Painter 11 Creativity: Digital Artist's Handbook

314 Pages·2009·36.78 MB·English

by  Jeremy Sutton

Painter 11 Creativity
To my mum, Margaret, who inspired me to be an artist and follow my passion for art, and to
FrankieManning,whoinspiredmetodancetheLindyHopandtotakejoyineverymoment.
Painter 11 Creativity:
Digital Artist’s
Handbook
Jeremy Sutton
AMSTERDAM•BOSTON•HEIDELBERG•LONDON•NEWYORK•OXFORD•PARIS
SANDIEGO•SANFRANCISCO•SINGAPORE•SYDNEY•TOKYO
FocalPressisanimprintofElsevier
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Notices
Knowledgeandbestpracticeinthisfieldareconstantlychanging.Asnewresearchandexperience
broadenourunderstanding,changesinresearchmethods,professionalpractices,ormedicaltreatment
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Practitionersandresearchersmustalwaysrelyontheirownexperienceandknowledgeinevaluating
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Sutton,Jeremy
painter11creativity:digitalartist’shandbook
1.Corelpainter
004.6u89-dc22
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2009934161
ISBN:978-0-240-81255-7
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Contents
Foreword ix
AcknowledgementsandContributors xi
AbouttheAuthor xiii
Introduction xv
1
Get Ready 1
FastenYourSeatBelt! 1
SystemRequirements 2
ComputerSystemFine-Tuning 2
WacomTabletCustomization 4
InstallExtraBrushes 16
InstallExtraArtMaterials 20
InstallExtraWorkspaces 23
InstallExtraTemplates 23
SetUpCorelPainter11 24
2
Brush Guide 35
3
Dive In 73
GettoKnowtheBrushes 73
FamiliarizeYourselfwithDifferentWaystoPickColor 76
ExperimentwiththeBrushControls 82
PracticeSavingYourOwnCustomVariants 82
TransformtheAbstractintoaStillLife 86
TransformtheStillLifeintoaSelf-Portrait 86
HaveFunwiththeKaleidoscope 88
4
Painting From Photos—Preparation 91
PhotographyandPainting 91
ImagineandComposeBeforeYouCapture 94
ChooseYourSourcePhoto 94
EnhanceContrastandSaturation(Photoshop) 96
v
TuneintoYourSourcePhoto 97
RefineYourComposition 98
DetermineSizeandResolution 99
EnhanceContrastandSaturation(Painter) 105
GetRidofPhotographicGrain 106
5
Painting From Photos II—Brushwork 107
SettingtheScene 107
TwoThemes 108
ThreeChallenges 108
TheUpsideDownOption 110
SetUpThe“small-BIG”Arrangement 111
ChooseBetweenManyPaths 113
OnYourMarks,GetSet... 120
StartAbstract—The“MuckUp”Stage 122
Reveal,Refine,ReviewandResolve—The“FourRs”Stage 124
Repeatthe“FourRs”Cycle 134
MixItIn—CombiningDifferentVersionsTogether 136
Flatten 140
NextStep 141
6
Painting From Photos III—Completion 143
WhenisaPaintingFinished? 143
PreparationforPrinting 144
Post-PrintPainting 157
Conclusion 166
7
Going for it with Color! 167
AboutColor 167
ValueStudy—BlackandWhiteThumbnail 177
Mid-ToneColorStudy—ExpressingToneThroughColor 182
WildColor! 185
EmulateDifferentArtists’Styles 186
Practice,PracticeandMorePractice! 186
vi
CONTENTS
8
Collage Portraiture—The Art of Combining Multiple Images into
a Portrait 189
Introduction 189
StageI:Research—AcquireSourceImages 192
StageII:SelectandSort—ChoosePrimaryandSecondaryImages 194
StageIII:DefineTemplateSize 198
StageIV:DigitalTechniques—DifferentWaystoMixandBlendImagery 200
StageV:CombinedMediaCompletion—Post-PrintTreatment 218
9
Gallery 221
Introduction 221
I.PortraitsfromLife 222
II.PaintingfromPhotos 237
III.CollagePortraits 246
Conclusion 263
Appendix
StudentGallery 265
Index 289
vii
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Foreword
In the words of Spinal Tap’s legendary Nigel Tufnel, “It goes to eleven.” Corel Painter 11, that is.
And with this release, Jeremy has written the 4th edition of Painter Creativity. Painter continues
to be recognized as the gold standard for expressive natural-media software, just as Jeremy
represents the gold standard for teaching aspiring artists to express themselves through this
digitaltool.
The world of Painter (now 18 years young) has matured over the past few years. It now has
its own magazine. In the world of portrait photography, it has become a standard tool. Combined
with ink-jet printing and canvas, artists are embellishing Painter art with traditional media.
There are many web sites—including Jeremy’s PaintboxJ.com—dedicated to Painter as a primary
expressive tool. On social networking sites like Twitter and MySpace, Painter is a regular topic of
discussion.
Painter has evolved to include a deep tool set with a wide range of expressive media types.
Jeremy has kept pace with its advances and utilizes these tools to give direction to his students’
personal odysseys. As through dance, Jeremy utilizes Painter as an expressive medium through
which he reveals his zest for life. He is an excellent guide to aid you in finding your unique crea-
tivevoiceintheformofstyle.
Jeremy was among the initial wave of Painter aficionados. I remember seeing him at the
1993 Digital Be-In one evening during Macworld in San Francisco, entertaining the crowds with
his soon-to-be famous portraiture sessions. He was using Painter! I was intrigued and watched for
several minutes until I got an opportunity to speak with him. His enthusiasm was immediately
apparent. He was full of questions about various aspects of Painter’s inner workings. It was obvi-
ousthathepossessedaninnateunderstandingofPainter’sexpressivetools.
Over the years, Jeremy has been one of Painter’s principal goodwill ambassadors. His
good-natured enthusiasm has been responsible for launching many on their creative odysseys,
with Painter acting as their compass. Jeremy has taken both his enthusiasm and teaching experi-
ence and poured it into these pages. And you, now holding this book, are about to be the benefi-
ciary of his efforts. If you are considering starting, or are already on your own creative odyssey,
youcouldn’tbeinbetterhands.
ix