Corel Painter - 07 - Magazine, Art, Digital Painting, Drawing, Draw, 2d

Learn to
Ofcial Corel Painter TM Magazine
PAINT
digitally today!
Calligraphy brush art
Frame your images online
Helpful tips for artists
Official Magazine
Issue seven
Pain t dramatic
seascapes
Learn how to capture the magic of the
ocean with a special 10-page guide
FEATURED
IN THIS ISSUE
Maura Dutra
Discover how one Painter Master

merges mediums to great effect
Soft portraits
See how blending techniques

can create better portraits
Ink artwork
Use the Liquid Ink brushes

to paint fluid images
45
Over
pages of
tutorials
MASTERCLASS
Visit us online www.paintermagazine.co.uk
PC an
d Mac
FREE CD
INSIDE
Degas
Re-create the light and texture
of a typical Degas painting
001_OPM_7 COVER.indd 1
Perfect sunsets
Turn to page 60 and discover the skills you
need to paint rich and opulent sunset scenes
TEXTURES | REFERENCE FILES | VIDEO TUTORIALS

Gradients
Apply gradients to photos for
instant improvement
Life drawing
Become a better anatomy artist
with our in-depth guide
ISSUE SEVEN
ISSN 1753-3155
6.00
07
771753 315000
www.paintermagazine.co.uk
25/7/07 15:41:14
Welcome
This is THE magazine for anyone wanting to further their
Corel Painter skills or learn how to become a better artist
Calligraphy
brushes
Action artwork is
just a stroke away!
Pg 60
Perfect sunsets
Inject drama into your
paintings by perfecting
the art of sunsets
Pg 66
Drawing 101:
Life drawing
Top tips for sketching
the human form
Visit our website!

If you find that the magazine isnt enough to satisfy your Corel
Painter appetite, you can always visit our website. Pop on over to
www.paintermagazine.co.uk and register as a user. Once this is
out of the way, explore the pages and enjoy great content such as:
Downloadable resources
Online galleries to share your work
Special forum for meeting other Corel Painter users
ISSUE SEVEN
Pg 58
As soon as the sun makes

itself known, a trip down to
the beach is no doubt high on
many peoples list. And with
good reason. In addition to
cooling off by taking a quick
dip, the sea offers the artist a
plethora of creative opportunities. From wild
and stormy waves crashing into rocks, to calm
blue ripples, seascapes are a very rewarding
subject matter. Turn to page 22 and dive
into our special feature on painting the sea.
Theres loads of helpful tips and techniques on
perfecting your watery scenes and weve also
put together a collection of reference images
and videos for you on the disc.
But when you tire of your sea legs, we have
loads of other great content. Our interview this
issue is with Maura Dutra. Her beautiful images
have earned her the title of Painter Master and
you can see why on page 14. We also have an
excellent tutorial on using the Pen brushes to
create stunning images (page 52) and you can
discover how to re-create the look of Edgar
Degas on page 40.
Happy painting!
Jo Cole, Editor in Chief

jo.cole@imagine-publishing.co.uk
005_OPM_07_welcome.indd 3
27/7/07 14:49:30
ON THE FRONT COVER
Soft portraits pg 32
P99 GET STARTED WITH

DIGITAL PAINTING
FREE CD-ROM PACKED WITH

ESSENTIAL RESOURCES FOR CREATING
DIGITAL ART
pg 22 Feature
Pain t drama tic
Seascapes
P60 STUNNING SUNSETS
EVER LOOKED UP AT THE SKY AS
DUSK FALLS AND WONDERED AT THE
MAJESTY OF ITS COLOURS? LEARN
HOW TO RECREATE THAT HERE
Regulars in every issue

08 Subscriptions
Become a subscriber and
you could enjoy a discount of
up to 40%
10 Corel Painter community

Get news of the best creative
websites and see what others
are saying in the Letters page
38 Painter showcase
96 Readers Challenge
Fancy testing your
creative prowess? See
what you can do with
these images
98 On the disc
Get all the information
of the art resources on
this issues disc
Pages dedicated to the very

best Corel Painter artwork
out there
Pg 34
WIN!
YOUR
WORK
PRINTED
TO CANVAS
pg 96
Reviews
82 Nikon D40X Zoom Kit
Does this consumer digital SLR
have enough options for the
artist? We take it for a test drive to
see if it does
84 Pantone eye-one display 2

A colour calibrator that aims to
give you all you need for perfect
hue harmony. See how and if it
works here
86 Books
We look at the best titles to
expand your knowledge and
teach you new skills
74 Art Class
Helpful advice on common
artistic and Corel Painterspecic questions
88 YourFramer
92 Readers Gallery
This is the place to come and
discover what other readers
are creating
Learn how to paint waves

and sand with our 10-page special
Original artwork by
Dee Gordon
Discover more about this

company thats making it easy to
present your artwork in the best
possible way
006-007_OPM_07_contents.indd 6
27/7/07 12:13:19
Original artwork by Maura Dutra
Ink artwork
pg 52
Interview
Meet professional users
Paint like Degas

pg 40
14 Maura Dutra
We talk with Maura Dutra and discover why after 20

years in Hollywoods lm and animation
scene, she swears by Corel Painter
tutorials
Create inspirational art

32 Paint portraits with
blending techniques
Capture the softness and
blended feel of traditional
paints with this guide
40 Paint like: Degas

Take a journey into Edgar
Degas world of sophisticated
lighting and soft pastels
Drawing 101
Traditional artistic techniques
66 Life drawing
Hide your blushes we delve into the world of life drawing and
reveal the best techniques for achieving realistic shape and form
when it comes to drawing bodies
52 Paint with ink

Use the Liquid Ink brushes
coupled with watercolour
touches for a delightful and
stunning effect
60 Paint the perfect sunset

Ensure drop-dead gorgeous
skies with our special step-bystep guide to painting simply
beautiful sunsets
Visit our
website now!
www.
painter
magazine.
co.uk
Primers
Get up and running

58 Brushes: Calligraphy
Think the Calligraphy brushes are

only good for the obvious thing?
Discover how they can inject
movement into artwork
Feature focus
Get to know your tools

48 Gradients
Discover how to use, create and
load gradients, plus see how they
can make your images something
special with minimal effort
006-007_OPM_07_contents.indd 7
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NEWS EVENTS
RESOURCES
LETTERS WEBSITES
INFO FORUM
Stock up
on resources
High-quality landscapes and backgrounds
to inspire your Corel Painter artwork
RESOURCES
Check out the
Resources section
of the deviantART
website for some great
3D characters
and backgrounds
hances are you will all be

familiar with the deviantART
site as a place to view amazing
images and get your ill of
inspiration, but have you ever explored
the Resources category? Here youll ind
loads of generous creatives who have
uploaded their work for others to use in
projects. We always search this part of
deviantART to see if any providers leap

out as being particularly useful to Corel
Painter users, and were delighted to
discover IWS-stock. Pay a visit to http://
iws-stock.deviantart.com/gallery and
you will discover a haven of quality 3D
stock images. These cover a broad range
of objects and subjects from sci-i and
fantasy igures, through to buildings,
backgrounds, clothes and trees. Files
download as a high-resolution JPEG ile, so
they are ready and primed for loading into
Corel Painter.
Although there is loads of great stock to
choose from, it was the backgrounds that
particularly caught our eye. Theres a great
range on here, from dark and brooding
landscapes through to beautifully lit
underwater worlds. These are an absolute
dream for Corel Painter artists, as they can
be imported into the program and then
used as part of a composition or to turn
into a fully ledged painting.
In addition to the 3D stock artwork, you

can also access a variety of stock photos
that cover such diverse subjects as holiday
objects, landscapes and clouds. All of
the stock is free to download and use for
Deviant Artists, but if you want to use it for
outside the site, check with the creators
irst. Either send a note via deviantART or
email them at iws.stock@gmail.com.
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RESOURCES
Learn to draw and paint

Instructional site improves your knowledge of art and drawing skills
o get the very best from Corel
Painter, it helps to have a basic
understanding of how traditional
art mediums work. But there is plenty of
free help online if you previously led an
artless life. Bob Davies has put together a
fantastic resource site that includes free
tutorials for different mediums, such as
watercolour, oils, pastels and acrylics,
step-by-step guides to learn techniques
such as painting scenery, plus there is an
extensive section on drawing shapes.
Another feature that really makes it
shine are the video tutorials. Visitors can
watch as he creates various objects and
scenes. Visit his site at www.how-todraw-and-paint.com or pop along to
www.youtube.com/user/BobDavies88
for larger versions of his videos.
STOCK PHOTOS
Affordable photos
Stock images becoming cheaper
as companies recognise demand
t seems as though more and more

stock providers are recognising the
huge market for affordable stock
photography. The latest company to
drop prices is Cadmium.
In addition to the bank of images
aimed at professionals, you can now
access a wealth of quality photos that
start at just 4.90. You can enjoy a vast
range of choices, from objects and
buildings to people and skyscapes,
and its really easy to search the site.
Just type in a search request and then
examine the bountiful supply of results!
Take a look at www.
cadmiummicrostock.co.uk to
discover more. The company recognises
that design budgets are subject to be
reduced, so you might ind yourself
making it your irst place to visit the
next time you need high-quality photos.
In short
Creative happenings from
around the world
Bobs site has lots to

offer Corel Painter
users looking to
expand their drawing
skills or art knowledge
Painting channel
Those with digital TV should tune
into the Painting and Drawing
channel. Found on Information
TV, this half-hour program
teaches various traditional
artistic techniques. Visit www.
thepaintinganddrawingchannel.
com to watch previous shows.
Two great companies
Mix it up with a site that

offers tutorials and prints
TUTORIALS
ArtMixer has a
good selection
of tutorials
to enhance
your Corel
Painter usage
Enjoy artwork and instruction at

the ArtMixer website
ere always on the lookout for good
websites for Corel Painter help and
advice, and think that ArtMixer is
one of the best. Point your browser to http://
artmixer.com/index.asp and you can access free
tutorials in addition to purchasing high-quality
tutorials and prints. The sites creator, Torbjorn
Bergsdal, has produced some really nice tutorials
here. Although quite small in number, you can
learn techniques such as using
the Brush Creator or painting
a landscape. You can also
enjoy free prints of some of
the images to download (see
below) to get inspired.
If youve ever used the PhotoBox

printing service, you can now access
the YourFramer service (featured on
page 88), too. Both companies have
teamed up, meaning the next time
you visit PhotoBox to order a print,
you can make it a high-quality framed
print in one fell swoop! Visit www.
photobox.co.uk for more.
Apology
Wed like to apologise to Tina Harkin
who wrote last issues tutorial on
painting realistic fur. Unfortunately
her contact details were left off the
tutorial, so wed like to pass them on
now. To see more of Tinas work, visit
www.tinaharkin.co.uk
or send an email to inertpixel@
tinaharkin.co.uk.
SEPT
8 of OPM
goes on sale!
13 Issue
The website includes a vast range of royalty free,

high-quality stock photography to choose from
Grab the latest issue of Official

Corel Painter Magazine from your
newsagent today! Guarantee your
copy every month or just save yourself
the effort of leaving the house by
taking out a subscription via
www.imaginesubs.co.uk.
11
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Welcome to the part of the magazine where you can com
and share your thoughts on anything you fancy!
Send your
letters to...
Ofcial Corel Painter
Magazine, Imagine
Publishing, Richmond
House, 33 Richmond
Hill, Bournemouth,
Dorset BH2 6EZ, UK
If youd prefer to contact
us via email, send your
message to opm@
imagine-publishing.
co.uk
Sticking with tradition
I know this is going to sound like a

complete grovelling email, but I just
wanted to say how much I am enjoying
the magazine. I moved to Corel Painter
a couple of years ago, but my roots lie
in traditional art (my irst love is oils). I
have looked at a few tutorials in the past,
but they all seemed to offer no variety in
terms of subject matter, or they were too
simplistic and obviously digital.
So I was very happy to ind your
magazine. The Drawing 101 section feels
like visiting an old friend, as it reminds
me of my art school days, and the variety

of tutorials constantly amazes me. Ive
always thought that the Painter software
had more to do with traditional art than
it did digital art and it seems like you feel
the same! Dont ever change!
Oliver Jacobs
Ha ha, bless you Oliver. Cheques in the post

and all that! You are correct when deciding
on what to include in the magazine, we go
according to an art style or discipline and then
translate that into Corel Painters tools. Its such
a vast and infinite program, that weve never
Readers tip
Share your Corel Painter wisdom
Grainy oils
I love the Artists Oils but could never seem
to get really textured effects. Then someone
told me to try using one of the Blender
brushes. Now I paint with the Artists Oils and
then apply grain and texture where I want
with the Grainy Blender brush. Genius!
Isobelle Thomas
If you have a creative tip youd like to share
with others, send it in to us and well print it.
thought of something that it couldnt handle!

Its also amazing how traditional art books can
also help with the program theres always a
way to use the skills in Corel Painter, so never
be put off buying one of these books!
Photo to art
Here is an image I have produced which

I hope is of good enough quality for
you to publish in your magazine. I am a
passionate black-and-white photographer.
This image was taken on the north Devon
coast using a Canon DSLR in what was
quite bright sunshine and cloud. It was
converted to black-and-white from a RAW
ile in Photoshop CS3, and manipulated
to accentuate the contrasting lights and
darks within it.
Oliver enjoys the variety

of traditional art styles in
the magazine. What do
you think? Are you fans of
variety or would you like
more of one style?
Featured gallery
Seras
Our favourite readers gallery this month
Anne Pogoda
www.paintermagazine.co.uk/
user/Azurelle
Anne is a relatively new
member to our website, but
her work has impressed us
with its variety and texture.
Her Too Sweet Gothic Girl painting
took the Picture of the Week award as
we felt it was a stunning image that
drew the reader completely into it. As
you can see here, her other work is just
as accomplished and we look forward
to seeing more of her work in the future.
To see more of Annes artwork, visit
her site at www.darktownart.de.
g
Red Win
Babies Have Blue Eyes
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John has taken one of his photos and enhanced it by using the Clone tools and brushes in Corel Painter. Its a
good example of how easy it is to go that extra mile and create an image to be proud of
It then occurred to me to attempt a

charcoal/chiaroscuro effect in Corel
Painter X, as exempliied in previous
issues of your magazine. I chose French
Watercolor paper, reduced a lot of the
detail with the Soft Vine Charcoal brush,
set to clone from the original image and
then brought back a little detail into some
of the areas with the Soft Cloner.
I am very excited about the overall
painterly effect, which still manages to
maintain the sense of drama within the
image. I hope you agree!
Dr. John Fontana
Very well done, John. We love seeing how

easily photos can be transformed into artwork
and it really is amazing what a spot of cloning
can do. It seems like your style of photography
also works perfectly for the chiaroscuro effect,
especially in the clouds and rock textures.

Black-and-white photography allows so
much freedom to experiment with tones and
contrasts. Be sure to send in more of your
striking creations!
Corel Painter X update
If you have bought Corel Painter X, make

sure you go along to the Corel website
and download the new free update. Corel
Painter X v10.1 brings a greater stability
to users and is available for both the Mac
and PC platform.
In addition to general improvement
to performance and stability, there
are more targeted improvements. For
example, customised workspaces are
now quicker, with no refresh issues when
switching between workspaces that have
different window sizes. Brush Ghost is
also improved, especially when using the
RealBristle brushes with Wacoms 6D Art
Pen, and the program now also supports
longer ilenames in Mac OS X.
For a full list of improvements, visit
www.corel.com/content/painterx/
10-1/Readme.htm and then head to
the Support section of the US site (www.
corel.com) and go to Patches and Updates
on the left-hand side.
www.paintermagazine.co.uk
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The latest from our

forum and website
Website challenge
Some of the best so far
This issue comes on sale a few weeks before our
third website challenge expires, so heres a quick
look at some of the entries weve had so far. First
up is Sandria Savoys butterly image, which has
a great sense of dynamism to it. In the middle is
Sue Stevens colourful take on the lobster pots. As
Sue proves, experimenting with colour is a great
way to add interest to a normal photo. Finally, we
wanted to show you Ata Allashis improvements of
the house photo. Colour is used once more to turn a
dowdy shot into one that is crackling with life.
Check back next issue to see the results and if
you werent successful this time around, or youd
like to enter for the irst time, visit the website
for the latest competition. You can download the
supplied images and then email us your entry. Oh,
and you can enter as many times as you like!
ENTER T
WEBSITHE
CHALLE E
NGE
Dont be
shy
welcome everyones
www.pa to enter! Go to
int
co.uk/co ermagazine.
mpetitio
ns
Too Sweet Go
thic Girl
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Interview Maura Dutra
WEBSITE
JOB TITLE
CLIENTS
www.idcphotography.com
Freelance photographer and artist
Canon, Warner Brothers and Cond Nast Publishing
An interview with
Maura Dutra
On the eve of a US nationwide seminar tour, Nick
Spence meets Corel Painter Master, Maura Dutra
[BELOW]
Maura at work
Armed with her camera,
scanner, tablet and
computer, Maura is able
to create her delicate
and textured paintings
ith 20 years in Hollywood

and a background in ilm
and animation, Maura
Dutra embraced both Corel
Painter and Adobe Photoshop early on,
keen to develop her traditional painting
skills digitally.
In demand for her stunning painterly
style, Maura is also known for her training
seminars, workshops, photo safaris
and range of new Corel Painter Photo
Impressionism digital painting training,
available to order from Mauras website.
Mauras long list of awards includes
Kodaks Professional Innovators Award,
the Seybold Juries Digital Imaging
Show, Clio Art Directors Award for
Animation and Visual Effects, and Corel
Painter Master.
How did you make the move from a career

in lm-making, animation and visual
effects to being an award-winning Corel
Painter Master?
One phase ends, another begins, and soon
you have the chapters of a career. Mine
started with high school dreams of being
a character animator. After studying
ine art and graduating with a bachelors
degree in Illustration, I landed an entrylevel job as a cell animation ink-andpaint tech. Soon fate was to offer me the
opportunity to assist storyboarding the
effects sequences for the irst Star Trek
movie, and that led to a career in visual
effects and post-production supervision,
ending with a stint as a director for a few
television commercials.
After spending 20 years in ilm
production, my husband and I made the
decision to embark upon yet another
career in the arts. Enter Corel Painter. I
had painted with natural media in college,
but this clever program struck a chord
with my irst investigations. In no time
at all I had created a series of botanical
loral paintings that were licensed for
interior dcor usage around the world. I
moved on from that phase several years
ago, but my involvement with Painter has
only intensiied.
Youve been working with Corel Painter
since version 3. Over the years what have
been the indispensable new features
and tools?
The tools in Painter have improved
greatly in their performance over the
years. In early versions of this program,
14
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All original artwork by Maura Dutra
Britanny
This image is full of Mauras
trademark brush strokes and
texture, which exist happily
with the softness of the
original photo
The tools in Painter

have improved greatly
in their performance
over the years
15
27/7/07 13:12:42
Ellie
Mauras use of composite modes allows her
to add lots and lots of texture in paintings
and give them an exquisite depth
16
27/7/07 13:13:41
A photograph is
the starting point
for much of the
digital painting I do
these days
the larger brushes were very slow to

