The Sketch NEW - Post Print Digital Art Seminar Schedule Blast from the Past
February 2012
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Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
We have the first couple Digital Art Summit webinars behind us. Darrell Chitty kicked off the Summit Monday the 20th with a really great webinar. As I am writing this John Stevenson will be presenting his free Postworkshop webinar tomorrow, Wednesday. We have a great line-up of artists that are presenting. Be sure to check out your favorite artist or topic. We have added a few new pieces this month. Jim Cunningham is going to contribute on occasion with tutorials specific to Corel Painter and art creation and I will be putting monthly articles together about post print finishing. Please be sure to send questions about marketing or embellishment to tim@digitalpaintmagazine.com. We get a bunch of questions via email about how things work in regard to signing in with Digital Paint Magazine and Digital Art Summit so I would like to explain things here. First when someone fills out the opt-in form on the Digital Paint Magazine blog or website they automatically become a free member. By filling out the form you give us permission to email you. That is how we communicate about the magazine and webinars. When the magazine is published we send out notification that the magazine is ready and is on the website. Usually there is a URL in the email so you can click on it and it will take you directly to the readable version of the magazine. There is no log-in required to read it. Also you can go anywhere on the site that is not protected. You will know if you bump into a protected page because it will tell you it is protected and ask for a user and pass. Free members won’t have one. You can access back issues for free as well, just click on the back issue tab then on the month you want. You only have a fee if you want to download. If you are a paid member of the Magazine you will have a user name and password that allows you to get into the membership area where all of the protected content is. That is where your downloads are found. The Digital Art Summit is a completely different site with totally different passwords. If you buy a webinar you automatically become a member with a user and pass. That information is what you use to get into your membership area to access your downloads AFTER a live event and to get the URL to attend a live event. When you click on the URL to attend a live webinar you don’t use any user name and password, You sign in as guest using your name as only members have the URL. I hope this helps clarify a bit about the process. It is somewhat confusing because we have a different site for the Summit and because we have a member log-in button on the Digital Paint Magazine site, perhaps it should say paid member log-in instead. I pray you enjoy this month’s magazine and that you carve some time out to create with some of the new techniques you are seeing. Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply and speak kindly. Tim 2
In This Issue The Sketch By Jim Cunningham
Right Click
Skip Allen
Cartoon
by Victor Lunn-Rockliffe
Use Selections to Tame a Portrait
Truely Scene
by John Stevenson
2012 Digital Art Seminar Schedule Old Masters Gustave Caillebotte By Nadia Lim Readers’ Gallery
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Cover
Musician Sketch By Jim Cunningham
hen I am doing a portrait, I like A Blast from Past as a reference, to use the a photograph Used Selections Tame A Portrait but I don’tto want the result to look by Skip painting or too photolikeAllen an auto graphic. I do like the way auto painting Post Print or clone painting can create the structure by Tim O’Neill of the portrait, but I would prefer to use my own hues and a variety of brushes. Marketing Buzz: I do not -want to clone at all, but VideoActually, Marketing Hard Sellwithvscolor Soft Sell I do want to create a clone to capture the structure of
by Tim O’Neill the portrait. My solution is to use selections. Well, Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
to be truthful, I use channels, but don’t let that worry you. I promise to not even use the word channel until it becomes absolutely necessary.
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The Original and the Finished Portrait For this exercise, I am going to use the following photograph, which has not been edited in Photoshop or Painter.
