New Painter user

[Jinbrown]

Hey guys. I just started to color a predrawn image. Practicing before school start. I was wondering what kind of brush do you guys use for corel painter? Cause I realize there are so many of them that I end up just using the arylics.


Your time will be well spent if you read Painter IX Help Topics to learn about brushes and brush controls. Read the following chapters:

Painter IX Help > Help Topics > Contents tab > Painting

On the right panel, one at a time, click each link and read the page(s) that display next.


Painter IX Help > Help Topics > Contents tab > Customizing Brushes

On the right panel, one at a time, click each link and read the page(s) that display next.


Then read the following three chapters to learn about special media brushes:

Painter IX Help > Help Topics > Contents tab > Watercolor

In Painter 8 and Painter IX (IX 9.1 and IX.5) there are two brush categories that simulate traditional watercolor, Watercolor and Digital Watercolor. To learn about Digital Watercolor (so you can use the Coarse Mop Brush variant), on the right panel, click the link named Working with Digital Watercolor and read the entire page that displays next.

Painter IX Help > Help Topics > Contents tab > Liquid Ink

Painter IX Help > Help Topics > Contents tab > Impasto

Learning about Impasto is important because many brush variants from other brush categories, in addition to those found in the Impasto category, use Impasto lighting and depth and the same brush controls found in the Brush Controls' Impasto palette are used to adjust these other brush category's brush variants.


Papers:

Since many Painter brush variants interact with the currently selected Paper, it would also be good to read:

Painter IX Help > Help Topics > Contents tab > Textures, Patterns, and Weaves

On the right panel, click the link named "Using Paper Texture" and read the entire page that displays next.


When painting an image, what brush do u use for the base colour? I want to use the Coarse Mop brush but I cant seem to find it or it seem that I dont have it. So currently im using jusing the acrylic brushes.


In Painter IX (IX 9.1 and IX.5), the Coarse Mop Brush variant is in the Digital Watercolor brush category.

Digital Watercolor can be tricky so if you need to complete an image in a timely fashion, it might not be the best to use until you've read about it in Help Topics and spent some time practicing with these brush variants to learn how they work both on the Canvas and when painting on Layers.


Im on a Cintq and when I paint, my opacity is already 100 but I guess the screen is sensitive to my preasure that it paints lightly for a while before it starts to get dark. arh..

You can use the brush controls to make adjustments to how your brush variant paints Opacity. (See recommended reading list above.)

Also reset your Brush Tracking by painting a brushstroke on the scratch pad using your normal hand pressure.

Windows - Edit > Preferences > Brush Tracking

Mac - Painter IX > Preferences > Brush Tracking


As to your questions about what brushes to use, every artist has his or her favorites and the best way to find the ones you like best is to:

First read the Help Topics Chapters and pages I suggested above.

Then open a new white Canvas and begin testing each brush category's variants, one at a time. Make notes when you find something you like. Make notes when you have questions.


When posting questions about brush variants, be sure to include the exact name of the brush category and the exact name of the brush variant. Also describe clearly what you're doing or want to do and include a description of your image. That'll help save time when people want to help you.


Happy Reading and Brush Testing! :)

[LiChih]

oh thanks!.. I shall try it out .. but what brush do you use?

[Cris-Palomino]

LiChih, Jin has laid out a very good way for you to start and that's by reading the Help Topic sections and trying each of the things out in Painter as you do.

Asking someone which brush they use is like asking, do you prefer pencils or oils when you may want to do a pastel drawing. It really depends on what you want to paint and what look you are after. If you are used to something like Photoshop, most of the brushes there are just made to paint without much regard to the look they produce. Some brushes may say watercolor or chalk, but it's not quite the same.

In Painter, you have brushes that will leave strokes that actually look like a the bristles of a brush ran across the surface or watercolor soaked into a rough watercolor paper or chalk was scumbled onto a paper that has visible ribbing.

Painter produces some wonderful things, but it does require the user to take some time to read about how it works and practice and, above all, experiment.

While Painter emulates, better than any other program, the look of acrylics, oil, pencils, pastels...do not make the mistake of trying to paint with them only as you would in the natural world. You are in a digital world and Painter gives you so many options that you will be able to do things with these materials that are not possible in the physical world with the same materials. You will be able to mix (for the better part, as there are special media brushes that can only work in a specific type of layer) materials that could not in the real world.

The best thing is to see how a brush paints, understand the many ways you can modify it and then use what gives you the look you are after.

I would advise you, as you start on this journey, to immediately make a back up of your brushes before you make any changes so that if you accidentally save over a default, you can come back to your defaults in an intact form.

If, when you say, you are looking for a base color, that usually means an all-over color on the surface...like being able to start with a charcoal colored surface rather than white? If that is the case, you have two options:

When you create your document, click on the "paper color" box and it will bring up a palette from which you can set your base. If you create your document and change your mind, you can choose a color in the color palette on the right (default layout) and then go to Canvas>Set Paper Color. You can then reveal the new color, completely, by Select>All and delete or by using one of the selection tools (square, oval, lasso) to select some or all of the canvas and deleting. You can even erase (because now whatever color is on the canvas is just a color and not the color of the paper anymore).

Try not to run before you walk. I can tell you are anxious, but think of it as learning to drive a vehicle. You learn the rules, your learn where the blinkers and lights and other parts are and how you handle them and then you first drive in a parking lot, then a street and then venture out onto the freeway.

