Courses « Digital Art Academy » watercolors http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:28:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Open Studio-Painting Street Scenes http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/open-studio-painting-street-scenes/ http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/open-studio-painting-street-scenes/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:11:40 +0000 Karen Bonaker http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/?p=2648
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    • Description

    Open Studio courses are relaxed and we encourage constructive critiques. There is no competition in this class only inspiration that I hope you will take from the instructors as well as the many talented students who regularly join our Open Studio sessions. Course work is a guideline for you but you are free to follow your muse which I encourage.

    This course will take you through the Tuscan country side where you will visit many wonderful locations to seek inspiration from. You will be painting street scenes from major towns such as Sienna, San Gimignano just to name a few.

    Your instructor will lead you through several exercises each week with one goal in mind, for the digital artist to learn to expand upon their skill set and continue to find inspiration in the physical world around them . Karen will supply you with several reference images to seek inspiration from. Photographic reference can be a great support for your artwork. It captures the mood of the moment, immobilize movements to allow you to analyze shapes and forms, and give you the opportunity to capture a scene quickly. A photograph, being a record of what is in front of you at the time you take the picture, is just that-a record. Your Week One folder will be loaded with fabulous images to get started with!

     

    Skill Level

    Intermediate to Advanced.

    Beginners with exceptions. If you are just learning how to use Painter, this may not be the class for you. But something to look forward to as your skill set improves. You should know your way around the Interface and be able to add layers, understand how to use the Quick Clone function, and be able to work with a custom set of brushes.

    Software Requirements

    • ®Corel Painter 11 or greater
    • Photoshop (not required)

    Hardware Requirements

    • Microphone with headset is required for live sessions if you want to participate in the live session. Headset is required if you wish to speak. Students may listen to the live session through their computer speakers and type in questions as well. Live sessions are recorded and will be available for the student to download.
    • You must be working with a system that is capable of running ®Corel Painter 10 or greater.
    • Wacom or Equivalent pen and tablet. Essential tool for digital painting.

    Before Class

    If you are going to use your own reference images for Week Two through Four, begin organizing them into folders.

    Week One

    Body Language and Concept

    This week the class will all be working from the same reference image. Our focus will be on body language and working with some of the basic principles of perspective. A live session will be scheduled and Karen will demonstrate how she begins a street scene using the reference image as an example and how to determine where the horizon should be placed. This week students will participate in a live webinar session where Karen will demonstrate her technique for getting started with the reference image for the week. This week will set the discipline and fundamentals for the rest of the session.

    Week Two

    San Gimignano

    This week you will seek inspiration from several images taken in San Gemignano and surrounding areas. Our live session will focus on questions and group critique.

    Week Three

    Into The Past

    Students will discover the past while using reference images from modern day. Emphasis will be on research and depicting a scene how it may have looked 150 years ago. During our live session this week we will outline the steps to create our paintings of the past. Your goal will be to transform a modern day scene into an old world scene. Start thinking now!

    Week Four

    Final Week Painting-Tuscany

    Students will work on their final painting for the session. Live session will include questions and group critique.

    ]]>     http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/open-studio-painting-street-scenes/feed/ 0     Learning to Paint Elements in the Watercolor Landscape with ®Corel Painter 12 http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/learning-to-paint-elements-in-the-watercolor-landscape-with-%c2%aecorel-painter-12/ http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/learning-to-paint-elements-in-the-watercolor-landscape-with-%c2%aecorel-painter-12/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:53:06 +0000 Joan Hamilton http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/?p=2541
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    • Description

    This course is designed to introduce you to painting some of the natural elements in the watercolour landscape. You will learn to use all the watercolour variants with emphasis on Digital Watercolours and Watercolours. You will learn to identify the elements of the visual language of watercolour and apply them to your work.

    You will build skills and confidence each week as you progress from simple washes to painting the natural elements in all seasons. Knowledge of the basics of composition will give you the impetus to paint and interpret scenes ‘your way.’