Original Photograph
The finished image looks like this; okay, it is a selfportrait and I tried to make me look better:
Final Image
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The Sketch By Jim Cunningham In January 1999 I saw a bright light on the horizon in the form of a Paint Can, and on the can was written Metacreations Painter 5. As a professional photographer who had just recently dove head first into the digital waters, this was an new and intriguing software offering. I must admit, although I purchased Painter 5, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, and since there were very few people who had walked this path before me, I wasn’t sure where to go for guidance. So for a period of 2 years the Paint Can sat on the shelf. In June 2001 an icon in our industry, Helen Yancy, said to me, “Come visit me and I will teach you how to use Painter.” By this time Corel had purchased Painter from Metacreations, and we had advanced to Painter 7. So for two full days, from dawn till dusk, I soaked in as much as one can from the Master Artist. A lot of water has passed under that bridge in the past 11 years. I continually thank Helen for giving me my start in Painter, for without her knowledge and inspiration, that dusty Painter 5 can might still be sitting on the shelf and I might not be writing this article for you today. Now what does that have to do with the title of this article “The Sketch”? Actually a lot, for without someone helping each of us along the way we might be in a totally different place than where we are right now. Tim has asked me to write articles from time to time for the magazine. I hope that each article can spark something in someone and propel them down the creative path. The inspiration behind creating “The Sketch” was the traditional pencil sketch that we have seen and often attempted to create since we were in grade school. I quickly learned that traditional drawing was not my strong suit, hence the use of the camera as my creative tool. Having taught Photoshop since 2001 and Painter since 2003, my goal was to create a process that would not be time intensive. The Sketch can be produced in around 30 minutes time. As a studio owner, I was wanting to create something that can be used as an additional sale item beyond Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
the traditional portrait or painting. I think “The Sketch” meets that criteria. I am looking forward to sharing the step by step process on how to create “The Sketch” in the live Digital Art Summit on Wednesday, March 7th. This technique works equally as well on portraits, landscapes and still life images. Hope to see you there. Tims note: Jim has been gracious enough to commit to several tutorials for his column. The column will not be every month but the content will be awesome. I am looking forward to it. 4
Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
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The Interview Tell us where you grew up and a bit about your childhood. My father was a Baptist Minister and passed away when I was 9 years old. My mother had her masters degree in guidance counseling and raised me and took care of my two grandmothers. If you went to college where did you study and what did you study? I had one year of college then spent 4 years in the Air Force as an air traffic controller. Upon discharge from the Air Force I completed a degree in Marketing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Tell us a bit of your working history and jobs leading up to where you are today. While in college I worked for Skipworth Studio in Little Rock. After college I worked for 3 years managing a camera store while doing photography on the side. I opened my studio in May 1983. In May 2011 after 28 years in the same location, I closed my studio and started working out of my home, doing only location work. This has been a freeing experience and gives me more time to travel and teach. Inspiration...Favorite artists: I have always been partial to John Constable, William Turner and of course John Singer Sargent. Contemporary artists that I am drawn to are Pino Daeni and Steve Hanks. A question I always ask successful business owners is if they went through and put together a business plan including a marketing plan. If so what is the importance of that to your business. When I first started my business I applied for an SBA guaranteed loan, and a business and marketing plan were required. It made me think about each step of the process of getting my business off the ground. Is it a working plan? Does it morph as the dynamics of business changes or was it just for start-up and currently sits on the shelf? I don’t have a written plan per se. I pretty much keep it in my head which is probably not the best way of doing things. Who were some early mentors in your life? There were a couple of local business men who went to my church who took me under their wing and gave very helpful advice. In the photography industry I give a lot of credit to Don Blair, Les Pettersen, and Mark Braswell
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Current mentors. At this point in my life I find myself mentoring more than being mentored. Are you part of a formal mastermind group? Not at the present time. What are some of the biggest changes in the last few years specific to marketing? Where do you begin. The easy DSLR has opened the flood gate for new “Professional” photographers. It has totally destroyed the mom and pop photography studio. You have to specialize and that is were Painter has been a great tool. How long have you been using Corel Painter? 11 years. Are there other software or plugin applications that you use? I use Nik Silver Effects Pro 2 for my black and white conversions, and sometimes Topaz Adjust to add some pop. Do you listen to music when you are painting? If so who. That varies on my mood. I sometimes listen to music, or I will work in silence, or sometimes I have the TV on for company. What are your most immediate projects? Mainly some portrait paintings for some clients. Where does your inspiration come from? Right now a great deal of my inspiration comes from a good friend, Ann Naugher. Her painter website
Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
Jim Cunningham (M. Photog., Cr., CPP) With a degree in Marketing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Jim has been a photographer in Little Rock since 1976, and has owned his own studio since 1983. Recipient of 9 Kodak Gallery Awards and 4 Fuji Masterpiece Awards, Jim has spoken at state and regional conventions and has presented workshops at Imaging USA twice. In 2010 Jim had the honor of teaching Corel Painter at Canada’s National Convention. Since 2001, Jim has enjoyed teaching Photoshop and Painter workshops, and feels that digital imaging gives the photographer the ability to create what we see in our mind’s eye. You can email Jim at jim@PainterPortraits.com www.PainterPortraits.com is www.atimelesswork.com Tell me about the work with digital. Have you had “process resistance” people that balk at an image being produced in part digitally. If so, how have you overcame that? I do have some clients that have large original oil paintings in their home of their children. They seem the most resistant. Although I have seen the climate change with the improvement of digital painting. What was your inspiration to become an artist. I always loved art but did not feel I had the talent as a fee hand artist, so I developed my art as a photographer. Painter opened up a whole new world in the ability to take my photography to the next level. Hobbies, what do you do in down time? Photograph and Paint.... Down time.... What’s that? What advice do you have for photographers or new artist that want to begin exploring digital painting? Paint every day for an hour or two. Get comfortable with your style and paint, paint, paint.
