Using the Underpainting Controls in Digital Watercolour Technique

Using the Underpainting Controls in Digital Watercolour Technique

The following is taken from the Online Help Manual for Corel Painter 11. There are more controls, but these are the ones I use in my digital watercolour technique. I had not used the "Smart Blur" before, and I thank Skip Allen for showing me that tip! You can also see how the effects apply to your whole painting instead of just one little section of it. (As in using these controls from the Effect Menu.)

	•		Brightness — lets you brighten or darken the photo
	•		Contrast — lets you increase or decrease the difference in tone between the dark and light areas of the photo

	•		Hue — lets you shift the color balance of the photo. For example, you can correct a color cast or apply a cast to create a special effect.
	•		Saturation — lets you adjust the vividness of colors

	•		Value — lets you brighten or darken the photo by using the HSV color space values
	•		Smart Blur — lets you adjust the level of detail in the photo. More detail is maintained in high-contrast areas than in low-contrast areas.

Below are 5 illustrations showing the controls for and the results of these adjustments.

I rather liked the Smart Blur because it really helped the pixelated appearance of the feather details. It will affect the graininess of the final print, and it might 'damp down' the watercolour textures too much. It's sure worth a try though. I will not do it until I am finished painting all the areas. The illustrations were done on a small selection of the painting that I copied and pasted in a New document, so they are not affecting the whole painting.

Using the Under Painting Controls in Digital Watercolour Painting Technique No.1

Using the Under Painting Controls in Digital Watercolour Painting Technique No. 2

The Brightness was decreased about 6 %. I do this instead of adding more paint at this point because I am just testing the final look. Sometimes it is useful to do this on a small area while you are painting rather than darkening the area with glazes. I have found if you decrease the Contrast as well, it makes everything look dirty and greyish. So, decrease brightness and increase Contrast if anything.

Using the Under Painting Controls in Digital Watercolour Painting Technique No. 3

You may have to drop and dry your layers to make these adjustments and you may not be ready to dry those layers yet. I like to keep my options open. Often I will Clone the document which effectively drops and dries all the layers, make my adjustments and IF I am really happy with it I will often save that Cloned document as my next Iterative Save and carry on from there. That way, I still have the saved document with all the layers if I want to go back and make changes. There may be easier ways to do this, but I have found these methods work well for my workflow because: the brushes, and paint react with the paper so much in digital watercolour...just like in traditional watercolour.

Sometimes you need to glaze over a digital watercolour layer. It makes a big difference in the colour you will get depending upon whether the DWC layer is dried or still wet. It makes a difference if you put your glazes on a new layer as well. Keep your Undo options open. I have mine set at 32 steps back and I seem to get it just about right on if I need to go back that far, as if I am subconsciously counting my strokes and actions.