artistry Bonus CD that either comes with the hardcover version of Painting for Photographers or is available separately.

Click here for an overview of the Artistry Bonus CD and click here to order.

Painting by Karen Sperling with the brushes on the Artistry Bonus CD from a photo at http://www.sxc.hu/.

Detail of oil painting.

Tags: Artistry Bonus CD, Karen Sperling's Corel Painter brushes reviews // 2 Comments »

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 // 3 Comments »

Painting by Karen Sperling from a photo by Felicia Tausig.

Press Release

Karen Sperling’s Painting for Photographers Receives 5-Star Reviews at Amazon

Contact Information
Karen Sperling
http://www.artistrymag.com
(818) 981-2803
ksperling@aol.com

For Immediate Release

Karen Sperling’s new book, Painting for Photographers, which shows how to turn photos into works of art, has received 9, 5-star reviews at Amazon.com.

The four-color book with art lessons; Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop steps; and post-printing canvas-painting techniques, “is clear and beautifully written with a touch of humor,” writes Amazon reviewer, Lorraine “Pixie” Glore. “I would highly recommend this to anyone who is just learning Corel Painter, any beginning painter or photographer, as well as to the more advanced digital artist,” she adds.

“If you’re a photographer and would like to shorten the learning curve of the best software for creating artwork from your photographs, there is no better way than this book. Karen Sperling is the master of this software,” writes S. Ashbrook.

These and the other 5-star reviews at Amazon follow previous reviews praising Painting for Photographers, including one that appeared in Corel Painter Magazine, which said, “Sperling explains the features of Painter with clarity and authority–which is to be expected, because she authored the manuals for the early versions of the program. As a result, this is a wonderful tome that’s not only suitable for creative photographers but also for anyone looking to take their first steps in the world of digital painting.”

Renowned photographer Phillip Stewart Charis noted, “Painting for Photographers will help photographers greatly to create classic portraits into classic paintings. You must have this great book.”

Painting for Photographers is $39.95 in paperback and is available at Amazon and also at http://www.artistrymag.com/.

Tags: Painting for Photographers Book Reviews (Corel Painter) // Add Comment »

Painting by Karen Sperling from a photo at Stock.XCHNG.

I had a great time painting the watercolor portrait for the February 2010 issue of Artistry Tips and Tricks that you see above.

I used a custom watercolor brush that I created that you can download for free at the Artistry web site–see the link below.

Watercolors in Painter used to be a very sore subject.

Up until Painter 6, the watercolor brushes were divine.

Then, for some reason, in Painter 7, they completely changed how watercolors worked, and for the worse.

They were slow as molasses and not much use.

In Painter 8 they introduced the Digital Watercolors to try to replace the deleted Painter 6 watercolors. They simply didn’t work as well.

Time went on and they endeavored to improve the Digital Watercolors, and also, computers got faster.

And now, with Painter X and 11, I’m happy to report, the Digital Watercolors are great! Maybe even better than the Painter 6 and earlier ones. And now, with faster computers, the Watercolors introduced in Painter 7 are useful, too.

The February 2010 issue of Artistry Tips and Tricks has art concepts and Painter steps for painting watercolor portraits from photos.

Topics covered in the February 2010 issue of Artistry Tips and Tricks include:

*How to know if a photo is a good candidate to be turned into a painting
*How to adjust a photo’s composition for painting
*How to choose a color scheme
*How to use Painter’s Watercolor and Digital Watercolor brushes
*How to add custom Painter brushes in Mac and Windows
*How to paint watercolor portraits from photos
*How to paint faces
*How to paint eyes
*How to paint lips
*How to paint hair
*How to work with watercolor layers
*How to use Tracing Paper
*How to use clones
*How to adjust colors
*How to use Karen Sperling’s special tips and techniques
*Start-to-finish workflow steps

Click here for the February 2010 issue of Artistry Tips and Tricks and for the free custom watercolor brush.

Send me the paintings that you create with my brush and I’ll post them on my blog!

Tags: Karen Sperling's Corel Painter brushes // 1 Comment »