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“Line of Beauty: Straight or Curved”
Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
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This cartoon was triggered by a discussion in an art class concerning the Line of Beauty. The debate led me to dig out some relevant quotations. I was struck by the contrast between these different quotes which inspired me to combine them in a single image drawing on original work by Hiroshige (curved) and Mondrian (straight).
http: //cargocollective.com/victorlunnroc Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
Victor Lunn-Rockliffe 9
TrulyScene
More specifically, last month’s column examined workflows based upon taking very similar outputs, as gained from the same basic filter (or Style in PostworkShop) and inter-blending these in specific ways. I introduced the concept of “complementary Layer Blend modes”, in order to pursue this in (hopefully) a somewhat systematic way.
John Stevenson john.stevenson@photoscena.com
This month I am going to stick with the focus on auto-painting, but to expand the interaction between Layers to include “the correct treatment of transparency”. And what, you may ask, needs to be correct about transparency (in digital artwork)? Please read on. The first two images in the column this time illustrate that very point. And the third provides a reference point (as no transparency was included in its rendering or assembly – in fact it is also just a single Layer output).
a column
Introduction My last two columns in this magazine have focused upon the basic principles of establishing and using layered images within digital painting. In each case, all of the work used as examples was produced using Xycod’s PostworkShop software. Further, each of the examples featured outputs generated using auto-painting routines contained within that program.
the first original source image - © Liliya Kulianionak – Fotolia Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
an auto-painted output image - four combined layers, with transparency
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A Big Red-Letter Day! We will return here to a technique I first used in this magazine when writing about painting with Adobe’s Photoshop™ CS5 release software (about a year ago) – test patterns!
an alternative auto-painted output image - a single layer, no use of transparency - via the use of the Random Painter Style in PostworkShop The whole aim of this is to explore how transparency is retained in an auto-painted image. And also to provide some basis for pre-preparing images such that the transparency can be incorporated to best overall effect. The test pattern itself – in this instance a simple red letter S, included as a text Layer in a Photoshop file, above a blue background is just a convenient control sample. In fact, in this instance, I derived two sample images from the Photoshop file. These are shown in the first of three double-illustration panels which are included below. The uppermost comprises the “subject” (S for subject …) now isolated on a transparent ground. And the lower is Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
a more subtle version of that, where the Selection used in Photoshop has been expanded and feathered so as the only loosely complete the isolation. In fact, it’s possible to see, by comparing the two patterns, that some significant portions of the red letter S are now semitransparent. at right - the original test pattern image The final two of three doubleillustration panels which are included here just provide simple “oneshot” examples of auto-painted outputs gained from the sample images in Photoshop and using the PostworkShop Compositing tab workflow respectively. It’s surely the case that different looking results would be attained using other Filters, even those contained within third-party plug-ins to Photoshop. But it is very clear the transparency which is built into the two test case images is handled very differently by the two applications. And, in fact, it is only the outputs from PostworkShop which are consistent with an emulation of (say) sponge painting on a transparent sheet. left - the two final test patterns - on a transparent background
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Because, first, in the non-feathered case, the red coloration is “sponged” out into areas which were fully transparent initially – that is, beyond the originally hard edges of the source subject. And secondly, in the lower image, there is both intermixing of the red and blue areas of coloration (though without the production of an additive color result (i.e., purple)), as well as a tapering of the blue coloration at the periphery. This is good depiction of what your children or grandchildren might produce with gray paper, quick-drying red and blue pigment paints and two sponges. (But none of this is to say that what is produced via the Photoshop Filter has no practical application(s).)
Constructing Artwork - via the “Transparency Route and Recipe”
the Photoshop outputs - above a mid-gray background
Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
and, the PostworkShop outputs - also above a mid-gray background
So, the (brief) remainder of this column will feature just the first method I have worked with for using the artistically re-rendered characteristics just summarized (those that PostworkShop can bring to isolated portions of a photographic image). In a summary, and recipe-type, format: 1. stare at the source photograph (in Photoshop) and see where the natural borders fall between pictorial zones (those areas which are different by virtue of the content/subject, or tonality, or form, etc.) 2. use either the Lasso Tool, so as to create a set of Selections which delineate these zones one from another, or (alternatively), the Pen Tool (to construct a Path before converting to a Selection), 3. then make a series of separate images where these zones fall over a transparent background – these then become the ingredients (as Layers) within PostworkShop.
