FIG 8.1 Two trees, painted with the Loaded Palette Knife
The landscape has been one of the most popular subjects for artists throughout the ages and this chapter on landscape covers a wide variety of subjects from wide open vistas to intimate details.
You can of course use any type of brush to paint the landscape, so the examples chosen in this chapter only scratch the surface of what is possible; the interpretation too can be traditional or modern and everything in between.
The step by step examples in this chapter aim to introduce you to a variety of techniques and styles from which you can create your own paintings of the landscape.
Impressionist landscape
This landscape step by step uses the Impressionist brush from the Artists brush category which creates a very painterly impression and is an excellent brush for this subject. It is also an easy and fast brush for cloning.
1. Open ‘Feet in the water’ from Chapter 8 folder on the DVD.
2. Make a Quick Clone.
3. Select the Artists>Impressionist brush, size 78.2, Opacity 100% and Resat 18%.
4. Click the Clone Color option in the Color palette. This is a necessary step to change this into a cloning brush and must be made for all brushes except for those in the Cloners brush category.
5. Paint the background of the picture with the brush strokes in a downwards direction; the water should then be painted with horizontal brush strokes. (Figure 8.3).
FIG 8.3 Painting the background
6. Change the brush size to 25 and paint the trunk and branches of the tree (Figure 8.4).
7. Paint the leaves with the same brush – paint them in the direction in which they hang (Figure 8.5).
8. Paint along the shoreline with brush size 27.5; make the brush stroke vertical to bring some variation and texture to that area.
9. Change the brush size to 37.8, Opacity to 100%, Bleed to 100% and Jitter to 1.78. The change to the bleed settings will make it blend more with the existing image. The jitter setting makes the brush paint with more variation in the strokes. Keep the brush moving in circular directions to create a sense of movement in the leaves.
10. Paint over any other areas that need a stronger color to finish the painting.
11. Make a copy of the canvas (Select All, Edit Copy, Edit Paste in Place).
12. Effects Tonal Control Equalize. This will spread the tones and give the picture more contrast. Adjust the Brightness slider to lighten or darken the picture. The Equalize command is explained in more detail in Chapter 7 ‘ Using color ’.
13. Because this is on a separate layer the opacity can be reduced if you subsequently decide that it is has too much contrast.
This completes the Impressionist clone.
Landscape with oils
This landscape will use a brush from the Oils category to create a fairly realistic landscape.
1. Open ‘ Black Crag landscape ’ from Chapter 8 folder on the DVD.
2. File>Quick Clone.
3. Select the Oils>Flat Oils 30.
4. Brush size 52.2, Opacity 80%, Resat 10%, Bleed 70% and Feature 3.8%.
5. Click the Clone Color option in the Colors palette.
6. Paint the mountains and sky; the brush strokes should follow the contour lines, so the mountain on the right should be painted diagonally from the top right. Move the brush quickly; this will ensure that the image is smeared, which is the aim, particularly in the background areas. Continue painting down to the trees (Figure 8.8).
7. Reduce the brush size to 30 and paint in the trees. Use short brush strokes and once again keep the brush moving quickly to avoid too much detail being shown (Figure 8.9).
FIG 8.8 Painting the background mountains
FIG 8.10 Painting with a pressure sensitive pen at different angles with a flat brush will result in different angled brush strokes. You will need a pen that supports this feature
8. Paint the middle ground between the trees. The brush you are using is flat, so use this feature to paint the hillside in levels using the flat side in parts and the narrow side in others to create a variety of textures. This option is available with most flat brushes, provided that you are using a pressure sensitive pen. Figure 8.10 shows the cursor and brush dab when angling the pen towards you and to one side.
FIG 8.11 Detail showing central area and trees
9. Paint the trees on the left in the same way and then the grassy slope. This should be done with long horizontal brush strokes interspersed with a few vertical strokes to indicate taller grasses (Figure 8.11).
FIG 8.12 Detail of the sheep and trees
10. The grass in the lower part of the field is much taller and rough; paint this with vertical brush strokes and with the brush angled to use the narrow edge. Keep the brush moving quickly to create a rough texture.
11. Paint the smooth grass bottom right with long horizontal strokes.
12. Reduce the brush size to 20 and paint the sheep. Don’t make them too clear – allow some oily smudges to show (Figure 8.12).
13. Continue using this brush and put extra detail throughout the picture. In particular follow the lines of the tree branches. Paint on the narrow edge of the brush to get the best result.
14. Make a copy of the Canvas (Select All, Edit Copy, Edit Paste in Place).
15. Effects Surface Control Apply Surface Texture. Choose Image Luminance and Amount 45%. This will add extra definition to the brush marks. Having this on a separate layer will allow you to reduce the opacity if necessary.
16. It would be appropriate to add a canvas texture prior to printing. Make a copy of the layer you have just created. (Right-click the layer and select Duplicate.)