If you take the time to follow the outline by Jin, you'll be on the freeway in no time.

In addition, after reading the topics outlined by Jin, go to the top of the page to WIKI, search for John Derry. Read his articles and print out his summary pages. You will find these very useful, also.

Good luck,
Cris

[Terro]

Hey LiChih ,

Let me just tell you that you are in for a great ride. Everythign the masters have posted above is very important information , but may be a little overwhealming at first.

I've only started using Painter IX about a half year ago and am completely addicted. When it comes to brushes, I did my research at first also. I checked out the Ryan Church site and tried out the brushes he uses and it just didn't work for me. It wasn't till I sat down for weeks and started experimenting myself. I may be the only person that sketches with Acrylics, but hey ... it works for me just great ,hehe.

Thats the beauty of painter, you find out new options and settings and appraches every time you sit down to it. I just 2 days ago figured out the proper way to set up my brushes with in the brush creator. My favorite brush is now an Eraser that I modyfied to paint instead of erasing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should use the brush that feels natural to you. Because when I tell you that I sketch with acrylics and paint with erasers, you will call me crazy , but thats just me.

[Jinbrown]

LiChih,

One more thing that I think may be the most important of all.

Play!

If you make it play, you'll learn and have fun at the same time.

That's how I feel about experimenting. It's so much fun because there are always things to be discovered and lovely surprises.

If I hadn't been playing, I'd never have created this custom brush variant which, while not useful for a lot of people, was a lot of fun to create. It has a life of its own so almost every stroke is a surprise:

http://www.pixelalley.com/Painter7/jins_pshpll_mltijtroily_p8brshs_demo.jpg

Many, more practical things have come out of my time playing, like some nice custom Papers (textures), other custom brush variants, and more.


The advice you've been given by Cris and Terro is about the best you can get. Both have given you advice and tips it might take a new Painter user years to learn.

Save this thread to your hard drive so you can read it again whenever you need to refresh your memory.


Play! :)


P.S. What brush do I use? I've used all of the brush variants at least once to do the same brush testing excersise I recommended for you. I've used at least half of them again and again, maybe more than half. I use the many custom brush variants others have created and shared, and the many I've created. The choice depends on what I want to do at the time.

[Terro]

Thats a very nice brush Jin, it generates a very nice foilage effect.

Since we are on the bursh topic I guess I have a question as well. We have 2 pc's at home, I mostly work on my own computer , but once in the while I end up going over to my wifes PC when she allows, hehe. (Her desk/chair is so much more comfy then mine, I work on a oak barrel, literaly)

http://www.gk-concepts.com/pics/workstation1.JPG


Anyhow, I did a export of my custom brush Pallet and was able to import it just fine on her pc. The problem I run into is when I try to use my cutomized brushes that I saved on my own pc. I get an error that states that the brush is not found. How do I go about exporting not only the custom brush pallet, but my customized brushes as well?

[Jinbrown]

Thats a very nice brush Jin, it generates a very nice foilage effect.

Since we are on the bursh topic I guess I have a question as well. We have 2 pc's at home, I mostly work on my own computer , but once in the while I end up going over to my wifes PC when she allows, hehe. (Her desk/chair is so much more comfy then mine, I work on a oak barrel, literaly)

http://www.gk-concepts.com/pics/workstation1.JPG


Anyhow, I did a export of my custom brush Pallet and was able to import it just fine on her pc. The problem I run into is when I try to use my cutomized brushes that I saved on my own pc. I get an error that states that the brush is not found. How do I go about exporting not only the custom brush pallet, but my customized brushes as well?


Thanks about my custom brush variant. It's a trip to use. ;)

Custom Palettes only carry information that tells Painter what to do. In other words, if it's a brush category icon, click it and that tells Painter to select the brush variant active when you dragged that brush category icon into the Custom Palette. If the appropriate library isn't loaded, Painter knows to load that library and select the brush variant.

If it's a menu command button, click it and that tells Painter to initiate that command.

Painter still has to be able to find brushes where it goes looking for them. That is, for Painter IX, in the Painter IX application folder's Brushes folder and in the Painter IX User folder's Brushes folder (for all custom or extra brush libraries, categories, and variants).

If you want to access your brushes on your wife's computer, you'll have to move a copy of those brushes to the appropriate, matching folders on her computer. In other words, wherever the files are located on your computer, that will be where the files should be placed on your wife's computer.


If you have trouble understanding all this (it can be very confusing), list the brushes you want to use on the other computer, saying if they're default Painter IX brushes or all custom brush variants, or a mix of the two. If you're going to use your Custom Palette, you'll need to move each brush library that Custom Palette's icons point to.


I won't be online for a while since I'm exhausted and need to get some food in my tummy and some sleep, so if you post for help, I'll hope someone else will be able to give you the answers.


Good Luck!

[Terro]

Thanks Jin,

I understand completely. It's basically like those extra brushes that I received when I purchased Painter. I had to copy them in to my brush folders off of the cd. Im not sure why I didn;t think about that, I kept looking for a automated export option, lol.

Thanks a bunch.

[LiChih]

Hey guys, thank you so much for your advices. I just thought there was some secert brushes that everyone uses lol. But I agree with all of you after reading the help for brushes. I will most certainly experiment with every brush on my computer. When i get done and bored, I will post another thread about custom brushes.

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