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artwork assembly in PostworkShop - with four auto-painted Layers, all in the Normal Blend mode Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
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a second original source image - © Guido Thomasi – Fotolia The post-Photoshop production work needed in this instance then is outlined and summarized in the “artwork assembly in PostworkShop” diagram here. The subject itself is the floral still life image which was introduced at the very beginning of this column. Plaese note: the four “snapshots” included in the diagram do not show the Layers individually; just the outputs gained as the Layer stack is assembled. One feature which is very simple to incorporate using this technique is the mixture of monochromatic and fully- colored components together in the finished work. There is another, even simpler, example of this type of artistic transformation included as the conclusion here. It’s a very different type of subject, treated in a very different manner overall. Finally, it should be noted (again!) that this specific scheme
the corresponding auto-drawn/toned output image - three combined layers, with transparency - with no masking in PostworkShop state-of-the-art contemporary is just a beginning. There are software, and inclusive of the use a wide variety of alternative of Photoshop for some preparatory and supplementary options. For work. There are no steps included example, the whole assembly in what is covered in this column in the “artwork assembly in involving manually laid down PostworkShop” diagram could be strokes or embellishments. But, of saved back from PostworkShop course, these could be added, as into Photoshop and worked with corrections or refinements to the further in a myriad of ways. auto-rendered image Layers, at any Including re-using PostworkShop stage. in its plug-in mode of use. Next month I will begin to Wrap-up transition over from auto-painting In summary then, I have set out in PostworkShop to the freehand some new digital auto-rendering and manual workflow modes. and multi-Layer assembly options Please note in that connection which can be realized using that PostworkShop allows for the
Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
import of Brushes made for use in Photoshop. Some of the work featured in this column relied upon such an import. I would like to acknowledge this. The original source is here: http://doodlelee-doo.deviant.art.com/art/ Real-Brush-Strokes-Set-122699209 Other Brushes were custom made (by the author). I’d welcome any feedback or questions you have – please send them to: john.stevenson@ photoscena.com Just as last month the work contained in the column was completed using a beta version of v.3 of the PostworkShop software. It is expected that PostworkShop 3 will be available as a full commercial release during the next month. There is now a blog which features the new components and workflow options which will be found in this new release – you can find it here: http://blog.postworkshop.net/ Finally, all of the work covered in this and the two preceding columns will be featured in more detail within two webinars, both conducted using PostworkShop and both being a part of the 2012 Digital Art Summit. Details and registration info may be found here: http://www.digital-artsummit.com/membership/2012artists/john-stevensonpostworkshop-pro/ 14
Schedule for Digital Art Summit Webinars Times are all 11:30 am Eastern, 12:30 pm Central, 1:30 pm Mountain and 2:30 pm Pacific Dates and times are tentative for some of these webinars. We will be firming up the schedule in the next week. Kick OFF! Monday February 20 Darrell Chitty Wednesday, February 22 John Stevenson - FREE Wednesday, February 29 Ryan Kristin - FREE Thursday March 1 Donal Jolley Monday, March 5 Michael Campbell Tuesday, March 6 Heather Michelle
Wednesday March 14 Jeremy Sutton Friday March 16 Jenifer Hudson Monday March 19 Odwin Rensen Friday, March 23 Tim O’Neill Monday March 26 John Stevenson Tuesday, March 27 Larry Lourcey
Wednesday March 7 Jim Cunningham
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The Old Masters Gustave Caillebotte By Nadia Lim Gustave Caillebotte created stunning large-scale paintings, vivid windows into 18th century Paris life. Yet he’s more often mentioned for the famous friends he sponsored. Little wonder – among his friends were Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Caillebotte was key to the success of the Impressionist movement, not only as a financial patron, paying for advertising, exhibition space, framing and hanging of paintings, but also as peace-maker during the group’s periods of intense disagreement. He brought a keen eye, sound business acumen, and much-needed money to this group of passionate artists. Caillebotte was born the first child of a wealthy Parisian family on August 19th, 1848. Their summer home in Yerres, about 12 miles outside Paris, is most likely where Caillebotte first started drawing and painting. His interests ranged in several directions, including law, naval architecture and engineering. Shortly after earning his law license in 1870, he was drafted into the Franco-Prussian war. This brush with mortality might have deepened his interest in art, because when he returned he began to study painting seriously, first at the studio of Leon Bonnat, and then at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His father died in 1874, leaving him a fortune made in the family’s military textile business. Around this time Caillebotte starting forming ties with Edgar Degas and other artists working outside the French Academy, and attended the first Impressionist exhibition. He entered several paintings for the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876, including The Floor Scrapers. It had previously been rejected by the Salon of 1875, labeled vulgar by critics because it showed the working class, but not in a scene one could describe as pastoral or rustic. Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
Today, Caillebotte’s best known works are paintings of urban life. He was more of a Realist, but his paintings showed the strong influence of Impressionism in his brush strokes, though with a softer color palette. He often painted his own family, chronicling the life of the French upper-class. His city scenes stand out for their depictions of contemporary technology, and also for their unusual perspective, showcasing plunging depths or angled lines extending into the horizon. Though he continued funding Impressionist exhibitions, he stopped 16