render a stroke and would sometimes
cause the program to freeze.
The newer versions of Painter each
offered improvements in rendering
brushstrokes and now facilitate my
preferred approach to painting with
an energetic application of large,
sweeping brushstrokes.
Other new indispensable features
for my work include the masks, layers,
and Composite modes. I can now apply
textures in Painter using layers and the
Masking tool to control the placement
of my textural interest exactly where
I want to see them. Using the Composite
modes I am then able to season the
image to taste with different layer
blending effects.
As a photographer, how much of your
work with Corel Painter is done through
the eye of the lens?
I always start with the best possible
capture I can manage. Ive tried to reine
my eyepiece composition over the years
and crop only when the proportion
of my frame isnt appropriate to the
inished piece I have envisioned. After
Windy Wish
Another excellent example of
Mauras large and expressive brush
strokes here to convey the feeling
of wind and movement
[MIDDLE TOP]
On location
Mauras photographs
play a pivotal role in her
work, and she works
hard to perfect the shot
in the viewfinder
[MIDDLE BOTTOM]
Horse Play
For her personal
projects, Maura enjoys
creating horse, figure
and landscape artwork
my RAW ile has been processed with a

baseline colour temperature, I investigate
different colour toning and enhancements
before painting begins. I enjoy exploring
expressive colour directions in my
paintings and ind the work of colourist
painters such as Wolf Kahn and Wayne
Thiebaud very exciting and inspirational.
If the project is a portrait, I will also
look to smooth any complexion issues,
and punch the saturation and contrast
in the eyes, using Photoshop before
bringing the image into Painter. I allocate
all detailed retouching to the beginning
of the project in order to allow a loose

and spontaneous energy for my work
session. A photograph is the starting
point for much of the digital painting I
do these days. My approach begins with
thoughtful consideration as to what the
inal artwork might like to evolve into.
With an end result in mind, I decide upon
a media substrate for the inal print
at this time. This important decision
dictates the corresponding brush style
I will choose to work with in Painter;
ie, oil, watercolour, chalks, or pastels.
Understanding that oil painting is an
17
27/7/07 13:14:06
[RIGHT]
Part of Mauras service
includes large-scale
prints, for which she
relies on accurate
colour management
[LEFT]
A lovely side of Mauras
work is how she will use
traditional media such
as pastels and acrylic
gels to enhance her
inkjet prints of the Corel
Painter creations
Good colour management from start to

finish is essential
addictive medium, I begin by making a
medium-toned under-painting for my
Painter oil pieces. Moving from large
and loose brushwork to the smaller and
more detailed application of wet pixels
sampled from my source photo, I focus
on building the form. Strong character of
both colour and brush stroke to deine
form is my goal in Painter.
I often employ post-printing handwork
to create a dimensional patina on my
inkjet prints by using natural media
such as pastels and acrylic gels. These
embellishments serve to transform each
print into a unique piece of art. We have
found that the addition of the artists
handwork to the archival print will
increase the real and perceived value of a
inal piece.
Brianna Blues
Maura is a big fan of expressive
colour and uses it to create
portraits with real power
You print and sell large-scale work

measuring up to 40 x 60 inches. How do
you ensure what you see on-screen is
faithfully reproduced big?
Good colour management from start to
inish, which enables accurate softprooing, is essential. A few test prints
are also worth their weight in gold. It isnt
that dificult with proper attention to this
aspect of your worklow.
When you work on commissions, are you

ever reliant on other peoples source
material and if so what challenges does
that offer?
Whether the source photograph is one
I have produced or comes from another
photographer, the ultimate appeal of a
painted portrait will depend greatly upon
the source photograph containing all the
essential elements for a successful image:
a strong compositional statement, an
engaging gesture and form-deining light.
One should be very discriminating when
considering a source image.
My husband, Bruce Dorn, and I have
developed a new series of Corel Painter
X training DVDs, which will be ready for
release mid-August 2007. These initial
training sessions focus on painting
portraiture from photographs. The
images used in these sessions were
chosen from portrait shoots where
Bruce designed the lighting and did the
shooting, while I worked with our client
on colour palettes and wardrobe choices.
This is a common collaboration in our
studio and produces images which I like
to think of as the best of the best! Painting
from his beautiful captures is a real
privilege and honour for me!
18
27/7/07 13:26:12
Kiersa
After editing the original
photo, Maura can then
use Corel Painter to create
something wonderful
Before retouching
After retouching
ting your own

When attemp photos, take a leaf
portraits froms book and spend a bit
out of Maura g the colours, boosting
of time ed itinrally creating a good base
hues and gene he trick is to push
to work on. Tr than you would in a
things furthe o. Once youre
normal phot er, youll find the
in Corel Paintnd well to slightly
brushes respo urs.
unnatural colo
Your stunning images of owers make
use of a atbed scanner, can you explain
the process?
I constructed a cardboard box, lined
with black velvet that sits on top of my
11 x 17 inch Epson scanner platen and
encloses the lower completely. This box
keeps any stray ambient light out of the
equation. Depth-of-ield is, of course,
quite shallow with this type of capture.
Although that particular aspect of this
sort of capture can create a lovely and
dream-like effect as the background
details fall off into darkness, the scanner
process is a bit limiting for both subject
size and lighting. Since I had planned on
creating my Botanical Floral series with
this particular effect in mind, the effect
served my ultimate goal. I was happy,
however, moving on to working with
more versatile capture opportunities
using my Canon 5D.
And is it difcult to build up such
subtle evocative textures in your pictures
of owers?
Yes, it began as a time-consuming and
elaborate process, but Ive recently
streamlined the steps using Photoshops
actions. Many of the images that appear
A Rose Kiersa
Maura and husband Bruce
Dorn, have created a series
of Corel Painter X DVDs that
teach how to paint portraits
from photos
Cowboy Blues
Clyde, the original steed of the iconic Marlboro Man is
still at work. Here he carries a wrangler across an icy
Wyoming river to round up some strays. Bruce and
his wife, Painter Master Maura Dutra, hold an annual
digital workshop in Jackson Hole each September
19
27/7/07 13:27:20
with this article utilise my textural

effects. While working on my Botanical
series, I investigated many techniques for
achieving the ultimate cracked varnish
effect on my inal ink jet prints. I was
thrilled when I eventually found the
perfect product, but quite disappointed
when I learned that it had been
imaging application, which can be applied

in Painter or in Photoshop.
How has the perception of digital art and
software tools like Corel Painter changed
over those years?
Every creative tool, natural or digital,
has its advantages and disadvantages
Every creative tool, natural or digital, has its

advantages and disadvantages
discontinued shortly after. I used the
small quantity I had to create an archive
of craquelure effects on hardboard. We
photographed these textures at high
resolution and created iles suitable
for digital layering. I now offer a varied
collection of artistic textures for digital
and as an artist it is both my pleasure

and challenge to experience them. Farsighted collectors and galleries will be
rewarded in due time. This is the dawn of
an emerging medium. Let history decide
where each of us its in the scheme of
things. Im just excited to explore.
You have developed a distinctive style

called Photo Impressionism, can you
explain what this involves?
Photography is a medium unmatched
for its capacity to capture a unique
moment. We take inspiration from the
Impressionist era and approach the
digital canvas with as much energy
and spontaneity as we can muster. The
lighting, composition, colour palette and
story come from the original photograph,
while our looser brushstrokes emphasise
the impression and provide the poetry.
Bruce and I feel that the term Photo
Impressionism perfectly describes our
style of digital painting. These days, even
artists must be conscious of the value of
marketing and to that end we registered
the term Photo Impressionism. It helps
our clients better understand the product
that we offer while simultaneously
establishing our brand.
Mauras Botanical
Series of images
made excellent use of
traditional textures,
such as crackle glaze
and vintage stamps
20
27/7/07 13:27:45
Feature Paint dramatic seascapes
Pa in t
When done correctly, a good

seascape can look absolutely
amazing. From the swell of the
waves through to the water gently
lapping at the shoreline, Jeff Johnson
has created an indispensable guide
to help you get started on this
challenging but rewarding subject
22
022-031_OPM_07_seascapes.indd 22
27/7/07 15:53:32
drama tic
seascapes
or most of us the sea conjures up
fond memories, whether its of
family holidays full of ice cream
and mischief, or romantic strolls
along a sunset-lit beach. The sea is also
a worthy subject of paintings and never
fails to reward the artist with scenes that
are packed with drama and mood.
Over the next few pages, were going

to look at how you can paint the sea in
Corel Painter, concentrating solely on the
waves. Well show how its possible to
capture the movement of a wave crashing
against the shore, as well as how to paint
calm waters. Youll learn which brushes
are the best and what colours are needed.
In addition to the tutorials, weve

also put together a reference pack
on the CD. In here you will find lots
of photos of different seascapes and
theres even some small videos for
you to get the feeling of how water
moves. As ever, send us what you
create and well print it!
23
27/7/07 15:54:00
Colour palette
Colours are obviously closely linked
with the time of day and general weather
conditions, but heres a palette from the
images in this tutorial. As you can see,
Ca lm seas
Horizon
C: 86% M: 62%
Y: 42% K: 29%
DEEP WATER
C: 75% M: 48%
Y: 29% K: 5%
Horizon
C: 79% M: 46%
Y: 51% K: 21%
Sk y
C: 90% M: 63%
Y: 20% K: 4%
C: 4% M: 2%
Y: 2% K: 0%
C: 59% M: 41%
Y: 32% K: 0%
C: 5% M: 1%
Y: 1% K: 0%
Spray
C: 32% M: 17%
Y: 11% K: 0%
C: 21% M: 10%
Y: 10% K: 0%
middle ground shadow
SHALLOW WATER
C: 90% M: 78%
Y: 43% K: 48%
C: 89% M: 74%
Y: 36% K: 29%
C: 84% M: 61%
Y: 25% K: 7%
TOP
C: 79% M: 49%
Y: 11% K: 0%
C: 68% M: 42%
Y: 58% K: 18%
C: 77% M: 47%
Y: 11% K: 0%
C: 65% M: 36%
Y: 53% K: 8%
C: 66% M: 32%
Y: 17% K: 0%
C: 41% M: 9%
Y: 34% K: 0%
C: 48% M: 15%
Y: 4% K: 0%
Sand
Sand
C: 6% M: 20%
Y: 25% K: 0%
Breaker shadow
C: 44% M: 46%
Y: 62% K: 12%
C: 62% M: 29%
Y: 18% K: 0%
C: 44% M: 17%
Y: 15% K: 0%
Shadows
C: 49% M: 32%
Y: 22% K: 0%
C: 34% M: 36%
Y: 44% K: 1%
Deep seas
White wa ter
middle ground shadow
C: 28% M: 23%
Y: 20% K: 0%
C: 38% M: 22%
Y: 15% K: 0%
C: 83% M: 60%
Y: 44% K: 30%
Dont forget that the sea also has green

in it, especially in deep water and also as
waves break. And make sure your light
source doesnt get lost in all the action!
SHALLOW WATER
C: 54% M: 31%
Y: 23% K: 0%
DEEP WATER
colours in the sea get lighter the further

you come into shore, and you need to mix
pale beige colours to give the impression
of water over the sand.
wave reflection
BOTTOM
C: 9% M: 8%
Y: 11% K: 0%
C: 28% M: 9%
Y: 24% K: 0%
C: 25% M: 1%
Y: 6% K: 0%
C: 3% M: 0%
Y: 4% K: 0%
C: 12% M: 0%
Y: 0% K: 0%
Calm sea
Stormy sea
Sand
C: 8% M: 6%
Y: 24% K: 0%
Breaker shadow
C: 30% M: 28%
Y: 64% K: 0%
wave reflection
C: 6% M: 4%
Y: 13% K: 0%
24
27/7/07 16:09:54
Brushes
CHARCOAL PENCIL
A Charcoal Pencil is good for

creating an initial sketch and
getting shadows in place
DIGITAL AIRBRUSH
A fabulous brush for laying

colour down for skies and calm
water scenes
Blenders
SOFT BLENDER STUMP
Invaluable for merging sky tones as well as

softening sea colours
FINE CAMEL BRUSH
Excellent for blocking in

colours for stormy and choppy
seascapes great for texture
SMEARY ROUND
Another good oil brush

for building up tones and
movement in seas
On the CD
Reference pack for your seascape

painting adventures!
The best way to learn how to paint

the sea is to look at the sea! So weve
put together a resource pack on the
CD that has plenty of photos of waves,
sand and foam, in addition to short
videos that are good for visualising
how the sea moves.
TAPERED ROUND OILS

Good for wave ripples as well
as painting in the shadows
under the waves
M ovie s
Photos
GRAINY BLENDER
Build up realistic breaking waves with this brush

and also add texture to clouds and foam
SMUDGE
For fluffy, explosive waves, the Smudge brush can

work miracles
25
27/7/07 16:10:43
Calm seas
Time to enjoy a tranquil afternoon beach-side, is what
we say. This tutorial will take us step by step through an
uncomplicated rendering of a quiet little ocean-side scene.
As to the mood of our effort, think of a bright sunny day
with a light breeze and the softest of waves gently pushing
ashore. We will be using a bare handful of brushes, layers
and colours to render a quiet ocean all the way from the far
horizon, through the soft breakers lapping the shore, past
the foamy surf and onto a warm, inviting beach.
Once we establish the most basic of layouts, we will quickly
build up our scene, relying principally on the Tapered Round
Oil Brush, the Digital Airbrush and a couple of nifty Blenders.
Prepara tion
There are various points to
keep in mind when attempting
to paint calm seas. The most
important is to decide on the
medium watercolour or
airbrush work well. Here are
some more pointers:
you are painting

Although
still water, you still need to
include ripples
Keep colours light at the
foreground to give the
impression of water over sand
01
On the horizon
Create a horizon line two thirds up the canvas, use

the Tapered Round Oil Brush 15 and the darkest of
the deep water colours. Also outline the modest
foamy breaker, positioned just above the onethird point. Use the Digital Airbrush to spray in the
sea blues, going from dark to light.
03
Blendin g
Open up a Darken layer, to quickly colour near the horizon without colouring
into the water. Using an enlarged Digital Airbrush, block in the four tones of
the sky. Flatten the image. Using a Soft Blender Stump enlarged to 80, blend
in the various values with soft horizontal strokes. Spend time on smoothing
the transitions in the sky, as some irregularities in the water will be benecial.
02
Bands of wa ter
Next grab the Digital Airbrush. Add a strip of the

almond reection colour under the foam of the
wave. Then ll in the two values of shallow water
as shown, with the Sandy colour closest to the
beach. Leaving a small strip for the foamy edge of
the receding wave, block in the basic sand colour.
04 Shadows
The Tapered Round Oils 15 is capable of producing a very thin mark with minimal pressure, and just like a
natural media round, will give a fat blob of colour if pressed rmly enough. Draw in small shadows under
the foremost breaker with the darkest sandy tone. Use canvas white to draw more foamy crests further
out into the water and begin to embellish the near wave with a few details. Use loose, gestural strokes.
26
27/7/07 15:57:40
06
05
Lighten thin gs up
Reduce the size of the Tapered Round Brush to 7. Take a sample of the water tone next
to the horizon and paint into the next lightest tone with light, skittery horizontal strokes.
Repeat the process in reverse by painting some of the lighter colour into the darker eld
with the same light, thin strokes to represent the furthest waves. Resize the brush to 15
and repeat the whole process in the shallow water area between the breaker and the
foam, this time pushing harder to make broader strokes.
07
More
shadow
Open up a Default
layer. With the
Tapered Round set
to 15, use the two
middle ground
shadow colours to
make fat and thin
waves, with the
darker colour used for
the foremost waves.
Sample some white
and create the pattern
of the sea foam. Using
a large Eraser set to
40% Opacity, lightly
reduce the brightness
of any stark foam.
Flatten the image.
Follow the foam
Set a 30 Digital Airbrush to 30% Opacity. Paint a little of the sand colour into
the edge of the water to suggest a slight shelf. The Grainy Blender 30 brings
it together. Working at full size in the foreground and reducing the brush
size down to about 10 near the horizon, make soft horizontal strokes along
waves and directional strokes following the foamy threads to blend edges
together. Add spray at the top and bottom of the near wave as a nice detail.
09 Sand tex ture
Open up a Gel layer.

With a large Digital
Airbrush set to 30%
Opacity, cover the
water in a very light
yellowish white.
Switch to the variable
Spatter Airbrush sized
to 40 or so. With
canvas white as the
colour, paint about the
middle third, making
sure to work towards
the edges a bit. This
leaves a nice subtle
texture on the sand.
08
Cloud glazin g
Using the Digital Airbrush 30 for the large cloud and the Tapered Round 15 for the smaller ones, paint in
the clouds. Sample two medium tones from the middle ground water. Then, using the Grainy Blender 30
with strokes following the contours, blend the edges of the clouds a bit into the sky.
10
Va lues, va lues
Use the Apply Lighting command at

the end for the nal burst of sunlight,
using these settings as an example.
27
27/7/07 15:59:43
Breaking
waves
We have a very nice setting for some really

dramatic shoreline action. There is a cliff
face, a bunch of rock outcroppings, and
even a secluded sandy beach for the truly
adventuresome swimmer. Lots of opportunity
to explore some of the interplay between sea
and shore. All that is needed is a few mammoth
breakers smashing into the rugged rocks and
a turbulent set of swells set to follow. All waves
have distinct shape and dimension and can be
lit predictably, but the kind of shoreline action
we require needs huge rolling breakers with their
distinctive tubular shape. They are particularly fun
additions to a seascape, and have an anatomy that is easy
to understand and paint.
Some strong gestural drawing is all we need to start. Then
we will introduce some of our darker values, gradually building
to peaks of spray and curls backlit by a strong light. The viewer will
then be left with a sense of the ebb and low of a sea constantly in motion.
Prepara tion
When it comes to breaking
waves, you need to think about
the movement of the sea. Use
the videos on the CD to look at
how water moves. Build up a
rhythm in your mind and then
paint it. Sounds crazy, but you
need to visualise the movement
in order to paint realistic waves.
02
green or yellow
Introduce
highlights to the centre of
01
Dra wn to the sea
breaking waves
As waves break, they draw up
upon themselves, so include
lines to suggest movement
at the side and front
the foam white with

Merge
blue and yellow
It pays to look at lots of references, and have a few on hand that are most similar to
your idea. Start with a quick rendering of the various waves. Nothing too elaborate, but
enough to get a real sense of the shape and direction of the waves. The Charcoal Pencil
7 of medium dark value combined with the Smudge tool is a nice combination.
Choosin g a brush
and jumpin g in
Size the Fine Camel Brush to 40, and start with a mid-tone blue. Open up
a Multiply layer so the drawing isnt obscured until the basic values are
blocked in. Repeat with green in areas that light would pierce or that are in
shallow water. Change the layer to default and atten the image.
28
27/7/07 16:00:49
03
Gestura l strokes
After adding a little lighter green to the top of

the big wave, do some directional strokes with
rst the brush in hand and then the Smudge
tool, located in the Blender Brush library.
Follow the contours of the wave and try to
show some of the force used on the cliff face.
04
05
Shadows
Now for a little

rounding out of the
forms of the foamy
spray. Medium-light
blues and greens,
applied to shaded
areas with our Camel
Brush, enhance
the sense of threedimensionality of our
wave. Time to add
a few more darks
elsewhere and at
the same time start
rening the various
edges throughout.
06
N ew wa ves
Well, as the big wave is looking ne, a little time spent on the rest of the
area is needed. More waves are needed and more facets of reected light.
This shot shows the result of alternating between a small Digital Airbrush,
for the sharpest edges, and a small version of our Fine Camel Brush, with
blending done with our Smudge tool. The areas of brightest light are directly
underneath the sun.
Smudge
Now the Smudge tool does some good stuff for us. With the various values
blocked in, it is time to really churn up the surf. Using various sizes of the
Smudge tool, work directionally wherever a little gesture is needed. If things
get muddy, just paint back into the area a bit and start over. It is pretty fun
and effective.
07
Foam marblin g
Last, an important
surface detail is added
to top things off
nicely. The preceding
wave and the foam
it created are being
sucked back into the
coming wave, and
the foam pulls back
in a pattern that
resembles marbling.
Using a small Soft
Camel Brush, paint in
the foamy lines with a
medium to light blue,
then blend them in
with the Smudge tool,
adjusted to size.
29
27/7/07 16:02:09
Choppy waters
So much for the ireworks! Now we are left with the
various transitions that low from those big waves to
the rest of our setting. One is to the less tumultuous
greater body of water. It is a bit more dificult to get
right, as there are more waves with less distinct
shapes, but they are every bit as necessary to do up in
proper fashion. We are left with the interplay between
the sea and the shore, with fun bits like the foamy
receding water that follows a spent wave as another
builds, complete with rivulets of runoff water lowing
from the rocky shores. Have you ever noticed how the
foam in a retracting wave causes a pattern resembling
marbling? Well include how to re-create that, and even
build up a nice sand bar, created by constant wave motion, as
our inal touch.
01
Prepara tion
If you have breaking waves,
you need to then work in some
choppy water to join them
together. The trick with this is to
build up lots of blues and greens
to suggest waves churning away
and also paint the sand to look
like the water is dragging it out.
02
Grainy Blender
Use
to pull away foam bits
the Tapered Oils brush
Use
to add white squiggles and
dots to look like foam ying in
the breeze
green and yellow to

