Corel Painter is a Wonderful Addition to Your Art Box.

Digital Painting Programs - Are they a nice addition to your art box?

    I was recently chosen as a feature artist for (Corel) Painter 2018. My work, fitting a certain criteria, will be displayed on various program extensions and their website for a campaign of new and exciting brush libraries for Painter 2018 that will be launched in mid September. (There have been multiple versions of Painter since 1991)

    It is an exciting time for me as I have been painting in the digital format for 11 years now. It's a validation of my artistic abilities as well my enthusiasm of the digital medium. Sadly at this point in time not many artists give the digital medium a thumbs up. Even from close artist friends and family I get halfhearted support; a smile when they see something new I've done; a that's nice, then a change of subject. But you let me show them a traditional piece of my work and they gush. I recently showed my digital art along side my traditional and didn't let them know how either was created and they couldn't tell the difference. So why does the digital medium get so little respect? I've asked the question often. Perhaps it is a bit of an elitist attitude and fear of that which we do not understand. Maybe it is the fear of learning something new. Or is it because it is a newer medium that is taking over and making it look easier than what older traditional artists once had to learn? (Well, it might look easier but it is not. New mediums take time to master just like Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, Acrylics etc.) Maybe they think it is photocopied or cloned? Most times, with professionals, that is not the case. Even if someone is in the early stage of learning a digital medium and they do photo-cloning they learn from it. Is it different from when artists sit in a museum and paint from an old-masters work? I think not much. Artists have taught themselves and learned much working from older and wiser established painters works of art for years. You can learn a lot from copying from a really good painter. Looking at their brush stokes and their uses of color you can in a way, pick their brain. This by no means is condoning plagiarism. These studies aren't for sale, only for study purposes in personal use.

    How about when Bill Alexander and Bob Ross began teaching their way of painting? A lot of traditional oil painters took issue what what they were teaching. There are a lot of budding artist they made happy learning to paint their way. They both taught how to paint on canvas using a layer of specially made white paint as a base...with oils. (Most artists know what can happen when you paint over a layer of white oil pigment as a base) People came away with finished pieces that made them happy. It gave them confidence and a sense that maybe oil painting is not so hard.  I know several people that started that way but they then moved from those steps and learned to paint on their own. They began learning to draw and then to paint with oils the proper way. Many of those new artists  learned other mediums. So how you start and learn is not necessarily wrong, it just may be different and we all learn and visualize differently. 

    I think artists and maybe some collectors fear they will not be buying a totally unique one of a kind painting if they buy a digital painting. Not true. Digital can be sold as a single piece printed with a contract specifying as such or clients can buy the digital file and/or canvas print, giclee, print on paper etc. to print their own. There are many options. Price will reflect their choice. I have done as many commissions digitally I have done traditionally. Today's younger generation have different ideas and they seem to take much easier to the digital medium.

   I'm an artist over 50 who has studied art and many mediums since I was 12 years old. I know the basics, spent years only drawing from life, painting plein-air and in studio with color pencil, graphite, pastels (oil & soft), watercolor, acrylics, gouache and oil . I became bored with what I was doing and sat down one day and scanned several pieces of my work into my Photoshop program and changed the color, added some textures and papers in various ways and came up with something new, exciting and vibrant. That was in 2006. I created, using Photoshop, very traditional looking art and thought the CS6 program would be all I needed. I bought my first Bamboo pad and pen in 2011 and that purchase opened new possibilities. Then in 2013 I began using Corel X3. I started using it more and more. Sometimes working on a piece of art with both programs. Now in 2017 with Painter 2018, I paint landscapes, portraits, animals, still life etc... with oil brushes and watercolor brushes.  I still paint traditional watercolors and acrylics. I love using my color pencils sketching birds and animals.  At times I scan those works and add more elements I like that don't translate as well with traditional mediums. The Painter program has revived my art and in a lot of ways made me fearless. I can change colors and elements with a flip of my thumb and Intuos Pen. Layers are my friend and so too is my knowledge of the basics of knowledge of art. The "bones" of a proper painting, art mediums and how they work has helped me create better works of art. That sound beginning of drawing and the uses of the different mediums does not fade with digital creations, it will always be the bases of a good painting and something every artist should know.

 Not all that I do is digital, not all I do is traditional...I don't want limitations. I want the sky to be my limit. So maybe look outside the box and try working digitally. Combine both. Digital painting programs are a great addition to your Art Box.