PAINTERLY EFFECTS

Transform your images into signature art pieces with the use of digital paint

Warrena J. Barnerd shows you how to transform your images into signature art pieces with the use of digital paint

Digital painting from a photograph is a process where the painter uses individual brush strokes to create an artistic, painterly version of their photo. The painter uses a pressure-sensitive stylus, a tablet and digital painting software such as Photoshop, Corel Painter, ArtRage or others.

A digital painting begins when all of the photo editing has been completed. The painting process mixes the pixels from the photograph, with or without the addition of colour, and removes some of the detail from the image. During the painting process, you can build up layers with variable brush types and strokes, change the size of your brush, add colour and play with values in your painting. You can also use blend modes to combine the layers. You can then alter and vary the opacity of layers to achieve the look you desire.

Although there are many default brushes in the software, the painter can achieve a very unique look with the use of customised or specialised brushes and the knowledge of how to adjust the settings for these. Automatic painting plugins can mimic this process but they limit the control of the artist, and no variation of the brush stroke is applied. Here we’ll take you through the painterly process.