Introduce
the heart of the waves
Broaden the ran ge
The big
drink
Using a large Fine

Camel Brush, about
30, block in the values
to the horizon. Picking
a mid-tone colour for
the farthest reaches
of the big wave area
will do nicely. Make
the right side of the
water a bit darker
for compositional
purposes. Use a
slightly more saturated
blue for this area to
enhance the illusion
of it being a bit closer
than the horizon.
03
More smudgin g
Working back and forth between a small version of the Smudge
tool and our Camel Brush sized to order, some of the details are
nalised. A small Smudge tool between three and ten, scratched
across the edges of the brush strokes in sympathetic direction
helps blend them into the body of colour.
Now we have a small bit of work broadening the range of the values,
including adding a bright highlighted area in the patch of water directly
underneath the sun. Notice that the strokes are pretty much horizontal in the
background, but in the foreground they are beginning to suggest waves with
small peaks as they get closer.
30
27/7/07 16:03:31
04
M or e of the sa m e
05
This shot shows the result of about ten minutes of the back and forth
workings of the previous step, applied to the water in the bay. This is not
aimless brush pushing. It helps to visualise a few large swells covered with
smaller surface waves. The idea is to create a number of subtle facets,
some of them very crisp, so too much blending can atten things out in an
unfavourable way.
06
Now draw an interesting and logical line where the wash

from the previous breaker has extended to. There is a lot of
nice space to utilise in the foreground, so leave off short of
the rocks. Fill in the area with a lighter green using the Camel
Brush set to about 30 in the eld and made smaller for details.
Take a little time with the Blender around the rocks to work
the edges to a nice level of detail.
Tran slucen t wash
07
Now take a large Digital Airbrush 45 set to 20% Opacity and lightly paint over
the leading edge of the wash with a light sandy brown, to give the illusion of
translucent water thinning at the outer reaches. Then blend it in with a large
version of the Smudge tool.
08
Ashore a t last
More marblin g
Just like those done on the breaking waves, the strings of sea foam in the
wash are rst laid down with a small Camel Brush. Then they are carefully
blended to integrate them into the foreground. Any sharp edges desired can
always be painted back on and lightly blended. Something to keep an eye
on is the plane that the wash is on, so the marks enhance the sense of
realistic space.
Runoff
Alternating between the

Airbrush and the Fine Camel
Brush, with both adjusted to
sizes tting for the scale of
detail, paint little rivulets of
runoff water.
09 Dra win g a lin e in the sand
Now for the beach. A simple line along a likely path describes the contours of
the ridge created by constant wave motion. Then it is a snap to paint in values
of a sandy tan on either side of the ridge line. The Soft Blender Stump 30
works best to mingle the various values to sandy smoothness. Voila!
31
27/7/07 16:05:32
Tutorial Use blending techniques for soft portraits
Use blending techniques

for soft portraits
As well as the Blender brushes themselves, a variety of techniques are at
your disposal for merging your media for super-smooth results
Tutorial info
Artist
Sam Gilbey
Time needed
2-3 hours
Skill level
Intermediate
On the CD
Source photo
final image
epending on the style and

techniques you favour, you
could approach a portrait in
Corel Painter in any number of
ways. But as you might imagine, to truly
get the best results you need to be able
to command a variety of techniques and
brush types.
The more you work at it, the faster
youll get at making the right selection
for the right job. When you no longer
need to think about what you need to
do next, thats when your style is really
working for you. But, of course, if using
an assortment of brush categories and

variants, the risk is that your artwork
ends up lacking the continuity that great
pieces always have. This means that the
Blender brushes become a crucial part
of your digital painting arsenal, fusing
two seemingly disparate methods. When
working with Corel Painter you can
combine realistic replications of natural
media, but you can do this in ways that
you couldnt actually do in real life.
Additionally, though, were not just
talking about the Blender brushes per se,
as typically they get used towards the end
of a piece, literally to smooth out some of

the rough edges. What were also looking
at here is how to give a blended feel to
your digital painting throughout. Many
of the brushes can be set to blend with
existing colours on the canvas, so you can
develop the soft look as you go.
Weve included the photo we used on
the disc (thanks to Sarah Ferber
for permission to use her self-portrait),
but the techniques explained here can be
used for portraits in general, so feel free
to use a different image from your own
digital collection.
Setting up
Choose either the portrait provided or one of your own
01 Step up
Create a new document

thats 24cm by 31cm at 300dpi. Open
the portrait photo from the magazine disc
and copy and paste it onto the canvas. Go to
Effect>Scale>Orientation>Free Transform and
scale the photo up so that it lls the canvas. Were
only using it for reference so it doesnt matter that
its low resolution.
not doing the obvious 2B

03 Were
joke
02 Push it back
Select the Fill tool, and pick a colour from the

background of the photo. Reduce the Opacity of the photo layer to
around 35%, and select the canvas layer. Fill the canvas with the deep orange
tone. Next, create a new layer above the photo.
Choose the 2B Pencil from the

range of variants in the Pencils brush category,
and set the width to 3px and the Opacity to
around 50%. Choose a dark grey tone. When you
start to draw on the layer, the blending mode will
automatically be set to Gel. Set it to Normal.
32
032-036_OPM_07_blenders.indd 32
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Tutorial
Use blending techniques for soft portraits
33
26/7/07 14:29:37
Use your tools

Explore the depths of the portraits layers
05 Double
size
Work your way around the piece, softly marking

the key features as you go. This is so that everything is proportional,
and it will save time trying to perfect the likeness later. The pencil marks wont
be very visible at the end, but still, try and keep them fairly neat.
When
youre done, try hiding
the photo layer to
check that youve got
enough reference
lines. Select the
canvas layer, and go to
Canvas>Canvas Size.
Add the current image
width to the right of
the canvas, ie, 2,835
pixels. Reveal the
photo and move it to
the right side.
06 Flat tones
07 Masking the edges
04 Key features
Create a separate layer for each key area of the portrait

(face, neck, hair, arm, knee, T-shirt, eyes and lips). Making sure the
Resat is set to 100, pick a mid-tone from each of the key areas, and on the
appropriate layer, paint the areas in with at colours. Dont worry about going
over the edges.
Splitting
hairs
Dont be afraid to use
lots and lots of layers,
especially when it
comes to painting
something like hair. It
needs to look smooth,
soft and shiny, but
also needs detail and
depth. Trying to do
all this on just one
layer means that your
details will just get
smudged, and that
sheen will be lost.
Select the face layer and go to Layers>

Create Layer Mask. In the Layers palette, click on the mask
thumbnail. Use the Wet Detail Brush 5 from the Acrylics set (at any size
though), ensuring the Resat is at 100%, and paint in black to hide the overlaps.
Repeat for the other layers.
09 Gold blend
08 Chalky texture
Once youre happy with the masks on each layer,

select the Blunt Chalk 10 from the Chalk range. Set the brush size to
around 50 with the Resat at 100%, and with a dark green, start to mark out
the shadows on the T-shirt layer. Keep the pressure quite light so you get the
chalk texture.
The Resat
level is crucial when
it comes to blending
your artwork. Reduce
it to 12% and increase
the brush size to
around 80. Now when
you paint, youre still
working with chalk but
you can push and pull
away from different
tones to spread the
shading. Work in a
variety of tones.
34
26/7/07 14:29:53
Change the Resat value to

3%, and reduce the brush size to around
50. Youll get a slightly streaky look, but thats
what we want here. Select the Just Add Water
blender from the Blenders and with the size
around 70, proceed to blend the T-shirt tones into
one another, being careful to follow the folds.
11 Keep working at it
The airbrushes are

essential for this blended look. Use the
Soft Airbrush, at a variety of sizes and in a variety
of tones, to further accentuate the detail in the
T-shirt. Then use the Round Blender Brush 30 from
the Blenders menu, to further soften the detail
where necessary.
12 Just like real brushes
The Artists
Oils run out of paint, just as they would in
real life. Use the Soft Blender Brush in this category
to start adding highlight and shadow to the face.
Note that when you have run out of paint, you can
continue to blend if you dont lift your brush from
the surface.
Its crucial to master

the Resat and
Opacity levels in your
techniques, especially
when youre going for
a blended look as we
are here. Setting the
Resat down to 3%
will really keep it
soft, but bear in mind
youll need to increase
it somewhat when
you need to bring in
some darker tones.
Keeping the brush
Opacity low means
you can blend it all
together gradually.
Use blending techniques for soft portraits
10 Softer still
Tutorial
Resat and
Opacity
Define the shine and lines

Blend to your hearts content
14 Shiny eyes
13 Just Add Water
The Just Add Water

blender comes in very handy here,
because the Soft Blender brush will have left really
obvious brush strokes. Once youve softened it,
use the Wet Detail Brush from Acrylics, but this
time set the Resat to 12%. With the brush size
around 20, continue to develop the shading.
Use the same

brush to add various
colour tones to the
eyes, but then use the
Coarse Oily Blender 10
from the Blenders, at
a size of around 4, to
drag these tones around
and add lots of detail to
the eyes. All the marks
should radiate out from
the pupil.
15 Hair time
Use some
chunky charcoal
strokes to start to
dene the highlights
and shadows in the
hair. To blend these in,
use the Loaded Palette
Knife from the Palette
Knives, following the
contours of the hair,
with the Resat around
12% and the size
around 20.
16 Distortion and more blending
In the Distortion category

youll nd the Distorto brush. With the size set to 40, youll nd this is
a great way to add thin streaks into the hair, all the time increasing the range
and depth. Next, use the Flat Grainy Stump from the Blenders, at a size of 15,
to just soften those marks.
35
26/7/07 14:30:59
The final flourishes

Bring out the contrasting textures for a remarkable effect
17 Build it up
Create a new layer above,

setting the Opacity of the layer to around
65%. Check the Pick Up Underlying Colour box
on the Layers palette. Use the Wet Detail (Acrylic)
Brush at a size of 20 and with 3% Resat, to add
extra sheen to the hair, blending a range of
colours in as you go.
18 Smear is also useful
Where theres
a contrast in tones on esh, like at the
edge of the nose or the chin and cheek, the Smear
blender is a great tool to use. You can drag the
highlights or shadows around without them
becoming overpowering. Also use the Just Add
Water blender to retain the softness.
19 Final touches
Using the techniques weve shown, complete the

image, softening it where necessary, but keeping some stronger lines
in view (lips and eyes for example). Add a layer above everything, setting it to
Screen blending mode, and use a large red airbrush to add a glow to key areas
of the esh, hair and clothing.
Using blending techniques in portraits

Traditional artists blend paint as they go,
and the technique is especially good for
when you are painting portraits. Blending
allows you to merge colours together and
soften out any hard brush marks. This not
only enables you to create flawless skin,
but it is also excellent for smooth hair and
soft fabric.
Weve used various blending
techniques throughout this tutorial, but
heres a look at the brushes we used for
each task, along with how they were
used. Practise with this photo and then
use your new skills on your own image!
02
01
Hair
The hair started
with charcoal
shadows, blended
in with a Loaded
Palette Knife, the
Distorto brush and
the Flat Grainy
Stump. A semiopaque layer of
Wet Acrylic strokes,
and some airbrush
highlights just
brought it to life.
03
Facial detail
A variety of
Blenders and paints
were used here, but
the important thing
is to know where to
retain sharper lines,
and where to blend
everything as softly
as possible. See how
the highlights follow
the edge of the nose
and the cheek.
Clothing
For clothing to be convincing, again it needs to have clearly defined
contours, but the blend between light and shadow must be soft. Be careful
not to overwork things!
36
26/7/07 14:32:13
showcase
038-039_OPM_07_artspread.indd 38
27/7/07 14:38:21
DENIS FOKIN
TITLE
WEBSITE
JOB TITLE
All Alone
www.denfo.info
Digital artist
Denis has an amazing range of work, from dark and
brooding pieces such as this example, through to bright
and cheery fruit paintings and humorous illustrations.
Visit his site for more great examples of artwork.
038-039_OPM_07_artspread.indd 39
27/7/07 14:38:59
Tutorial Paint like Edgar Degas
Paint like: Edgar Degas

Famous for his images of the Paris ballet scene, Degas was an Impressionist with a
difference. Learn which tools to use in order to create a Degas-inspired masterpiece
Tutorial info
Artist
Hannah Gal
Time needed
4 hours
Skill level
Intermediate
On the CD
Start sketch and

final file
For more on Degas life

and works, visit www.
expo-degas.com
egas was born in 1834 in Paris,

France, to an aristocratic
family and started painting
very early in life. His well-todo family was supportive of his talent; his
banker father did expect the young Edgar
to go to law school, but when this path
proved fruitless, his chosen career in art
was nurtured.
Degas studied art in France and
travelled to Italy where he lived for
three years, mastering the works of the
classics including Raphael and Titian. His
hard work and passion for Renaissance
art created a highly accomplished and
skilled painter, who continued to evolve
throughout his career.
Although part of the Impressionist
movement, Degas employed a somewhat
different approach and style. He favoured
drawing with more control and less of the
spontaneity that typiied Impressionism.
He painted a great deal from sketches and
notes made at the scene, as well as from
memory unlike some Impressionists
who preferred an immediate transfer
of their impression of light to canvas.
Like fellow Impressionists, Degas had

an interest in modern city life with its
dance halls, cabarets, racetracks, opera
and, of course, ballet stages. Racing
track and ballet dance life provided the
disciplined movement that fascinated
him. He recorded the gestures,
nuances, ambience and atmosphere of
the ballet scene, producing art pieces
that have fascinated the world ever since.
It is worth noting, however, that this
versatile artist also studied the everyday
life of milliners, dressmakers and
laundresses. He did so with great passion,
to produce immaculate paintings that are
distinctively different from the pastels of
later life.
Degas technique is both unique
and highly accessible. It is the
result of a photographic eye and
experimentation with unusual art
methods and materials. Among other
techniques, Degas would mix pastels with
liquid ixative to make a colourful paste,
and transfer the excess of pigment from
one drawing onto a clear sheet to make an
inverse proof of the original.
When etching, he inked the unetched
plate and drew with a brush in this layer
of ink, then he removed all the ink in
places to obtain strong contrasts of light
and dark. The multitude of experiments
gave birth to richness of surface effects
and a great variety in style.
Degas often combined pastels and oil in
a single work but the mid 1870s saw him
Our ballerina is placed on a striking white background,

which affects our judgement of colour. In a separate
layer, we created a colour background which can be
turned on for reference
We imitated Degas by using pencil and charcoal, using

the Smudge variant of the Blend brushes on the latter
working increasingly in pastel, eventually

abandoning oil completely in favour
of pastel for which he is best known.
Pastels gave the work qualities of
lightness, which complemented the
subject of dancers perfectly. He handled
this delicate medium with conidence
and created a body of work that includes
some of the most famous art pieces
ever created.
We will create The Star using a
mixture of oils and pastels. Like Degas,
we will start with a drawing, move to oil
paint and pastels, and explore variants
including the Square Pastel and
Smooth Pastel.
The pastels are used with a chosen
textured paper. Unlike the original,
our ballerina is placed on a white
background. For colour reference, we
will create a colour background on a
separate layer that can be turned on and
off when needed.
Degas often mixed oil paint with pastels. Over our

layers of oil paint, we applied pastels to add a quality
of lightness. Soft Oil Pastels give a smooth feel, where
the Square Hard Pastel brings texture and grain
40
040-046_OPM_07_degas.indd 40
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Tutorial
Paint like Edgar Degas
41
27/7/07 16:16:37
Outlines and layers

Youll feel the benefit of the layers later on
Brush
to blend
Painting with pastels
involves blending
layers and areas with
one another. You
can use any of the
Blenders brushes
for this purpose.
Alternatively, turn
any brush with
Resaturation (Resat)
option into a blender.
Once you select your
brush and variant,
go to the Options bar
(Property bar) and
simply drag the Resat
slider to zero.
01 Brush Tracking
The sensitivity of the stylus is crucial to the making

of this piece. Open a new image and set the background colour to
white. Before you apply paint to paper, set Brush Tracking by going to Corel
Painter>Preferences>Brush Tracking. Try several strokes before deciding,
considering the pressure and speed of your application.
02 Paper
At the bottom of the toolbox, click open the Papers menu.

Out of the list of surfaces, choose Thick Handmade Paper. This
surface can be changed at any point of painting so if you nd it is not to your
liking, reopen this list and choose another. Alternatively, from the Papers
palette choose Launch Palette and adjust paper settings.
04 Layers
03 Drawing
Degas often started work with a detailed drawing. Go

to Window>Show Brush Creator and select Pencils>Thick and Thin
variant. Draw the ballerina and select Charcoal>Soft Charcoal for thicker
textured lines. To complete the drawing, choose Blenders>Smudge to soften
some of the lines. Alternatively, load the sketch from the disc!
This image
is made of many
layers. This might
slow down progress
considerably, but is
essential for control
at this stage. In the
Layers palette create
a separate layer each
for the dress, face,
skin, drawing, original
for reference and
colour background.
A renement layer is
optional at this point,
as this is the very last
stage of the process.
05 First oils
As you
work, be sure to have
your Mixer palette
and Color Sets open.
Remember to select
the right layer as you
apply paint to different
parts of the image.
From Brush Selector or
Brush Creator choose
Artists Oils>Bristle
Brush and set Opacity
to 6-8%. Choose Draw
To Colour and Depth
and set Depth to 10%.
Start applying colour to
the sketch.
06 Darker shades
Use the same brush to add detail to the ballerina.

