Welcome back, my dear readers, here comes the latest updates of my artistic activities this July!
Every quarter, there is an exciting release of new brushes from Kyle T. Webster. That's also the time I will be having fun with them. I usually apply them right on a current art project or assignment that I will be doing at that time.
Using Summer 2022 brushes of Kyle T. Webster in Photoshop to do an old assignment from Iliya Mirochnik at New Masters Academy.
I've just watched this podcast called Kyle Webster: The Accidental Expert on YouTube. It's cool to know more about the man behind the quarterly released Photoshop brushes through his high and low of his artistic journey since 2003. If you've used his brushes or just want to hear an interesting story from another fellow artist, you can listen to the podcast while drawing like I did.
Throughout this month, I continued to have fun doing 'Figure in Environment' assignments from Renae Wang at New Masters Academy. Each week, I painted Eve, the model, under different lighting conditions. So far, I've painted portraits in indoor cool light, candlelight, window light and two light sources. Super excited for what's coming next!
Portrait of Eve in indoor cool light using Rebelle 5 Pro and Photoshop
Portrait of Eve in Candlelight using Rebelle 5 Pro and Photoshop
Portrait of Eve in Window Light using Rebelle 5 Pro and Photoshop
I don't know why I've enjoyed playing with different software on my Windows PC lately. Two years ago, I was like 'everything' Photoshop, then Fresco came in to play for the following six months. After that, I painted a lot using Rebelle 4 watercolors & oils before moving on to the abstract painting in HeavyPaint. A couple of months later, I did ink drawing in Clip Studio Paint, and later, painted with oils and express oils in Rebelle 5 Pro. Now, I'm painting with Thick Paints, Oil Bravura and Fluid Paint in Corel Painter 2023 within its 15-day trial period.
Portrait of Eve in Warnm and Cool Lights, painted in Corel Painter 2023
I guess after feeling a bit 'ok' with my art fundamentals, I just wanted to explore more unusual or creative ways to paint. At first, I thought I was simply weird because I assumed that sticking to a particular software or app like Photoshop or Procreate would be the norm these days. Later, I discovered another artist called Georg Ireland, who also love playing with different painting software to get exciting results too. He may start an artwork in Rebelle, then bring it to ArtRage to do palette knife painting and finish off in Corel Painter. Fantastic inspiration, indeed!
Image captured from Georg Ireland website https://www.georg-ireland.de/
I can clearly see the benefit of using various software as it has drastically affected the quality of my painting. For instance, If I paint in Photoshop, I will think how to make it colorful like I did in Corel Painter or abstract like HeavyPaint. Using 'Hardcore' mode in HeavyPaint also helps boost my confidence as I undo/redo way less now in other software. 'Just put it down and leave it' is gradually becoming the way to go now. This helps me paint way faster and create 'happy accidents' more easily in any software I'm using right now.
That's it for this month, my dear readers. Until the end of next month, take care and have fun with your journey!