We all are crazed trying to find gifts for our family and friends at the last minute. Today is the LAST DAY of FREE shipping in time for the holidays from AMAZON. Check out my super duper gift guide and maybe even find a digital art gift or book for yourself!

Marilyns GIFT GUIDE for Digital Artists and Friends

We have finalized dates and put online the two summer Beginner Corel Painter X Workshops for Asheville,NC!

Come to a Workshop in 2009 and be in the mountains in the summer in North Carolina! Here are two beginner classes we did last year. By popular demand we are doing two this summer. Maximum number of students in a class is 14 (not one more!) and we have a blast for two days! I promise you will be painting the morning of the first day and you will go home with a printed painting!

Information and Registration Here

My new book The Art of Digital Photo Painting from Lark Books is shipping now earlier than anticipated. You can still order it on Amazon and are guaranteed holiday delivery as of today. We found that the link to  Twisting Pixels has changed…the download site for TWISTING PIXELS is on THIS PAGE at the bottom scrolling down you will find the link. Click Windows or MAC to get the FREE TRIAL. Any other click takes you to purchasing it.

Also, we found that right now the link in the book to the DEMO images on the Lark site is http://www.larkbooks.com/digital/photopaint and there you can download each image individually. If you want to download the images for the tutorials in one large ZIP file go HERE on my own site. Because the delivery sort of jumped ahead on us, we got caught not having them up yet. The download is 82megs so if you are on a slow connection, give it time to download.

I have been receiving emails for a few days now all with positive comments on the book. If you feel the same about it and would like to write a wonderful Five Star review of it on Amazon.com that would be great! Thanks all!

We start live from my personal desktop painting with Corel Painter X!

Starting at 5pm Eastern. Go REGISTER NOW!

See the Corel Painter interface and how to manage auto-painting and colors! So many options! Which are the best ones to choose? What BRUSHES to paint with! So much more. Don’t miss this special one time only presentation!

http://tinyurl.com/6rcdpw

Fall Trees, originally uploaded by marilynsholin.

Just sharing a small part of our street here in the Smokies with you all. Was playing with this and it turned out to be more than a photograph and less than a painting and it all worked for me. Hope you enjoy it.

Here is a sneak peek at the real live book! I can touch it, feel it and read it. Lark Publishing sent me an advance copy of the book. It is awesome. I can’t remember seeing any other books on Painter X that had so many full color paintings in it and an incredible art layout (by the amazing Tom Metcalf!). My editor Matt Paden had the patience to deal with me on a day to day basis as we edited this baby. Next step is to get all the images used uploaded so you can do the tutorials right on the exact same images used in the book! Then compare your results to what you see in the book.

Watch the video and go BUY NOW Books ships in January so be sure to put it on your holiday gift wish list and buy your favorite digital artist one too!

Our first year here in Asheville and we are taking advantage of Fall on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We drove both north and south of Asheville and have to say that the south drive down to Graveyard Fields and past Mt Pisgah is just amazing. This will definitely be a major part of our living here and enjoying the mountains!

So I got a few emails since my last post asking for more information on the Advanced Corel Painter Fall Blast we are having here in Asheville, NC.

Want to know what we will be doing in the four packed days and into the evenings? The easiest way to let you know is to share the email I just sent as a reminder to the 14 painters coming to Asheville for the event. First, let me share with you that I am one of only 36 Corel Painter Masters in the world. That’s right. There are only 36 Corel Painter Masters that were hand picked by Corel a number of years ago and we are expected to continue to share our artistic knowledge and to continue to be BETA testers for new versions of Painter and also be their International liaison for other painters.

When I was first chosen to be a Corel Painter Master my painting was also chosen for the original packaging for Corel Painter 8. The little boy and girl painted on the box and all the marketing and advertising materials was used worldwide on websites and in marketing materials. I will have to dig up an old photo of that box to show you all but it had the girl boy hugging painting on it. Below is the painting and you can see more about it or comment here or on my flickr site about it. You can find more information about Corel Painter Masters HERE: http://apps.corel.com/painterx/us/gallery_profiles.html

See if there is anyone near you offering workshops or classes to learn more about Corel Painter X and the more advanced or beginner techniques.

I’m having some linking issues and crashes today with Windows Live Writer so am putting in the full links on occasion that won’t go into the program.

So Without any more wasting of time…below is the email that went out to update the workshop attendees with the info for the first of the Fall Painter Blast week. We have a second workshop starting on Oct 26 and that one is sold out also. More beginner and intermediate workshops coming but the big Advanced Painter Blasts will only be in October and May each year and we only have 14 spots for attendees! So if you are interested you need to let us know to get on the waiting list ASAP!

REMINDER:  What you need to bring:
CLASS REQUIREMENTS:
LAPTOP
WACOM TABLET
A Wireless Mouse is great to have with your Laptop (not the Wacom mouse)
A jump drive (or key or storage unit to store your paintings and pass around to the printer)
Camera of your choice (from a basic point and shoot to full camera gear, it’s up to you how much you want to carry)
Tripod if you want it
PAINTER X loaded (nothing less than the most current version!)