Increase Opacity and adjust brush size as you progress. Observe
the original and use the Color palette or Mixer to create the desired shade.
Alternatively, double-click on the foreground colour and move the slider
slightly towards the dark end.
42
27/7/07 12:20:30
Customise
08
Face Once the main lines are in place,
you can disable the Grid lines or reduce

their Opacity. Use the Bristle Brush at a low 8%
Opacity to apply rst details to the face. Add
more horizontal and vertical lines for further help
if needed.
09 Skin
Staying with the Bristle Brush,

set Opacity to 20% and use the Mixer
palette to create the right shade for the skin. Click
on the Skin layer to select it and apply long strokes
to arms and leg. Start with long strokes of the dark
shade and use the Color palette to nd a lighter
shade. Repeat until you reach a near white shade.
Colour and tone

Bringing the drawing to life
The features on the face might

prove a challenge due to the effect of
perspective shortening. Use the grid to help you
get proportions right. In the main menu choose
Show Layout Grid>Enable Layout Grid. Set your
vertical and horizontal lines across the face to
guide you.
Tutorial
07 Grids
Instead of reaching
for the Brush Creator
or Brush Selector
each time, customise
a palette to include
all the brushes.
Start a new palette
by choosing Pastels
from the Brush
Selector bar. Choose
a Pastel variant,
drag the variant
thumbnail from the
Brush Selector bar
and release it. You
will see a new palette
titled Custom appear.
Enlarge it by grabbing
the lower-right
corner. You can now
add variants to your
palette by dragging a
variants icon onto the
Custom palette. The
icons on the palette
can be moved around
by pressing the Shift
key and dragging the
icon to a new position.
in the
11 Add
owers
10 Darker tone
Adjust brush size and

Opacity value as you paint and continue
to apply Bristle Brush strokes. If you feel condent,
apply high Opacity strokes. Otherwise, build layers
up gradually. You can start with one end of the
canvas and work your way using the Move tool to
progress, or cover one layer at a time.
12 Colour background
The
owers add vibrancy
to the dress. Their
shape can be a little
hard to see from
reproductions. Use
the Artists Oils>Bristle
Brush or Smooth
Pastel within the
Pastels category, to
apply dabs of these
spots of colour. We
will rene their shape
and tone later on.
Earlier on we created a separate layer for

a colour background. This layer, bearing the background colours
similar to the original, serves as a guide for correct sense of the colours of the
ballerina. Select this layer and apply paint strokes using the paint and brush
used for the main gure.
Texture
13 Pastels
Once we have our oil colour layers in place, we can start

concentrating on the pastels. These give the piece a feeling of
lightness and texture. Choose the Pastels brush and select the Square Hard
Pastel variant, subcategory Grainy Hard Cover. Set Grain to 8% and Opacity
to 50-55%.
We added texture to
our complete painting
by using Surface
Texture. We also used
texture while creating
the image, within the
Pastel brushes and
the Papers palette.
It is important not
to mix too many
different textures
and scales within one
painting. Try to use
the same texture for
a more natural look
and feel.
Bear in mind that
the paper you worked
with while creating
your piece would
still be chosen in
the Paper Selector,
so at any point you
can open it and see
the settings used.
Choose Paper from
the Apply Surface
Texture dialog box,
and adjust settings to
complement texture
applied so far.
43
27/7/07 12:21:04
Using pastels to add texture

Offset shade to bring the character to prominence
14 Paper texture
The Pastel brush works

with the paper selected earlier. Work at
100% zoom level and judge the texture. If you feel
it is not grainy enough, go to the papers list within
the toolbox and adjust paper choice or settings.
Alternatively, use the Brush Creators pad to test a
stroke at different Grain levels.
The Degas effect
15 Darker shades
Apply the rst layer

of Pastels, sampling colour off existing
colour as you progress. Increase Opacity and
apply a second layer using the Hard Square
variant. You should see the textures of the paper
mix with the oil you applied before.
16 Oil Pastels
In the Oil Pastels

category, choose the Soft Oil 20 variant.
Choose Grainy Flat Cove and set the Expression
to None. Go over the pastels already applied at a
20-30% Opacity.
Make an impression like Degas
Pastels>Tapered
Pastel 10
Thin lines
In some reproductions
the thin lines on the
fabric is bright white,
where in others it
is a striking yellow.
Pick what works best
with your preferred
tones. The thin lines
are applied as short
strokes from the waist
down and outwards.
Blenders>Grainy Wate
Water
Hint of yellow
The light is facing the ballerina and is slightly yellow tinted. It falls
dramatically on the skin of the face, arms and leg. To add a touch of
drama and accentuate the highlight on the skin, we used a smoother
brush. The hint of yellow would not be as effective on its own. It is meant
to complement the white layer underneath.
Pastels>Square
Hard Pastel
Square Hard
Pastels covering Oil
Pastels>Soft Oil
White lights
The dancers raised head shows her neck and
chest beautifully. The light is reflected from
the light skin and calls for a bright, highopacity, white colour. The top white layers of
paint add drama and clearly show where the
light is coming from.
Fabric effect
The light filters through the thin fabric of the
dress. Layers of green, pastel peach and white
paint have been applied to cover the dress
with a Oil Bristle brush. The layer of white
pastel paint is less opaque than the thin lines
on the right. The stroke is wider and longer.
Lighting
To set the Light Controls according to the
light falling on the image, choose Apply
Surface Texture>Light Controls. Direct the
light to face the dancer from her bottom
left by clicking Apply Surface Texture>Light
Direction. Control the colour of the light with
Apply Surface Texture>Colours.
44
27/7/07 16:12:56
Oils and pastels
The background is
made of heavy brush
strokes that are
loaded with paint.
As this is only there
for reference, apply
colour loosely without
paying too much
attention to detail.
It is the feel of the
layer we are after. Use
Artists Oils>Bristle
Brush at 35-40%
Depth to apply paint.
18 Colour background oils
In the
Layers Palette, select all layers besides
the colour background. Click on the top-right
triangle to open a menu and choose Drop to
create two layers: Colour Background and Canvas.
Choose Blenders from the Brush Selector and use
the Grainy Water variant at 10-15% Opacity to
smooth paint. Go over an area, repeatedly, with
the same stroke for a smooth blend of colours.
The Mixer palette

is an essential tool.
Take a few minutes to
familiarise yourself
with the tools at the
bottom of the palette.
Dirty Brush Mode,
Apply Color, Mix Color,
Sample Color, Sample
Multiple Colors,
Zoom, Pan and Clear
are all incredibly
useful. Some use it
continuously while
working, others only
turn to it when the
Color palette fails to
provide the shade
they need. Most handy
are Apply Color which
applies colour to the
pad, Mix Color tool
to mix the colours,
followed by Sample
Colour to sample
exactly the right
shade you were after.
17
Background oil
Tutorial
Mixer palette
Bring out the richness of the image
Detailing
20
using
Hard Pastels
19 Adding layers of Hard Pastels
Go back to the Hard Pastels as in step 13

and apply another layer of this at 8-10% Opacity.
Applying a single high-opacity layer will not
achieve the multi tones that several low-opacity
layers do. It lengthens the process but is essential
to getting the airy feeling. Use light strokes and
vary their length according to image details.
21 Darker Hard Pastels
Use the Hard Pastels

brush at a low Opacity
to apply light strokes
around the edges
of the dress. These
are short to medium
length strokes that go
from the outside in
to hint at folds in the
fabric and add uffy
feeling to the ends.
Zoom in to 100% and create a new layer.

This is the nal Pastel layer and is meant to concentrate on variations in
tone within areas of the image. This is time-consuming but creates the effect
of richness. Examine the original to spot the many shades along and around
her left arm for example, and apply.
22 Blacks
When you feel the image is well covered, layered and is

looking rich in tone, select black from the Color Palette and spot the
darkest points in the image. Apply dark black to these areas. If unsure, add a
layer titled Blacks rst. Alternatively, go to Preferences>Undo and increase the
number of Undo levels.
45
27/7/07 12:23:02
Refining the image

Rounding it off with emphasis
24 Rene
23 Whites
The very top layer of Pastels on the dress is made of highopacity white colour. These are short to medium strokes that go from
the dancers waist down the dress. Choose the Tapered Pastels variant at a
high 90-100% Opacity and a small brush.
Soften
and blend
Pastel paintings are
made of many tones
blended into another.
The mix of colours
and shades creates a
rich palette.
You apply colour
to several areas, and
then blend these
together for a softer
overall look.
There are several
ways to achieve the
softening effect. You
can use the Blender
brushes with their
multitude of variants,
or any of the Oil
Pastels variants.
We used Blenders
Grainy Water here,
working in the
direction of the
painting. Dont worry
about over-smoothing
an area as you can
easily add texture to it
later on.
Go over
the image at 100%
magnication level for
renement and add
details to every part
of the image. Darken
blacks, whiten whites,
add fabric folds where
needed, add shadows
or highlights and so
on. Create a new layer
for your renements
and drop it when
done. From Pastels,
choose Pastel Pencil 3
and use a dark shade
to deepen shadows
in places like waist,
under and along right
arm and so on.
25 Canvas
In the toolbox, click on the Papers palette. Choose Artists

Canvas and launch the palette. Adjust settings to 224 Rows and 224
Columns. The texture of the canvas here is highly visible but it is a matter of
personal preference how prominent you want this feature to be.
26 Canvas texture
Go to Effects>Surface Texture>Apply Surface

Texture. Select Using Paper, Amount to 30-35% and Picture to 8090%. We set Shine to 40% and Reection to 0%. Apply and view at 100%
zoom. Undo and adjust Canvas settings if needed.
and
28 Fade
erase
background layer on for

27 Turn
a true Degas effect
The dancers
Canvas texture needs to be applied to the
background. To match, open the paper texture
and adjust the settings. Go to Apply Surface
Texture, place the Preview window at the meeting
point of the dancer and background layers and
observe while adjusting settings.
Open
the Fade dialog box.
Observe the Preview
box while adjusting the
Fade amount to reach
the level of effect you
are after. Go to the
tool box and choose
the Erase tool. Use at
low Opacity to remove
some detail around
the dancer, and reveal
more of the texture
of the background
underneath her.
46
27/7/07 12:23:38
Feature focus Gradients
FEATURE
FOCUS
Using
gradients
Bring out the best in your artwork with

the help of some subtle gradient tools
Selecting
gradients
from the
toolbar
You dont have to
launch the Gradients
palette to choose a
gradient swatch. You
can actually access
the Gradient Selector
straight from the
toolbar. There are six
selector boxes at the
bottom of the toolbar
the Gradient selector
is the one in the
upper right. Click the
thumbnail to call up
the list of preset
swatches in the
current library. Use
the scrollbar to scroll
through the swatches;
locate the swatch you
want to use, click to
select it. Easy!
magine a world without gradients.

A world where everything was
lat and evenly coloured, where
everything existed in sharp
contrast to its neighbour; a world without
gradients would be a visually stark place
indeed. Long having been a staple for the
art world, the contribution of gradients
has not been overlooked by technology,
which is why many graphics programs
(including Corel Painter) come with
special tools to make it easy for artists to
manipulate and use gradients.
In this tutorial, well take a closer look
at Corel Painters exhaustive gradient
capabilities. Well use the Gradient palette
to pick out preset gradient swatches and
apply them with the Paint Bucket tool.
Well also show you how to easily edit
and create your own gradients swatches
with the Edit Gradient command. Further
in, well see how gradients can be used
in conjunction with layer composite
methods to produce even more dramatic
and stunning effects.
For advanced users, weve also included
more information about the various
functions found within the Gradient
palette and Edit Gradient pop-up. These
will help explain the more obscure terms
relating to gradients, like Blending Ramps
and the Colour Hue function, which are
invaluable when creating more complex
gradient swatches.
PAINT BUCKET TOOL AND OPTIONS

You can use the Paint Bucket tool to ll areas
with gradient swatches. To do so, select the
Paint Bucket tool from the toolbar, and then
select Gradient from the drop-down bar in
the upper tool menu.
RECOLOURING IMAGES WITH GRADIENTS

The buttery was transformed from a dull
entomologists specimen to a mysterious beauty
with the help of a couple of creatively applied
gradient swatches and composite methods. Check
the tutorial for a step-by-step demonstration.
Blending Ramps
Color Hue
Blending is best
Find the right colour for you

Blending Ramps work within the Edit Gradient
box to control how smoothly the colours of
the gradient blend into each other. Blending
Ramps can be linear or non-linear. Linear
means the colours are evenly blended
between two colour points. By default,
Blending Ramps are set to Linear. To change it
to non-linear, uncheck the box next to Linear.
The Colour Spread slider will appear below
the Colour Ramp bar. Click on a colour point
to select it. Use the Colour Spread slider to
adjust the colour smoothness.
Color Hue is an interesting additional function in

the Edit Gradient box. If you look at the Color Ramp
bar, youll notice one or more grey squares along
the top edge. Clicking on a square calls up the Color
Hue drop-down. You can choose from RGB, Hue
Clockwise and Hue Counter Clockwise. RGB is the
default, and it lets the colour blend between two
colour points (say, yellow to blue). Hue Clockwise
and Hue Counter Clockwise produce blends that
include other colours in-between the two colour
points, as they appear clockwise or counter
clockwise in the Color palettes Hue Ring.
48
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CREATIVE MASKING WITH GRADIENTS
Creating a custom-made one of your own
Gradients can be used on both layers and layer

masks. They are useful in creating delicate masks
that partially reveal an image while hiding the rest.
In this tutorial we make use of a gradient on a
mask to partially obscure a layer of clouds.
Corel Painter comes loaded with an extensive library of pre-made

gradient swatches. However, youll undoubtedly want to create your
own gradient at some point. The easiest way to go about this is to edit
a simple, pre-made swatch (like the Two-Point gradient preset) and
saving it as a new gradient swatch.
Feature focus
Editing gradients
the
01 Editing
swatch
Gradients
Open up
the Gradients palette. Use the
Gradient Selector to choose
the Two-Point gradient. Click
the arrow in the top right
corner of the palette to show
the options, and select Edit
Gradient. The Edit Gradient
box pops up, displaying a bar
of colour with grey markers.
This is the Color Ramp.
02 Understanding
colour points
The arrows along the bottom

of the Color Ramp are
colour points, representing
the colours in the gradient.
Clicking in the Color Ramp will
create another colour point.
To select new colour points,
click to select the point. Use
the Colors palette to select a
new main colour.
the new
03 Saving
swatch
Add as
many colour points as you
like. To delete a point, click its
marker and hit the Delete key.
Adjust the Blending Ramps
and colour hue settings to
make changes (see boxes).
Click OK, then choose Save
Gradient from the Gradient
palette options. Name the
swatch to add it to the library.
GRADIENTS PALETTE
The Gradients palette
houses all the necessary
tools for you to use, edit
and create new gradients.
To call up the palette, click
Window>Library Palettes>
Show Gradients.
Capturing gradients
Express gradient
Save it as a swatch
Keep it classic
Another way to create gradients is to
capture a range of colours from existing
artwork, and save that as a new gradient
swatch. To capture a gradient, zoom
in and make it 1-pixel wide for vertical
swatches or 1-pixel high for horizontal
swatches. In the Gradients palette, click
the upper right arrow for the palette
options. Choose Capture Gradient. Name
your gradient and hit OK. The saved
swatch will be added to the library,
selectable with the Gradient Selector.
Another neat Gradient palette option is the Express

In Image command. This lets you replace your
artworks colours with that of a selected gradient
swatch. Corel Painter replaces colours based on
their luminance values. To use the function, select
Express In Image. In the pop-up box, use the Bias
slider to adjust how the gradient reacts with the
artwork. Click OK to apply the effect. Although you
can preview the results from the preview pane in
the pop-up box, its not easy to assess the entire
result. Save a duplicate layer of your artwork in
case you need to recover it.
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Feature focus Gradients
FEATURE
FOCUS
Using gradients to great effect

Making a surreal photo collage
When used
correctly, gradients
can be used to
achieve all sorts of
effects. Using some
basic stock photos,
well show you how
to put gradients to
work to create a
surreal montage of
ethereal butterlies
against a
dreamy backdrop.
01
Getting started We started out with
a picture of a tree and created anew layer

above it. Call up the Gradients menu by clicking
Window>Library Palettes>Show Gradients. Click
the Gradient Selector arrow to show the gradient
presets. Scroll down and locate Summer Sunset.
02
Applying preset gradients In
the Gradients palette, set the gradient

to Linear Gradient with an angle of 90. Select
the Paint Bucket tool, and set the ll to Gradient.
Rename the new layer Summer Sunset. Hit
Select>All, then click within the selection to
apply the gradient. Change the layer Composite
Method to Gel, and reduce its Opacity to 36%.
03 Customising gradients
Select
a medium blue for your Main Color,
and set the Additional Color to White. With the
Gradient Selector, choose the Two-Point swatch.
Click the arrow at the top right corner of the
Gradients palette and choose Edit gradient to
display the Edit Gradient dialog box. Click the
middle of the Color Ramp bar. A new control point
will appear.
Alpha
channels
In addition to layers
and layer masks,
gradients can also be
applied to Channels.
Channels are
customised masking
layers that can be
saved for reuse. To
use a gradient on an
Alpha Channel, access
the Channels palette
with Window>Show
Channels. Click the
New Channel button
at the bottom. Make a
selection and fill it with
your gradient. Click on
Load Channel at the
bottom of the palette
to use the channel.
04 Saving a new gradient swatch 05 Gradients with Layer Masks

Use the Colors palette to choose a light
yellow for the new control point. In the Gradient
palette options, choose Save Gradient. Name it
and set it to Circular Gradient. Create a new layer;
select and ll it as before. Change its Composite
Mode to Shadow Map, set its Opacity to 52%. Hit
Layer>Duplicate layer for added colour effect.
We
then opened a picture of a cloud. In the
Layers palette, click the Create Layer Mask icon.
Click on the masks preview, then hit Select>All.
Change your Main Color to Black. Select the TwoPoint gradient swatch and set its angle to 270.
Click the selection to apply a gradient to the mask,
then choose Select>None.
06 Colouring the buttery
We
now imported a cutout image of a
buttery on a new layer called buttery1. Find the
Oxidation preset in the Gradients palette. Change
its angle to 289. Select the Paint Bucket and click
below the butterys head. Change the layer mode
to Gel at 70% Opacity.
Gradient types
Gradient order
Choose which gradient suits your image best
Adjust your gradients direction
Painter allows you to create

four different types of gradients
with any gradient swatch. Any
gradient can be a Linear, Radial,
Circular or Spiral gradient.
Linear gradients blend colours
in a straight line. Radial applies the colours in a clockwise, circular fashion, with the
end colour being placed next to the start colour. Circular gradients blend smoothly
outwards, with the start colour being in the middle and the end colour at the
outermost edge. Spiral gradients appear as repeating colour blends in a swirl-like
pattern. Gradient types can be specified by clicking on their thumbnails in the
Gradients palette.
At the base of the Gradients palette are the

gradient order buttons, which slightly but
distinctly modifies the look of the gradient. The
first, Left to Right Gradient, is the default and most
commonly used. Click any of the other five buttons
to choose a different gradient order. You can
preview the result in the Gradient Order Preview
bar just above the buttons. The Gradient Order
buttons work in conjunction with the selected
Gradient Type. The function alone does not
produce new gradients, but can be useful to adjust
a gradient to work better under certain conditions.
50
27/7/07 14:18:02
selection active, create another layer

called buttery2. Locate the Pool of Light preset.
Change it to a Linear Gradient with an angle of
270. Fill the selection with this gradient, then
change the layer mode to Gel and reduce its
opacity to 70%. Shift-click all three buttery layers
in the Layers palette and hit Layer>Group.
08 Touching up the buttery
Select
the buttery layer group and choose
Layers>Collapse. Deactivate your selection with
Select>None if needed. Soften the wing edges
with the Blenders>Just Add Water brush. Use
the Blenders>Grainy Blender brush to blur the
wing details and infuse the buttery with a more
painterly look. Use Layer>Duplicate Layer to make
three more copies of your buttery.
09 More butteries
Move the
butteries into position. You can use the
Effects> Orientation functions to scale and rotate
the butteries. Change their colour by selecting
its layer and hitting Effects>Tonal Control>Adjust
Colors. Use the sliders to tweak the colour. Reduce
the opacity of the smaller two butteries.
When using the Paint