showing his own paintings in his early 30s, and focused on other interests like yacht-racing, orchid-gardening, and textile design. The British Library now owns his impressive stamp collection. Caillebotte continued collecting his friends’ work, but not only to help them financially. He had impeccable taste, never buying from artists who produced lesser-quality work. Renoir came to visit him often at his property on the banks of the Seine. Caillebotte paid the rent for Monet’s studio, and persuaded the Louvre to buy Manet’s Olympia. In 1874, Caillebotte died at age 45 of pulmonary congestion, leaving an annuity to his partner, a younger woman below his social class. He also left a sizable collection of art to the French government, including paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Pissarro, and Renoir, among others. Because of the art establishment’s attitude towards Impressionism, Caillebotte stipulated that the paintings be displayed in the Luxembourg Palace and the Louvre, so that they wouldn’t vanish forever into museum storage. The French government didn’t like those terms, and negotiated with Renoir (the will’s executor) for two years. They eventually accepted 38 of the paintings for the Luxembourg, refusing 29. The government attempted to claim the rest 32 years later, but Caillebotte’s descendants Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
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1. http://www.artfinder.com/work/le-pont-de-leurope-gustavecaillebotte 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:G._Caillebotte_-_L%27Yerres,_pluie. jpg 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caillebotteraboteurs.jpg 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:G._Caillebotte_-_Jeune_ homme_%C3%A0_la_fen%C3%AAtre.jpg 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Caillebotte_-_Jour_de_ pluie_%C3%A0_Paris.jpg 6. http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/paintings-by-gustavecaillebotte-4.jpg
contested their claim. Most of those paintings are currently part of the Barnes Foundation collection. Many of Caillebotte’s own paintings are now in the Musee d’Orsay. Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
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By Kevin Parnell
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Right Click
Skip Allen
Use Selections to Tame m o r f t s a l B A a Portrait t s a the P
W
hen I am doing a portrait, I like to use a photograph as a reference, but I don’t want the result to look like an auto painting or too photographic. I do like the way auto painting or clone painting can create the structure of the portrait, but I would prefer to use my own hues and a variety of brushes.
Actually, I do not want to clone with color at all, but I do want to create a clone to capture the structure of the portrait. My solution is to use selections. Well, to be truthful, I use channels, but don’t let that worry you. I promise to not even use the word channel until it becomes absolutely necessary.
Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
March 2010
The Original and the Finished Portrait
D
For this exercise, I am going to use the following photograph, which has not been edited in Photoshop or Painter.
Iw in th on
Jun Re Im
Jun W sp
Original Photograph The finished image looks like this; okay, it is a selfportrait and I tried to make me look better:
Jul in
Au lif tim de
Final Image
Continued 20
The Source, Target, and Auto-Select 1. Auto Select Image Luminance To get started, I opened the source (original photograph) in Painter and created a Quick Clone (target); File > Quick Clone. At this point I made several selections on the source and transferred them to the target. These selections are key to creating the underlying structure of the image. For my first selection, I used the source as is and using Auto Select I created a selection with Image Luminance.
Select > Auto Select > Using dropdown list > select Image Luminance.
A marquee—marching ants—was created using the luminance (light and dark) of the photograph. While the marquee is still active on the source, I clicked on the target (Clone) to make it active and using Auto Select, I created a selection using Original Selection. Select > Auto Select > Using dropdown list > Select Original Selection
Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
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The Source, Target, and Auto-Select (Continued) 2. Transfer the Selection from Source to Target A marquee—marching ants—was created using the luminance (light and dark) of the photograph. While the marquee is still active on the source, I clicked on the target (Clone) to make it active and using Auto Select, I created a selection using Original Selection.
Select > Auto Select > Using dropdown list > Select Original Selection
Repeat the process for creating a selection on the source, but use Original Selection from the Using dropdown list. The selection must be active on the source. This technique can be used to transfer a selection from one image to another as long as one is designated as the clone source.
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The Source, Target, and Auto-Select (Continued) 2. Transfer the Selection from Source to Target
A marquee—marching ants—was created using the luminance (light and dark) of the photograph. While the marquee is still active on the source, I clicked on the target (Clone) to make it active and using Auto Select, I created a selection using Original Selection.
Select > Auto Select > Using dropdown list > Select Original Selection
Repeat the process for creating a selection on the source, but use Original Selection from the Using dropdown list. The selection must be active on the source. This technique can be used to transfer a selection from one image to another as long as one is designated as the clone source. Hint: There is an option in the dropdown list called Original Luminance which is actually a better choice because you would not have to make a selection in the source first. I have tried it several times and it will not work for me; I believe it is a minor bug in Painter, which is why I make the selection on the source and then use Original Selection with the target.
