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Issue two
Official Magazine
Artistic advice
and inspiration
Take control of
b ush
brushes
FEATURED
IN THIS ISSUE
Philip Straub
RealBristle brushes
www.paintermagazine.co.uk
Tonal control
The options available for
correcting colour in images
OPM_02-Cover.indd 1
Composition
Learn how to arrange objects
for maximum effect
Free CD inside
PHOTOS | GUIDES | FONTS | TRIALS
Edward Hopper
We reveal how to paint in the style
of this iconic American artist
ISSUE TWO
ISSN 1753-3155
6.00
02
771753 315000
6/3/07 16:40:00
Welcome
This is THE magazine for anyone wanting to further their
Corel Painter skills or learn how to become a better artist
Pg 64
Brushes:
Airbrushes
Discover how these
brushes work and use
them in your art
Pg 56
Paint like:
Edward Hopper
Use Corel Painter to recreate this classic image
of America
ISSUE TWO
Pg 30
Jo Cole Editor
jo.cole@imagine-publishing.co.uk
003_OPM02_Welcome.indd 3
12/3/07 09:45:05
Pg 14
Interview
10 Painter showcase
Look out for the special pages
presenting some of the best
work from Corel Painter artists
12 Letters
The newest addition to the mag
this is where you can send
your art and comments
76 Art Class
A hotbed of solutions to
creative queries, as well as
specic software questions
94 Readers Gallery
Jennifer Miller shares some of
her exquisite work in the latest
Readers Gallery
97 Readers Challenge
Load up the supplied
images and enter our
regular challenge
98 On the disc
Philip Straub
Discover more about this artist and how
he creates his awe-inspiring
art
Pg 34
WIN!
YOUR
WORK
PRINTED
TO CANVAS
Pg 97
Reviews
84 Fujilm FinePix F31fd
We take a look at the Fujilm
FinePix F31fd and see whether its
face-detection technology is pure
gadget or sheer genius
88 Books
Three more fantastic titles that
will inspire you and expand your
working knowledge of traditional
art techniques
006-7_OPM02_Contents.indd 6
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RealBristle brushes
pg 40
Feature
Paint like Edward Hopper
pg 56
Visit our
website now!
tutorials
38 RealBristle brushes
Discover how this new brush
category in Corel Painter X can
be used to produce art
Drawing 101
Traditional artistic techniques
66 Learn about composition
Applying the tried and tested rules of composition is a good way of
ensuring that your work is as pleasing as possible to the eye. We look
at the best and show how to use them
Primers
www.
painter
magazine.
co.uk
64 Brushes: Airbrushes
Feature focus
006-7_OPM02_Contents.indd 7
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showcase
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010-11_OPM_02-artspread.indd 11
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TITLE
WEBSITE
JOB TITLE
CLIENTS
Katarina comes from a batik and graphics background, which has helped
shape the beautiful fabric detail you see in each and every one of her
paintings. We couldnt resist putting her Chio-Chio-San painting on our
cover, as it exemplies the quality of nish achievable with Corel Painter.
You can see more of Katarinas digital paintings in the Computer Graphics
section of her site and if you fall in love with one, you can contact her to
see if its possible to purchase a print of it!
Chio-Chio-San
www.katarinasokolova.com
Professional artist and photographer
Corel Corporation, private collectors
KATARINA SOKOLOVA
s
r
e
t
t
e
L
r
u
o
e
Welcome to the part of the magazine where you can com
and share your thoughts on anything you fancy!
Send your
letters to...
Ofcial Corel Painter
Magazine, Imagine
Publishing, Richmond
House, 33 Richmond
Hill, Bournemouth,
Dorset BH2 6EZ, UK
If youd prefer to contact
us via email, send your
message to opm@
imagine-publishing.
co.uk
Buying artwork
Steve Marchent
Readers tip
Sandra Choi
Famous paintings
Dave Ridgely
Featured Gallery
Our favourite readers gallery this month
Lynne Mitchell
www.paintermagazine.co.uk/
user/LynneMitchell
Lynne impressed all of us
with the images she posted
on the website, especially
the still life studies. She has
a awless application of paint, and the
brush strokes are think and luxurious.
Her eye for lighting is also excellent
and manages to enhance the painterly
elements even further.
Visit the site to see Lynnes work or pay
a visit to her main website, found at
www.rabbitholeproductions.com
t
Zoe Portrai ple of
A great exam work
ush
Lynnes br
Formal Betty
Check out how Lynne has applied
textured strokes to all areas
12
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Ata finds inspiration in the natural colours of Canada, which is clearly expressed in this beautifully serene image
Ata Alishahi
www.paintermagazine.co.uk
bsi te info
we
s
ter
let
ces
our
res
ts
n
eve
s
ew
n
o
inf
te
bsi
we
s
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ENTER T
FORUMHE
CHALLE
NGE
Dont b
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still time shy theres
www.pa to enter! Go to
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co.uk/co ermagazine.
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Forum highlights
The best topic of conversation
User: cgntoonartist
Subject: Work in Progress section
A Work in Progress section on this forum would be great! A place
where we can share and post images (step-by-step), how we create
our artwork or just to show what we have been creating with Corel
Painter and have image progressions on how we got there. What
do you folks think of this?
User: editorjo
Subject: Re: Work in Progress section
Great idea consider it done!
Camellias and
Old Bo
A lovely still life x
with
rich colours and
a texture you ca
n
almost feel
13
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website
job title
clients
www.philipstraub.com
Art director for NCSoft, freelance digital artist
Corel, Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal Studios
Silent Morning
Using a mixture of Corel
Painter and Photoshop,
Phil has managed to
create a beautifully
evocative piece that
perfectly captures the
stillness of a new day
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An interview with
Philip Straub
We caught up with the phenomenally talented Philip Straub to find out more
about how he works and what inspires him
hilip Straub lives and breathes
creativity. Over his professional
life he has been creative
director at Electronic Arts, as
well as his work appearing in over 30
childrens books. His list of clients include
Corel, Disney, Mattel and Warner Brothers
and he also has a set up a licensing
business with his ianc. In terms of style,
Philip covers a dazzling range of looks,
from bright and colourful childrens
illustrations, to intricate concept art and
fantasy landscapes. We recently spoke
with Philip to discover how he works and
to ind out more about how he uses Corel
Painter to create his masterpieces.