    The digital brush techniques are similar to traditional watercolours. Many of the skills you will learn have corresponding traditional counterparts. If you are a traditional media painter and are thinking of trying digital watercolours this will be a good crossover course for you.

     

    Skill Level

    Intermediate to Advanced with prior knowledge of Painter versions 11 and 12. If you are new to ®Corel Painter consider taking Elaina Moore-Kelly’s Introduction to Painter 12 Part I and Part II.

    Software Requirements

    • Microsoft® Windows® XP, Microsoft® Windows® Vista or 7, or Apple® Mac OS® X operating system
    • Corel Painter 12

    Hardware Requirements

    • A computer capable of running Corel Painter.
    • Wacom Intuos, Cintiq or comparable tablet is highly recommended. With a mouse you may suffer frustration and not be able to take full advantage of the new features that Painter 12 offers.

    Before Class

    • Download the Custom Brush Sets you will need:
    •  My Custom Sets of brushes used in this course (excluding any of John Derry’s brushes)

    I will be using Skip Allen’s: Splashing Water, Real Watercolours 2 (made prior to P12 Real Watercolours and are not the same), Soft Skin, Skip’s Watercolours, and Eastern Water. They are available for free on his website. SkipAllenPaints

    •  Purchase John Derry’s Watercolour Brushes at The PixlBlog if you are considering it.
    •  Find some photo references of simple landscapes that appeal to you.
    •  If you have time, watch some painting watercolours traditionally videos on YouTube. Stick to simple ones like ‘How to Paint Trees’. There are tons of them out there, and they will help you develop your eye for seeing the ‘visual language’ of watercolour. Also search for watercolour artists whose style you like and take the time to really look at it and discover why you like it.
    •  The course will include many PDF’s with detailed screen captures and written instructions and video demonstrations of the techniques and tips used.
    • Extra Resources:
    • PDF- Considerations for Printing your Watercolour
    • PDF Links to other resources I have found helpful. We can all add to this.

    Required Reading Before Course- PDF’s Available for download (videos as well)

    • Basic Brush Control Settings
    • Digital Watercolour Brush Control Settings
    • Watercolour Brush Control Settings
    • Paper Sizes and Paper Choices

    Spend some time prior to the course exploring the brushes and becoming comfortable with watercolour mark making.  You will discover how being able to control the properties of your brushes will open a whole new world of possibilities for you. We will look at how Skip Allen’s and John Derry’s brushes can add to your watercolour repertoire. You will learn the basics of how paper textures affect the appearance of your watercolour.

    Week One

    Observing the Visual Language of Watercolour and How to Use it in our Digital Watercolours

    • Why and how to become aware of the characteristics of watercolour (Slide Presentation of some of my favourite watercolourists)
    • Various Kinds of Washes
    • Wet into Wet Techniques
    • Blending Watercolours
    • Dry Brushing
    • Creating Soft and Hard Edges
    • Getting the Pooling Effect
    • Fine Lines
    • How to Paint a Bloom or Back run
    • Painting with Gradients
    • Splatter and Spatter Techniques
    • Sponge Techniques
    • Watercolour Airbrush Techniques
    • Removing Colour (Lifting Colour, Scraping and Eraser Salt)

    This week you will begin to learn to recognize certain characteristics of the visual language of watercolour.  You will to apply various washes, wet into wet, lifting, scraping, drops and splatter, sponge techniques and dry brush techniques within a watercolour painting. This is the week to experiment with your brushes. Make notes on how you accomplished things successfully.

    Week Two

    Fundamentals of Working with Watercolor Layers

    • Working With Layers in Watercolours
    • Using the Lasso Tool in your Watercolour Workflow
    • Masking to Preserve Whites
    • Applying a Non-Destructive Texture Layer
    • Drying your Digital and Watercolour layers
    • When and How to Lift Canvas to Watercolour Layer
    • When and How to Wet the Entire Watercolour Layer
    • Techniques for Painting Watercolour Skies and Clouds

    This week you will learn more about using layers in your workflow and how you can apply a non-destructive texture layer. Why and when you should lift your canvas to a watercolour layer. Learning to mask certain areas of your canvas to preserve whites and various ways to remove colour and soften edges will all help you on your way to painting exciting skies and clouds.

