Ten Exciting Digital Painting programs or plugins. See how we are using them!

Check out the details here: http://www.pixiq.com/article/ten-digital-painting

Art from Photographs with Postworkshop Pro Edition

Check our my new blog post on PIXIQ FREE styles and instructions on how to use them.  POSTWORKSHOP PRO EDITION Get a discount with Code: xyco-u8s3

Saturday January 15 2011 Four Hours

This is an exciting program I am giving at the SWPP convention in London next week. I am really looking forward to sharing at this program to help other photographers who are frustrated and stuck in a grind of high school seniors and weddings to find a way to make more money and also sell their images as fine art over and over again.

You don’t need to know much…..you can use many different programs and plug ins but the point is to DO IT! I think some are mistaking this four hour super class for a Corel Painter lesson and it’s not. It is much more than that! It’s about the entire journey of becoming who you want to be!

With over 25 years of experience as a studio owner and master portrait artist, I was silly to take a giant leap with my eyes closed and my mind open into the art world of painting. I still can’t draw a straight line,  do draw stick figure doodles and never had formal art training. Yet, my paintings (developed from photo reference) have hung in airports, won best of show and even  had a one woman and group shows in a very short time and are selling internationally. The finished original canvas paintings have form and texture that are all created with the simplest of acrylic paint products available worldwide.

I am going to show how easy it is to create these finished pieces of art and the magical road to selling them over and over and over creating new income flow that is pure profit. Create it once, sell it a thousand times over in multiple products and market to new collectors who then will become your studios new portrait clients also. Working it full circle will increase sales in all areas.

Sit in with me even if you never painted with a brush and never drew before. I have done all the research and created the information and details to take your studio into a new area of touchable art in simple terms and materials. This is a life changing time for photographers. This is a product that will put your studio above all others and have your clients talking about you as an artist.

Come to SWPP and REGISTER FOR THIS SUPER CLASS

You do NOT need anything but to take notes at this class. If you want to follow along in Painter or Photoshop that is fine, but it is NOT required!

Even includes a video!

Here are the basics to layers in Corel Painter. I try to keep things simple so check out this post including the video and learn the easy way.

Painting On Layers

Video for Painting on Layers

Pssst…..Want to know a secret about Free Corel Painter brushes?

Here is a blog post on free corel painter brushes and how to install brushes.

A few of the Free Brushes being Used

FREE COREL PAINTER BRUSHES AND HOW TO INSTALL BRUSHES IN PAINTER

There is so much great information on the internet it’s a wonder we find anything! Today I posted on PIXIQ about five posts on that site that I think are really wonderful. One of the posts is also, very, very funny! But if you want to learn more and about some alternative art methods,image transfers, how important it is to photograph trees, and much more then go to my site over on PIXIQ and check out Five Posts You May have Missed.

And don’t forget to read my own post on the new Topaz Infocus Plugin that is on sale for a few more days.

Also I have been loading up my Fine Art Prints store just in time for the holidays. Swing by Fine Art America and see some of the newest uploads. Be sure to leave comments on the ones you like. And as always, say nothing about the ones you don’t like!

Topaz Filters Releases New Sharpening Plugin

The new Infocus sharpening filter will help your images and digital art to new levels.

Read all about it on PIXIQ!

It WORKS!

Topaz Labs has come out with an upgrade to ADJUST which is just amazing! It makes it easy to add creative effects to your paintings and images.  I have done a video about it and here are some of the images and the different settings I used. The video has all the details and it is a high resolution video so the details can be seen. Either download the  Topaz4 video (warning: large file) or watch the Topaz Video online! The amazing thing is that the release of Adjust 4 is a FREE upgrade to Adjust! Overall, the greatest deal is to purchase the entire BUNDLE and get all the fantastic Topaz filters which I use daily. The Topaz bundle is clearly the best deal and I’ll show you more about that in another post.

Save on the filters now!

When you check out be sure to put in the coupon code:  msholin

Here is a portrait as a finished original file:

Next I started playing with the filters in Photoshop. I did NOT change any blend modes or opacity even though I did work on a layer. So what you are seeing is the full effect unaltered in Topaz Adjust4. First Topaz4 filter is CLARITY next is CRISP.

Last is SPICIFY (one of my favorites!) to play with especially controlling the settings and use this on a layer and try out the blend modes.

This gives a good idea of what the Topaz Filters can do for images. When you watch the video, you will learn how FAST they are! Especially watch the close ups in the video of the little girls curly hair and the amazing results for details that Topaz4 filters give in controlling how much details are visibile.