Download Alien Skin Snap Art before class and it has a 30 Day FREE TRIAL
http://www.alienskin.com/snapart/
You will see how we use this at the workshop. You will love it.
If available….Photoshop 7 or higher. We don’t use this unless everyone has it and wants to use it.
Mostly it’s easier to use for resizing images,etc.
Nik Color EFX 3.0 PRO
Has a 15 DAY FREE TRIAL and a 30 DAY money back guarantee if you buy it.
Highly Recommend this!
http://www.niksoftware.com/colorefexpro/usa/entry.php
We will provide images to work on, but if you bring your own here is what to bring:
SIZE IS IMPORTANT: All images should be sized to at least 8×10 and no larger than 9×12  DPI 250 dpi
They can be JPGS or TIFFS
Category of Images:
People
Landscapes
Things (flowers, fruit, leaves, etc)
Animals
We have plenty of images for you to work on for class. DO NOT bring anything that is for a client or commissioned work you are trying to get finished in class. We will not be able to work on specific pieces but are here for the learning experience. Although many leave class with a piece that eventually does sell.
PERSONAL NEEDS:
Please advise us of any food allergies or extreme needs before arrival in writing.
You will need a sweaters and/or light jacket. Even in July the morning and evenings here are cool. We are in the Mountains!
Good walking shoes that are comfortable and possibly shoes you don’t mind getting a bit muddy as we may make it over
to a waterfall to photograph and good solid sneakers or boots would be good for that.
BRING:  Your sense of HUMOR, your CREATIVITY and IMAGINATION and your Sense of ADVENTURE!!
We will be providing a continental breakfast  and lunch and snacks each day. We provide a variety that usually meets all peoples food needs.

UPDATED CLASS SCHEDULE AND WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING WITH US!
PLEASE READ ALL THIS INFO AS IT IS SPECIFIC AND ALSO SHARES WHAT ELSE TO EXPECT!

SATURDAY NIGHT EARLY ARRIVALS:
Wine and Cheese to start the Workshop! Come early and feel free to set up for the morning.

Time for Wine and Cheese has CHANGED:  Please NOTE:  5:30pm till 7pm

After that it’s dinner on your own or follow us to one of our favorite restaurants and join us (dutch treat for everyone)

If you have no car and are staying at one of our preferred airport AVL area hotels the pick up morning time is 7:45AM for Michael to pick you all up and get you here for breakfast at 8am.

SUNDAY: Day ONE: Introductions:  BRING PRINTS or PORTFOLIO to share your paintings! You can also put it in a file for me to show on the screen from the laptop. Just put them in a folder and we will transfer later. We want you all to see each others work.
Be ready to SHARE today how you paint with Painter! This is a sharing workshop and everyone will have time to show their basic methods of painting. Don’t be nervous about this! We all are crazed when we paint!
Exploring Different Methods of Painting and incorporating other software with Painter. What do you use with Painter and how do you use it? Think WORKFLOW also!
Dinner at one of our local restaurants. Join us if you want and spouses or others friends are also welcome. Dinners are always dutch treat at the workshops.
MONDAY: Day TWO: Out of the workshop and into the Fall Photography. Whether you use a point and shoot or bring all your camera equipment and tripod, this will be a treat for you all to visit a few key areas in the morning to photograph fall foliage.
After lunch we will go to the RIVER ARTS DISTRICT and visit a gallery of artists and one of them will be sharing with us how she works as an artist in the art world. Also, there are fabulous well priced ceramics there for sale and other goodies so bring your credit card.
Then we will go to a secluded location with two of the oldest log cabins in the area in a private field. Photography should again be a lot of fun there to have more to work with from NC.

TUESDAY: Day THREE: Morning: Discuss Workflow for preparing images for painting from the photo shoots.
Painting from the day of Fall photography or your own images or ours.
New Techniques from Marilyn shared and use some of the new things you learned on Sunday from each other also!
Afternoon: PAINT and PRINT our paintings and prep the paintings for the Embellishing. Gel coat as many as possible to prepare for the morning.
Dinner as before.
WEDNESDAY: Day FOUR: Morning: Gel coat your prints and prepare for painting on them if not done yet. They will dry quickly!
Embellish Prints, paint on them, explore Materials for ART on the prints
Afternoon: Share Advanced Painter Techniques and Discuss Marketing, Promoting and Selling Your Artwork! How do you get your clients? BRING YOUR MARKETING MATERIALS TO SHARE!
Workshop ends at 5pm and a parting hour of farewells and then dinner with whoever would like to share with us!

NEWS:  We have a new WACOM Cintiq 21 for you all to try out!
http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/21UX.cfm
Feel free to email or call if you need anything!!
Remember:  Asheville is the Happiest Place on Earth….you will love it here and there is fun shopping and tons of restaurants and things to do here. Plan arriving early or staying a few days later.
See you all soon….

Marilyn and Michael

PS:  Allowing for weather changes, etc. the schedule may change for the photography day if there is a problem. BUT be going to the galleries and possibly making other stops also. PLEASE ADVISE if you have a car with you and are willing to share DRIVING taking a few people in your car. We will have approx. 15 people here so we will need three cars.

Our first COREL PAINTER BLAST starts with a wine and cheese party this coming Saturday night and then the real fun and creativity and painting start early Sunday morning. We took that Blue Ridge Parkway drive last weekend to get some shots that I could use for photo reference for a painting to represent the workshop and I think we got it!

I hope this speaks Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains in fall for you. This was mainly painted with the Marilyn Soft Sarg brush that is part of my personal brushes and a variation on the Sargent brush that ships with Corel Painter X and also the Water Rake from the Blenders category of brushes. The Marilyn Soft Sarg brush can be downloaded for FREE with my Sampler set of brushes from the DIGITAL PAINT SHOP

The ASHEVILLE STATE OF THE ARTS website will be done soon and all that is new and interesting in the arts will be coming to you on the website. Subscribe to this blog to get the latest news on digital painting workshops in Asheville by the only Corel Painter Master in the area.

We hit the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday to check out the early fall colors and we weren’t disappointed in what we found! We drove North from Asheville as far as the road would go. (They have it closed at Craggy) and had an amazing afternoon enjoying it all. I can’t wait to begin painting from some of the photo references but I know when we go back in ten days it will be even be better! In my first year here as an Asheville painter I am getting together my Asheville paintings into a grouping that should be ready for sales soon!