Bucket tool to fill
in gradients, youll
sometimes encounter
instances where
clicking on the artwork
doesnt cause it to be
completely filled with
colour. You can try to
rectify this by adjusting
the Tolerance settings
in the top Paint Bucket
options bar. The Paint
Bucket works by
recolouring pixels in
relation to the spot you
click on. Increasing the
Tolerance broadens
the acceptable range of
colours to change.
Gradients
07
Add more colour With your
Feature focus
Be more
tolerant
Using lighting effects

And lo, Corel Painter said, Let there be light
10 Draw a shape with the Pen tool
Create a new layer called light. With

the Pen tool, click to create a triangular shape
extending from the largest butterys head. Close
your shape by clicking again on the rst point you
drew (youll see the symbol change to a little x
with an o beside it). In the top Pen menu, click the
Convert to Selection button.
11 Beam of light
Select the Two-Point

gradient from the Gradients palette. Set
your Main Color to light yellow and the other to
White. Adjust the Gradient Angle and use the
Paint Bucket tool to ll in the selection, making
sure the yellow part is nearer to the butterys
head. Change the layer mode to Screen and
reduce its Opacity to 26%.
12 Finishing up
Duplicate the light beam

layer, and use the Effects>Orientation>
Flip Horizontal. Position both light layers below
the butteries in the Layers palette. We imported
a paper texture on a new layer and moved to the
top of the layer stack. Add some highlights to
the wings by spraying some pale yellow with the
Airbrush on a new layer set to Overlay.
Spiral gradient tension
Gradients and brushstrokes
An option for different effects
Taking it a step further
The Spiral gradient type is somewhat different

from the other gradient types. It applies the
gradient in a never-ending swirl, which can
be used to make nice Pop Art effects. You can
actually control how tightly or loosely you want
your spiral to be by controlling the spiral tension.
To do this, select the Spiral gradient type in
the Gradients palette. Hold down the Ctrl/Cmd
key, click and drag the red dot in the Gradient
Angle Ring. Dragging clockwise increases the
spiral frequency; dragging counter clockwise
decreases it.
Corel Painter gives you the ability to not only fill in

gradients, but to paint with them as well. To paint a
gradient, first access the Brush Creator via Window>
Show Brush Creator. In the Stroke Designer tab,
select Projected or Rendered from the Dab Type
drop-down. In the Source drop-down, select Gradient
or Gradient Repeat. Gradient applies the selected
swatch across the width of your stroke. Gradient
Repeat repeats the gradient across the length of
the stroke. Corel Painter takes the direction of your
stroke into consideration; changing direction may flip
the gradient as it appears in your stroke.
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Tutorial
Joanna Michalak
shows you how to...
Paint with pen and ink tools
Paint with pen

and ink tools
The following tutorial has been created to show you how to create an ink
drawing using Corel Painters pens and ink tools
Tutorial info
Artist
Joanna Michalak
Time needed
2 hours
Skill level
Intermediate
On the CD
Sketch and
final image
or an authentic piece of ink art,

Corel Painter has all you need to
create swishes and splodges with
the greatest of ease. In fact, over
this tutorial, I will try to show you that
you dont really need paper, pens and
ink to create an ink drawing that can be
compared with a real drawing. I want to
show you how some of the tools behave
and what effects you can achieve using
them. Creating scratchy lines, irregular or
regular delicate strokes, messy textures
and ink splodges, and even full colour
paintings arent really as hard as they
seem. However, they are only a small part
of the possibilities Corel Painter gives
you. With the whole variety of brushes
you can get amazing effects just feel free

to experiment on your own, and you will
see how much fun it can be.
But were not just going to concentrate
on the ink drawing side of things. By
adding a small bit of colour, you can make
you ink drawing look spectacular, and
draw attention to certain elements. Were
starting off with a pencil sketch here, but
you can always draw something freehand,
or even clone over a photo if you dont fell
conident with the drawing side of things.
I hope that my tips can help you to start
your adventure with digital ink and that
you will enjoy it! Be sure to let us know
how you get on and share your creations
with other readers!
Start with a sketch

Scan your initial idea in
01 Pencil sketch
Because Im a traditionalist, I prefer

to draw a pencil sketch for all of my more graphic
pictures. Of course, this sketch is just an imperfect and not a
nal idea and will change during the process. I made it with
a 0.5 mechanical HB pencil, then scanned it and used as a
background. You can load it up from the disc.
02 Starting to sketch with pens
I set
the sketch layer on lower opacity and
started to draw on a new layer over it. I always
start with the face and so I did this time too,
choosing Fine Point Pen for drawing it (size 1.01.5, 100% opacity). Its sensitive to pen pressure
and allows you to create varied smooth lines, just
like a real drawing pen.
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Tutorial Paint with pen and ink tools
Play with her hair

Give yourself the freedom to add definition
Planning
04
the
background
After nishing the face, I moved to the girls

dress, following the design from my pencil sketch, using the same
tool as before. As you see, I dont care much about details and small errors at
this stage of drawing (it may still look a bit messy) they all can be xed and
nished later.
Since
the character was
mostly sketched, I
started to dene the
more graphic and
abstract parts of the
drawing. The tool you
use for it is irrelevant
because its done to
get the overall idea
of what you want
to draw, to try out
possibilities and ideas.
You can always change
it if youre not happy
with it.
05 Hair
06 Abstract curls
07
08 Blending hair with background
03 Sketching the dress
Blonde hair is not as much fun to draw with ink as black hair.
It leaves you less possibilities and you have to be careful. Because the
picture was supposed to be painterly, I decided to draw it with delicate, loose
strokes still using Fine Point Pen (size 1.0).
I wanted the other side of her hair to be less

realistic and more abstract. I used Smooth Ink Pen this time (size 1.0,
100% Opacity). Its not a very sensitive tool, but creates smooth, regular lines
just about right to draw the curls.
Coarse
Bristle
As you probably
noticed I used this
pen a lot in my
drawing. I guess
the Coarse brushes
are my favourite
since they create an
effect most similar
to the one I get in my
drawings done with
real pens on paper.
If you experiment a
bit with the settings
(mostly with volume
and smoothness), you
can create the effect
of scratchy lines or
strokes done with a
pen on grainy paper,
or a pen running out.
Dry ink strokes I did this part with Coarse Camel (Liquid Ink)
getting the effect of dry ink. You can experiment with its volume and
opacity to get the desired effect. This tool is sensitive to pen pressure you can
get everything from tiny lines to thick strokes. I used Coarse Camel Resist on it.
It works like an eraser in a form of the exact brush.
And back to the hair. The

lines where the hair melts with the background were done with
another wonderful tool Coarse Bristle (size 1.4, Opacity 14%, Smoothness
88%, Volume 122 you can also experiment with the two last settings and
decide if you want your lines thicker or more delicate). I used the same tool for
the birds.
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Like
the name says, I started to dene the
composition of the drawing and planning the
patterns for the background in the top left corner.
Still working with Coarse Bristle.
10
here. I chose the Coit Pen from the Pens category,

mostly to save my time. With this brush you can
draw few parallel lines with one stroke instead of
drawing every line with a separate stroke.
Working more on the background.

I combined my favourite Coarse Bristle with
Ball Point Pen (size 1.0, low opacity). It gave an
interesting effect the Ball Point Pen created
kind of a grey background for the other pen. The
strokes are also rough and they go well together.
It made the texture thicker but not totally black.
Touch up the background

Dont be too rigid with the lines
Creating a black-andwhite ink drawing isnt

the only possibility
that Corel Painters
pens and inks give
you. You can also
create pictures in full
colour. Most of the
ink tools and some
of the pens allow you
to paint pictures in
many various styles. If
you play around with
the Fine Point Pens
settings (I do mostly
with opacity, leaving
the rest of the settings
just as they are), you
can receive a very nice
painterly quality. You
can also combine it
with some blenders
(I use mostly Grainy
Water and a little
bit of Soft Blender
Stump) if you want
to achieve the more
smooth look.
Paint with pen and ink tools
09 Dening the composition
Creating the background (part

1) Finally, I knew what should look ne
the background (part

11 Creating
2)
Tutorial
Not only ink
13 Window
and bricks
12 Nervous Pen
The left side again,

because I can never concentrate on only
one part of a picture! The interesting effect in the
middle at the top was created with the Nervous
Pen (size 1.0, 100% Opacity). You can draw
parallel lines or just mess around to create more or
less chaotic shading. If you lower the opacity, the
effect is similar to pencil shading.
14 Spots
I did the window

using Ball Point Pen
and Coarse Bristle. It
is supposed to look a
bit awkward and not
detailed, to match
up with the style of
the whole drawing.
The bricks were done
with Coit Pen and Ball
Point Pen.
I moved back to the bottom and the dry ink strokes. I added
spots using Leaky Pen and some white spots (to diversify the texture)
with just a regular eraser.
15 More textures
The texture on the right side next to the window

was created with Coarse Bristle and Coarse Bristle Resist (works just
like Coarse Camel Resist, see step 7). I used the same settings as before.
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Tutorial Paint with pen and ink tools
Accentuate with colour

Finish off the drawing with personal details
Ink splodges
Giving texture in a messy way
Creating ink splodges in Corel Painter is not as hard as it seems.
It offers you a variety of pens and ink tools that you can try to
experiment with and get the desired effect. Here are just three
examples of how you can create an ink spot. Of course, the settings
given are not what you must do play to your hearts content!
01 Complex
splat
16 Flowing water
In the left bottom

corner I decided to repeat the texture
done with Coit Pen and added a pattern that
looks a bit like owing water or tears. For this
effect I used various pens mixed with each other:
Coarse Bristle, Ball Point Pen, Coarse Bristle Resist
and Block Eraser.
17 Shading the hair
I decided that
the hair looked a bit too delicate
compared to the other textures in the picture. So
I added some shading to make it look heavier.
I used Coarse Bristle again and a bit of Ball Point
Pen for the tiny lines.
The
most complicated
one. I used here only
Tapered Bristle,
just changing the size
of the brush
(Opacity as you
want, Volume 128,
Smoothness 150%).
18 Adding
colours
Finally, adding colours.

I chose red for her
dress and lips, and blue
for the eyes. Coloured
with Square Hard
Pastel. Its a pastel tool
but also looks similar
to coloured pencils
on grainy paper. You
can experiment here
with all settings to get
a lot of combinations
and possibilities (I did
mostly with opacity
and bleed to create the
soft texture).
02 Splodges
of ink
Similar effect to the
one above, just less
spectacular. I used
Smooth Round Nib
(Opacity 100%,
Smoothness 190%,
Volume 147).
03 Flowing
effect
19
Fixing little errors The lips and eyes
had been coloured as well. I xed some

little things that I didnt like, eg, the shape of her
lips, nose and eyes. Now they look much better.
20 Final touches
Still xing little things.

Its easier to do when you can see the
drawing as a whole. I almost forgot to draw her
freckles (done with small-sized Leaky Pen). Now
its nished!
The effect of owing

ink. This time it
was Smooth Thick
Round combined
with Tapered Bristle
(Opacity 100%,
Smoothness 150%,
Volume 182).
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Primer Calligraphy
BRUSH CATEGORY
Calligraphy
EDGY STROKES
The Calligraphy brushes are great for
building up esh tones, and giving
a sense of something being threedimensional with a few swift marks.
The Calligraphy brush 10 variant was
particularly useful here.
Integrate sweeping angle strokes into your

artwork with these brushes
PRIMER
aturally, when you irst think of

using the Calligraphy brushes
in Corel Painter, youre going to
think of the written art form.
And perhaps youre a master calligrapher
whos using Corel Painter as we speak
to evolve your traditional craft into the
digital age. But if not, its highly possible
that youve spent relatively little time with
the Calligraphy brush variants. And
lets face it: its pretty tempting to
experiment with Digital Watercolor
and Oils when you irst get your
hands (well, cursor arrow) on
the software.
But the truth is that the
Calligraphy brushes can be
integrated into your artwork with
great results. The angled nib makes
them perfect for long, sweeping
strokes that vary in width as they bend
across the canvas. And as our example
piece shows, this means that they lend
themselves really well to pieces that
feature movement. They encourage you
to work loosely, and the gestured marks
that result can really bring a composition
to life, drawing the viewers eyes around
the work.
And, of course, Corel Painter makes it
easy to adjust the angle of the nib, so you
can go from narrow to chunky strokes
in a lash. Each variant has a strength
thats worth exploring, so once you open
yourself up to these new possibilities,
youll ind yourself losing hours at a time!
STRONG OUTLINES
We simply loved using the Dry Ink to
create the outlines on this piece. You
just get this great texture as the angle
of the line changes, and can create
these sweeping gestures that can be
minutely thin at one end, and extremely
broad at the other.
Another angle
Got the jitters?
Explore the options available to you
Unleash your inner shimmer
The Calligraphy brushes all work

as you would expect, with an
angled nib that affects the width
of your stroke, depending on the
angle youre drawing at. Keep the
Angle menu open at all times by
going to Window>Brush Controls>
Show Angle. That way you can
make adjustments whenever you
need to, without having to fumble
through the menus every time you
need a change of angle.
BUILD-UP
The main character was
built up using brush variants
including the Wide Stroke
50 and the Smooth Edge
15. Texture was built up by
keeping the Opacity and
Resat low. Adjusting the
brush angle is crucial too.
We know that Corel Painter is great at mimicking

real-world artistic media, but the fact is that
you dont always want to be limited in that way.
Painters brush controls mean that you can take
your current Calligraphy brush, and turn it into
something quite different in a matter of moments.
For instance, if you open the Random section of
the brush controls and increase the Jitter a little,
then your calligraphy is no longer restricted to
conventional sweeping strokes. This technique
could be useful for illustrating the reflection of
light on the surface of water, for example.
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CLOUD CITY
Calligraphy brushes
The pen is as mighty as the brush
Calligraphy
Not limited to writing, Calligraphy

brushes are useful for depicting
motion and fluid movements. This
palette contains the extensive
x brush
range of Calligraphy
variants Painter has on offer.
PEN PALETTE
Primer
We used the Wide Stroke 50 variant to create the

clouds, keeping the Opacity low and just altering
the angle slightly. The brush size was varied
between 50 and 300, to ensure that the clouds
were impressionistic rather than hugely detailed.
Dry Ink
Broad Grainy Pen 40
Grainy Pen 15
Broad Smooth Pen 40
Smooth Edge 15
Calligraphy
Thin Grainy Pen 10
Calligraphy brush
Thin Smooth Pen 10
Calligraphy Pen 25
Wide Stroke 50
Open this palette from the options

box alongside the current pen name
and you can easily choose a style to
suit your needs, with all real-world
variants covered and then some. So
start experimenting!
Transposers
Sensitive to pressure?
Brushes in disguise
The mouse bites back

A good way to take your brush
further away from its source is via
the Transposer, which is part of the
Brush Creator. Open it by going to
Window>Show Brush Creator, and then
selecting the middle tab on the left
hand side. At the top you can see your
currently selected brush variant. At the
bottom you can select any other brush
variant, from any other category, and
Corel Painter will merge their properties
to create a unique new brush.
Now we have to say that once youve

got a Wacom tablet and pen for
Corel Painter, its rare that youll
want to go back to wrestling with
your mouse. But on the odd occasion
it can be useful. In this image, the
bottom stroke shows the pressuresensitive Wacom making a pretty
wobbly mark on the canvas. The top
stroke is done with the mouse, and
we can see that being useful in the
right context too.
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Tutorial Paint the perfect sunset
Paint the perfect sunset

We take you through a step-by-step guide to create a dramatic and realistic sunset, using just
the basic Corel Painter tools to instil awe and wonder into whoever takes in your painting
Tutorial info
Artist
Wen-Xi Chen
Time needed
1-2 hours
Skill level
Intermediate
On the CD
Sunset
study photos
unsets are a natural phenomenon

celebrated by artists, writers
and photographers the world
over, all throughout the span of
civilisation. A very good example is the
artist J M W Turner and his most famous
work, The Fighting Temeraire Fugged to
her Last Berth to be Broken Up, where
the majesty of the sunset sky is perfectly
captured in a painting. His legacy lives on
in the Impressionist paintings, the artists
who concerned themselves with light and
in abstract styles, which often deal with
colour. Monets Impression: Soleil Levant,

is the beauty of the skies broken down
to stunning simplicity whereas his San
Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight is a bold yet
mysterious affair.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to
create a sunset scene using only simple
Corel Painter tools and also how to pick
the right colours for your ideal sunset.
We will start off with our friends the
gradients (see page 48 for more) and then
move on to introducing clouds and the
all-important sun.
Well be using a variety of brushes

to do this and will also have a look at
the different colours that can be used
to paint a sunset. Weve gone for a
dramatic orange sky here, although its
worth experimenting and trying out
the different colours detailed on page
64. Everything here is drawn freehand,
but if you dont feel conident with your
drawing skills, we have included a good
collection of sunset images on the disc.
Use these to sample colours or clone to get
used to cloud shapes.
The starting line

Create the basic layer of your image
01 Summer
Sunset
Open a new blank

le; mines 3,000px
by 2,500px at 300dpi,
and click on Effects>Fill
this will open up the
Fill Effects window.
From here, select
Gradient and then the
Summer Sunset preset
from the Gradient
window, or hit Ctrl/
Cmd+8 to bring it up.
Your basic colours are
now ready to go!
02 Adding the sun
Use a circular marquee to draw a circle near the

horizon line and ll it in with a bright yellow or near white colour.
Although it may look crude now, the bold colour serves as an undercurrent
that will brilliantly contrast the onset of nightfall.
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Tutorial
61
27/7/07 09:43:14
Red sky at night

Add a personal touch to your layers of cloud to get a satisfying effect
Composition
For a square or
portrait orientation,
sharp diagonal clouds
make the most of
the available space.
Keeping the horizon
line low and letting
the sky dominate
will create a sense of
grandeur. A clear sky
with a simple gradient
will create a sense of
calm and tranquillity,
whereas looming
clouds brings with
them a sense of drama
or foreboding.
For landscape
orientation, soft
diagonals or
horizontal clouds fill
out the area nicely.
Using pastel colours
or having minimal
clouds, even keeping
the sky clear, evokes
the lazy Hawaiian
beach feel whereas
busier cloud patterns
can evoke a sense of
wonder or urgency.
and
04 Erase
rewind
03 Dark clouds
Create a new layer

to be your dark or cumulus cloud
layer. Rounded and plump, they are the main
component to a sunset. Use the Digital Airbrush in
the default Soft Cover setting to block in regions
of cloud. Cloud near the sun has a more orange
hue than the primarily blue of that further away.
There are many ways

to position the clouds.
Diagonal alignments
create an intense
drama in the sky,
where the clouds
appear to spread from
a point in the distance.
Use the Eraser tool to
dene your clouds if
you need to.
05 White clouds
Create another new layer and let it be the white

cloud layer. These wispy white clouds are cirrus clouds, a common
sight in sunset skies and adds elegance and intrigue when placed against a
blue backdrop. Cirrus clouds occur higher up in the sky in the troposphere, are
formed of ice crystals and have a delicate appearance like translucent feathers.
I used the Digital Airbrush again for this; a Palette Knife when used softly will
also create a convincing effect.
06 Highlights
The suns light will affect clouds as it does anything

else. I have started to highlight the underside of the cumulus
clouds with yellows and pale oranges to create a full, voluminous feel to these
darker clouds.
08 Lighting
07 More details
Here I added more stray cloud details, as the sky at

sunset is anything but neat! Feel free to experiment with the tools
at your disposal, as quite often this yields some unexpected, but welcome
effects to create a convincing backdrop.
It is not
enough to show
the true shape of
the cumulus clouds
by highlighting the
underside of the round
mid-level clouds on
their own. Here I will
be highlighting the
sides of them from
the direction of the
suns rays.
62
27/7/07 09:43:48
Tutorial
09 Rays of light
To really amp up the visual effect, create a new layer

on top of everything else and using a Soft Airbrush on low Opacity,
about 10%, or low pressure on your tablet, draw several light rays in a soft
yellow radiating from the setting sun.
10
Superimposing
To make the light

rays blend into the
image, set the layer
Composite Mode to
Overlay, and if need
be, turn down the
Opacity of the layer
so the light rays are
not overpowering.
Strive for realism