Next sample is one of my paintings. When I finish a digital painting it’s never done until I play with it and see what other effects I can get. This is just an idea of the versatility the filters provide. From one painting I can get many paintings and all with different choices of what to emphasize.

Here is my original of Chinatown Rain and to the right using  Topaz4 COLOR BLAST next is PORTRAIT DRAMA and last SPICIFY

It’s easy to see why I love these so much. The interface is incredibly easy to use. I am all about EASY! Below is a screen shot to show more details on the interface.

The Topaz BUNDLE will give complete control over your images.  Take a closer look to see how all the filters can help your photography and paintings quickly and easily.

Save on the filters now!

Check out with the coupon code: msholin

Ever since I posted the Forever Asheville painting and how I used Topaz filters with it I have been getting a lot of email asking more specifics. So I did another one and this time kept the info on which filters and how I used them. And I did this painting from a drive by shot I took with my iPhone here in Asheville in the beautiful fall foliage.

Straight out of the iPhone 3G

After resizing it and cropping it I used Nik ColorEfex Pro Complete using the PRO CONTRAST filter which is awesome and lightning fast to fix color on any photos.

Nik Color Efex PROCONTRAST filter

Next I tweaked the color with NIK BICOLOR filter. I love this set of filters and usually scroll through all the colors until I see the “AHA!” moment where it hits me.

Nik BICOLOR filter to tweak color

Next I switched to the TOPAZ Filters to add some more details and tweak it further. This is the TOPAZ DETAILS filter set and I chose the CREATIVE DETAIL setting.

Topaz DETAIL filters using CREATIVE

Next I switched to the TOPAZ ADJUST filter set and chose SIMPLIFY. This filter set adjust Exposure, Details and Color.

TOPAZ ADJUST filter using SIMPLIFY

Now that I had the image prepped in Photoshop I opened it in COREL PAINTER 11 and painted it using mostly a brush I created from the standard Sargent Brush using adjustments to it to my taste to create the Mar SOFT SARG brush for myself. It’s a tricky brush to use but I get great results with it.

Painted in COREL PAINTER 11 with MAR SOFT SARG Brush

After I finished painting, just to be sure I was happy with it I opened again in Photoshop and opened the NIK FILTERS again. I ended up playing and checked the PRO CONTRAST setting again and I loved it. So the final painting was adjusted with that filter and here is the finished painting.

Final Painting final adjusment with Pro Contrast Nik filter

I really like the colors in this one and the details versus the soft background gave real separation to the entire painting. I love using the filters to change my original reference images to make something special out of them. Both of these filters are incredibly easy to use and the best part is you can SAVE MONEY on buying Nik and Topaz filters by using the codes I have for them. Go to TOPAZ FILTERS and when you check out put in the coupon code: msholin

Go to NIK FILTERS and put in same discount code when you check out:  msholin

These codes work for ALL the filters they both sell. To find more of my discount codes and more info on resources check out my blog page RESOURCES for ARTISTS and PHOTOGRAPHERS

Working on a new digital/acrylic painting and I thought it would be fun to share the steps and give some hints and tips. I started with a reference photo that I took this past summer as I was walking past someones car.  The idea that this truly represented Asheville, NC came to me immediately that it had the laid back feeling.

Original Capture

Now I needed to open it in Corel Painter 11 and I painted it with artist oils brushes looking to get as much of a brushstroke as possible into the painting. While I used the photo as photo reference it’s clear all the changes made to the painting as it is transforming into a painting.

After Painting in Corel Painter 11 with Artist Oil brushes

Next I felt it looked a little dull and needed some punching up. Opened the image in Photoshop and tested out a few TOPAZ FILTERS on it and ended up using something in TOPAZ ADJUST. This gave more detail and also punched up the colors. When I was finished with that I opened NIK SHARPENER 3.0 and did some sharpening on the painting to pop more of the brushstrokes so I know it will print well. If you want to check out these filters use the links to TOPAZ and when you check out put MSHOLIN into the coupon code and you will get a discount. Same with NIK filters. Coupon Code: MSHOLIN gets a discount on them.

Below is the final digital painting. Next step will be to add acrylic paint to the canvas. I will update this post and show the before and after paintings:  the digital file vs the acrylic painted canvas. Final version will be Pigment Inks with Acrylic Paint.

Topaz Filters and Nik Sharpener Applied

You can find more discount codes and my recommendations on resources HERE