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[ABOVE]
The Hive
This was the first
painting I created using
only the Artists Oils
in Painter IX. In this
situation, I worked on
only the canvas layer,
building up the texture,
color, and composition
as I worked
[MIDDLE PAGE]
Enchanted Evening
This image won an
award at the Society of
Illustrators Los Angeles
2005, as well as being
featured in The New
Masters of Fantasy III
16
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- Philip Straub
felt that my more whimsical childrens
book style could ind success on licensed
products so I began to expand that out
into the latter, more graphic style seen
in the scrapbooking, stationery and
wallpaper products I produce. I cant take
all the credit though, my ianc helps me
out with a lot of the brand development.
Did you nd the move from traditional
painting to digital painting smooth or
was it a bit of a jolt?
Id say it was a bit of jolt! I was trained
as a traditional oil painter and at the
time I thought that was how I would
produce paintings for the rest of my life.
Its important to keep in mind computer
illustration was still in its infancy when
I was in school. There were a few classes
just being offered to the Graphic Design
and Interior Design majors but many
artists still hadnt made the transition.
I was introduced to digital illustration
at my irst real art job working for
childrens book illustrator Mercer Mayer.
Id played around with computer-aided
design with a variety of programs
before but never thought of it as a real
illustration tool. I wasnt alone, very
[ABOVE] Nightmist
This image is part of
Philips Concept series,
and shows how he
uses Corel Painter and
Photoshop to create
intricate scenes
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Cohabitation (above)
Originally sketched in Painter 8 using
a variety of different brushes and
experimental techniques. During
the creation of this piece I made a
ton of new brushes in Painter and
really learned a lot more about the
flexibility and power of the brush
generation tool in Painter. As I
regularly do, I bounced back and forth
between Photoshop and Painter as I
worked, using some of my favourite
brushes in both packages.
- Philip Straub
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Feature
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Feature
ACRYLICS
ARTISTS OILS
OILS
GOUACHE
Within these separate categories are a
huge number of Brush Variants which are
designed to apply the virtual paint in many
different ways. So, for instance, within
Artists Oils, youll ind variants that range
from soft blender brushes, which apply
very wet paint in a very soft way, through
to dry and grainy brushes which react
strongly to your chosen painting surface.
You even get heavy impasto brushes which
apply lots of nice thick paint that holds
marks made by the brush and produce
impasto effects where the paint stands
proud of the painting surface.
On the whole, all of these brushes
paint with opaque colour, but each of
the variants within each category can
behave quite differently. Its worth taking
some time to look at the individual Brush
Property settings that can signiicantly
affect the way the variants work, how they
interact with paint already applied to the
canvas and how they react to your choice of
painting surface.
Broadly speaking, within each of the
above categories, youll ind a selection of
brushes which can be divided into four
distinct types:
Dry Brushes: These brush variants,
although they still apply opaque paint,
Most of the active dynamic categories for the brushes contain an Expression control section. This control
determines how the particular characteristic of a brush responds to your graphics tablet stylus
020-27_OPM02_feature.indd 22
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AO Clumpy Brush
AO Dry Brush
AO Impasto Oils
Gouache Broad
Cover Brush
Gouache Opaque
Smooth Brush
Gouache Wet
Gouache Round
Opaque Acrylic
Wet Acrylic
In the detail, you can clearly see the dramatic difference between areas of smooth, wet paint and accents added using
impasto brushes. Brushes that use impasto can add a real three-dimensional quality to you opaque media paintings
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Feature
020-27_OPM02_feature.indd 24
When it comes to
traditional real media
effects, the dry brushes
are very hard to beat.
Heres a look at the best
hen it comes to dry media,
such as Charcoal, Pencil,
Chalk and Pastels, the
drawing medium itself,
and the surface you draw on work handin-hand together and in terms of the
effects achieved. By their very nature, dry
mediums work by depositing themselves
on, or within, the surface texture of the
drawing surface, unlike paint or ink, which
sticks to, and is absorbed by the painting
surface itself. Dry media depend on their
particles of pigment being shaved off and
held by the paper texture. If you were to try
and use charcoal on a completely smooth
surface, for instance, it would not make
a single visible mark. However, in a stark
contrast to this, if you were to use the
same piece of charcoal on a piece of rough
sandpaper, just the lightest strokes would
create a gloriously dense, black mark in
an instant.
The exact same rules apply within
Corel Painter when you are using
dry media brushes. However, a
slight difference is the fact that
the result of the marks you
make is governed not only
by the surface you choose
to work on, but also by the
unique settings you apply
to the particular brush
variant you are using
and we will look at these
variables here.
CHALK
PENCILS
CONTE
PASTELS
OIL PASTELS
COLORED PENCILS
CRAYONS
9/3/07 15:52:27
Variable Chalk
Square Chalk
Sketching Pencil
Dull Conte
Charcoal
Gritty Charcoal
Soft Charcoal
Soft Pastel
Waxy Crayons
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Feature
When you need a bit of subtlety in your work or just the bearest hint
of colour, the watercolour and translucent options are well worth
investigating. Try these suggestions to start with
atercolour painting is often
seen as synonymous with
the very best in British art.
There is a charm, delicacy
and directness associated
with water-based transparent media that
simply cannot be replicated by any other
techniques and this fact holds true within
the realms of Corel Painter. This is one area
where Corel Painter particularly excels,
and some of the most realistic results can
be achieved. Here are the categories which
can be regarded as transparent media:
SUMI-E
WATERCOLOR
DIGITAL WATERCOLOR
LIQUID INK
The Sumi-e category features variants
similar to those traditionally used in
Chinese brush painting techniques and can
020-27_OPM02_feature.indd 26
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Transparent brushes
Use for subtle washes and calm landscapes
The Water section of the Brush Controls allows you to bend and twist the Watercolor brushes for exceptionally
realistic results. From soaking the paper to creating a drip effect, it has it all
DW Diffuse Water
DW Spatter Water
Watercolor Diffuse
Camel
Watercolor Grainy
Wash Bristle
Watercolor Runny
Wet Flat
Watercolor
Sponge Wet
Watercolor Smooth
Runny Camel
Watercolor
Wet Wash Flat
Watercolor Watery
Soft Bristle
Watercolor
Spatter Water
Liquid Ink
Smooth Bristle
Liquid Ink
Sparse Bristle
Liquid Ink
Clumpy Ink
Liquid Ink
Calligraphic Flat
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Jeff Johnson
Time needed
2 hours
Skill level
Intermediate
On the CD
Starter photo
and sketch
Starting sketc h
Or igin al photo
01
On a
new layer set to 45% opacity and toned
slightly brown, I began to draw in the rest of the
gure, using a medium brown tapered artist chalk
10. I traced around the head and features lightly
and did some early shading. After saving that layer
as a new document, I worked side-by-side with
the original to create the study on the right (its on
the disc). It expresses some of the shading I will
add to make the forms rounder.
