ArtSpots Forum Topic - Uneven Coloring

Metsys

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:36:05 -0000

Isn't there a way that you can save your own brushes, or make your own brushes palette in Essentials? I just looked at J.C.'s painting. Again, give the acrylic brushes a try and see if there's some way that you can "add thinner" or lower the opacity of each stroke. With that you can create smooth transitions and shading by overlapping strokes to build up the color. And don't be afraid of the oil paints either. Yeah, it can smear but that's what makes oil paintings cool. There might be a way that you can control how much the oil paints will blend as well. Painter Essentials isn't a bad program, it's just a matter of finding good ways of using it and avoiding what it does poorly. In my experience it's mixed media paintings, which seems to be what you've been having problems with too. Just experiment with it and learn as much as you can about how to use it.

kitsukami

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:42:56 -0000

I think the look of the fur in "Fang the cat" by J.C. is what I'm really trying to do. Not so much the patterns as the way the colors and textures of the fur transition. I'm not worried so much about my style. I don't mind it being kinda... odd. I just don't know how to get the colors to blend without smudging or smearing them. If you look at my finished work, you'll probably notice that his fur looks very sketchy. I've looked for ways to mutate the brushes, but they revert to their default state as soon as I change something. I think I'll just stick to sketching for a while before I smash my head countless times into the computer while trying to figure out how I got suckered into buying this one.

Metsys

Mon, 12 May 2008 05:58:04 -0000

Yeah, I remember Painter having unusual layer behavior, with the bump mapped paints some brushes not being able to work with some layers (watercolor layers for example). I can't think of anything off the top of my head that would help, except of course the stock answer of trying something other than Painter or changing your style. All I can really suggest with Painter is to try using different brush types and layer arrangements. The acrylics may look chalky because your canvas size is really small. I usually have my canvas no smaller than 9x12 at 300ppi (pixels per inch), which equates to 2700x3600. I'm confident that the textures that Painter uses for it's brushes is meant for art being created at that resolution. The paper texture that is making the acrylic look chalky would be more subtle compared to the rest of the image if the canvas was larger. You can then export your image and scale it down when you are ready to put it on the web somewhere. As for the color blending, I think using a paint, like acrylic or something else, that will not blend oddly like water color does with layers. As for the line art, I'm not sure what to suggest. I don't know if Essentials has a calligraphic brush, ink brush, or something else like that; something that will make thin lines without blending weird (so markers are probably out too). Also, don't forget that you can edit brushes or make your own (I'm not sure if Essentials lets you do that though). You'll likely have to do this to get the effect you want. You should be able to turn off some things like texture and other settings to get the brushes to behave better. So if there's a brush that you like but isn't perfect, you should be able to modify it or create a mutant brush that'll better serve your needs. And if you can, point us to an image that has the effect or style that you are trying to achieve. That'll help since I'm not sure exactly what effect you are trying to achieve in your work, and if it's the process or software that's falling short.

kitsukami

Mon, 12 May 2008 01:17:16 -0000

Essentials does have layers; however, they are quite the tricky little beasts. The colors in each layer mix terribly. And so I've been using a small brush to work around that issue with layers. My process? Well, it generally starts with a pencil tool, then I use an art pen called "Tapered Gouache." I really only use the water colors for backgrounds, though, and use airbrushes for shading. I've tried using the paint bucket, but it doesn't have a "close gap" function, so I often got a canvas full of only one color. The acrylics look like chalk and the oils are a messy. I think I might just be up poop creek without a paddle.... But I'll keep trying to find something that works.

Metsys

Thu, 08 May 2008 22:36:27 -0000

For me using a big brush size is the best for filling in large areas. From the image in your gallery it looks like you are filling in on the same layer as your line art, which would make it really hard to do that without painting over your lines, and could be the reason for you using small brushes? Put your line drawing on a different layer as your fill if you can (I haven't used Essentials so I'm not sure if you can use layers), that should help. I'm not sure what kind of brush you are using, but it looks like some kind of water color brush. Those can be hard to use because layering makes the color darker. Try using the acrylic or oil brush to do fills so you get a solid color. But yeah, let us know more about the process you are using to create these.

Vizon

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:58:47 -0000

Well I've never had Painter Essentials 3 so I have no idea what tools it has, but I would suggest, if it's anything like Painter 8 or 9 - to try out different tools in the program (like airbrush or oil) and their variations to see which gives you less grain. Also - I would double check the opacity and flow settings.

kitsukami

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:55:14 -0000

For a while, I've been trying to color in my sketches in an even manner. However, no matter what I've tried, it always looks uneven and penciled. I've noticed that most artists here are able to do it, so I don't know if there's something basic I'm forgetting, or if I just don't have the right programs. (I have Corel Painter Essentials 3)Does anyone have any ideas?