John's Watercolors now Painter IX Compatible

John's Watercolors—brushes that produce a remarkably easy-to-use emulation of their traditional counterpart—are now compatible with Painter IX. This compatibility refresh enables users of this older version of Painter to take advantage of the advanced watercolor looks possible with these custom brushes. Included with John's Watercolors is an explanatory PDF and links to video tutorials that demonstrate how to use these breakthrough digital watercolors.

The video tutorials cover:

Brush Organization
Watercolor Color Set
Demonstrations of the brushes with tips and tricks
Cloning with John's Watercolors
Installing John's Watercolors into Painter
Sample Painting Demonstration

Here are user samples created using John's Watercolors:

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John's Watercolors are $35. You can purchase these brushes by clicking the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. If you don't have a PayPal account, an option to pay via credit card is offered as well.

If you've been frustrated trying to master digital watercolors, John's Watercolors for Painter are the answer!

Hilarious Cartoons Featuring Corel Painter

"Painter Surface Texture"

Run—do not walk—over to Victor Lunn-Rockcliffe's hilarious Painter cartoon page at PBase. I featured Victor a few weeks ago with a piece he created using John's Watercolors.

Victor possesses a distinctly unique way of visually describing his journey while learning Painter. Done in a pen & ink style, he takes various Painter tools and concepts, putting his own detailed spin on them. Anyone familiar with or just delving into Painter will immediately identify with Victor's subjects.

I have to admit that the first time I read through these fabulous insights into Painter, I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my cheeks! Victor has a penchant for minutely detailing concepts in a manner that is both humorous and revealing.

Do yourself a favor and head over to Victor's colorful Painter cartoon page. It'll definitely put a smile on your face!

Design for Obama Compilation Released

Design for Obama, published by the design and architectural book publisher, Taschen, has been released this week to commemorate the one year anniversary of the presidency.

Hundreds of artists and designers expressed support for the Obama candidacy by designing posters and submitting them to designforobama.org for free download. This selection of the very best—curated by Spike Lee and Aaron Perry-Zucker—is a visual document of the most inspirational U.S. presidential campaign in living history.

I am honored to have two of my designs included in this compilation. Both designs were created with a combination of Painter and Photoshop.

Below are the two designs.

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Intro to Portraiture Tutorial Now Available

The All Things Painter Introduction to Portraiture webinar is now available for purchase as a downloadable QuickTime movie.

This 90-minute tutorial covers the start-to-finish workflow of expressive interpretation of a photographic portrait source into a painted result.

Subjects covered:
Preparation in Photoshop
Non-destructive Layer Painting Explained
Brush Organization
Background-to-Foreground Subject Workflow
Focus on the Face
Skin Treatment
Preserving Facial Character
Eyes: The Window to the Soul
Hair: Simplifying Complexity

Here are some of the comments of attendees that participated in the webinar:
"This was a wonderful webinar. So much to learn and think about my mind is spinning."
"What usually takes a year to learn...John does it in an hour or two."
"Fantastic - throughly enjoyed it and learned a lot."
"Absolutely fantastic. I picked up so many pointers, I can't wait to put them into practice."
"Fantastic Seminar. So many lightbulb moments."
"John had a great, simple way to present the topic."

Below is a short video sample from the tutorial:

Click to watch preview segment

This tutorial isn't intended as an exhaustive class; rather, it is an introduction that will clarify the key aspects of expressive digital portrait interpretation. If you are interested in this creative use of digital paint tools, this tutorial will provide you with a clear starting point.

The Introduction to Portraiture Tutorial is $20. You can purchase this downloadable movie by clicking the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. If you don't have a PayPal account, an option to pay via credit card is offered as well.

It's Official...

I am currently working on a new title for lynda.com: Corel Painter 11: Mastering Brushes. I've been wanting to do this title for a long time, and the stars have finally aligned. In my workshops and emails, I constantly detect a definite "fear factor" when it comes to Painter's Brush Controls.

I'll admit that these controls can look like a 747 cockpit to many, but there definitely is a method to the madness and I intend to create a brush "bible" of sorts that takes the veil off of this crucial aspect of Painter.

Rather than solely relying on Painter's brush presets—Variants—users should feel comfortable adjusting and crafting brushes to suit one's own unique expressive voice. This is the goal of Mastering Brushes. Even though it is titled to reflect Painter 11, this title will be educational for users of any version of Painter.

The release date hasn't been set, but there is a good chance I'll be recording this title at lynda.com in Ventura, CA in December. If you don't see me here as often in the next month or so, now you'll know why!

John's Watercolor User: Athos Boncompagni

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Illustrator Athos Boncompagni of Arezzo, Italy created this portrait with John's Watercolors. "Your brushes are really amazing! They were really helpful to render this kind of picture."

To see more of Athos' artwork, visit his website, Athos' Website: Creativity Hunter. You can also visit here to see a series of Athos' portraits done with John's Watercolors.

If you have an example of art created with John's Watercolors, send me a JPEG—your work may get featured here!

John's Watercolors are $35. You can purchase these brushes by clicking the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. If you don't have a PayPal account, an option to pay via credit card is offered as well.

If you've been frustrated trying to master digital watercolors, John's Watercolors for Painter are the answer!

All Things Painter Webinar: Intro to Portraiture this Friday, October 23

The All Things Painter Introduction to Portraiture webinar is this Friday, so there's a limited time left to sign up. If you are shooting photographic portraits of friends, family, or as a business—then this webinar is for you. Expressive photographic interpretation elevates a photograph to a unique hand-wrought artwork. This webinar will introduce you to the interpretive process by watching over the artist's shoulder as I transform a photographic portrait into a painted result. I'll explain the key concepts involved. as well as demonstrate various time-reducing shortcuts.

I've created hundreds of expressive interpretations for professional portrait studios around the country. In this webinar, I'll detail—from start-to-finish—my process of transforming a photographic portrait into an expressive painted artwork.

Whether you sign up for the webinar or not, you may be interested in a two-part column I wrote for AfterCapture magazine on the subject of expressive portrait interpretation. You can download these two articles as PDF files here:

Portrait Enhancement, Part 1
Portrait Enhancement, Part 2

A one-hour demonstration won't turn you into an expressive portrait master, but it will provide you with an organized basis for diving into this exciting and rewarding artform. In addition, we'll have a 10-minute Q&A following the demonstration. A video of the webinar will be available to attendees following the live presentation.

After the Q&A, an attendee's name will be drawn at random. The winner will receive a copy of my lynda.com Painter 11 Essentials DVD.

If you've wanted to give portraiture a try, but haven't known where to start, then this webinar is for you!

The Introduction to Portraiture webinar is this Friday, October 23. Here is the time for various time zones:

11:30 AM PDT
12:30 PM MDT
1:30 PM CDT
2:30 PM EDT
7:30 PM • UK
8:30 PM • Rome

Registration has closed.