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Tutorial
Clone and glaze
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I then
used the Lasso tool, copied and then
pasted our doctored reference right over a copy
of our study. Here I am in the process of erasing
the unneeded parts. I have set her layer at roughly
70% opacity, so I can see where to erase. I have a
plan! Once I cobble together the basic picture, I am
going to transfer it to a prepared canvas via an oil
cloning brush that will give me the opportunity to
nesse every part of the painting.
Next
I painted out the hair. Using the
Eyedropper tool I borrowed some of the
references colours to roughly paint in the
new hair, body, black dress and a very rough
background. I used the largest Airbrushes possible
for each part of this step, set to 60% opacity, in
order to create fairly smooth transitions on the
rst pass.
After
attening the image, I created a new
layer set to Darken and blocked in the basic tones
for the whites of the eyes, hat and frills. This is
a snap, as the elds bordering these areas are
darker than the goal values. I set this layer at 80%
opacity. I then spent about three minutes with a
Soft Blender Stump enlarged to 60 smoothing out
some rough edges.
Creating
08
a guide
for cloning
Soft light
layer for
modifying
mid-tones
and shadows
Say what? One day I
was experimenting
with the Soft Light
layer and discovered
that if I painted onto
it with a dark colour,
it would subtly darken
the area painted. I felt
pretty clever until I
learned that a number
of Corel Painter
users have stumbled
upon this useful
application. It has
become a staple in my
bag of tricks, because
it takes advantage of
the operative term,
namely soft. Using
this layer combined
with a fairly large
soft-edged brush set
to less than 100%
opacity creates
wonderfully luminous
effects with very little
modification of the
edges needed.
I had
in mind all along that
I would want to use
an oil brush cloner
directionally over
forms to create a handpainted feel. I needed
a guide for my strokes,
so I simply copied our
latest version onto the
enhanced backround
and reduced its opacity
to 25%.
07 Preparing a background
Open
another document, the same size ad
before. Were going to do a rened background.
I have used the Eyedropper tool to match colour
between the rough background and started by
using the Paint Bucket tool to ll the canvas with
the darkest value. Using a size 180 Digital Airbrush
set to 60% opacity, I gradually worked from dark
to light. The greenish hue compliments the esh
tones nicely.
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Add
10
highlights,
mid-tones and
11
Tutorial
Understand glazes
Without glaze
Using a
13
Multiply
layer
I added to
the shadows and
mid-tones around
the nose, mouth,
eyes, and cheeks on
a Multiply layer set to
25% opacity, picking
my colour from the
lightest area in the
forehead. I opened
a default layer,
corrected some areas
and began to draw in
details of the hair. The
truly astute observer
will notice that I
nudged the entire
mouth up a fraction. I
offer this side-by-side
for comparison.
With glaze
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Dont get
paint on your
nose
I worked through
this tutorial without
zooming in to near
100% until the
very last step. The
majority of my work is
done with the entire
painting visible on
the screen. Owing to
the size of my digital
canvas, that usually
translates to roughly
25% magnification.
This prevents me from
losing track of the
overall impact of a
step on the painting.
Indirect painting
is a process of
harmonising elements
together, and one
has to see the whole
painting at one time to
tell if any one step is
working towards that
end or not.
Apply
15
lighting
1
Apply
16
lighting
2
On-line
resources
Here are a couple of
websites that offer
valuable insights:
www.noteaccess.
com/materials/
indirectP.htm has
a synopsis of Reed
Kays excellent notes
on indirect painting
techniques. It is
written for natural
media, but most of it
holds true for digital
painting as well. The
page also has links
to other insightful
articles on painting.
http://forums.
cgsociety.org has
a thread devoted to
Corel Painter and its
art techniques forum
has handy tutorials
and top advice from
some of the most
skilled digital painters
out there.
19 Cleanup
18 Flipping the picture
It is good
practice to ip the picture a few times, as
imbalances tend to pop out. I saw several small
areas that needed attention and created a Multiply
layer for darkening, a Soft Light layer for some
subtle highlights, and a Lighten layer to get rid of a
few annoying marks along the frills.
Now I zoomed
to 200% and, with a
Soft Blender Stump
as large as I could t
in each area, began
to softly blend out
marks that either didnt
look man-made or
detracted from the
picture. I like to leave
some dither and dash,
so I didnt spend too
much time smoothing.
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EFFECTS MENU
PRIMER
Tonal Control
Use this Effects group to make sure the
colours in your image are loud and proud
Video Legal
Colors
One Tonal Control
option is very useful
to movie-makers and
thats the Video Legal
Colors command.
This ensures your
images colours are
compatible with either
the NTSC or PAL video
colour. Open the
dialog, choose your
format and press OK
to set.
After
DIFFERENT OPTIONS
When you open up the Correct
Colors command, you see a
window with a big area for
curves and then a drop-down
menu below it. There are four
options in the menu; Contrast
and Brightness, Curve, Freehand
and Advanced. The sliders change
according to the option selected
in the menu.
Before
Adjust Color
Brightness/Contrast
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Primer
Tonal Control
Open
your photo or image and
then call up the Layers palette.
Go to the bottom of the palette
and click the Dynamic Plugins icon
(second in from the left). Pick the
command you want from the list
that appears. We decided to go
for Posterize.
As soon
as you make a choice from the
menu, a new layer will appear above
your original one, with a little dynamic
plugin icon just so you dont forget
which one it is.
