My digital watercolour style is evolving as shown by these three paintings of apples.
Two Red Apples on White Cloth by Joan A Hamilton - January 2009
I first painted these apples in January 2009. You can see that the colours are not as intense and the contrast between light and dark not as pronounced. The paint doesn't look as wet and shiny either. I do believe the colours of these apples are a little weird now. I think this painting has had the dye concentration kicked down on it a few times to prepare it for printing. The jug in the background doesn't really add a whole lot and is kind of distracting.
Purple Jug and Apples- Joan A Hamilton March 2009
( Cropped and background changed Oct .2010)
This one has a wetter grainier look to it. Perhaps too wet and grainy. Looks like the Wet Entire WC layer function got carried away and it soaked it. I think there is a little too much texture in this one. The shadows in the cloth aren't quite right, and the highlights on the apples are a bit contrived. Nevertheless, I still kind of like the wetness of this one and can remember being very excited about the results of it. I didn't like the way the purple jug looked in this, and ended up taking it out altogether!
Apple Still Life Three - October 29, 2010
I have a lot more control over the digital watercolour and watercolour brushes in Corel Painter 11 now. The shadows are executed with a little more confidence, but I think the left apple might need some more shadow on the right side of it. I like the shiny crisp look of these apples the best so far. They are a bit too orange maybe? The folds in the cloth and the resulting textures and shadows are better than in the first two paintings, but still need a little work.
It is helpful to be able to assess the progression of your techniques and evololution of your own style. I could be more honest and really rip these paintings apart, but then you might exit my webpage too fast! lol! I discovered after painting digital watercolour landscapes for over a year straight, that I do like intense, but realistic colour. I know that I will have to stray from the path of realism to be more expressive in my art, but feel I have to learn to control the colours and forms, the light and shadows in a more realistic way first. I will get into wet, and loose at some point ...but the control has to come first, for me anyway!
Meanwhile, I have learned lots of things I can teach you about using the digital watercolour and watercolour brushes in Corel Painter 11. A better understanding of how to use the brushes, how to alter them to get the look you want, how to make use of layering, masking, and other techniques I have developed are some of the benefits my eBook will help you with. You can master these somewhat difficult brushes and paint watercolours digitally without resorting to use of special watercolour filters of photos and other unmentionable tactics. lol! I still have much to learn about many aspects of painting, but at least so much of my focus doesn't have to be on how to manage my tools so much anymore.
Some things for you to think about...
- Which one of these three paintings do you like best and why?
- Do you think my digital watercolour technique is improving?
- Did you know you could paint digital watercolours like this?
- Are you a traditional watercolourist who is curious about digital watercolour?
- Have you been painting digitally, but feel frustrated by how to get a handle on the watercolour variants?
- Would you like to learn how to add these brushes and techniques to your digital painting repertoire?
- Do you have a question about digital watercolours and how to use them? I would be happy to try and answer your questions and help you out...I really believe in sharing what I have learned!
The answers to these questions will all become clear if you follow this blog. An even better idea is to bookmark it and sign up for the RSS Feed so you won't miss a post, because more demonstrations and free tutorials will be coming.
Don't forget to keep your eyes open for my upcoming eBook on How to Paint Watercolours Digitally. (Maybe before Christmas) It's not called How to Paint Digital Watercolours on purpose! See if you can figure out why, and drop me line to let me know why you think I called it that! :)
Would you like to share what you've learned with me?
With all the ways we can connect online these days, I know that I will be making more use of them as time goes on. (Just need a little more income stream first).
One of the best, and most fun ways to learn is to watch someone else's Corel Painter screen as they paint or demonstrate how a brush they designed works. (Yes, I'm thinking of you Skip! Hey, have you made any new WC brushes lately?) Webinars and Online Workshops are really opening this area up for digital painters. It's possible to all get together and paint together like traditional painters do at courses and on plein air painting trips! The
Digital Art Academy courses are offered this way and there are some free webinar workshops offered on the
Painter Talk Forum. I'm participating in one on November 6th, called
Learn to Observe. That's a good point to end this on!
Posted in Artistic Growth. Updated January 4th, 2011.
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