Dont shy away from adding extra details to areas already on the canvas
11 Clouds again!
Getting the light and colours right is a sure-re way

to paint a realistic-looking sunset. But if youre going for more of a
realistic approach, the cloud shapes and details start to play a better part. I
am using the Digital Airbrush to bring out more details in the sky. Before I had
been using the brush on Soft Cover, but now I switch it to Flat Cover via the
Brush Creator. This turns the uffy-edged brushstroke into a hard-edged one,
allowing greater control when painting exact details.
12 What brush to use?
Looking at the cirrus clouds, there are

many brushes you can use for this. I used the Airbrush, but a good
alternative to use is the Oil Bristle brush, which has a natural gradient in the
stroke and is delicate when used lightly. However, this tool has a tendency to
lag on older computers.
Brush
Creator
One of the features
I like about Corel
Painter is the Brush
Creator. From this
central command
centre, you can adjust
brushes to match your
needs. Its a great
place to play and
discover new tools!
13 Blenders
On close-up, the highlights I painted on the clouds are

very rough. If youre feeling particularly neat, then Corel Painter has
a good selection of tools you can use to blend the uneven colouring. Its up
to you to decide which one works most effectively for your methods. For this
picture, I used the Diffuse Blur and then the normal Blur over it.
14 Extend
The re and air elements of sunset skies are often teamed

with water or land. As I started with just enough of the sky, I now
extend to the bottom of the image.
63
27/7/07 09:44:24
Finishing the scenery

Vary the colours and tone of the sky until you get the backdrop you desire
16 Changing
colours
15 Land
The land should be kept dark, a silhouette, the same applying

to other non-reective surfaces. I advise you to paint any land details
that overlap onto the sky on a new layer, so you can make changes to the sky
easily. Here, I just used a hard-edged Airbrush to create the tree and a Fine
Sponge to create the impression of the leaves.
Im going to use the

Tonal Correction to
change my sky to a rich
purple hue. To do this,
go to Effects>Tonal
Control>Correct
Colors, which will
open up the Color
Correction window.
Play around until you
get a colour you are
happy with. To achieve
this effect, I turned
down the brightness of
the Green values.
Painting sunsets Understanding the theory behind them

Light scattering
Colours
Blenders
To be truly able to capture nature visually, it is a good

idea to first understand it. At sunset, the beautiful
reddish hue is caused by the difference in the
propagation of visible radiation through the Earths
atmosphere. Normally, in the daytime the sky looks
blue due to the more intensive scattering of blue light
compared to red light, but during sunset, the suns
rays travel through a far greater distance than it
does, say, at noon, and because of this scattering of
the long wavelength, red light increases causing the
sky to look red.
If you ever watch the skies or look at photos of

sunsets, youll see a variety of colours. As colours
are a result of light scattering by particles in
the air, atmospheres which contain less dust or
miscellaneous particles will show a tendency for
white or yellow sunsets. A high concentration of
particles, such as after a fire, will produce a more
intensely red and orange sunset. These sort of
colours are seen over seas and oceans because of
suspended salt particles and after volcanic eruptions
due to ash and dust particles. By the same logic, in
clear atmosphere, such as over a mountain, the sky
tends to be more blue or white than in a city.
Here are the best blenders for sunsets:

Just Add Water: This does what its name suggests.
It will smear the colours on the canvas and is an
effective blending tool. However, it does have the
potential to leave behind a streaky appearance.
Blur: A safe blend tool; it does not mix colours but
softens up edges.
Diffuse blur: Softens the hard edges in the painting
without losing colour intensity. It also keeps the
colours more or less in their original positions.
Soft blender stump: Gives a painterly effect by
mixing colours, but you may have to reapply paint if
you find yourself going overboard with this tool.
Swatches
Using the Blender brushes created an ominous feel to

the clouds, suggesting a disturbance in the atmosphere
01
The diagram displays the longer distance that radiation has

to travel when the sun is setting, its longer path creating
more scattering of light, which explains why the sky has
such a colourful effect during sunrise and sunset
02
These images depict differing foregrounds, the first

reflected in a calm sea, the second over scenic landscape
Each different brush brings a unique effect to the clouds
64
27/7/07 09:44:54
showcase
ELIZABETH LE
TITLE
WEBSITE
JOB TITLE
Get Lifted
www.symphonic7.com
Digital artist
This self portrait piece from

Elizabeth, is a great example of
her use of colour to create soft
and striking images. We love the
composition and addition of the
colourful creature, which tops
everything off!
065_OPM_07_xx.indd 30
27/7/07 14:29:31
Drawing 101 Life drawing
Get started with :
Life
drawing
In this tutorial we are going to explore
the boundless potential of life drawing
and consider its mysterious allure and
enduring popularity
rom the word go, we have had a
very subjective and emotional
relationship with how, where and
why we represent our bodies.
In todays world, it could be argued that
fashion rather than art demonstrates
the power of the body image. No matter
which perspective you take, it is a fact
that advertising and marketing have
successfully utilised the magnetic
attraction of the human body, generally
using youth, beauty and sex.
Our natural senses of curiosity, desire,
aspiration and even revulsion makes the
human body hard to ignore. Arguably
the most proliic and revolutionary
practitioner of those to have explored
this allure would be Leonardo da Vinci,
stimulating endless art academics to
devote centuries to tireless, accurate
descriptions of musculature and
anatomy. We would like to think that our
fascination about the human body we
are imprisoned in is the connection and
empathy we have with nature. Drawing
nature (be it mountainous landscapes,
majestic beasts or the intricate organic
structure of a mushroom) makes us feel
awe; there is something satisfying
about capturing inspiring
natural forms and we think
it is this that motivates
us to work directly from
observation and why we
ind life drawing
so rewarding.
Our guide will give you
the conidence so that
even a beginner will soon be
producing masterful sketches.
66
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26/7/07 14:18:19
Dos and donts
The basic shapes
Drawing 101
Proportions
Holdability or composition
The best tip we have ever had is to

never ask a model to hold a position
you would find uncomfortable
yourself. It is vital that your initial
drawing is watertight, so always
request a maintainable position
that will be easy to return to, such
as sitting on a chair or standing.
Once the pose is held, consider your
position to create an interesting
composition and then settle in for a
good 20 minutes to draw.
01
Life drawing
hen it comes to the proportions

of the human body, there
seems to be one golden
recurring element. Leonardo da Vinci was
the main advocate of the Golden Section.
This is the line that divides the Golden
Proportion. This in turn is the middle line
that divides the perfectly proportionate
body in half, though the top half is slightly
larger than the bottom. The next three
diagrams represent clearly how to
divide the body up, bearing the Golden
Proportion in mind, and makes sure you
dont make your work big-headed, bigbottomed or long-legged!
Shadows and highlights
EIGHT HEADS.
Divide a vertical line into eight. The middle three

heads represent the torso, the bottom four the
legs. The golden section is where the bottom of the
torso head overlaps with the top of the leg head.
02
Now you have the pose, consider the

lighting. Strong direct light from a
single source, such as an angle pose
lamp, can create really wonderful
shadows and highlight or conceal
parts of the body you want to focus
on. Take advantage of the high
contrast and really go to town with
very heavy shading.
Concealment
If this is the first time you have had

a go at life drawing, give yourself
a chance to grow in confidence
and choose a position that you will
enjoy. For example, if you arent
comfortable with drawing faces,
choose a position where the model
hides the face with hands. Then you
can concentrate on the skin tone,
forms of the limbs and general torso.
Suitability
Choose the model and pose to suit

the purpose of your work. Using
expression, lighting and composition
can greatly influence the mood of
your image.
Challenge
Now you should be ready to challenge

yourself and focus on some of the
areas you are less confident with. Try
exaggerated foreshortening to focus
on one area and conceal others. Pick
unconventional poses that do not
conform to proper proportions.
11 HEADS
Two adjustments at the neck and at the hip

will create our golden proportion. Drop the
second head by a quarter of a head to allow
space for the neck. To represent the shoulder
width, you must draw two heads, jutting out
horizontally just below the neck. Two vertical
heads at the bottom of the torso trio depict
the hips, overlapping where the legs separate.
Top tip!
HEADS, TRIANGLES AND LINES
This diagram shows triangles for the torso and

limbs. The largest triangle is from the shoulders
to the belly button. Below, the pelvic triangle
starts in line with the belly button and converges
at the groin. A slightly wider triangle sits at the
top of the thighs. The top half of the arm is one
and a half heads long and the bottom is one
and a quarter head in length. The hands are
three quarters of a head long, while the circular
kneecap is a quarter of a head, as is the distance
between the ankle and the sole of the foot.
03
Our absolute top tip is to look more

at the model than the drawing you
are doing. Theyre not going to get
embarrassed if you keep looking
to check what fits in where! If you
havent got a willing model, there are
loads of online services where you
can buy models. Modelalisa (www.
modelalisa.com) provides rotating
photos that are great for reference.
With an average price of around
20EUR, they wont break the bank.
You can also try a free download to
see if its helpful for you. For other
photos, try the Resources section of
deviantART or other free stock site.
67
26/7/07 14:19:37
Gestural drawing
Give your image perfect posture
his is a crucial initial stage of
preparation and troubleshooting.
Treat it as a warm-up exercise
to iron out any problems you have with
the pose or your own position. Gestural
drawings allow you to get the drift of
what the inal piece will look like on
paper. You dont have to commit yourself

to a pose, unless you are perfectly happy
with it. Many life-drawing classes start
the session by asking the model to pose
for anything from 30 seconds to three
minutes, and then change position as
many times as necessary. Then the race
THE STICK MAN

(GESTURAL)
Use a 2H pencil for this

drawing. Draw the central,
vertical line that will depict
the length of your gure,
including the curve it may
take from head to toe.
Divide it into eight and add
the triangles, ovals and
lines to form a very basic
shape of your gure. Use a
very rough image that will
help you make sure that
the whole gure ts on the
page. Dont be tempted
to start in one area and
work outwards, and give
yourself a proportionate
skeleton to esh out.
THE VITRUVIAN MAN (FORMAL)
We are using the image drawn by Leonardo da Vinci to demonstrate the ideal
proportions of the human body. The purpose of this is to ask you to use Leonardos
(simple, but absolutely perfect for the job) rendering of the body in line. There is very
little shading in this image; we will leave that until stage four. Once again, use a 2H
pencil and rubber to draw a sensitive, simple line to describe the shape of the body
and remove the geometric muscles that detract from it.
is on to capture as much information as

possible. Scribbly lines, scratchy marks
anything goes to get the igure drawn
and then maybe some shadow or detail.
The next few diagrams show how to
begin with a gestural drawing and then
work over this towards the inal image.
THE GEOMETRIC
MAN (GESTURAL)
Embellish the proportions

you have mapped out
by building on block-like
muscles and bones. Pay
attention to any curves
and relationships between
limbs and body parts to
check that your drawing
has been well observed.
Once again, use a 2H
pencil, check your work
and correct wherever you
need to reassess the pose.
You should be looking
mostly at the gure, only
glancing at your image
briey in-between.
THE MAN (FORMAL)
At this stage, observe the variations of tones and shadows that give the gure form.
Our light source is coming from the right and we are building up the shadows on
the left-hand side, keeping the shading sketchy. We have used curvy crosshatched
contours to suggest the muscles. This is a working drawing, different to working
from life when you can pay real attention to the curves and textures of the skin.
68
26/7/07 14:21:48
Drawing 101
Standing position
Concentrating on trickier body parts
into proportions. Also the face is slightly
hidden if this is an area you are less
conident about. The stark lighting from
the window highlights the areas that
we wish to focus on and creates deined
shadows. This is where gestural drawing
THE ELBOW
Close analysis and observation is necessary here

to capture both the bend of the joint, and the way
that the skin and muscles contort as this happens.
Circular and sensitively graded tonal shading
is necessary to really give the pudginess of the
bend. Use the harder H pencils to map out the dark
tones, and then deepen these with a HB or B pencil.
THE HANDS
The unfamiliar angle and foreshortening needs

taking into consideration. The depth of shadow and
the highlights will serve as your guide to capturing
their shape and enhancing their realism. Remember
to leave the highlights, work on the shadows and
notice the meeting points between the two.
really comes into its own. Roughly

draw out the pose blocking in line and
geometric block, using a 2H or H pencil to
provide an erasable image to work with.
Three areas need sound observation and
we will cover them in more detail now.
Life drawing
he model was asked to stand in

front of a full length mirror and
pose as if getting ready for the day
ahead. Her hands in her hair show off the
curves of her back and neck, providing a
simple pose that is easy to break down
THE LEGS
The tonal variations that

fall on the legs from top
to bottom are subtle
and absolutely crucial to
suggest the form of the
muscles below the skin.
Work from light to dark;
sketchily fill in the general
area of all shadows, leaving
the highlights to the bare
paper. A 2H or H pencil
would be best for this. Then
gradually crosshatch over
with a softer B pencil to
enhance the shadow.
69
27/7/07 16:42:00
Sitting
Shadows and angles play their part
or this pose, lighting and the body
itself are the principal players.
The focus is intensely on the body,
creating an image that really accentuates
the muscles, curves and structure of
the body. It is emphasised by the simple
setting; the curtain is the only prop and
seems disjointed from the pose. The

pose itself is not natural; it is produced
to accentuate the proiles of the face and
the torso, so do not worry if you get your
information for the inal image from a
series of drawings and photographs. We
would use a 2H for the gestural drawing,
and for the lightest of tones close to the

white. Build on these with an H or an HB
only for the skin and facial features. A
4B to a 6B will be perfect to create the
sophisticated moody black background.
The three aspects that require special
attention are covered in more detail now.
THE HEAD PROFILE AND

THE NEARBY HAND
Remind yourself of the rules of facial

proportions. The eyes are halfway down
the face, and the lips and nose occur at the
divisions if you divide the bottom half of
the face into three. Pay careful attention
to the angles that the features take: the
lips and eyes are both tilted upwards, not
straight in. Finally, be aware that only
three fingers are visible on her right hand.
THE LEFT ARM AND HAND
When the highlight is right on the edge of the body, as it is

here, imagine that the outline is pure white instead of grey.
This will help you avoid the clunky outlines that can flatten
the form. This is a very high-definition and high-contrast
area which will really come to life with a solid, darker than
dark background, for example the negative space that crops
up between the arm and the torso.
THE FEET
These need to be really smoky as the highlights on these

are few and far between, only really visible on some of the
toes and the top side of the right foot. The suggestion of the
shadows will help enhance the curves and crinkles between
the feet and toes.
70
27/7/07 16:43:07
Drawing 101
Reclining
Casual and conventional
lighting accentuates the curves of the legs
and the torso, while subtly concealing
the face, arms and legs. This comes from
a genre that is today seen as contentious.
It objectiies the subject, portraying
the womans body without emotion,
character or real affection. But we do not
think that the artist wished to do more

than celebrate her form and improve
on nature. So for this reason, we would
recommend exploring the full range of
shapes, character, ages, sizes and colours
that society has to offer in a bid to produce
work with depth and humanity.
Life drawing
his is a classic life-drawing pose

that is excellent for the beginner
and good for those who wish to
create a traditional piece. It is probably
the simplest as it focuses again on the
body, with the major challenge lying in
the foreshortening of the legs. The strong
THE HEAD
AND SHOULDERS
The twist of the figure is

responsible for creating
the awkward angle for
the shoulders. The neck is
barely visible, the profile
of the head nearly hidden.
The eyes stare into the
distance and make no
contact with the viewer, but
adding expression shows
the character of the model.
THE LEFT HAND
Observe that the hand is

just about seen, draped on
the ground about a quarter
of the way up the drawing,
and the top profile and
hip is about half way up.
Therefore the composition
is balanced between the
stark white body and the
dark, moody background,
really drawing attention to
the subject of the picture.
THE FORESHORTENED LEGS
The legs are seriously distorted and concealed from view by foreshortening
and shadows. Observe carefully that the distance between the ankles and
the knees is only one head length long, although we have learnt already that
in proportionate terms it would be two head lengths long. Really focus on an
accurate portrayal of the curvature and angles of the arms, legs and torso.
The strong lighting reduces the shading so just use contour crosshatching to
add visual interest.
71
27/7/07 16:44:02
showcase
SAMANTHA LG
TITLE
WEBSITE
JOB TITLE
Flo
http://abyss.unixdaemons.
com/boum
Digital artist
Samantha has an excellent

artistic style, creating textured
and evocative images. We
loved Flo, for its simplicity and
muted colours. To see more
of her work, visit Samanthas
website or go to http://boum.
deviantart.com
072_OPM_07_Samantha LG.indd 30
27/7/07 14:27:23
Your
questions answered
Luscious lashes
How do you get the look of thick
eyelashes? Im talking something
natural, though. Not spider legs!
A S
Your experts
Daniel Cox
Daniels strength is in
his use of brush work
and creating paintings
that are lush and full of
colour. He shares some
tip tips here for getting
dramatic images
Karen Bonaker
Karen is a Corel Painter

instructor and so is
the perfect candidate
for explaining how the
program works and what
settings give you the
best results
What youll find in this section

Software
Dont get bogged

down in a Corel Painter black hole
write to us and well help you
work harmoniously
Fine art
When it comes
to creating art, you often find
little niggles that ruin your
masterpiece. We sort them out
Illustration
Make sure
your illustrations are in top form
by following our advice
Send in your queries to
Painting eyelashes is another good

exercise in simplifying shapes. If you
paint every eyelash so its long and
stands out, the effect isnt very convincing
and itll draw attention to itself, and wont
sit in the painting properly (its similar with
teeth if you paint every tooth, the effect
tends to look cut out). So instead, paint
groups of lashes and use variations in the
edges using both a hard edge tool like
the Acrylic brush, and also a soft edge like
the Soft Conte. Then drag the paint away
from the eye area, using either a textured
blender or a Dry Palette knife.
Display yourself
Have you got any suggestions for
how I should present my paintings
on my website? Id prefer something
different to the usual rectangle or square.
R G
Well this is tricky because its more in
design territory, but we have a few
ideas. First theres the basic things
like using neutral tones in your navigation
and backgrounds. But we think using more
white space to let your painting breathe is

a good idea. If you were printing them out,
you wouldnt cram them all onto the same
page. Using irregular borders in the paintings
themselves, thus creating interesting negative
shapes, is a simple, subtle and elegant trick.
One thing we wouldnt do, which we have seen
before on a website, is create a virtual gallery.
Using an actual frame, whether painted or a
photograph, is a bad idea unless youre John
Singer Sergeant or have been dead for a 200
years. Itll make you seem pretentious, which
isnt the best impression to give your viewer!
Above
Paint the lashes in groups,
then use Blenders and
the Palette Knife to create
edge variation
Right
Age a brick wall using
uneven brickwork, eroded
areas and old signs
or posters
Official Painter Magazine Q&A, Imagine