03 Ready to edit
Now the dynamic layer is all set up, you are free to
make your edits. When it comes to posterising an image, it pays to
stick to eight levels or less. However, this does change according to certain
images but if we dont like the effect we can just delete the dynamic layer. No
harm, no foul!
Equalize
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Painter master
Tim Shelbourne
Time needed
1 hour
Skill level
Intermediate
RealBristle brushes
Tutorial info
Tutorial
Using the
RealBristle
brushes
RealBristle brushes are new to Corel
Painter X and in this tutorial, we
demonstrate just how easy it is to use
them to create stunning paintings full
of brush strokes!
f your primary goal in using Corel Painter is to
produce images which are as close as possible to
real world oil or acrylic paintings, in version X
you have a new super-powerful creative weapon
right at your ingertips, namely the RealBristle
painting system. In the following tutorial, were going
to illustrate and prove to you just how incredible these
brushes really are and produce a landscape painting
which you would be hard pressed to tell apart from its
real-world equivalent!
RealBristle brushes are the closest Corel Painter
has ever come to actually putting a real, traditional
artists brush in your hand! Essentially, these brushes
very accurately mimic the shape and behaviour
of traditional bristle brushes, with all of the same
variability and vitality that artists have come to
know and love in these brushes. The brush variants
themselves range from short lats, through to lovely
full-bodied round brushes and even include tapered
varieties which mimic traditional ilberts.
As well as the selection of preset brush variants
youll ind within the RealBristle categories, youre
also able to customise and change every aspect
of the particular brushs characteristic within the
RealBristle section of the Brush Creator or the brush
controls. You can change behaviour such as bristle
length, bristle rigidity and the shape of the brush
head, right the way through to the amount of friction
between the brush and the surface and the wetness of
the canvas.
Remember, this project is all about painting, so use
the inished image as you guide, but dont be afraid to
inject some of your own personality and vitality into
your brush strokes as you work. Use these brushes
with enthusiasm and the rewards will come!
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01
Open the sketch Download the starter sketch and colour swatch
With this
brush at around 10 pixel size, reinforce
the distant shoreline and landscape simply by
roughly painting over the sketch lines. You can
leave the sketching in the sky as it is. Change to the
Real Flat variant. Increase the brush size to around
60 pixels and in the Size category of the Brush
Controls, change the Minimum Size to 65%.
03 Looking skyward
Paint
04
some
water
As you paint
the blue of the sky,
periodically choose
either a slightly lighter
or darker shade of the
colour to vary the blue
here and there. Now
choose a darker blue
from the colour set
and using the same
brush at a smaller size,
roughly paint in the
water using energetic
horizontal strokes.
Loading the
Color Set
Weve supplied a
colour set which
features all the
colours used in
this painting. Once
youve downloaded
it from www.
paintermagazine.
co.uk, in Corel Painter
go to Window>Color
Palettes>Show Color
Sets. In the Color
Sets palette, click the
small right-pointing
arrow and choose
Open Color Set. Click
Load and locate the
downloaded colour
set on your computer.
Once the set is loaded,
click the small rightpointing arrow again
and choose Sort
Order>LHS.
07 Darker
features
06 Landscaping
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RealBristle brushes
For the initial blue of the sky, we will use the Real Flat
variant. This is a great RealBristle brush because it
quickly enables you to cover large areas with colour
that still maintains lots of visible brush strokes for
interest and texture. These brush strokes become
visible because of the fairly high Blend value featured
in the brush.
Tutorial
08 Suggesting detail
Use short,
scribbling movements here, regularly
removing your stylus from the tablet. Reduce
the size of the brush as you start painting in the
narrow areas along the shoreline. Add a few
small vertical strokes to indicate trees and areas
of interest.
09 Darker clouds
10 More sky
Reduce the size of the brush a little and paint the darker
areas of the sky just above the horizon line. Again, use short, dabbing
strokes, brushing over some areas repeatedly to blend those areas a little. Its
a good idea as you go to choose a slightly warmer or cooler hue of a similar
tone from the Colors palette.
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Create the
Impasto
brush
Choose the Real Oils
Short variant and set
Bleed to 37%, Grain
to 72%, Feature to 1.2
and Blend to 26% in
the Properties Bar.
Now go to the Brush
Creator and click the
Impasto category.
From Draw To choose
Color and Depth, and
set the Depth slider
to 14%. Click the
Artists Oils category
and use these
settings: Bristling
9%, Clumpiness 95%,
Canvas Wetness 50%.
In the General
category, set Grain
Expression to None,
and in the Size
category, set Feature
Expression to None.
Once youre back in
Corel Painter, click the
small arrow next to
the variant selector
and choose Save
Variant, giving your
new brush a name.
14 Another
brush
Add
a new layer. Choose
the Real Flat Opaque
variant and in the Brush
Controls palette, set
Minimum Size to 75%.
Set Grain to 64%, Bleed
to 5%, Feature to 1.5
and Blend to 17. Now,
choosing lighter greens,
ochres and yellows
from the supplied
swatches, begin to add
some more colours to
the hills.
15 Suggested detail
18 Suggested
trees
16 Dark shades, broken colour
Small,
upward strokes of the
brush along the dark of
the shoreline can easily
give the impression
of small trees and
objects. Again, at this
distance you really
only need to be quite
impressionistic, but
its still useful to zoom
close in to the image
so you can still see the
brush when youre
using it at a small size.
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20 Water highlights
The
foreground boat is really quite easy to
construct as were using a at brush which helps
a lot with the shapes. First, set the Blend value to
7% so the paint from the brush does not blend
too much. Set the brush size to 9 pixels. Choose a
very light blue/grey and paint a long vertical stroke
in front of the tree mass to serve as the mast of
the boat.
Sometimes, by
default, Corel Painter
can slightly over-egg
the pudding when it
comes to showing the
impasto effect in your
paintings, but you
can easily temper this
via Canvas>Surface
Lighting. Use the
Amount slider to
reduce the impasto
effect in you image.
Often, very small
values applied via this
slider can give a much
better effect than
more extreme ones.
Just click OK to apply
the change.
RealBristle brushes
19 Distant boats
Tutorial
Controlling
the impasto
effect
22 Painting
the sails
23 Boatbuilding!
Real Blender
brushes
24 Darker details
25 Water shadows
26 More renements
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showcase
MARK COROTAN
TITLE
WEBSITE
JOB TITLE
Mark has produced some incredible work covering digital art, traditional
mediums and also animation lms. His images are always vibrant and
dynamic, demanding the viewers attention straight away. Also be sure
to check out Marks The Kindredd Saga animation project.
