[Lunatique]

Dammit, I wish Photoshop can do natural mediums like Painter(there's that Photoshop plugin/stand alone software--can't remember the name). Painter is clunky and the interface is like a friggin' experiement in mind bending. And WTF do I need a million different user-controlled variations for?

I decided to go through all the brushes and once and for all pick out all the actually useful ones. God knows there are tons of useless CRAP in Painter designed for--I have NO idea who they designed some of this crap for. Example: Image Hose. Were these guys on CRACK when they designed that???

Here are the ones I found useful, and would actually incorporate into a painting:

Impasto- smeary flat, smeary round, smeary varnish, variable flat opaque.

Liquid- bulge, grainy water, just add water, pinch, smear, smudge.

Arbrush- any that can do convincing looking splatters or starfields.

Watercolor- All. But I painted with real watercolors for over 15 years, so software watercolors can't impress me.

Pens- finepoint, scratchboard tool(I have to say, Painter's pen tools make Photoshop look bad. I can get great tapered ends when I draw lines in Painter. In Photoshop, I'd have to be VERY careful with my pressure control to get any kind of a nice taper when I go from thick to thin lines).

Dry media- all except crayons. Who the FUCK would use crayons in a serious way in professional work? (Unless you are trying to mimic a child's drawing for a editorial illustration or something).

Brushes- round camel hair, variable flat, captured bristle, loaded palette knife, palette knife.

Anyways, if any of you Painter gurus have great tips to share, I'd appreciate it.

[Pat]

Believe it or not, all those user variations come in handy. Half the brushes I use are custom ones I've created.

The Painter interface _is_ large and clunky. Use command H to hide all the palettes. Learn the shortcut keys for opening individual palettes, ie command 1, 2 3, or 4, etc. This will greatly reduce your frustration.

Personally, I only paint with the brush controls, the color picker (I think it's much friendlier than the PS one) and a custom pull-off tab with all the tools I expect to use.

There's a zen to the Painter experience. It takes a bit to get in tune with everything, but it's worth the time you invest. Nothing else out there can do what it does. I've heard people say that Photoshop has a learning curve and Painter has an experience curve. No amount of reading Wow books is going to make you a Painter wiz --you have to spend the hours behind the tablet just making stupid marks until it starts to come together.

-Pat

[Lunatique]

ahhh, I was thinking about YOU specifically(unconsciously) when I asked for guru advice.

Whacha doin' up at 3am Xmas day? Shouldn't you be snuggling with Elin in bed?

I'll be going to Hong Kong with Tina for a week or two. Should be fun. Maybe they have LOTR showing there? (Crosses fingers.)


I remember the name of that Photoshop plugin now. It's called DEEP PAINT by Right Hemisphere. Anyone here use it? I tried it for a bit and it's very close to Painter. Kinda like a stripped down version of Painter, and more gimicky goo type stuff.

[ December 25, 2001: Message edited by: Lunatique ]

[ewiser]

Look into setting up custom palette's with painter I have a tutorial on doing that at: http://painter101.manilasites.com/
just scroll down and you can see how to make the Painter interface quite simple. With version 7 you can turn off section of the Palette's that you do not use which make the interface even smaller.

[Lunatique]

Awesome. I couldn't figure out how to add commands, now I know. Thanks!

[Anthony]

You can't beat Psinter for creating textures.

[gekitsu]

i'd say: painter is the best program out there whenever your work comes down to pure brushpower.
it takes a bit time until you get used to painter but imho, it's worth every minute.
i work with 90% of custom made brushes and i do absolutely not know which program to use for brushes like that if not painter.

[Jin]

Lunatique,

Comments inserted below.. (and Merry Christmas to all!)

quote:

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Originally posted by Lunatique:
Dammit, I wish Photoshop can do natural mediums like Painter(there's that Photoshop plugin/stand alone software--can't remember the name). Painter is clunky and the interface is like a friggin' experiement in mind bending. And WTF do I need a million different user-controlled variations for?

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The Painter interface, as it's installed, is a huge space hog. However, it is quite manageable once you know how. For instance:

1. Arrange the palettes however you like and use Windows > Arrange Palettes > Save Layout, give the Custom Layout a unique name and save it. You can have multiple Custom Layouts for various kinds of work and use any one of them by going to Windows > Arrange Palettes and picking the Custom Layout name.

2. Use the keystroke commands seen in the Windows menu to toggle individual palettes open and closed, or use Ctrl/Command+H to toggle all palettes open and closed at once.