Publishing Ltd, Richmond House, 33 Richmond
Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ.
Alternatively you can email us at
opm@imagine-publishing.co.uk
SHARE
YOUR
PROBLEMS!
Send in your questions

for our experts to answer
at opm@imaginepublishing.co.uk
Left
Yes to simple and
elegant borders. No to
pretentious virtual art
galleries: theyll give the
wrong impression, that
you (and your work)
is pretentious
74
074-079_OPM_07_artclass.indd 74
27/7/07 13:34:16
Floating around
Lasts an age
J K
Making a selection on a pixel-based layer
creates floating objects. Shapes cannot be
floating objects because they are vector-based.
H L
I [Daniel] recently did just that for an
Ape Entertainment comic back cover
I was commissioned to do. Essentially,
there are a few tricks that I used to make it look
really old. The first was to create an uneven
edge along the wall, so it gave the impression
that some of the bricks have moved over time
and fallen out. The second was to have one
or two areas where the wall had eroded and
broken down, exposing the inner stucco and
wood. The final trick was using an old poster
that would literally date the wall. The story was
set in colonial times, so I chose a poster that I
found, which actually had the word colonial
in it. Of course, the poster was eroded and
weathered by erasing and overpainting with
a midtone sampled from the wall. The final
result looks very convincing!
Art class
I want to make a brick wall look

really ancient and weathered. How
would I go about doing this?
Q&A
What are loating objects and what do

they do? Do they help out in artwork or
are they best left?
However, you can turn a shape into a pixel-based layer

by first selecting it. Once a floating object is dropped
to the canvas layer, it can no longer be moved. When
a document is saved to RIF format, Corel Painter
preserves all floating objects. Saving in a non-RIF
format automatically drops floating objects onto their
parent layers, so always save in the RIF format until
you are ready to drop all layers. Here, we will build
a company logo using the floating objects method.
Selections can be made on layers using the Rectangular
Selection, Oval Selection, Lasso, or Magic Wand tool.
01 Layers
On the canvas
layer, create a selection
around the part of the image
you want to use to create your
logo, in this case the horses
head. Use the Lasso tool from the
toolbox to accomplish this. Make
sure that the Add To Selection
box is enabled. Choose Select
Menu>Float or select the Layer
Adjuster tool. The oating object
appears as an item below the
parent layer on the Layers palette.
02 Pixels
Turn your
attention to the Layers
palette and notice that the
oating object now occupies its
own pixel-based layer. We do not
want to retain the pixels on the
Canvas layer. To remove them
from your keyboard, select Ctrl/
Cmd+A then Delete>Backspace.
Notice that the pixels are deleted
from the Canvas layer.
Realistic surfaces
Which are the best tools and what

is a good technique for creating a
gesso-like surface?
P A
Gesso is traditionally used as surface

preparation or primer for painting
on canvas and is a permanent and
brilliant white substrate, as long as it is used
on wood or Masonite. Looking at traditional
paintings, youll sometimes see the raised
03 Captions
From the
toolbox, select the Layer
Adjuster tool and position the
logo. Add your text and choose
the Text tool. As you type, a new
Text layer is created. Choose the
text colour and size that best
suits your new logo. Because the
oating object is on its own layer,
you are free to erase, blend and
manipulate the image.
75
27/7/07 13:35:06
Q&A Art class
Creating a gesso-like surface

is easy, and can even
be done after you have
completed your painting
because it wont affect the
colour or tones
surface of the underlying primer and theres a

really good technique for simulating this and
enhancing the great Oil and Impasto brushes
that come standard with Corel Painter. It can
be applied either during or after you have
completed your painting. First, create a new
layer and then set the Opacity to 0. This is the
most important step. Next, choose an Impasto
tool and begin painting. In the thumbnail,
you will notice that you are using paint, but it
wont show up on your canvas. However, the
impasto-like effect will show through, without
affecting the paint. The effect works better
with some brushes than other, but well leave
that for you to explore.
The big bang

I want to create an explosive effect,
but do not know the best method or
tools to use. Can you help?
The key to creating a convincing

explosion is using restraint and
subtlety. Only use near white
around the impact zone
points to really enhance the effect. The first

is to only use near white around the base of
the explosion, which gives the impact a centre
of focus. Having an object near the base is
an excellent idea as it allows you to create a
dramatic silhouette. The next tip is to paint
billows of smoke and to illuminate them either
from within, or below. Interactive lighting is
essential as well. What we mean by that is light
that is reacting with a surface or object. So
lighting up the bonnet of the car, and also on
the bottom and landing pads of the helicopter.
Finally, dont forget the debris, which sprays
out and away from the impact zone.
Against the grain

I have noticed that some brushes
have a Grain setting? Why is this
and what does this do?
S T
C F
Now were talking. Explosions are fun,
but can easily become a big glowing
mess if you dont show some restraint.
We always recommend actually painting the
effect, and not using dodge or screen, and the
same applies here. Weve created this scene
mid-explosion and there are a couple of key
The Grain setting is one of the most

important brush settings. It is your
key to revealing the wonderful paper
textures available in Corel Painter. Some
default variants have their grain component
determined by the pressure you apply to
the stylus. The paper grain is the Grain slider
located in the Brush tools property bar. This
76
27/7/07 13:36:03
02
Feeling a little lighter
01 Contrast
You can easily control the Grain Settings in the Brush
Controls palette. Moving the slider to lower settings
limits the level of colour deposited into the paper grain.
Higher settings allow for deeper colour penetration
Heres the line

drawing and as you can
see, weve roughly placed where we
would like the light to be emanating
from. Weve positioned it here
because it will contrast different
areas in the image by highlighting
aspects and casting shadows equally.
02 Effect
The next step is

the tonal study, which
solves all the problems. The great
part here is seeing how the negative
space can be created for dramatic
effect, like the edge between the
collar and shadowed area from the
sorcerers head.
Art class
C T
The biggest mistake that we see when a

beginner tries to paint a brightly lit scene,
is when they use dodge and burn. Painting
the light gives you a lot more control, and will help
you better understand where the shadows fall. Break
it down into the simple shapes and work from there.
Always simplify!
Q&A
slider determines how far colour penetrates

into a grain. Lower settings limit colour to
skipping along the top of the grain; higher
settings allow for deeper colour penetration.
You can also use the papers brightness
and contrast settings to control brush-grain
interaction. The easiest way to identify a
grain-sensitive variant is to have the Brush
Controls palette open as you choose variants
by choosing Windows>Brush Controls>Show
General. Watch for the use of the word Grainy
in the Method Subcategory pop-up palette.
You will find grain-sensitive variants in the
Brush Categories that emulate media, which
typically interact with a surface grain: Chalk,
Charcoal, Conte, Crayons, Oil Pastels, Pastels,
and Pencils.
Have you got any tips for painting a

strong light source as the focal point
in a painting? Im inding it dificult to
do it, as I get so far but then it seems that Im
making it obvious.
03 Intensity
The nal step is

just rendering. Here weve
decided to tone down the intensity,
but that was because we decided to
add a magic scroll. We could have
easily gone with what we had done
in the study. The main thing is, have
fun with it and explore.
If the variant you are using has a Grain setting you

can change the setting there as well. Changing the
Grain setting
as you work will reveal some wonderful textural
effects. If the variant you are working with has a
Resat setting as
well, set the slider to 0% and you have a wonder
ful blender brush
77
27/7/07 13:37:00
Q&A Art class
Spooky moments
Which colours work best for horror
images? I like to get my colour schemes
sorted before I start images.
N P
We think generally any colour can

work, but you just need to think about
what feeling you are trying to convey.
Nothing scary here. Just

a young girl holding her
bunny, right? Appearances can
be deceiving however, and the
simple twitch of a colour scheme
can change the whole perception of
the image.
That said, there are some tried and tested

colours and techniques for sending chills up
the viewers spine. Theres certainly been a
resurgence in the fascination of horror lately
as well, with the success of movies like Hostel
and Saw. For inspiration, you might want to
look back at the early illustrators and what
they were doing in the pulp novels and
The rst scheme is to set

it at night, when horror
generally occurs. We can backlight
her for a further sense of dread.
Dont saturate the image by making
it overly blue, when things are
actually desaturated at night.
horror comics when they relied on suggestion

through the manipulation of images.
Generally, a limited palette would be used,
with either a contrasting colour used as a rim
light, or lighting someone from below, which
is always a good technique. But were talking
colour, so lets look at some colour schemes to
evoke the inner chill of the viewer.
Yikes! A shift into the greens

immediately gives the
image an eeriness that something
unsettling, almost possessive is
going on with that bunny. One of
the most dramatic effects, and just
one colour was altered.
Adding an opposite colour

as a ll light changes the
feeling again. The pulp novels used
a lot of this sort of colour scheme,
as it gives the image a very alien feel
and that something nasty is about
to happen! Now you try some.
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27/7/07 13:38:07
Q&A
What watercolour?
Art class
Whats the difference between the

Watercolor and Digital Watercolor
brushes? I dont know which ones
to use and what difference it makes.
S H
It really comes down to layers.
Watercolor brushes paint into a
watercolour layer, which enables
the colours to flow and mix and absorb into
the paper. In Corel Painter, you can edit the
Watercolor layer as you would any other layer
without changing anything in the image layer.
For example, you may enjoy creating a sketch
using pencil outlines in the image layer and
then overlay watercolour shading without
smudging the pencil lines. When you begin
to paint with Watercolors, a new Watercolor
Layer is added. Watercolors are based on the
Gel composite mode.
The Digital Watercolor brushes by contrast,
paint directly onto either the Canvas layer or a
default layer so you can create effects similar
to those of Watercolor brushes without using
a separate layer. If you are just discovering the
joy of painting in Corel Painter, then Digital
Watercolor may be just right for you. For best
results set your Opacity to around 10-12%
to reveal paper texture. You can use Digital
Watercolor brushes to create effects similar
to those produced with Watercolor brushes,
without having to create a separate layer.
Settings such as Diffusion, Opacity, and Wet
Fringe control the appearance of the stroke.
Compose yourself
What are composite modes best used
for? Are they only for very technical
paintings?
L F
The fun begins

with the Digital
Watercolors
Property Bar.
These brushes
reveal lovely
paper texture. Set
the Opacity for
about 10-12% for
best results
Notice the blue water drop

that signifies you are working
on the watercolor layer. As it
continues to drop, the paint
is drying. Once it has stopped
dropping, the paint is dry
There are many ways to utilise

composite modes in your creative
process. They can change the way an
image appears in some very dramatic ways.
Sometimes just changing the composite
mode of a layer can make all the difference.
These methods are similar to those we use in
Photoshop called blending modes. When you
overlay multiple layers of pixels, we find that
the composite mode of each individual layer
controls how its pixels will be visually combined
with any of the pixels found beneath it.
For example, composite modes can be
applied to a layer to darken or lighten, increase
or decrease contrast, or adjust the colour of the
In the example, we have used the Place command and placed a butterfly on top
of the flowers. We used the Gel method, which tints the underlying image with the
layers colour. For example, a yellow layer gives the underlying image a yellow cast
Painter has several

different composite modes
such as Gel, Colorize,
Reverse-Out, Shadow
Map and Pseudocolor.
Cycle through a layers
composite modes to
create new versions of
your image
imagery beneath it. One of the most

powerful and beneficial features of composite
modes is that they do not permanently alter
the image, as only the visual display of the
combined pixels is altered. A good example
of this would be the composite mode Gel, as
this method simulates the transparency of a
watercolour application.
Here, Layer 1 had the composite mode changed to

Luminosity. Layer 2 is filled with a complementary colour and
the composite mode changed to Screen. The composite mode
then changed to Gel and a Paper Texture was applied
79
27/7/07 13:38:59
Using the
prodtteuKnicfetsand
The Pale
s
Camel Oil brushe one
on
rs
worked wonde 0Xs
of the Nikon D4
close-up photos
The creative products on test this issue
nikon d40x
eye-one display 2
book reviews
yourframer
Nikons upgrade to its D40

model gets put under the
microscope. See if it offers
digital creatives anything on
page 82
Correct colour calibration is

essential if you want to ensure a
harmonious workflow. We tested
the eye-one product to see how
easy it was
We serve up another helping

of useful titles that will guide
you through the waters of
artistic techniques and Corel
Painter creativity
Discover what the YourFramer

service offers you and how
it takes the hard work out of
adding the final flourish to your
digital printouts
Reviews
Use this section to discover what creative

products can boost your use of Corel Painter,
learn about the best artistic books and
discover ideas for displaying your artwork
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27/7/07 12:17:38
Reviews Nikon D40X Zoom Kit
Nikon D40X Zoom Kit

529 | A shiny new entry-level DSLR to tempt buyers
Screens
Its quick and easy to cycle
through the menu screens
for the mode you desire
he world of digital cameras is constantly

changing, but if theres one thing thats
certain, its that it is a fantastic time
to be buying an entry-level DSLR.
With Canon, Nikon and Sony all offering very
sophisticated models and highly affordable
prices, anyone in the market for a new camera is
very spoilt indeed.
Last issue we reviewed Canons EOS 400D
model. Although the Nikon D40X Zoom Kit being
reviewed here is on a par with Canons model, we
are not going to be writing a comparison review
here. However, if you are interested in buying
a new camera, its worth looking at the various
comparisons on the internet.
But back to the Nikon D40X. This model can be
seen as an upgrade to the D40 an upgrade that
arrived only a few months after the D40s release.
The biggest speciication bump was the move
from 6.1 megapixels to 10.2 megapixels. These
extra pixels give you a bit more freedom when it
comes to cropping large images and allow you to
print up to A3 size at 300dpi. They also mean that
you can zoom in nice and close to photographs
that you may be using as reference images for
your Corel Painter artwork.
The camera itself is very comfortable to hold.
The plastic casing feels nice and solid, plus the
speckled surface texture makes it easy to grip. It
weighs just 471g without battery, memory card,
lens or body cap. Once all these are added, the
camera still wont break any necks. In fact, the

camera is very comfortable and can be slung over
the shoulder with no pressure at all. It also means
you can compose shots with one hand quite
happily.
The main controls are housed on the back
of the camera, surrounding the 2.5-inch LCD
screen. The irst impression of the back was that
it seemed sparse compared with similar models.
On the plus side, this does mean that irst-time
DSLR users arent bamboozled by complicatedlooking buttons and symbols, but it does mean
that functions that usually only require a tap
of a button are now only accessible through
menus the most obvious being white balance
adjustments. But, to be honest, the menus are
so easy to use and quick to work, this wont be a
problem for the majority of users.
The LCD screen displays information about
the proposed shot, which can be turned off or on
using the Info button on the top of the camera.
You can also access helpful suggestions for taking
shots from here, with the camera alerting you if
the shot is too light, too dark or suffering from any
other problems. This is great for beginners and
acts as a good aid for amateurs to move from the
Auto mode through to manual control. Although
lets not dismiss the Auto mode it offers fabulous
results and does a lot to boost the conidence of
those who may not otherwise be so comfortable
with photography.
Lens
The supplied Nikkor lens is a good
all-rounder and takes great distant
and close-up shots
Pick a mode
You access the different camera
modes using the top dial and you
can use the Info button to see the
current settings
Manual info screen

Mode dial
Viewfinder
Close-Up
Use the Close-Up mode to achieve
effortless macro shots, with crystalclear focus detail and excellent
depth of field
Scene info screen

Playback
button
Menu
button
Playback mode
LCD
screen
Zoomed in
Trash button
Setup menu
D-pad control
The maximum zoom on the lens is

adequate for most reference shots,
but if you find yourself zooming a
lot, you will need a specialised lens
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Exposure modes
529 A, P, AP, SP, M,

scene modes
10.2 Flash modes
Max resolution A, RE, Fon, Foff, 2nd
3,872 x 2,592 Curtain sync
Megapixels (effective)
Lens data
camera specs
Nikon D40X
Price
Connectivity
f/3.5-5.6 G II (18- USB, AV

55mm) Weight
Zoom 471g (excl battery)
By lens Dimension
Focus/Macro 126 x 94 x 64mm
By lens Batteries
Shutter speeds Lithium-ion
30-1/4,000sec, bulb Storage
ISO sensitivity SD, MMC
A, 100, 200, 400, LCD
800, 1600, Hi 2.5
Metering options
S, CW, Matrix
Build design
The camera feels very solid in the hand
and is surprisingly light. All the controls are
easy to access and the menus are intuitive
Wide-angle landscape shots

The Nikon D40X is as comfortable with wide-angle landscape
shots as it is with zoomed in pictures, taking in everything from the
foreground to the background in fantastic detail
Strap
hooks
What we like
Upgrade has
increased pixels for
better shots
Comfortable and
light when handling
An excellent
camera that can
be used with
ease by both
beginners and
experienced
photographers
Mode dial
What we dont like

Not all lenses
offer autofocus
Some functions
more complex
to access
Features
9.0
Ease of use
on the top
In low light, the images were pretty much free

from any noise, and once you add natural light
the results are outstanding. Colours are rich
and inviting and the level of detail and focus
is near-perfect. There are only three settings
for autofocus (Single Area, Dynamic Area and
Dynamic Area with Closest Subject Priority) but
for everyday shots, we didnt feel as though it
needed more.
In a lot of ways, this camera is perfect for users
who want to take the step-up from consumer
camera to digital SLR. It has a wealth of features
that appeal to the beginners, such as those
shooting notes mentioned earlier, and the Auto
functions still produce outstanding results. The
menus are very intuitive to use and its possible
to work everything out without worrying about
referring to the manual. It also takes SD memory
cards, which is popular among the consumer
camera models. One slight hitch in all this
beginner-friendliness is that not all lenses will
offer autofocus. You will need to look out
for AF-I or AF-S lenses, which does limit the
choices somewhat.
In short, this is a great camera. The images
it produces are hard to fault and its automatic
options mean it can be used by anyone straight
out of the box. For more experienced users it has
all the manual options needed and is a camera
you can enjoy for many years to come.
Info
button
we say
This kit comes with an 18-55mm AF-S DX

Zoom-Nikkor lens, which proves to be a solid
choice for different types of pictures. When
using the Close-Up mode, detail is pin-sharp
and colours are spot-on (see our sample image,
left). Switch to wide-angle landscape shots or
zoom portraits and the lens delivers equally
as impressive results. In fact, the images were
constantly impressive!
We tested the camera in a range of conditions,
covering indoor, outdoor, low light and brilliant
sunshine and were pleased with all of them.
Lens
release
verdict
Lets not dismiss the Auto mode - it offers fabulous results and
does a lot to boost the confidence of those who may not otherwise
be so comfortable with photography
Shutter
release
10
Quality of results
10
Value for money
9.0
Overall
score
9.5
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27/7/07 12:16:59
Pantone eye-one
display 2
specs
Reviews Pantone eye-one display 2
Pantone eye-one display 2

