Painter 11

So recently Corel and deviantART teamed up to bring you an amazing offer for their software Painter 11. Well what you didn't know is in addition to that Corel sent a few lucky deviants a copy of Painter 11 free of charge... well... with one rule; The artists had to use the software. I know not much of a rule really But hey. Anyway I was flabbergasted to learn I was one of the lucky individuals who was to be receiving this amazing gift. So as per the agreement I used it... and let me tell you... it is amazing. Corel has also given a nod to the environment in this release. The packaging for Painter 11 is certified green, thereby reducing its carbon footprint, and the reduced electronic pricing certainly encourages downloads.   I was almost disappointed when I went to the post to retrieve my package and saw only a small envelope. I thought "this can't be it *pout*". It's true... ask shuttermonkey... But I digress ^^

I'm still not fully "capable" of utilizing all the software has to offer, but what I able to do was mind boggling even for me. The level of detail and features they packed into this piece of software is unparalleled. Yet it somehow manages to stay intuitive and user friendly. I've used painter only once before and that was back in version 9. Stepping forward two upgrades and almost no recollection of the UI I was able to pick up my tablet and plan, sketch and finally paint (what to me is) an amazing still life.


llustrator and Photoshop may rule the vector and photo-editing realm, but it is Corel's Painter that reigns over the digital painting kingdom.

Designed to mimic natural drawing and painting environments as closely as possible, Painter has introduced (among many other features) an ingenious Real Bristle system that renders individual brush bristles while painting, and Mixing Palettes for working with oil and water, imitating paints in a genuinely realistic manner.


At first glance when opening the application there was a significant UI overhaul and an incredible speed boost to my prior version 9 memories. But once I started sketching I was blown away! Painter 11 includes a plethora of new "Natural-Media" brushes, many of which are specific for drawing and sketching (I found these personally impressive). The new brushes are sprinkled throughout several brush categories and include goodies like a pen that acts like Sharpie, pencils that you can shade with, and more.

In Painter 11 brushes now recognize tilt (brush angle) and the velocity (brush speed) of your stroke when used with a graphics tablet. And lucky for me I had my handy-dandy wacom cintiq warmed up and ready to create. You would think opening a 20x20 inch canvas at 300dpi would take a few minutes... well it doesn't. I remember working in painter 9 and having to wait a while for a much smaller size to  load. Once I opened my document and saved my blank canvas to my desired location (I hate loosing work because I forgot to save) I selected my first tool... A 2B pencil. When I made the first stroke of my sketch I was astonished. That tilt and velocity control I mentioned... It doesn't play!

Above is a screen cap of how accurate the pencil tool is (The actual cursor is shown above each brush stroke).  Do you see how it reacts to the texture of the canvas? How it darkens because of the pressure and speed I used then I ran my stylus across the screen? Sure photoshop has textured brushes and pressure control but it can in no way compete with the realism I found painter to have. I wanted to continue and finish the piece with pencil alone, that's how blown away I was. But I wanted to try something new... A medium I have never used before. After my initial sketch (which all based on memory I might add) everything was purely experimental.

I switched over to oil pastels... Those took some getting used too. I'm pretty sure they aren't new to Painter 11 but they were new to me and I was like a kid opening his first box of crayons. After laying blotches of color I quickly learned to adjust the tool in small increments until I finally discovered my perfect tool. I found it rather easy actually, granted there are a few more options to tinker with that photoshop doesn't have, but that was half the fun. I eventually created a custom tools palette by simply dragging tools to the dashboard for easy one click access to my painting and blending instruments. The trail and error process (translation: 'many, many hours') was, dare I say, fun. Working with a traditional medium I have never tried before, on a computer in software I had very limited experience with was all-in-all a pleasant experience.  To quote Corel themselves "Corel Painter 11 is the ultimate digital art studio for anyone ready to expand their definition of creativity" and I whole heartily agree. I cannot wait to get back in the software and create yet again.