Now I have a selection in the target based on the original luminance. I saved it. Select > Save Selection and name it. I named mine Original.
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The Source, Target, and Auto-Select (Continued) 3. Fill Target Selection with Color
I have to admit, the selection as a marquee didn’t look like much. Hardly anything looked selected. I had to fill the selection with a color before I could see that it was based on the luminosity or value of the original image. I was actually surprised to see the monochromatic image of the photograph. I don’t think I was expecting an exact copy. I was curious to see how brushes would react with this selection. I wondered if they would have to be grain sensitive brushes, or could virtually any brush variants be used. Would the subtle values be picked up? I was very surprised at what I found. Many different variants can be used and they do not have to be grain sensitive. However, adjusting the opacity of the brush does help. Smeary brushes do not work as well, but can work; for those I needed to make single strokes in one direction. I was pretty sure a higher contrast selection would be easier to work with.
Selection now filled with color.
To create more contrast in the selection, I floated the canvas layer and duplicated it. Select > All (Ctrl + A for the PC; Com + A for the MAC) Select > Float or click on the image with the Layer Adjuster tool.
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Image Variation Using the Underpainting Palette 1. Create a Grayscale Varaiation With the duplicate layer selected, I opened the Underpainting Palette. Windows > Underpainting
Using the Photo Enhance dropdown, I selected Black and White, or I could have reduced the saturation slider to zero and created a black and white image. Since I am looking for high contrast, I played with the contrast, value, and brightness sliders until the image had a great deal of contrast. Next I followed the steps for creating a Selection and transferring it to the Target (See The Source, The Target and Auto Select). I saved this selection as Grayscale Contrast. I had two selections based on image luminance; I wanted a third. I didn’t want this selection to have any grayscale; I wanted it reduced to just black and white.
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Image Variation Using the Underpainting Palette (Continued) 2. Create a Black & White Varaiation Without Grayscale I started by duplicating the grayscale layer from previous chapter. On the Underpainting Palette, I selected Photo Enhance > High Contrast and applied it. I repeated that step one more time. The resulting image was a black and white image without grayscale. I created the selection based on image luminance and transferred it to the target. I named it Black and White.
At this point, I have a source image with three layers, original image, grayscale, and black and white. I have a target with no layers and three saved selections, original, grayscale contrast, and black and white. I have one other thing with the target; can you guess what? You are correct, I have four channels, RGB (default channel), original, grayscale contrast, and black and white. Anytime you save a selection in Painter, and in Photoshop for that matter, the software automatically creates an alpha channel. If you save your file with a .psd extension, the channels will be saved and the file can be opened in Photoshop. Likewise, if you make selections in Photoshop and save them with a .psd extension, they can be opened in Painter and the channels will be brought over. This affords you great flexibility with selections used between Painter and Photoshop. Plus, as I have demonstrated, you can move selections from one document to another. I think that is pretty slick.
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The Painting Process 1. Load a Selection I started the painting using the Grayscale Contrast selection because I wanted to capture some tonal values but still protect the lightest areas. I planned to use watercolors, so protecting the lightest areas is similar to using a liquid mask product in traditional watercolor painting. To load a saved selection click
Click on Select > Load Selection
In the Load Selection popup, choose the name of the selection you wish to load.
Select > Load Selection and then select the Name of the selection you want to load.
With the selection loaded, I began painting with Soft Water > Blush, a variant from my custom brush set. This particular variant will give a smooth soft stroke similar to a glaze. I always work with multiple layers especially with watercolors. Since watercolors are transparent, I think a very rich look can be achieved with multiple layers. Following is my workflow as I painted this image using the selections created.
Select the Operation In this case, stay with the default operation, but note that you can add, subtract, or intersect multiple selections.
The selection is loaded and the marquee is showing.
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The Painting Process (Continued) 2. First Painting Iteration I loaded the Grayscale Contrast selection and used my Soft Water Brush variant to begin painting. I selected colors based on a limited palette Color Set created from the photograph. This is my first layer and I am identifying the image. It is important to note, I am not cloning, but using a selection to protect certain areas.
Continuing on the first layer, I used my Real Watercolor 2 Wet Glaze variant to add more color and begin to develop a bit of texture from the wetness of the brush. I find the marquee distracting while I am painting, so I hide it (Select > Hide Marquee). The marquee is still there and continues to protect areas, but it isn’t visible and distracting.
Adding a second layer with the Grayscale Contrast selection still active, I used my Real Watercolor 2 Universal soft and wet variant to add very wet watercolor strokes. Notice the pooling in some areas, Also, please note that runny wet watercolor strokes will bleed through selections leaving a less crisp edge.