044-045_OPM_02_mark Corotan.indd44 44
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044-045_OPM_02_mark Corotan.indd45 45
9/3/07 14:45:32
FEATURE
FOCUS
Selecting
colour
Work with
RGB values
If you are creating a
piece of art that you
know has to have
certain RGB colour
values, you might
think that the little
readout box in the
Colors palette is
useless, since it shows
HSV values instead.
Well, if you click on
this readout it will
turn into RGB, so you
can see how things are
shaping up!
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Feature focus
COLORS PALETTE
Selecting colour
MIXER PALETTE
This palette is one of the most exciting
features of Corel Painter and allows
you to blend colours just as you would
with a traditional paint palette.
COLOR SETS
These sets are a handy
way of keeping colours
of similar values or uses
together. You can use the
ones that ship with Corel
Painter, or create your own
for the perfect control.
Start by going to
Window>Color Palettes>Show
Color Sets. Once the palette
appears, click the small rightpointing arrow and then select
New Empty Color Set.
COLOR INFO
If you have to adhere to certain colour rules
maybe you are designing for the web you
can see the colour values for RGB, HSV and
Web RGB from here.
Continue until you have all the colours you want and then click the
right-pointing arrow again. Choose Save Color Set from the menu and give
your set a name in the Save As box. Pick a location to save to and click Save.
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FEATURE
FOCUS
02 A new background
01
By default, the
Mixer pad is on a white background.
If youd rather change this, click on the palette
menu arrow and then choose Change Mixer
Background. A Colors dialog box will appear,
so pick the new colour you want. This is good
practice if you are painting onto a coloured
background as youll see how the colours will
appear once mixed.
03 Apply colour
Save your
creations
Just as you might
save a color set for
work in the future,
you can also save
your creations in the
Mixer palette. Maybe
you have created the
perfect concoction for
underwater scenes.
Simply go to the palette
menu arrow and click
Save Mixer Pad. Give
the pad a name, choose
where to save it and
then click Save. Load
it up by picking Open
Mixer Pad from the
palette menu.
04 Second helping
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08 Multiple
fun
On
a traditional paint
palette, you are able
to load more than one
colour on a brush.
You can do exactly
the same in the Mixer
palette thanks to the
Sample Multiple Color
tool. Select this and
move the Change
Brush Size slider to
decide how big the
sample area is. Click
in the pad to pick up
colour and then paint
on your canvas.
Selecting colour
07
Feature focus
Further afield
Zoom tool
Quickly zoom in and out of areas on the
Mixer pad
09
Pan tool
Annotate colours
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Jo Cole
Time needed
10 minutes
Skill level
Beginner
Newest Member
Markie
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Tutorial
Create your own gallery
painter_fan_75
Featured Gallery
Jo Cole
01 Register
02 Your prole
03 Set the le
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The approval
process
There will be a slight
delay between you
uploading an image
and it appearing on
the website as all
images go through
an approval process.
This is just to make
sure no one posts
anything offensive.
We approve images as
quickly as we can, but
bear in mind that we
are based in the UK,
and so are tucked up
in bed while some of
you have just started
your day!
04 Finish up
05 More information
Click the
Gallery Home link in the left-hand side
panel to see all the galleries. Click Search but leave
the eld blank. Click on a user to see their work.
If they have posted lots of images, use the top
arrows to navigate through them. Click the small
image to open a larger one in a separate window.
of
08 Words
wisdom
07 Make a comment
As you look at
other peoples work, feel free to leave a
comment. This is an ideal way of praising artists
or making helpful suggestions. Its easy to do as
you click on an image, scroll down to Comment
and Rate. If youd like to give a score, pick one
from the drop-down menu and click Rate.
For all
09
your
downloads
In addition to the
gallery feature, you
can also download
tutorial les from past
issues. This is useful
if you have lost your
disc, or cant wait to
get your issue and
want to follow one
of the PDF tutorials.
Just click the Tutorial
Files link and then the
relevant tutorial.
10 Regular challenge
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Tutorial
Paint like Edward Hopper
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Nighthawks has
found its way
into many culture
references,
including this
season promo
for the popular
CSI television
programme
(www.cbs.com/
primetime/csi/
diner/)
This oil painting is full of shades and tones. The dark black areas are in fact made of black and dark green.
Consider this when applying paint for a more sensitive piece
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Tutorial
Paint like Edward Hopper
the Impasto
category in the
Brush Creator, we
control the Draw
To option. Once the
piece is covered in
smooth Airbrush,
choose Depth for an
oil painting look
[RIGHT] If youd
Tutorial info
Painter master
Hannah Gal
Time needed
3 hours
Skill level
Intermediate
On the CD
02 Layout
01 Setting up
03 Pencil drawing
59
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to
05 Start
paint
04 Colour Set
Design a palette
dedicated to the making of this piece.
This will include the many different shades within
the original. Use the Eyedropper to sample a
colour. Double-click on the Main colour square
to open the main Colors palette. Now select
Color Palette (third from right)>New. Drag the
sampled colour down to the newly created
colour palette, continue with different colours to
build up your set.
06 Painting
on
07 Keep
building
Continue to cover
the drawing while
observing the nished
one. You can open
that in a separate le
altogether or turn the
Reference layer on and
off as needed. Vary
Opacity between 2
and 10% as you apply
layers of paint. We are
lling in the drawing
with guide colour.
In the Layers
palette, open a new layer and name it
Man on Left. We are ready to start colouring in the
four characters. A separate layer for each will allow
greater control as you progress. With the same
brush as before, observe the nal image, zoom in
on the man and apply paint. Start with the blocks
of dark areas and move to light.
Layers
To organise the
Layers palette more
efficiently, consider
grouping. This means
placing relevant layers
in a group, saving
both space and time.
A good example here
would be the man
on the left, woman,
bus boy and man in
the centre. To group
layers, Shift-select
them in the Layers
palette and then
choose Group.
10 Remaining
two
09 Central gure
Create
a new layer for both
the woman and bus
boy. Use the reference
layer as well as the
guide drawing to see
where colours change
and how tones vary.
