Can you trace using Artrage 5?

Not only can you trace, but I've found it to be nearly as good as tracing using carbon paper (Google search - Carbon Paper Trace Monotypes).

There are plenty of instructions online how to use the tracing feature in Artrage 5. So I'll talk about the quality of the results instead. I found it best to use pencil - fine precise liner with the size set from 1-20 (This is good for a pencil sketch look).

I can predict that the speed I will be able to trace images will increase massively. I won't have to set up a carbon paper tracing and won't have to store it anywhere (with a risk of it being scratched). Artrage 5 saves both the image layer you are copying from and your top copy layer (a virtual tracing paper that has a variable opacity) as one file. You can export your finished tracing to be used in other art programs or in Artrage itself. The completed tracing can be worked up into a finished digital painting or left as a pencil sketch for example (as it's very convincing! See below.)

Auto White Balance - Gimp 2.8

Can you finish a hand painted work of art digitally?

Stage 1 - Acrylic on canvas panel.

Stage 2 - Starting digital painting.

Stage 3 - Blocking in main areas.

Stage 4 - Refining all areas.

Stage 5 - Adding in the details.

The finished work.

This hybrid impressionist work of art is based on the 19th Century painting entitled Sunset near Land's End, Cornwall, England by Thomas Moran. It was started on a canvas panel using acrylic paints. I have shown that a traditional style of painting can quite easily be used with digital equipment. I used Gimp 2.8, a laptop with Windows 7 and a Wacom graphics tablet (a basic model).

This work is available to buy on various products from Redbubble.com

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Peinture à l'essence

I had a go at draining the oil from some water-soluble oil paints and thining with water. I wasn't sure it was going to work but it did. I used thick unprimed cardboard as a support (the kind you get in wire bound notepads).

The results look like gouache and dried very quickly. Paintings completed using this technique reproduce really well as they are matte in appearance.

A sketchy Carbon Paper Trace Monotype of a Monk after Konstantin Savitsky.

Scanned Carbon Paper Trace Monotype.

Enhanced in Gimp2 using Auto White Balance and Levels.

Areas have been filled in black using the Bucket Fill.

View the finished image on different products at Redbubble.com

How to make easy patterns to use on clothing and products in Redbubble.com

I was recently watching tutorials on Youtube about digital art and the free art program Medibang Paint Pro was mentioned. I downloaded it and came across a useful pen for making patterns. The pen is called Rotation Symmetry Pen.

Within days of using Medibang Paint Pro I was creating some really amazing patterns and I decided to use them on products in my Redbubble shop.

Today I created a Hippy type pattern.

https://www.redbubble.com/people/rusty65/works/30734724-pattern-3

Another experiment tracing using a small Wacom tablet.

I felt like having another go at tracing from an inkjet image (masking) taped to my small Wacom graphic tablet.

The reason was I have had a really bad virus for the past week and didn't feel up to tackling anything needing too much effort from me. I'm working on some really good digital paintings at the moment which I'll show in another blog in the coming weeks.

Anyway, I've been watching Youtube videos on digital art and the free graphics software MediBang Paint Pro 13.2 was mentioned.

I downloaded it and really enjoyed using it in my simple way of producing digital paintings - it suited my technological skill level very well, as I don't understand many of the advanced features of some of the free graphics software programs I have installed. I am still painting on one layer at the moment, unless I need a top painting layer to trace a background layer below.

Anyway, I attached a B&W inkjet copy of the painting "Indolence" by Guillaume Seignac to my small Wacom tablet, making sure the woman's face was in the central area, so I could capture as much useful detail without having to move the paper.

This was as much detail as I could get before having to make the canvas bigger.

After making the canvas bigger, I repositioned the A4 B&W inkjet image on the Wacom tablet and then had great fun trying to zoom in and out and move the image around on screen until I matched the position of my pen hovering over the A4 image.

I did a bit more work then accidentally lost my position and struggled to get it lined up correctly.

I am more than pleased with my attempt to capture as much detail as I could using this method.

I think this is an improvement on my last effort and I could work some more on this image digitally by eye (no more tracing needed, as the hardest part of the painting is already done), or I could print this onto cartridge paper and continue in paints or maybe charcoal or pencil? There are no limits, I might be cheating, but it's fun and you end up with some really good images. (I mainly trace portraits, I can draw boats, small figures and landscapes by eye. If I had the time I could draw a portrait by eye, but I have a busy life and see no reason to waste valuable time I don't really have).