    Focusing on painting ‘skyscapes,’ we will paint the sky at different times of the day, in various weather conditions and for all the seasons. Students will be encouraged to use reference photos and sketches at all points in this course.

    Week Three

    Compositional Guidelines

    • Compositional Basics and Why They Matter
    • Using a Photo Reference to Help You Sketch
    • Using a Value Study
    • Colour Harmony
    • Tips and Techniques for Painting Trees and Land Masses

    Week Four

    Painting Lakes, Creeks and Rivers

    • Using the Transform and Mirror Image Tools
    • Adding Creeks, Lakes and Rivers to Your Landscapes
    • Techniques for Painting Rocks and Stones Convincingly
    • Introduction to Painting Snow

    You will become comfortable with painting these elements in the natural world. Use the skills you have learned in prior weeks to build on these techniques as you learn to add more elements to your landscape.

    ]]>     http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/learning-to-paint-elements-in-the-watercolor-landscape-with-%c2%aecorel-painter-12/feed/ 0     ArtRage-Brush Course-Watercolor and What’s New in ArtRage 3.5 http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/artrage-brush-course-watercolor/ http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/artrage-brush-course-watercolor/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:54:45 +0000 Karen Bonaker http://www.digitalartacademy.com/courses/?p=1286
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    • Description

    This course will demonstrate how to work with the Watercolor brush category as well as learn how to paint  in ArtRage Studio Pro 3.5. You will enjoy several videos showing you how to create a very realistic watercolor painting in ArtRage. Students are free to use their own reference images or those supplied for the class. The Watercolor tool lets you paint with a variety of watercolor strokes using a soft bristled brush on wet or dry paper. Because it is a wet medium the Watercolor tool is ideal for creating subtle, blended color washes and detail. The control you have over the amount of wetness of your brush and the Canvas beneath it lets you produce a wide variety of results. Each week we will have a live session covering the new additions to ArtRage 3.5. These sessions are recorded and you will be able to download them and few them for future reference.

    Watercolor is a complex medium and there are a large number of settings that can be used to control the results you see when you paint. ArtRage understands both the color of the pigment you are applying and how much water is on your brush, and simulates these two things as you work with the tool. A basic understanding of what is happening when you paint with this medium can help explain how its settings work.

    Your instructor will hold a live Webinar session for you each week where painting demonstrations and your questions will be addressed.

    Skill Level

    Beginner to Intermediate

    Software Requirements

    Hardware Requirements

    • A computer capable of running ArtRage
    • Wacom or compatible tablet is recommended.
    • Headset with Microphone for live sessions. Those that do not have a headset can listen through your computer speakers.

    Before Class

    If you do not currently own ArtRage, you may want to download the trial version for this class. However, do not download it until class begins our sessions are four (4) weeks long and you will need to take into account the time period of the evaluation software.

    Week One

    Getting Acquainted with the Watercolor brushes in ArtRage

    • Why are ArtRage watercolor brushes different
    • The Watercolor Palette
    • The Watercolor Controls
    • The Watercolor Settings Palette
    • The Tracing Panel
    • Watercolor Exercise
    • New Feature Focus-Package Files

    Week Two

    Blending with Watercolors

    • Learn how to blend  watercolor paint
    • How Paper Texture affects watercolors
    • Blending Exercise
    • New Feature Focus-ArtRage Script Files

    Week Three

    Working with a Reference Image

    • Learning to trace your image using the Tracing Panel
    • Learning to use Tracing Paper
    • Building color with layers
    • New Feature Focus-Palette Knife Loading and Soft Media Enhancements

    Week Four

    Watercolor Painting

    • Exercise using layers
    • What are Blend Modes
    • Exercise, experimenting with Blending Modes
    • Applying overlays
    • New Feature Focus-All the rest!
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