This can be quite loose
as we will apply fresh
paint later on.
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12 Brush Creator
13 Build things up
11 Zoom out
Tutorial
Impasto
15 More paint!
With all layers in place, it would
be wise to save the le as a layered RIFF.
Now atten it by going to the Layers palette and
choosing Drop All. Save the at version as a TIFF
le. This at le will be easier and considerably
faster to work on from this point onwards.
16
17
14 Save!
18 Final Airbrush
Go back to the
black and green Main and Additional
colours and start rening edges and shadowed
areas throughout. Tidy up the composition by
straightening lines, lling in areas and smoothing
edges everywhere. Add missing details, for
example highlights on seats.
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Lay it on thick
Build up paint with Impasto
19 Impasto 1
In the Brush
Selector choose Artists
Oil. Set Opacity to
55-65% and Grain to
13%. Zoom in on an
area and start applying
paint to the layer
underneath. If you
wish your strokes to
be similar throughout,
set Draw To to Depth
only and Expression to
None. For this option,
you need to have
a smooth Airbrush
layer underneath, any
possible imperfections
will show through the
deep strokes.
01 Draw To
Although the
Stroke Designer is the
area used the most,
you will benet greatly
from understanding
Transporter and
Randomizer. While
using the Impasto
brush, use the
category within
the Brush Creator
to choose the
appropriate Draw
To option but also to
adjust both Depth
and Expression.
20 Impasto 2
21 Canvas
02 Modify behaviour
03 Express
yourself
22 Adjust
Colours
Go to Effects>Tonal
Control>Adjust Colors.
Increase Saturation to
30% and click OK. If
you feel that Saturation
level is too high, go
back and adjust it.
We want to boost the
colours a bit to match
that of the original.
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choose Paper. The Preview window will now show you your selected
texture in action. Leave softness at 0 and set Amount between 50-60%,
Picture to 90%, Shine to 90% and Reection to 10-15%.
24 Surface effects
23
Tutorial
More
Impasto
26 Fade
25 Luminous quality
Zoom to 100%
to see the effect in full. The Image
Luminance has added texture to the stroke itself,
giving it a 3D look. To properly assess the effect,
view at full magnication and even print out.
Go
to Edit>Fade
and move the slider
to 40-50%. This will
tone down the effect
you have just applied.
Again, use the preview
window to see it in
action but be sure to
apply and view at full
magnication on the
painting itself.
28 Adjust
Tone
27 New paper
Once
you have applied the
new experimental
texture to the painting,
go to Effects>Tonal
Control>Adjust Colors.
Choose the Uniform
Color setting and move
sliders to see the effect.
Apply and compare
the effect to that of
the previously applied
canvas texture.
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Primer Airbrushes
SKETCHING
You can actually draw with
airbrushes too! Here, the
sketching was achieved
using the Detail Airbrush.
Airbrushes are great to
sketch with as they allow
you to build up your drawing
gradually, slowly reinforcing
the tone of the lines.
BRUSH CATEGORY
Airbrush
If your prefer your paint sprayed rather
than plastered, you should experience the
flawless finish of Corel Painters airbrushes!
PRIMER
Brush Size
Soft centres
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Primer
Broad Wheel
Graffiti
Coarse Spray
Pepper Spray
Detail Airbrush
Pixel Spray
Digital Airbrush
Soft Airbrush
Fine Spray
Variable Splatter
Airbrushes
SELECTION BOX
Initially, each grape
was painted inside a
selection. With the
selection active, each
grape was then lled
in with the base colour
with one of the Soft
Airbrush variants.
Once the initial colour
was lled in, the same
airbrush was used with
Preserve Transparency
checked in the Layers
palette to add the dark
and lighter modelling.
Control yourself
Dictate every stroke
The Brush Controls palette has a
complete panel dedicated solely to
airbrushes, where you can control how
much colour flows from the airbrush as
you paint with it and also control the
spread of the strokes it makes. You can
choose for these characteristic to be
controlled in a number of ways, such as
being affected by the tilt of your stylus
or by the pressure you apply as you
paint. Set this option via the Expression
option in this section of the palette.
Finer Spray
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Composition
The core of a successful painting is good composition and there are lots of theories and
rules that can help you set up the dream arrangement. We take a look at the best here
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Drawing 101
Composition
To keep the viewers interest, go for a meandering path that leads into an image. This forces the eye to look around
the painting. A straight path to the centre leaves little room for exploring
A triangular composition is very handy for portrait paintings and sits well in the
frame. In the above example, the two figures actually make two triangles
This is a great example of leading a viewers eye around a picture. The textured brush strokes and subtle direction
lines allow you to discover the two figures and other detail
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Pick a format
Your first decision
Here weve taken the same scene and applied a landscape, portrait and
square format. The landscape one works the best, with its feeling of space
Scholars believe that the divine ratio can be seen in architecture. One of the
theories is that the Parthenon conforms to the ratio and if the roof was complete,
it would fit into the ratio grid perfectly. There are also those who think it was more
of a case of the Greeks having a good eye for proportion!
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01
Composition
Drawing 101
the palette. Click the Enable Divine Proportion checkbox. Use the
Orientation area to set which direction you want the guide to appear.
STEP 02
Classical division
Divide and conquer
Paciolis De Divina Proportione text
also boasted lots of illustrations
by Leonardo da Vinci. These
demonstrated how different forms
could be split up according to the
golden ratio, thus ensuring the most
aesthetically pleasing arrangement.
This allowed artists to see the
human form as measurements and
break down parts into their relevant
length and width.
Obviously you dont have to
adhere to these rules, but they are
useful for life drawing, especially the
face. Well look at the measurements
in more detail in a future issue.
02
03
toolbox, you can move the resized grid wherever you like on your
canvas. You can also turn off some of the guides to just be left with the
spiral, grid or axis. Save and delete presets as with the Layout Grid.
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TOOLBOX
CONTROLS
Rule of thirds
Having the horizon line directly in the middle of your frame lessens the impact. Its better to use the rule of thirds
and place it in the top or lower third
01
02
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Go off-centre
SETTING THE
GRID TYPE
By using the rule of thirds when constructing your composition, you can make sure you
have maximum impact from the objects. Dont go centre near the side is better.