17. Select Artists Canvas in the Papers palette, then Effects Surface Control Apply Surface Texture. Choose Paper and Amount 86%. The canvas texture is not applied to the final picture here as it does not reproduce well when printed this small.
Dry Bristle Watercolor
This step by step example uses the Dry Bristle brush which is one of the easiest traditional watercolor brushes to use when cloning. It does not build up to black as quickly as many other watercolor brushes and, because the diffusion process is only very modest, it is also much faster.
1. Open ‘ Old Tree ’ from Chapter 8 folder on the DVD.
2. Open the Underpainting palette (Window Underpainting).
3. In the Color Scheme drop down menu select the Sketchbook Scheme; this will make the colors muted which will suit the picture.
4. File Quick Clone.
5. Select the Watercolor Dry Bristle brush, size 28 and Opacity 4%.
6. Click the Clone Color option in the Colors palette.
7. Clone in the old tree; the Sketchbook color scheme has increased the contrast quite considerably so the coverage will be uneven (Figure 8.15).
FIG 8.15 The first stage of painting the tree trunk
8. Increase the brush opacity to 16% and bring some additional texture into the white areas of the tree trunk (Figure 8.16).
9. Create a new Watercolor layer and move it below the layer on which you have been painting. The new Watercolor layer icon is the blue water droplet at the bottom of the Layers palette.
10. Increase the brush size to 48 and make the Opacity 3%.
11. Paint the background using horizontal brush strokes; keep it a light texture. The reason for painting this on a new layer is that, if necessary, the layer opacity can be reduced to make the background lighter.
FIG 8.17 Adding the background
12. Create a new Watercolor layer and place it in between the two existing layers. Paint the daffodils in short vertical brush strokes using the same brush size and opacity. Keep them fairly light and if necessary reduce the layer opacity.
13. Create a new Watercolor layer and move it to the top of the layer stack.
14. Use brush size 11, Opacity 10% and paint parts of the tree trunk to define the edges.
FIG 8.18 The daffodils are painted in the background
15. Adjust the opacity of the layers to balance the picture.
16. If you intend to open this in Photoshop you will need to drop all the layers first as the Gell Layer Composite Method which Painter uses for Watercolor layers is not recognized by Photoshop and will not translate correctly.
17. At this stage I decided that the lower part of the tree trunk was too light, due to the contrast added by the color scheme chosen at the start. My solution was to go back to the original photograph, darken it considerably, apply the color scheme as described earlier and then clone from that. This gave me the solidity which the composition required.
Oil Pastels
In this step by step you will discover ways in which to transform a photograph into an artistic impression using brushes from the Oil Pastels brush category to both clone and paint.
1. Open ‘ Worcester Cathedral ’ from Chapter 8 folder on the DVD.
2. File Quick Clone.
3. Select the Oil Pastels Variable Oil Pastel brush, size 52, Opacity 11%, Resat 2% and Bleed 92%.
4. Select the Sandy Pastel Paper in the Papers palette.
5. Hide the tracing paper as this will not be used until later. Do not click the Clone Color option as the early stages will involve painting a background into which to clone.
FIG 8.22 Painting the background 1
6. Paint all the picture using medium size brush strokes. Select colors from the Colors palette to paint with, mainly light yellows and warm tones for the top half and darker browns and blues for the lower part. Keep all the colors light. After putting a reasonable amount of color onto the paper, keep the brush on the page and blend the new color with the color on the Canvas. The intention is to create a mix of colors which vary across the picture (Figures 8.22 and 8.23).
FIG 8.23 Painting the background 2
7. When all the picture area is covered change the brush to Blenders Soft Blender Stump, size 48 and Opacity 46%. Blend the entire picture; you should have a diff used picture with plenty of color variation – light at the top and darker at the base (Figure 8.24).
FIG 8.24 Blending the background
8. Make a copy of the Canvas. Select All, Edit Copy, Edit Paste in Place.
9. Return to the Variable Oil Pastel. Click the brush reset icon to return to the default settings, then, the in the General palette, change the Method to Cloning, Subcategory to Soft Cover Cloning, Brush size to 30 and Opacity to 100%.
10. Pull the brush upwards from the bottom; this will create streaks out of the colors. Continue over the entire picture.
11. Select the Chunky Oil Pastel, then, in the General palette, change to Method: Cloning, Subcategory: Soft Cover Cloning, size 52 and opacity 13%.
12. Turn the Tracing Paper on and lightly clone in the cathedral and some of the trees; don’t clone in the lower parts of the picture. Turn the Tracing Paper off when you have finished (Figure 8.25).
FIG 8.25 Cloning in the cathedral
13. Make a new layer in Colorize mode and change back to the Variable Oil Pastel; click the brush reset icon to return to the default settings. Brush size 91 and Opacity 11%.
