Martin Hanschild

The artist discusses how Rebelle fits into his art and workflow

What does Rebelle make easier for you?

I’m able to achieve results similar to traditional watercolour painting – just digitally!

But does Rebelle make anything harder?

You need to be careful, because you have to stop your colours or water flowing at the right time, or else you might lose an interesting shape. It’s closer to the analogue technique. But I’d say this just adds to the fun. What actually makes Rebelle harder is that it lacks some features that are common in other art programs, such as image resize, crop and varied selection tools.

Did you find the interface easy to use?

Yes, it’s simple and clear. All of its panels can be docked, so you can change their position and size, and either attach them or let them float in your workspace. I have worked with Rebelle from version 1.0 and it had fewer options and possibilities, then. This time it took around two to three hours to get the hang of it

Does the brush feature seem useful to you, or gimmicky?

The new brush editor is definitely not gimmicky. I’d actually call it a game changer, because of how effectively it works, and what you can achieve without much effort.

Did you end up making any of your own brushes?

Yes, I did. And I’ll keep doing so in the future. Being able to choose from a greater number of brushes with more interesting strokes means you can easily add visual interest to your artwork.