New Digital Painting

JohnMF · Nov 8, 2007

here is the latest digital painting i've done, it is keira knightley. It took me ages to do because i kept messing it up, but i'm fairly happy with how it turned out.

Sideburns · Nov 8, 2007

how exactly did you do this?

JohnMF · Nov 8, 2007

Sideburns said:
how exactly did you do this?

with a program called Corel Painter and a Wacom thingy

D-50 · Nov 8, 2007

did you use a photo as a starting point or is this from scratch?

minkster · Nov 8, 2007

Well let me first off say that it looks great! I would also like to know if you used a picture of her as well.

JohnMF · Nov 9, 2007

i used a photo as a reference, i keep it open on screen in a separate window along side the one i'm working on.

here is the work-through

i redone the hair several times after this because i couldn't get it right

Chris of Arabia · Nov 9, 2007

Very impressive. Out of interest, which of the Wacom tablets do you use? I'm interested in getting one, but may start at the sub-£50.00 level first to see if I can get on with one. Is anything less than A5 size worth the effort?

JohnMF · Nov 9, 2007

Chris of Arabia said:
Very impressive. Out of interest, which of the Wacom tablets do you use? I'm interested in getting one, but may start at the sub-£50.00 level first to see if I can get on with one. Is anything less than A5 size worth the effort?

this is the one i use

http://www.wacom-europe.com/int/products/intuos/tablets.asp?lang=en&pdx=331

it's only an A6 wide, but it does the job. once you are using it you don't really notice the size because you are working from your screen, rather than looking at the board

i used to have the wacom volito which was the cheapest at the time, but when i switched from pc to mac it didn't work on my mac so i had to buy the intuos.

I recommend the Volito, it's great value for money and does pretty much the same as the higher priced ones

PurpleKittenz · Nov 12, 2007

That is truly beautiful. I am really, speechless. You used Corel you say? I have been meaning to delve into that program, however, I am too stuck on Photoshop to leave it haha. Nicely done, my friend ^____^

JohnMF · Nov 13, 2007

PurpleKittenz said:
That is truly beautiful. I am really, speechless. You used Corel you say? I have been meaning to delve into that program, however, I am too stuck on Photoshop to leave it haha. Nicely done, my friend ^____^

if you can use photoshop you would have no problem with Painter. You would pick it up in minutes

and thanks for the nice comment

NJMAN · Nov 13, 2007

You are just too good at this John!! Very impressive.

A few questions for you.

Have you sold any of your works?

How long does it usually take you to complete of these?

How long did it take you to learn and get proficient at doing this in Corel?

Can the same result be achieved similarly in Adobe Illustrator, and is the workflow somewhat similar in Adobe Illustrator?

NJ

Patricia Kay · Nov 13, 2007

John...

Its great to see your workflow in painter.....Your painting is just fabulous!!!

Patricia........

JohnMF · Nov 14, 2007

NJMAN said:
You are just too good at this John!! Very impressive.
Thanks NJMAN

A few questions for you.

Have you sold any of your works? No, but i hope to in the future maybe do commissions for people or something. Still practicing at the moment until i get a bit more confident with the software and techniques

How long does it usually take you to complete of these? It varys. the quickest one i done took about 7/8 hours and this Keira Knightley took the longest with the hair alone taking me 12 hours to get half decent

How long did it take you to learn and get proficient at doing this in Corel? i made two or three attempts at Paintings, experimenting with the brushes etc over about two or three days then it just clicked into place when i found the brushes i like best. It helps if you can draw and paint too on normal paper

Can the same result be achieved similarly in Adobe Illustrator, and is the workflow somewhat similar in Adobe Illustrator? Not sure about this. I would have to say probably not. I can't see vectors acheiving that painted look, but i could be wrong. Out of the Adobe products Photoshop is the closest in layout, workflow and overall look. Photoshop could definately acheive this but you would have to get some custom brushes to get the painterly effect. I've seen some amazing digital paintings done in ps

NJ