By the way, there was one slight problem I encountered - my nib has worn down quite a bit. This could be because of the drag on the paper. I looked on Youtube and found you can make your own nibs easily, so I'll probably have a go at doing that.

Can you digitally recreate an Old Master painting?

I'm only beginning my journey into digital painting, but I figured that I should be able to tap into the skills I have learnt over the years painting with acrylics to enable me to produce a finished digital impressionist copy.

I chose to carry on with a piece of work that I already had. About a year ago I sketched a copy of Claude Monet's 'Argenteuil 1875' onto a piece of brown cardboard that was cut from a cereal box. I then started to paint the picture using inexpensive acrylic paints. I got so far and didn't get back to finishing it off.

Over the past two months I have been experimenting with digital painting using Gimp 2.8. So I scanned my cardboard sketch/initial painting onto the computer and set about finishing it digitally. I mainly used a texture brush for the majority of the painting and a smoke brush for parts of the sky.

I'm very happy with the results, and it didn't take too long to complete. I especially like the pastel effect I got in the background. I think digital painting is well suited to impressionistic paintings and I will be producing many more in the coming months. I'm am also keen to try copying really Old Master paintings from the 1500's onwards.

Some people might question why I would want to copy Old Masters instead of producing digital fantasy art. I would love to be able to produce digital fantasy art, but unfortunately I don't have the ability or such a strong interest as others might. I enjoy art history and love reinterpreting paintings. I feel that art from the past still has a place in the modern world. It stands the test of time and is still
popular and appreciated by many people. I find I am learning all the time and consider it very valuable to revisit the past by copying Old Masters. I would argue that my own work can only improve by looking at how an expert from the past tackled a particular passage in a painting.

Ballpoint pen sketch on cardboard.

Acrylic painted image (cardboard).

Finished digital painting (computer).

Can you paint in a traditional way digitally?

Well I've been having a good go at it over the past couple days. I've photographed half finished works of art and am now working on them digitally. Below are the fruits of my labour so far. they're not finished, but you can see where I'm going with these. It will take a lot of work to finish these pieces, but it's much easier than using real paints. I feel really motivated and am keen to see the finished results.

I'm still using Gimp2 at the moment, even though I have quite a few other free graphics programs that I could use. The main reason for this is that I don't want to waste time learning new software when I've been using Gimp2 for years. Having said that, I am only recently painting digitally with Gimp2, before I would edit scanned pieces of work before uploading to Redbubble.com

How do you become a digital artist?

Expanding on my Carbon Paper Trace Monotype methods, I’ve now started to continue artworks using digital painting techniques for the first time.

I am very surprised at the results I’ve achieved so far and will most likely use this method with most subsequent CPTMs.

Workload productivity can be increased as a result because there is no need to set up paints and other art materials, plus a large area of space is no longer required; just the room for a laptop, mouse and graphic tablet, which could be used on a kitchen/dinning room table or at a library for example.

The example below was pinned to my kitchen wall and photographed as the scanner was out of action (because the printer part was out of ink!).

My copy is after Carl Reichert’s painting – Head of a German Short Haired Pointer.

Carl Reichert. (Austrian 1836-1918).

Once I had the Carbon Paper Trace Monotype copy in Gimp2 I began copying the original image – which I had open next to mine in a separate window.

My copy is not complete yet, but look out for the finished work of art on Redbubble.com

Tracing using a graphic tablet.

The Art of Tracing.

Normally I trace using carbon paper and get really good results, however I recently thought of securing an inkjet image on top of my small graphic tablet with masking tape to see if I could trace that way.

My first ever attempt at doing this is below. I wouldn’t say it’s easy to do, but it is possible. The main problem I encountered was when I needed to move the paper a bit to start tracing a new section. I found I had to move the image around on the screen until it corresponded with the position of the pen hovering over the graphic tablet. With practice it is a viable option for tracing, but I think it works best for images of people or animals rather than objects like cars or motorcycles. I haven’t tried to trace a landscape yet, but I can’t see a problem and it might be possible to produce a convincing charcoal type drawing.