14. Select a light orange in the Colors palette and paint over the entire picture; this will overlay a texture on the picture and also lighten the image (Figure 8.26).
15. Reduce the layer opacity to around 50%.
FIG 8.26 Creating a color overlay
16. I decided that the top was too yellow in color and needed to be lighter; if you need to change this too follow the next three steps.
17. Make a new layer.
18. Return the Variable Oil Pastel brush to the default settings, then change to brush size 105 and Opacity 5%.
19. Select white in the Colors palette and lightly paint over the top part until most of the color has been hidden. Adjust the layer opacity to get the right level; I reduced it to around 50%.
20. Make a new layer.
21. Select a new brush: Cloners Soft Cloner, size 190 and Opacity 3%.
22. Lightly brush in the cathedral until you can see detail in the top of the tower.
23. Adjust the layer opacity to keep the effect subtle. I reduced it to 54%.
24. Add a Brightness and Contrast layer by clicking the Dynamic Plug-ins icon in the Layers palette. Move the top slider a small amount to the right and the bottom slider a little to the left; this will intensify the colors and contrast. Adjust the layer opacity if required.
FIG 8.28 Worcester Cathedral detail
Pencil landscape
The introduction in Painter 11 of the new range of Real hard media brushes, and in particular the Real pencils, has transformed the way that pencil drawings can be made in Painter. The brushes work a lot more like their real life equivalents, in particular by having the flexibility that a traditional pencil has that allows it to be used at various angles, getting a sharp point when it is held vertically, and shading when held at a shallow angle; for the first time this is possible in Painter. What’s more there is a new Hard Media palette in which the pencils can be customized to your choice.
To make full use of these brushes you need a pressure sensitive pen with tilt control – without that you will find it difficult to follow this demonstration.
The photograph used for this demonstration was taken on a camera which has been converted to use just the infra-red spectrum. This produces light and delicate tones in monochrome, which should work well with the pencil clone technique.
1. Open ‘ Six cold crosses ’ from Chapter 8 folder on the DVD.
2. File Quick Clone.
3. Select the French Watercolor Paper from the Papers palette.
4. Select the Pencils Real 6B Soft Pencil, size 108, Opacity 5% and Grain100%.
5. Click the Clone Color option in the Colors palette.
6. Starting in the top right area sketch a light tone across the right side of the picture; hold the pen at a shallow angle to allow the delicate shading to cover the area smoothly. You will need to use various angles and directions to get a good even cover. Paint down and over the large crosses but only lightly outline the crosses at present.
7. Paint the background trees with the same brush. Use the pen at an angle as before but use short strokes in a circular direction. This should bring out an impression of the trees.
8. Continue painting down the picture until the whole area is covered with a light tone (Figure 8.30).
FIG 8.30 The whole picture covered in a light tone
FIG 8.31 Adding detail to the crosses
9. Change to the Pencils Real 4 H Hard Pencil, size 32.2, Opacity 10% and Grain 100%.
10. Click the Clone Color option in the Colors palette.
11. Paint the large crosses. Angle the brush strokes differently on each of the sides of the cross – this will help separate the sides.
12. Build up the density of the crosses in stages until they are quite clear. Try not to define the edges of the crosses by painting downwards, rather continue to work across the face of the crosses until the edge appears. The crosses are covered in lichen, so they will remain mottled. Remember that detailed pencil drawings are not usually quick to make, so you will need patience to get a good result.
13. Increase the brush opacity to 27% and paint over again, concentrating on the edges, especially the light tops. Hold the pen vertical to get a fine edge.
14. Now paint the small crosses in the same way. Start with 10% Opacity and then increase it to around 30%. The pen can be held at various angles but the best detail is when held vertical and the line is very fine (Figure 8.32).
15. The crosses are now clear but the background and grass need to have more detail so that the two areas can be integrated. Keep the size at 32.2 and Opacity 10%.
16. Starting from bottom left paint the grass, working across to the right-hand side. Keep the brush at a slight angle and paint so that the brush stroke are roughly vertical. When you come to the path make the brush strokes less vertical as there is little grass there.
17. Reduce the brush opacity to 5% and paint the remainder of the grass; because there is little density in the original photograph the cloning will look light.
18. Paint the trees in the background. Use the pen vertical to get the outlines of the tree trunks and branches, then paint over again with the pen at an angle – this will soften the lines.
19. Increase the brush opacity to 70% and holding, the pen vertically to get a fine point, paint the edges of the large crosses to add some contrast and bring out the frost on the tops and sides.
FIG 8.33 Detail of small crosses
20. Finally, you may wish to add a little contrast to the picture. If so go to Effects>Tonal Control>Brightness/Contrast and move the top slider a little to the right.
FIG 9.1 Harvey and Toby, painted with the Artist Pastel Chalk