3. Assign palette opening and closing to the F keys: Edit > Preference > Function Keys.

4. To quickly load Brush Libraries: Create a Custom Palette by dragging a Brush Category icon off the Brushes palette onto the Painter screen. Then load a new Brush Library and drag one of its icons onto the existing Custom Palette. If you pick a specific Brush Variant, then drag the Brush Category icon onto the Custom Palette, when you click that icon to load its Brush Library, not only is the Brush Library loaded, the specific Brush Category's Brush Variant is made active.

When a Custom Palette is created by dragging a Brush Category icon onto the Painter screen, the Custom Palette is automatically named "Custom-1" or the next available number. To rename it: Windows > Custom Palette > Organizer. The Custom Palette Organizer dialog box opens. Highlight the appropriate Custom Palette name (i.e. Custom-1), click the Rename button and give it a unique name then click the Done button.

Menu commands can also be added to a Custom Palette: Windows > Custom Palette > Add Command, then from the Add to: drop down list, choose the Custom Palette name and from any main menu or palette menu, choose the command you want to add and click the OK button.

quote

Quote:

I decided to go through all the brushes and once and for all pick out all the actually useful ones. God knows there are tons of useless CRAP in Painter designed for--I have NO idea who they designed some of this crap for. Example: Image Hose. Were these guys on CRACK when they designed that???

Painter's brushes are designed for a wide user base and though I, personally, don't care much for Nozzles (the Image Hose Category), a lot of people find them both entertaining and useful. With some know-how and imagination, this feature can be used to create Nozzles that are more than "cutesy" and could be used to create fairly sophisticated images .. again, depending on the know-how, talent, and imagination of the artist.

quote:

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Here are the ones I found useful, and would actually incorporate into a painting:

Impasto- smeary flat, smeary round, smeary varnish, variable flat opaque.

Liquid- bulge, grainy water, just add water, pinch, smear, smudge.

Arbrush- any that can do convincing looking splatters or starfields.

Watercolor- All. But I painted with real watercolors for over 15 years, so software watercolors can't impress me.

---

I wonder what you'd think of Painter 7 Water Color technology? It's greatly advanced from Painter 6 and earlier Water Color brushes which Painter Developer John Derry describes as "simplistic". They are far more like real watercolors and intriguing to use. They take some time and practice to conquer but the results are worth the effort.. many of us are finding.

quote

Quote:

Pens- finepoint, scratchboard tool(I have to say, Painter's pen tools make Photoshop look bad. I can get great tapered ends when I draw lines in Painter. In Photoshop, I'd have to be VERY careful with my pressure control to get any kind of a nice taper when I go from thick to thin lines).

There's a whole lot more you can do to control Painter's brushes once you begin to delve into the Brush Controls palette's sections and also the Art Materials palette's Paper and Color Variability sections as both interact with Painter's brushes to allow for some great results.

quote

Quote:

Dry media- all except crayons. Who the FUCK would use crayons in a serious way in professional work? (Unless you are trying to mimic a child's drawing for a editorial illustration or something).

One category of artists I can think of that might make use of the Crayons Category's Brush Variants is childrens' book illustrators. Certainly not only illustrators, though. Like all of Painter's Brush Variants, their uses are mainly limited by the artist's knowledge of Painter, imagination, skill, and talent. What may appear stupid at first glance can become a wonderfully useful tool in the right hands.

quote:

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Brushes- round camel hair, variable flat, captured bristle, loaded palette knife, palette knife.

Anyways, if any of you Painter gurus have great tips to share, I'd appreciate it.

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If you want to learn more about Painter's brushes, discuss techniques, ask questions, and see examples, visit us in the Painter Forum at In Depth Discussions. Read through the archived messages to see what we've done, and post your own messages asking for suggestions, etc. You'll be most welcome and (without the special language), will probably get a lot of help from people who know, love, and appreciate what a wonderful program Painter is.. and how rich its brush technology is.

Merry Christmas!

[Lunatique]

Wow. That's really helpful! I'll be posting my first painting done in Painter soon!

Sorry about the "special language." I'm a pretty casual person, and I'm one of those people that believe a good dose of #@&%! every once a while really hits the spot.

[Jin]

quote:

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Originally posted by Lunatique:
Wow. That's really helpful! I'll be posting my first painting done in Painter soon!

Sorry about the "special language." I'm a pretty casual person, and I'm one of those people that believe a good dose of #@&%! every once a while really hits the spot.

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Well, I use "special language" too, now and then, but try to reserve it for places where I won't offend the innocent bystander.

Hope your Christmas day was warm and happy.