May '07 Jam: Olivie

[Full of Froth]

C&C greatly appreciated.

[Matthewshadinger]

Thanks Fes, I hope I can some day create drawings/art that has the detail and quality that others in this thread are able to create.

Full of Froth, the shading on her is amazing, how did you get it so smooth? Looks awesome can't wait to see it finished.

[richardyot]

Found my way here via Fes's blog, saw her wonderful painting and decided to have a go myself.

[Spasz]

great fun! sweet posts!

[Fes]

Hey Frog (richardyot)! Nice one. Love the grainy texture and the way you've captured the light

[Fes]

Nice pencils bangalore_monkey & Full of Froth!

Mattewshadinger - you can get smooth shading if you smudge lightly over pencils with a finger (make sure it's totally dry) or a soft bit of paper. It's best if you use a soft 'B' pencil not a HB. You can then pull back the highlights with a putty rubber or an electric eraser is good for sharp highlights or cleaning up line work.

[richardyot]

Not a patch on yours though! I really love the way you painted that skin, the colour variation is wonderful, really makes it glow and feel alive. Maybe you should do a write up on your technique some time.

[Fes]

Cheers Richard. Maybe I will do a step by step next time?! I just have to remember to save each step (I usually forget that type of thing).

[richardyot]

I prefer Frog

How did you do the colour variation in the skin, was it by blending - if so which brushes for the paint, and which for the blend? Or do you use the tinting brushes? Or the airbrush maybe?

[Fes]

I prefer Frog

yeah, but no-one else would know who I was talking to!

Ah-ha... now you're asking for my secret ingredients. I only used a little blending 'cause I find it muddies the colour a bit. I used a custom brush (a Don Seegmillar one actually) as the basic painting tool. The closest you can get to it (I think) is use one of the Gouache Opaque Smooth Brushes, Lower the Opacity to about 30ish and in the Brush Creator under the Size selection, alter the min size to about 30. Then you get a brush that if you use softly will overlay the colour underneath without completely obliterating it. I does depend on your settings for the pen and tablet tho how much opacity you'll need. I never use the airbrush...or only the spray ones for a little texture. My best glazing tool is a tweaked Photo Burn tool. Under general in the Brush Creator palette I changed the method from eraser to buildup, and the subcategory to soft buildup. Then it adds colour not just Burns the image. You have to use it really lightly but it can add nice flushes of washed colour to areas like a very light glaze. It goes a bit yuk and the colour goes patchy if you use it too hard.

I think Painter needs to look at their glazing brushes. Most of them are rubbish and all you end up with is streaks. Not good for skin!

[richardyot]

Thanks for the secret sauce - gives me some things to try one day. What do you think of Painter 10? I'm still on 9.5, and I'm not sure whether to bother upgrading this time round. I like the fact that Painter is sold at a sensible price, but the new features haven't really grabbed me.

[Fes]

Painter 10 has no great advantage over Painter 9.5. I never use any of the gimmick stuff like the golden section overlay or the 'turn your photos into art' plugins. Everyone I know has turned off enhanced brush ghost feature because it's distracting and can slow down your system.

The only reason to get it would be to get the real bristle brushes. But personally, I never use them, tho I know some people who love them. I s'pose if you had Vista then you'd have to get Painter 10 because I'm not sure 9.5 is compatible?! Tho I maybe wrong.

[hache]

Nice hints Fes. Thanx!

[Vinny K. Krotchy]

richardyot (frog), the light in your image is fantastic... Really nice

[Matthewshadinger]

Mattewshadinger - you can get smooth shading if you smudge lightly over pencils with a finger (make sure it's totally dry) or a soft bit of paper. It's best if you use a soft 'B' pencil not a HB. You can then pull back the highlights with a putty rubber or an electric eraser is good for sharp highlights or cleaning up line work.

You can call me Matt, thanks for the advice. I am a bit hesitant to use softer pencils because I always manage to smudge my drawings hehe. I'm sure with practice I could manage though. I love putty erasers, I use one almost exclusivly because I hate eraser dust!