Drawing 101
Composition
x
CONTRASTING
GRID COLOURS
03
04
05
Layout Grid icon in the toolbox and drag the grid into
your new position. To save a grid as a preset, click the
Add Preset button (looks like a plus sign). Give it a
name and then click OK. To delete a preset, choose it
and then click the Delete Preset button.
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Other rules
Lines of interest
Make the viewers eye travel around the canvas
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Keep it odd
Drawing 101
Composition
Diagonal compositions
Good advice for working on a slope
Diagonal compositions
are really effective, but
they work best when
its a subtle suggestion.
Dont divide your image
into stark light/dark, or
space/detail. Have things
on both sides of the line
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showcase
JOERG WARDA
TITLE
WEBSITE
CLIENTS
Waiting part 2
www.warda-art.com
Samsung, Nokia and Sony
Joergs career started as a young airbrush artist, where seven years
were spent applying the effect and teaching airbrush classes. Since then
Joerg has worked for many different clients, both as a designer on user
interfaces and an award-winning digital artist.
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Your
questions answered
Make light work of it
Is there such a thing as an ultimate
light source direction that looks
good no matter what?
B P
Your experts
Stewart McKissick
Wen-Xi Chen
Fine art
Behind glass
Illustration
Im trying to do a painting of a
friend who wears glasses, but I
just cant seem to get the look of
glasses. Any tips?
When it comes
to creating art, you often find
little niggles that ruin your
masterpiece. We sort them out
Make sure
your illustrations are in top form
by following our advice
A M
SHARE
YOUR
PROBLEMS!
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Eye concern
Q&A
T T
Art Class
02 Shading
03 Texturing
01 Base colours
If you nd it hard to
paint a circle, use the Oval Selection
to create the shapes you need. Fill in the outer
circle with the colour you want the eye to be,
and the smaller circle should be black.
A touch of evil
I want to show that a character
is evil and menacing. I have the
basic form sorted, but am having
problems with the shadow whats the
easiest way of creating dramatic shadows?
E D
Using unusual
colours and a
strong low light
source can create
a menacing
shadow effect!
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Furry critter
Any good advice for getting the look
of fur? I seem to either not have
enough or too much.
S C
variety of
Creating a colour set helps you to see the
colours other artists are using
Colour concerns
Are there any special rules when
it comes to choosing colours for a
painting? Should it be limited to a
certain number?
P A
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Sketching an outline
Q&A
D S
Art Class
03 Final Details
To
nish, thicken the
brush to make shading strokes
theyre still just lines to suggest
shadows and volume. A nal
trick is to raise the Jitter setting to
4 and raise the Spacing setting in
the Brush Controls palette from
its default to around 120%. This
creates a spattery brush that we
used for the leaves on the little
tree. Switch the colour to white
in the end to give the leaves
some depth.
Start with
a Square Hard Pastel 10. You can use the
default settings except for the size, which should
be smaller (2.4) for a more linear look. The opacity
should also be lowered to 33% for more light and
dark variety. Just use black for the colour at this stage;
the grey comes from varying the pressure.
A bit of a do
Im illustrating my irst character
and am having trouble with the
hair. Have you any advice for
creating hair that has a bit of deinition but
that doesnt involve loads and loads
of shading?
01
02
03
S W
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Lip service
Whats a fool-proof method of shading lips? I cant get the
rounded look my lips are always lat!
A ML
Depending on the direction of the light source, the lips will cast
shadows and colours of the lips will vary accordingly. The upper lip normally looks a little
darker than the lower lip due to the way the curve of it interacts with light. The lower lip will cast a
shadow on the chin in many light conditions.
03 Highlight
Adding some
white highlights to the
middle of the lower lip
and a little also to the
upper lip makes those
areas pop and appear
closer to the viewer than
the rest and this again
helps to create that
rounded look.
01 Shape
Painting fabric
Whats a good way to get an
authentic look of fabric?
P T
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showcase
MARK BANNERMAN
TITLE
WEBSITE
JOB TITLE
CLIENTS
Gothic Drive
www.markbannerman.com
Professional digital artist
Madonna, Time Warner, Sony and EMI
During his professional career, Mark has been involved in the entire
spectrum of design, from creating illustrations for advertising and
editorial, to producing images for BBC TV. He now works entirely within
the digital realm, merging 3D and other techniques.
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Using the
products
We used
FUJIFILM FINEPIX
F31FD
HP PHOTOSMART
PRO B9180
BOOK REVIEWS
OUTPUT
Reviews
a photo
taken with the Fujif
ilm
camera and then
printed it out with th
e
HP printer!
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Navigating
your on-screen
options
Get to know the cameras
menu system
Connections
AV, DC and USB sockets are all
present. The F31fd can also be
connected directly to PictBridgecompatible printers for fast printing
without the need for a computer
Batteries
The camera comes with a
hardwearing, long-lasting lithiumion battery and a power adapter for
recharging, so theres no need to
keep buying disposables!
Set-up menu
Wide angle
and zoom
button
Memory card
The F31fd takes xD Picture
Cards, which you will need to buy
separately, although the camera
does have 26MB of internal storage
to get you started
Playback menu
74.5mm
Playback button
Photo Mode
button
OK button
Colour menu
Intelligent
face detection
button
Display/Back
button
LCD
F-mode menu
105.5mm
Maximum zoom
This shows the F31fds capabilities
when it comes to reproducing vivid
and accurate colours. The leaf is
crisp and detailed, even when at
full zoom
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Price
Exposure modes
Camera specs
Flash
Connectivity
Weight
Dimensions
Wide angle
Capturing a scene is
easy using the camera
at a wide angle setting.
All of the detail is picked
up too, thanks to its
high quality lens
Colour capture
The F31fds ability to capture pinsharp shots full of colour means that
it is perfectly-suited to snapping
resource shots for turning into lovely
works of art
Microphone
Ergonomic grip
Shutter button
Mode dial
What we like
The occasional
confusing design
feature aside, the
F31fd has some
great features
and produces
decent images,
particularly
low light
features
Quick startup
Intelligent Face
Detection
IR capability
Overall
score
on the top
Power
button
we say
on the front
Lens
The Face Detection is a great tool that will come in handy for
family gatherings and nights out
the shutter speed or aperture without having to
hunt through the main menu a deinite plus for
users who like to make their own decisions when
shooting. Another excellent feature is the InfraRed Communicator, which sends and receives
images to and from another Fujiilm camera or
other devices with IR capability.