Price
150 + VAT
Website
www.pantone.co.uk
PC requirements
Windows 2000/XP/
XP64/Vista
(32-bit only)
Operating systems
Mac requirements
PC and Mac
OS X 10.2 and above
150 + VAT | Monitor calibration equipment that measures

the actual amount of ambient light in a room for best results
Accuracy is everything!
While youre adjusting the Contrast and White Point settings of your
monitor, the software gives you a constant update of the settings
accuracy. Always aim for each slider to sit in the green zone
Hey presto!
At the end of the process, the eye-one match software
displays a summary screen, showing the accuracy of the
generated profile. You also have the option here to set a
reminder which will alert you when its time to calibrate
again, and view Before And After results
The difference here between this and lesser units is that it

measures far more colour swatches to create the colour profile
the appropriate drivers, and the calibration
software eye-one match.
The device copes perfectly with both a TFT
or CRT monitor . One of the great strengths
of the software is that you have the option of
choosing to operate either in Easy or Advanced
mode. Easy mode produces outstanding
results with very little input from the user,
but Advanced mode has ultimate control and
the best results. After clicking the arrow to
where to position the unit on screen, whereas

the eye-one software actually looks for the
unit on screen, using small white patches to
locate it. The difference here between this
and lesser units is that it measures far more
colour swatches to create the colour proile,
measuring fully saturated colours and a myriad
of shades and tints. This results in a very
accurate calibration unit that is perfect for
those looking for something more.
Software updates
You ought to be using the latest version of the calibration software,
and look for a Check For Updates button on the first screen. Click
this and you know that your setup is bang up-to-date!
we say
advance, you have the chance to deine your

target calibration setting, but often its best to
leave the software to choose these for you. On
this screen, notice the checkbox for the Perform
Ambient Light Check option. The actual eyeone unit comes supplied with a semi-opaque
white cover, and you need to it this cover. Turn
the unit so that its covered base faces you and it
will proceed to measure the amount of ambient
light in your workroom, making for a far more
accurate calibration.
Once the unit is on the monitor and you
have your monitors Brightness and Contrast
controls set accurately, the software will start
the actual calibration routine.
With the huey unit, you are told precisely
verdict
ast month, we reviewed the Pantone

huey display calibrator, which is aimed
squarely at the more casual computer
user, with a price tag to relect this.
On the other hand, the Pantone eye-one unit
will make quite a bit more space in your wallet
but, reassuringly, will calibrate your displayed
colour much more accurately, giving you far
more conidence in your output.
The eye-one itself is a pleasingly compact
unit, which connects to the PC via a USB
cable, and relies on a counterweight attached
to the cable itself to sit on your screen, so it
helps to have your screen tilted back a little
during the calibration process. The eye-one
comes with an auto-starting CD containing
What we like
Ambient room
measurement
Choice of easy or
advanced mode
An advanced
and intuitive
piece of software
that really helps
to maintain
a consistent
workflow when it
comes to colours
Overall
score
What we dont like

Pricey for the
casual user
No physical
attachment
to screen
Features
9.0
Ease of use
9.0
Quality of results
10
Value for money
6.0
8.5
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Reviews Books
Expos 5
$55.00 | Another brush with the best digital art out there
Grand Master flash

The book kicks off in great style, with an in-depth look
at the artist who has been crowned Grand Master
egular readers will be familiar

with Ballistic Publishing weve
reviewed a few of its titles and
ended up giving them all the
same gushing and enthusiastic reverence
that sometimes makes us embarrassed.
So in the interests of making us seem
hard-nosed and hard to impress, it would
be great if we could say that this book was
unremarkable after all, whats so great
about a book that just has lots of pictures?
But wed be lying through our teeth,
because the Ballistic team have once
again put together a collection of artists
whose work cant fail to inspire you.
The format is the same as previous
Expos titles. It starts with a breakdown
of the books categories (19) and who
made up the panel of judges. Before seeing
who the judges entered in the book, there
is a six-page special on the exceptional
artist who was awarded the title of
Grand Master. This time around its John
Berkey, whose vision has been a guide
and inspiration to many science-iction
artists. Having this extended section
sets the reader up nicely for the rest of
the book by setting the mood for some
fabulous art.
Once youve learnt about the Grand
Master, you are moved smoothly into
the bulk of the book namely the art
representing those categories we
mentioned earlier. These are: Portrait
(Painted), Portrait (Rendered),
Architecture (Exterior), Architecture

(Interior), Architecture (Reconstruction),
Fantasy, Creatures, Action, Concept
Art, Matte Painting, Science Fiction,
Environment, Cityscapes, Abstract,
Product Design & Still Life, Horror &
Surreal, Humorous, Whimsical and
Transport. Each section is heralded by
full-page artwork that has been awarded
the titles of Master or Excellence. In
addition to allowing you to see the best
of the best up close and personal, these
pages also act as excellent soft divisions
between the categories, in turn making
this book easy to pick up and lick to a
category that inspires.
The variety and quality of the work
presented here is truly breathtaking, as
is the software used to create them. The
colour rendition is superb and the glossy
paper makes the book feel like a luxurious
treasure. Which is actually quite a good
description of it. Like all treasures, it has
no practical use, but it greatly enhances
your life by being there.
Big and small

The artwork is displayed in different
sizes throughout the book,
swapping between sweeping fullpage prints and smaller, intricately
detailed entries
Edited by
Daniel Wade and

Paul Hellard
Price
$55.00 (soft cover)

Publisher
Ballistic Publishing
ISBN
978-1-921-002397
A little something
for everyone
The categories cover a wide range
of subjects and styles, meaning you
get to sample all manner of artwork
contained within the pages
Different software
Best of the bunch
One thing that is really nice with the

title is that all sorts of software is
represented. On these pages there
is work created in Corel Painter,
Photoshop and Maya, to name
just a few
Each category is headed up by

full-page artwork whose creator
has taken the title of Master or
Excellence for that particular
subject matter. Purely mesmerising
and inspirational work
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The Photographers Eye

17.99 | Can this book help you see more creatively?
Author
Michael Freeman
Price
17.99
Publisher
Ilex
ISBN
978-1905814-04-6
nyone who is interested in

photography at whatever
level will probably have seen
some of Michael Freemans
other books. But instead of producing
an instructional tome on one aspect of
photography, Freeman has instead opted
for a far more interesting achievement
to show readers how composition can
make or break a photo.
To do this, Freeman displays images
and explains when a composition does
or doesnt work. There are helpful
illustrations to simplify the photo and
help bring the composition to the fore,
which makes it easy to remember the
setups and use them in your own work.
Now, obviously this book is aimed at
photographers and lining up subjects in
a cameras viewer. But the book is also
invaluable for artists, giving you great
information for arranging a paintings
scene. Plus the great photography used
throughout gives plenty of inspiration.
Assess
the options
Pages like these show you
the different ways an image
could have gone, allowing
you to decide what makes
for good composition
Lines in the picture

The book is peppered with handy pages such as these,
where the photos composition is clearly illustrated
with useful diagrams
Picture perfect
In addition to learning about composition, the books
photos also serve as a great inspirational source for your
own digital works of art
Terry Harrisons Sea & Sky in Watercolour

7.99 | A one-stop resource for budding sea artists
Author
Terry Harrison
Price
7.99
Publisher
Search Press
ISBN
978-1-84448-198-0
his seemed like the perfect

book to review in light of our
seascape spectacular on page
22, as Harrison imparts a lot of
helpful advice and techniques. In addition
to three step-by-step walkthroughs for
creating different seascapes (including
a beautiful sunset one), this books
crowning glory is the guides to painting
nautical elements. These start with
painting different types of sea (calm,
choppy water and breaking waves)
and move onto other beneicial
techniques such as painting different
skies, creating textured rocks and
making realistic relections.
Obviously this book is tailored
towards traditional watercolours, but
the techniques correspond beautifully
to Corel Painter. With its inspirational
scenes, this guide may very well yield
some of the readers best work. Harrison
has produced a very informative title and
although its just 48 pages, it covers all
you need to create your own seascapes.
Quality results
The book has three
great step-by-step
tutorials that guide you
through some tricky
sea-painting techniques
Extra touches
We really like how the author shows how to create
seascape paraphernalia, such as painting cliff top
footpaths, lighthouses and reflections
Vital advice
The pages that show how to paint different types of sea
are a real bonus and will delight anyone interested in
creating seascapes
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Reviews Output
Visit www.yourframer.co.uk to
browse the range of frames
You can order all of the materials you

need to hang your image
Order frames online
Discover how the YourFramer company can help you display your favourite images,
giving professional advice to finding the right frame for your picture
Tutorial info
Artist
Jo Cole
Time needed
10 minutes
Skill level
Beginner
hen it comes to displaying

your artwork on the wall,
frames are an essential
ingredient in making sure
your hard work looks the best it possibly
can. But picking a frame isnt necessarily
as easy as it sounds.
First of all you need to make sure
that the frame wont distract from your
actual image. You need to ind one that
is not only the right colour, but one that
is also the right thickness. If you have a
large image with a very thin frame, itll
get completely lost and you may as well
not bother with one in the irst place.
Of course, the opposite is true. Large
frames may be dramatic but if they are
surrounding a teeny tiny image, they will
dominate and demand all the attention.
The best way of picking a frame is to

take your image along to the frame shop
and try it out. This is also preferable if
you are considering mounting board as
you can see what colours and size works.
But if you have a large or delicate image,
purchase all the materials and receive

them in the post. Now all thats left is to
put it all together and hang your artwork.
The site is incredibly easy to use and
you can clearly see whats happening
at all stages, from uploading the image
You can clearly see whats happening at all stages, from

uploading the image right through to finalising the order
this way of shopping can quickly become
more of a hindrance than a help. Luckily,
there is a simple solution. The YourFramer
company allows you to upload an image
and try out a range of frames and boards
to see what looks good. Once youre happy
with your virtual framed image, you can
right through to inalising the order. The

products are shipped all over the world
and wed deinitely suggest you try them
out yourself. To get you started, weve put
together a tutorial on navigating your
way round the site and adding the perfect
surround to your image.
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In the frame
Choosing and purchasing the equipment
Receiving
your frame
01 Upload your image
Go to www.yourframer.co.uk and click

the Start yourframer Now link. Pick your country and then click the
Select FramesFor My Pictures link. Youll see a table showing upload speeds
for image sizes, so reduce yours if you need to. Select Choose File, nd your
image and click Upload File. You can also import an image from a web page.
02 Size it up
Your image will appear and if all is good, click the Yes
button to proceed. You can crop your image or skip straight to
entering a size. Everything is clearly explained but you need to remember to
reduce size if using a mount. Enter a size, click Conrm and then Next.
04 Frame
choices
03 Board it up
Now you get to pick the

outer, single mat. Use the drop-down
menus to set the thickness and click on the colour
squares to preview what other hues will look like.
To proceed, click Yes. You can decline a mount
if you prefer. The next stage allows you to add a
double mat, but you can bypass this.
05 Review the order
Now you get to the

really fun bit trying
out the frames! Use
the drop-down menu
to see the complete
list. These are
arranged in groups,
so its easy to pick
something you like.
Each time you click
on one, the image
preview will update.
If youd like to see the
frames closer, click the
magnifying icon in the
shopping cart to open
another window.
Once you have the frame and mount selected,

you get to review the order. This lists everything you have selected
or that you might need. To remove an item, click No under Action. Click Yes to
conrm you want it (a tick will appear). If you need more information, theres
an Info link for each item. You can also use the options on the left to add more
items or change your order.
Your order will arrive

in a secure package,
with the frame and
any board all ready for
you to put together.
You also have the
option of purchasing
hanging equipment
from the site so it
really is a one-stop
shop for frames.
We were really,
really impressed
with the YourFramer
service. Being able
to instantly see how
different frames
and surrounds work
with an image is
invaluable, and the
whole process is so
easy to do. The prices
are reasonable and its
an ideal alternative to
a traditional framing
shop. Give the service
a try today!
06 Pay up
Your total will appear at the bottom. If all looks good,

select Place This Order Now. Fill out your information it is a secure
server and then click Submit Order. Youll receive a notice saying the order
has gone through and will also see an email address if you have any questions.
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Readers gallery issue seven
Gallery
Dee Gordons varied range of work caught our eye as soon as

it appeared on the magazine website, with its range of colours,
styles and techniques. We decided to discover more about the
woman behind the work
ee is a great example of
where practice and gleeful
enthusiasm can get you. After
starting in Corel Painter
almost by accident, she has gone on to
create incredible images and is looking
forward to trying out even more things in
the future. We caught up with her to ind
out more
How did you get started in Painter?
Painter was actually bundled in with
software I had purchased. I loaded it
and had forgotten all about it, until I was
trying to follow one of the Photoshop
recipes and thought that it would be so
much easier if I could just paint it. I opened
Painter for the irst time and there you
have it, I was off and running with it.
Whats your favourite Painter tool?
I am not really sure that I have a favourite.
In many of my paintings I use chalks and
pastels. I love the look and feel of the
acrylics I have a few custom brushes I
have made I really feel as though I have
just got my toes wet for I have not used
many of the tools Painter has to offer.
Who or what inspires you?
I am very easily inspired by other peoples
work and by all that surrounds me. It
is the everyday things in life that truly
inspire me: dogs playing in the yard, a
bird at the feeder, lowers, food, water,
light and colour. I like to take it all in and
then eventually it will come out in one of
my paintings.
When did you start painting
animal portraits?
I was a dog trainer for many years so it is
very easy for me to be around animals.
Close friends have been known to tease
me by saying I was a dog in a past life due
to the fact that I know them so well. It just
seemed to be a natural progression in
my career. Interestingly enough, during
the initial stages of learning my way
around Painter I was commissioned to
paint a few portraits. Often the animal is
deceased and I go by a description of not
just the animals appearance, but also
their temperament and personality.
Dee and friend
It is the everyday things in life that truely inspire me:

dogs playing in the yard, a bird at the feeder
Also, I ind it very helpful to understand
the breed speciics and the importance of
colour use to bring out their personalities.
Tell us a bit about your website. Do you
really do almost a doodle a day?
Yes, I really do almost paint a doodle a
day! The site is illed with my doodles, and
at times Ill post a few proofs, portraits
and paintings in progress, items that are
on sale, photography, etc. Because of the
work I do, I ind people like to see a more
personal side of my life with my dogs, so
sometimes I will put up a story or two,
a few photographs and videos. Most
importantly, I have a cocker mix that
was paralysed in her hind area about six
months ago. I post her rehab in progress
for I know I had to do much research on

working with a dog that had such special
needs. This information can and has
beneited others in a similar situation.
[Find out more about Dee and her dog on
her website at http://pawprintsstudio.
wordpress.com, where you can catch up
with her dogs progress.]
Whats your most helpful piece of
Painter advice?
Paint anything and everything. While
cloning is wonderful, you need to make
it your own. Start drawing early, as
freehand is something that is achieved by
practising. If that is of little interest, then
colour, brushstrokes and texture will add
individuality to your work.
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02
Title: Sweet Nectar

This is by far my favourite
painting, but then I am just
so drawn to colour and
texture, and this has it all.
93
26/7/07 14:04:37
Gallery
Readers gallery issue seven
03
Title: Alex
A portrait of a young Dalmatian in need that came to
me for behaviour evaluation. During his stay with me,
I decided to paint his portrait. He made a ne model!
04
Title: Gemma
Two years ago, her original people
hired me to work with her for she had
serious behavioural issues. In the end
they did not want her back because
they were afraid of her. Her future was
not looking so bright, so my family
discussed the situation and we decided
to make her part of our pack. The
colour palette chosen for this painting
was because Gem is a very aloof dog.
Very independent, but at the same time
fearful and unsure of things. This is just
my interpretation of how she would
look in colour.
05
Title: Day Dreaming

Theres nothing better then watching
a boy with his dog. The little boy
looking off in one direction, the
dog in the other (one wonders if the
dog is daydreaming about the bird.)
All the while a ball is just resting on
the shoreline, waiting for more play.
94
26/7/07 14:05:27
06
Title: Sailing
I was taking a break from portrait

work. It was a dark, rainy day as I
looked out my window. I visualised
what, at that moment, I would love
to be looking at through my window.
I painted several paths for there is
always more than one path to get
where you want to go!
07
Title: Freedom
This is a freehand painting. I sat

thinking of the symbolic images of
the Fourth of July, and thought of the
quote: In the truest sense, freedom
cannot be bestowed; it must be
achieved [Franklin D Roosevelt]. I
painted the ag, then the eagle, and
nally the reworks.
95
26/7/07 14:05:58
Readers challenge issue seven
Challenge
o far weve had some outstanding entries
into our Readers Challenge, but dont
fret if you have missed out on previous
challenges. Weve got another crop of
images on this issues disc, just waiting for you to
work your Corel Painter magic. If youre new to
this, the rules are simple. Download the images

and think about what you can do to them. You can
use them all, take a couple or integrate them with
artwork of your own just please use at least one
image. Then send it in! Theres no deadline, and the
winner will get their creation printed onto canvas.
This challenges materials
THE WINNER
WILL GET
THEIR PAINTING
PROFESSIONALLY
PRINTED ONTO
CANVAS!
How to enter the challenge

To share your work with others, send your pictures in to
us and you could be featured on these pages. Just pop
your images onto a CD and send it to:
Creative Challenge, Ofcial Corel Painter Magazine,
Imagine Publishing, Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill,
Bournemouth, Dorset BH2 6EZ, UK
Alas, we cant return any CDs.
If your entry is under 2MB, you can email it to
opm@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Remember! You can email your entries to opm@imagine-publishing.co.uk

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Cha llen ge
winner
Have a look at the best entries
that have been sent to us
he post bag has been illed with some great entries to

our previous challenges and we have the top three for
you here. Before we look at them, dont forget that you
can enter this challenge whenever you like. There are
no deadlines, so you can take as long as it takes to create your
masterpiece! Just be sure to send it in.
On with the accolades then. Sue Stevens took third place this
issue, after winning the contest last issue. Ken Small scoops
second place with his transformation of Pike Place Market into
a night scene. Well done Ken! But Richard Page has taken the
winning crown with his portrait painting that incorporates one
of the images in a globe. We particularly liked the brush strokes
on the beard and loved the general idea!
WINNER!
Richard Page
2ND
PLACE
Ken Small
3RD
PLACE
Sue Stevens
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Official Magazine
100_OPM_07_back cover.indd 1
25/7/07 15:11:58

Corel Painter - 07 - Magazine, Art, Digital Painting, Drawing, Draw, 2d

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Corel Painter - 07 - Magazine, Art, Digital Painting, Drawing, Draw, 2d

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Learn to

Ofcial Corel Painter TM Magazine

Discover how one Painter Master

See how blending techniques

Use the Liquid Ink brushes

TEXTURES | REFERENCE FILES | VIDEO TUTORIALS

Visit our website!

As soon as the sun makes

Jo Cole, Editor in Chief

ON THE FRONT COVER

P99 GET STARTED WITH

FREE CD-ROM PACKED WITH

Pain t drama tic

Regulars in every issue

10 Corel Painter community

Pages dedicated to the very

84 Pantone eye-one display 2

Learn how to paint waves

Discover more about this

Original artwork by Maura Dutra

Paint like Degas

We talk with Maura Dutra and discover why after 20

Create inspirational art

40 Paint like: Degas

52 Paint with ink

60 Paint the perfect sunset

Get up and running

Think the Calligraphy brushes are

Get to know your tools

n ews eve n ts res our ces letters web site s

hances are you will all be

deviantART to see if any providers leap

In addition to the 3D stock artwork, you

Learn to draw and paint

t seems as though more and more

Bobs site has lots to

Two great companies

Mix it up with a site that

Enjoy artwork and instruction at

If youve ever used the PhotoBox

The website includes a vast range of royalty free,

Grab the latest issue of Official

n ts res our ces

Sticking with tradition

I know this is going to sound like a

me of my art school days, and the variety

Ha ha, bless you Oliver. Cheques in the post

Share your Corel Painter wisdom

thought of something that it couldnt handle!

Here is an image I have produced which

Oliver enjoys the variety

Our favourite readers gallery this month

Babies Have Blue Eyes

It then occurred to me to attempt a

Dr. John Fontana

Very well done, John. We love seeing how

especially in the clouds and rock textures.

Corel Painter X update

If you have bought Corel Painter X, make

The latest from our

Interview Maura Dutra

ith 20 years in Hollywood

How did you make the move from a career

All original artwork by Maura Dutra