The course is presented with Ulead PhotoImpact in mind but is general in scope so that any graphics application can be used. I am using both Corel Painter IX and Adobe Photoshop CS. Lots of drawing and painting basics information!

The thumbnail images below (except for the sailboat) will open into a new, larger window. Be sure to close after viewing.

The Work

The exercise really needed more time on my part, but I still consider myself as having learned more than I knew before!

The photo I chose is from a collection I had taken last summer at Blithewold Mansion in Bristol, Rhode Island which is located on Narragansett Bay. Rhode Island is a coastal state and so there are opportunities all the time to photograph the bay, and if one ventures to Block Island, the Atlantic! This was beautiful late summer day with lots of sun and blue sky.

I chose this photo because I felt it had a natural lead to the sprawling lawn and seemed to designate a path directly to the water. I used my 'artist's license' and added the sailboat from another shot which came along either before or after I had taken this photo.

About the painting (my own critique, in other words):

Positives:

1. I found that thinking in terms of negative space did help me to get rid of preconceived notions about what the bushes or lawn or water should look like. I was seeing things objectively as opposed to my own subjective ideas.
2. I made a Color set from the photo for getting at the 'real' colors.
3. I found painting the sky very joyful! I used an Airbrush variant, then a Blending Brush and feel it came out well.
4. Using the photo as reference gave me a very good feeling for the perspective of the parts of the image.
   1. If I were drawing this unassisted, I know I would have had a problem deciding just where to draw the line, so to speak, for the end of the lawn, beginning of the bay, and the further land on the other side of the bay and also for the sky. I seem to always want to make things that are close to me and so this was a good exercise in getting a feel for distance.

Negatives:

1. I had in mind an idea of getting the brilliance of the colors, particularly the bright light vibrant greens that say summer, but just missed on that. Hope to find a way to do that.
2. I grew tired when it came to the left side of the painting when adding the details of the leaves and so know that should be reworked if/when I have more time.
3. I could have spent more time adding some texture to the grass.

About the brushes used from Painter IX:

I have found some of the Pens in Painter are so good for creating the feeling of foliage. The Barbed Wire, Nervous, and Gradient Pens were so good for that! The Airbrush at varying opacity is good for shading while also good for adding some underlying texture to bushes with the Pixel Spray.