Although Fujiilm has got it right when
it comes to accessing important functions
like Macro mode, Self-timer mode and LCD
brightness all of which can be accessed with
one touch of the d-pad things have gone a bit
awry elsewhere. The F-button can get confusing,
as the functions it accesses change every time
you switch to a different shooting mode. It would
be useful if users could program this button to
access the functions they use on a regular basis.
Built-in flash
Mode dial
Build design
9.3
ease of use
verdict
Ergonomic
grip
Batteries
9.0
quality of results
8.7
8.9
9.0
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On-screen instruction
There is a small pad for controls,
which although basic, still gives you
the information you may need
No need to rush
This isnt a machine thats
ready for printing as soon
as you take it out of the
box. Set aside enough
time for quite a fiddly
setup process
Paper textures
HP sells special textures
papers, such as canvas,
photo and watercolour
Speciality
Media tray
Display
Ink cartridge
compartment
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Price
499
Website
www.hp.com
Operating systems
PC and Mac
Windows 2000
Professional, XP
Home, XP
Professional
Versatile printing
The B9180 produced beautiful A3+ prints of a high quality
on all types of paper we tested it on, from glossy photo
paper to canvas sheets
What we like
Produces beautiful
prints on a variety
of materials
Prints rich, vibrant and
crisp colours
Easy to load paper,
which is then fed
back into the printer
automatically
Reasonable output
time for A3+ prints
Consumes a lot of
desk space, but this
is expected
Fiddly and lengthy
setup process
Features
8.0
Ease of use
we say
verdict
PC Requirements
Mac Requirements
Mac OS X 10.2.8 or
later (the printer
driver for Mac OS
X 10.2.8 must be
downloaded from
www.hp.com)
Printer specs
7.0
Quality of results
9.0
8.0
Output prints of different sizes
You dont have to stick to prints of A3 size or greater. Other
smaller sizes of paper can be loaded into the main tray quickly
and conveniently
Overall
score
9.0
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Reviews Books
Painter
Authors
$45.00
Publisher
Ballistic Publishing
ISBN
1-921002-18-2
Different strokes
The 12 sections of the book
represent 12 completely different
artistic styles, resulting in a glorious
mixture of styles, moods, colours
and finishes
The judges
Before you get into the artwork, you
can find out about who the judges
and advisory board were the
people responsible for picking who
went into the book
Colourful stuff
Artistic indulgence
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Acrylics Workshop:
Simple Steps to Success
9.99 | Learn more about this flexible art medium
Author
Phyllis McDowell
Price
9.99
Publisher
Dorling Kindersley
ISBN
1-4053-1578-4
Inspiration
for all
The Gallery pages dotted
throughout the book can
give you some good ideas
for using the acrylic brushes
in a variety of ways
Colour mixing
These pages on what happened when you mix certain
colours together are handy for when youre using the
Mixer palette to paint from scratch
Giovanni Civardi
Price
19.99
Publisher
Search Press
ISBN
1-84448-206-5
Basic techniques
Theres plenty of advice for
the complete beginner in the
book we particularly liked the
guide to different effects using
different mediums
In progress
Perhaps the most interesting pages are the ones where
you can see how a drawing was built up. Seeing the
progression from start to finish is a valuable learning tool
Essential considerations
The pages dedicated to specific techniques will help you
create realistic sketches and ensure that everything is
in order
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Reviews Output
Mount your
images to MDF
The Big Print Company offers customers professional printing options at affordable
prices. We see how the site works
Tutorial info
Painter master
Jo Cole
Time needed
10 minutes
Skill level
Beginner
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File formats
Load up www.
thebigprintcompany.com and click the
Print your Images link on the side panel of the main
page. Youll see a screen which explains how the
process works and what you can order. Click the
Continue link at the bottom to get going.
02
Youll now
see a page with all the different print
products. Each option has a good description of
what the product offers, so theres no guesswork
required. Click the small square on the right to
make the selection. We went for the Block Mount
Wrapped Edge option, and picked the 18mm
thickness option from the drop-down menu.
A wide variety of
formats is accepted
by the Big Print
Company, but there
are guidelines worth
following if youre
uploading the image
to the site. Pick an
RGB image because
this allows the site
to provide an online
thumbnail and actual
size image of your file.
Its also preferred to
save the file in .jpg,
.tiff, .eps or .pict
format. If you pick
.jpg, make sure it is
saved at the highest
quality setting.
05 Antouchartistic
04 In the frame
Depending on the
image youre thinking
of using, the next page
offers various options
including the chance
to have your print
turned into a piece of
art by the companys
designers. If you have
an old photo you want
printed, its worth
choosing the Photo
Enhancement option,
but if youre happy
with your image, just
click Continue.
the
06 Edit
size
The
next page gives
information about
how to get your image
to the company. If you
go the upload route
you may need to do
some tinkering in your
image editor. Open
the le up and go to
Image>Image Size.
The Big Print Company
recommends that
your le is no larger
than 150ppi at the
print size, so adjust
the numbers.
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Reviews Output
Getting your
le there
08 Uploading
Now the le
is in the correct format
and dimensions, tick
the square to select
the Upload option and
then click the Choose
File button to get to
your image.
A dialog window
will zip down that allows you to
navigate to your le. Once youve found the le
destined for printing greatness, simply click on the
Choose button to add it to the site.
it
10 There
is
A little
thumbnail will appear
in the Upload box
which should be
the image youve
just selected. Press
Continue to upload the
image. This may take
a while depending on
the size of the image
or the speed of your
internet connection.
11 Order summary
12 Details,
details
13 World on a stick
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Gallery
01
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02
03
04
95
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Gallery
05
06
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Challenge
ith another issue comes another
Readers Challenge. If you missed
out on the irst issue, let us explain
what the devil this page is all about.
Basically, each issue we will provide a collection of
random iles that you have to create a piece of art
with. You can use all of the iles or mix some with
THE WINNER
WILL GET
THEIR PAINTING
PROFESSIONALLY
PRINTED ONTO
CANVAS!
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