Digital Painting with ArtRage

I downloaded ArtRage Studio Pro 3.5 to try with my new graphics tablet. ArtRage is an inexpensive painting program that simulates traditional media. I have a small Wacom Intuos4 tablet.

I settled on ArtRage after reading reviews and experimenting with downloaded trials of Corel Painter and other programs.

Corel Painter did not agree with my computer at all (HP) - it caused numerous problems with both the PC and the laptop. It was also extremely 'buggy' to use - crashing, some strokes not working, wrong sized cursor etc. It made the computers slow and have error messages. The problems went away when I uninstalled it.

There are paintbrushes in the Photoshop Elements software that came free with my tablet, but 'painting' with Photoshop is quite different to painter style programs ie interaction of strokes with other paint strokes.

After dabbling with brushes on ArtRage, I watched some videos on how to paint using tracing paper. The video below shows an older version of ArtRage used with tracing paper.

Tracing paper helps with proportions by showing a reference photo underneath. One can also set the colour sampling to be automatic - it will pick up colours from the photo, saving mixing and matching of paint.

I've taken screenshots of my progress at my first attempt at an 'oil' painting using tracing paper and auto sampling.

I was keen to try the tracing paper. I'd done some traditional art many years ago. I particularly liked oil painting, but was frustrated with the fumes, mess and slow drying time. Also the expense if I 'stuffed up.'

Some 'purists' say digital painting is cheating. I thought I'd give it a try. I don't mind using tools to help me choose colours and keep proportions.

ArtRage allows the upload of a reference image and a tracing paper image. It is helpful to have the reference image as the tracing paper image can get 'buried' in paint.

Traditional oil painting usually involves painting thin layers and gradually building up to thicker layers (with lots of painful waiting to dry in between). Oil paint stays wet for a long time, which is useful for blending, but overworked, it can turn into a mess.

I choose to use the oil-painting brushes on ArtRage. I was happy to let it select the colours for me from the photo (my own). All I had to do was apply strokes with a brush. This is much easier with a graphics tablet than a mouse.

I decided to start by slapping on paint with a large square brush, just to get the whole canvas covered. I didn't pay much attention to edges and I didn't bother with thin layers as with traditional oil painting.

I slapped background 'paint' on in all directions. I roughly followed the direction of feathers for the bird.

The first image doesn't resemble a bird at all, but the main colours and tones are there.

Digital painting is about smearing pixels (as opposed to smearing real paint). With digital oil-painting, the strokes blend with 'paint' (pixels) underneath, just like real oil paint. The main difference was it was easy to restroke an area to have the 'correct' colour show through, rather than end up with a thick layer of paint that needed to be physically scrapped off.

My tracing paper image soon got buried in paint. I switched to a smaller square brush and restroked parts of the canvas, using the reference photo as a guide. It was a bit of trial and error with strokes. If the opposite colour came out to what I wanted, usually stroking the opposite way rectified things. Smaller strokes were better for more 'resolution' ie distinction between colours.

Then I switched to a smaller round brush and stroked in the direction of feathers. I found that it was helpful to switch the tracing paper on and off several times during 'painting'. I used the palette knife to blend background paint, so soften the background to make it 'soft focus' and appear to recede.

I figured out how to zoom in to both my canvas and reference photo. This was very useful for tidying up details.

I realised that some of my edges with the front of the bird and the branch were 'off'. This was no problem, as I simply restroked those areas with a larger brush paying more attention to where the borders were with the tracing paper as a guide.

I didn't want my paint blurring together, so I created a new layer and then zoomed up close for details such as the eye, beak and growth on branch. I used tiny strokes to try and bring out the colours closely in these small areas.

The final painting is probably a little overworked, but I'm happy with my first attempt. If I wanted to fuss with it a little more, I'd blend the background better around the bird's legs.

If I were to attempt this again, I could probably get it done quicker with less 'mess' in the middle. I haven't even explored all the different possibilities in ArtRage settings nor tried different nibs or settings with my graphics pen/tablet.

View my second attempt and how I made improvements.

I enjoyed digital painting and was glad I didn't have mess to clean up, nor did I have a headache from toxic solvent fumes. Yes, I enjoy the 'feel' of traditional paint on a brush, but I have yet to try out the spring-loaded nib.

As for cheating - I didn't mind at all not having to select and mix my paint. Also I didn't mind having a template to help me with placement. It can be frustrating doing a drawing or painting and having a little part out of proportion.

I'm looking forward to trying portrait painting with my colours auto-selected (selecting colours for skin-tone is tricky).

Of course, if one wants to, they can do away with tracing paper and autocolours and do everything from scratch. Or they can use the tracing paper for the main subject and create a completely different background.

Critics also say, why not just use a filter in Photoshop to fake a painted effect? A filter in less than a minute rather than an hour of 'painting?' It's not the same.

For me, painting is about enjoying the process. I found this a lot of fun.

It's also not as easy as it first looks. Digital artists have told the nay-sayers to try it themselves if it's so easy. Of course, that shuts them up. Some traditional artists say they actually find digital art trickier - it depends on the person and skills acquired. Some use digital to experiment with ideas before committing to canvas with traditional media.

I liken the difference to be similar to the difference between playing piano and electronic keyboard. It's much easier and quicker for a beginner to sound more competent at keyboard than piano. Piano is more of a hard slog to master.

One can have fun and be creative on both traditional piano and digital keyboard. Digital allows changing and layering parts.

I'm certain that different people using the same photo and tracing paper will get different results, as they will have a different 'stroke' and have different preferences eg oils, watercolours, pastels etc.

So the person's individuality comes through, unlike a filter on Photoshop.