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The Painting Process (Continued) 2. First Iteration (continued)
Since I am not cloning, I will continue to show the photograph. All of the information about the original that I needed is contained in the saved selections. On the third layer, I loaded the Original Selection because it has the most information about the grayscale of the source. I wanted to identify the background and make it a little more evident. I continued to add color. In this image, I wanted to have a strong interplay between the light and dark.
For the fourth layer, I continued to work with the original selection and added more painted details to the face. I reloaded the Grayscale Contrast selection. Since the lightest areas are being protected, I inverted the selection, which changed the protection from the light areas to the dark areas, I took the Pencil > Real 6B Soft Pencil and in the Brush Controls > General Palette, changed the Method to Wet for Cover. In the Brush Controls > Water Palette, I decreased the diffusion slider to 5%. These changes gave me a nice watercolor pencil, which I used to add detail to the hand.
I saved the image and dropped all layers. This will be my starting point for the next iteration.
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The Painting Process (Continued) 3. Second Iteration (continued)
The image has been dropped to the Canvas layer and is no longer a watercolor layer. I use the Lift Canvas to Watercolor Layer command to restore the image to a watercolor layer. Layers > Lift Canvas to Watercolor Layer I duplicated this layer. I now have two identical watercolor layers. I selected my custom watercolor pencil and in the Brush Controls > General Palette, I changed the subcategory to Wet Density Remove. My custom watercolor pencil now acts like an eraser, leaving a white or light stroke.
At this point, I am not working with a selection. I am developing details with the scratch marks in the light areas of the image. I would like to work in some of the dark areas, too, but because there is an identical layer underneath, the scratch marks are not showing. I reduced the opacity of the underneath layer until I began to see the scratch marks in the dark areas, as well. I continued working on the top layer to develop details. See insert to see the image with the lower layer reduced in opacity.
I added a third watercolor layer and using my Real Watercolor 2 Universal Wet brush, softened the background. I covered the light area behind the head, and softened the intensity of the drapes and leaves because I thought both were distracting. No selections are active and I am selecting color from my Color Set. I considered the basic finished image. I saved the image and then dropped all layers. I saved the new image with a new name, but I will refer to it as iteration 3.
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The Painting Process (Continued) 4. Third Iteration (continued) I used the Rectangle Selection Tool and selected an area of the image that I wanted for the left panel. I copied the selection and pasted it into a new image. Edit > Copy Edit > Paste Into New Image
Repeating the previous step, I made two more panels.
I checked the size of each panel and calculated what size canvas I needed to display each panel with some white area around it. I created a new document with the calculated canvas size. Using the Place command, I brought each panel into the new document. File > Place and navigate to the location of the file that you want to import. Each panel is brought in an placed on a separate layer.
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Creating the Border with 10 Layers First Layer
I selected the content of a layer by holding the CTRL+SHIFT (WIN) / CMD+SHIFT (OS X) and clicking on each panel layer. I added a layer and with these selections active, I widened them by 10 pixels.
Second Layer
I created a new layer and with the selection still active from layer one, I widened them another 15 pixels. Then I inverted the selections and filled them with color. I saved this selection.
Select > Modify > Widen If the options are grayed out, then click on Select > Transform Selection before you try to modify. I used Select > Stroke with the Pen > Round Tip Pen 10 to crreate the line. I saved the selections. Third Layer
I added a third layer and used several pen variants to create the lines in the border areas.
Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Layers Adding three watercolor layers and using various watercolor brushes, I applied color in washes and on the third layer, I created lines.
Fourth Layer
Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Layers
I added a fourth layer, filled it with a gray-blue color, and changed the Composite Method to Difference.
I filled the eighth layer with a brown color and changed its Composite Method to Gel. I loaded the saved selection that surrounded the panels and added a lighter line in the ninth layer. For the final layer, I did a Select All and stroked the selection using Pen > Round Tip 20. Satisfied with the image, I saved it. I dropped all layers and saved the final image.
Technically, I did not use channels to create this image, but they were being used by Painter in the background. All of the selections that I made, with the exception of some of the later ones used in creating the border, could have been made easier with the channels palette. Plus, there is so much more that can be done. If there is interest, in subsequent articles I will explore the Channel Palette in detail.
