In my ongoing efforts to incorporate Painter 12 into my workflow, this is another painted sketch. As is my style, I’ve taken a lot of creative liberties with the anatomy of our lizard friend, here.
For this one, I used only the Chalk Brushes in Painter. While I fully expect to incorporate a mixture of the available mediums in the future, restricting myself to only one at a time right now is forcing me to get used to and judge each on its own merits. I really enjoyed working with chalk, especially since there are a number of different types to choose from. One of the great features I found with Painter 12 is the availability of adding paper textures while painting. In real life, the texture of the paper would be universal over the entire image, but not so in the digital realm, at least not in Painter. I can change paper textures so it only affects the brush strokes I’m making at the time, and then change again without affecting the ones I’ve already made. Adds a texture element when I need it but doesn’t restrict me when I don’t. Great feature!
Something else I’m enjoying a great deal in is the Brush Tracking feature. I’m painting on the Wacom Cintiq 24HD and even though my pen pressure is pretty consistent and I’ve got the Tip Feel set to how I like it in the Tablet Properties, different mediums in Painter require a lighter or softer touch. Brush tracking on the fly allows me to change the pressure sensitivity as often as I’d like. It’s really easy to do and takes very little time away from the canvas.
I’m really enjoying discovering all that Painter has to offer this Photoshop artist and I plan to keep at it. I have a feeling I’ve just scratched the surface.