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Post Print While beginning the organizational draft for a new DVD about finishing my digital paintings I kept bumping into an uneasy feeling around the word embellishment or embellishing. Is that really what we are doing when we add a different medium over the top of our giclee print that we popped out of the printer? I didn’t think so. I looked up the word embellish and here is what I found. Using the word as a noun; something that embellishes; a decoration, Music A note that embellishes a melody, a superfluous ornament, the act of adding extraneous decorations to something. Hmm, that is not what I was thinking at all. How about as a verb? Here is what I found for the definition; to improve or beautify by adding detail or ornament; adorn, to make (a story) more interesting by adding detail, to make beautiful, as by ornamentation; decorate, to add ornamental or fictitious details to. Yikes! Perhaps the definition of embellishment is where my initial uneasiness came from. I am sure that many artists do use a dab or two of paint here and there to “embellish” their print (Thomas Kinkade print series). There is added value in embellished prints to separate them from a “standard” print. Embellishment is a way to raise the price point of prints as they have been touched by hand. So there is some value to embellishment. The way I create my images by adding glazes, scumbling, bringing out highlights, opening up shadows, and then sealing with lacquers are all an integral part of developing my painting, those techniques are not just “adding ornamental or fictitious detail”. The important distinction I think is that embellishment is what one may do to a print, not an original. If you are like many of us who have had Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
a tough time figuring out what your original is if you are a digital painter then getting a handle on the difference between embellishing a print and creating an original is key. When I paint digitally using Corel Painter, Photoshop, Postworkshop or a variety of other software applications the original art is in pixels. All of the subtle detail, the beautiful brushwork and the well-developed color harmony all exist virtually with little 1’s and 0’s put together. Once we spit those pixels out and transpose a pixel for a dot of ink or pigment it is only a print, not an original. It can be printed as a series, a limited edition, even perhaps a single print that can garner a million dollars like Peter Lik but…it is still a print. So this new column will be focused on the post printing or finishing area of developing our art. As I move through the process of putting together the DVD that explains our in-studio process of working with oils, pastels, water color, dyes and acrylic I will steal a piece from the DVD and stash it in this column. We also can try to answer questions as we move along. We will cover various surfaces like water color paper, canvas, tin or other metals, bark, silk and a few other things we experiment with. We will also look at various coatings for our substrates as well as taking a peek at drying oils or mediums used in oil painting and even try to explain a few misunderstood or mis-used phrases we come across in art like glazing, scumbling and what the heck is “fatover-lean”? We have spent years experimenting and failing. We have a “system” in our studio that works for us and fits 33
the way I like to create. It will not be the same for everyone, the goal of the DVD is to give enough information that people can have a solid place to start without spending the thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars to figure out a workable system. The object of this column is to get you thinking about going beyond where you currently are in regard to finishing your work. While we talk about these techniques I will be trying to figure out what to title the DVD. It is not due until the fall so I have some time, but so far I am stumped.
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Marketing Buzz By Tim O’Neill
Video Marketing - Hard Sell Vs Soft Sell If you’ve been marketing online for any time, you’re probably used to using familiar marketing channels such as banner advertising, popups, slide-ins, pop-unders etc. Those techniques are a fairly hard sell approach to sales. Video, on the other hand, is different and is all about subtlety or the soft-sell. The reality is most of us don’t watch videos that are obviously sales videos. In fact, we usually will run the other way to avoid them (just like people talk through the adverts on TV or switch to another channel) That kind of hard sell approach just doesn’t work with online video. If you are considering bringing video into your marketing mix, you need to be able to offer your viewer real value by providing them with the information they want or some kind of entertainment value without an sales pitch. The soft-sell approach should define your video marketing agenda. Your viewers will engage more readily with your content and remember your brand or define you as an expert if you teach them something (as in how-to videos) or update them with new information (industry news and so on). If you gain your viewers’ trust and begin to establish yourself in their minds as a value provider, you embed your brand or product positively in your viewers frame of mind. When it comes time to buy a product, your viewer won’t be able to help but remember you when making a purchase, because you have already provided them with value. That’s the psychology of advertising and the nature of human beings. One of my favorite books that speaks to the psychology of Marketing is “Influence the Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert Cialdini. That is one of the books on my shelf that gets re-read every 6 months or so. This kind of marketing approach is a lot different to paid advertising and ultimately far more effective which explains the explosion in
Digital Paint Magazine - February 2012
online video over the last few years. Traditional advertising is far more fleeting. People tend to forget banners ads or emails quickly or need to see them many times to be memorable. Done correctly, video gives you an instant gateway into your audience’s subconscious mind, it offers a way to build relationship and to serve potential clients in a way that doesn’t cost very as much as direct mail campaigns or other types of more traditional advertising. Using video however, doesn’t have to rule out more traditional online advertising channels. The real secret is to use video to supplement the promotional message you convey in your other advertising channels that are more blatant and hard sell in their approach. Following up on your promotional message by providing more information in the video marketing strand of your marketing mix is huge effective. This is the perfect way to personalize your company or brand. By using the soft-sell approach in video you are developing a direct emotional connection with your viewer and drawing them into your personal sphere of relationship. This only because you are no longer broadcasting an anonymous promotional message. You are, instead, personally communicating to your audience as an expert on a topic they are interested. The emphasis is on serving them.
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