Painting on a Photo

There is a program that doesn't get as much press as Photoshop, but is just as powerful in the realm of art rather than photography. It is called Corel Painter and it has matured, like Photoshop, into a very sophisticated and complex tool. Plus, it is just plain fun to play with. 

Speaking of playing, Photoshop and Painter play well together also. Each company has kept their software highly compatible with the other. The bottom line is you can take a photo that has been "optimized" in Photoshop into Painter and paint on it. For someone like me who can't paint or draw worth a lick but would love to be able to, it can be a lot of fun to use a photo as a guide - which is what I did with this photo of my daughter.

The "painting" can be subtle as in the first photo, or a little more energetic as in this second example. I woke up one morning at about four o'clock and knew it was over. I didn't want to just sit around until dawn, so I decided to get on the computer and paint on this photo which I had intended to work on anyway.

It took only two hours to create this "masterpiece." I'm kidding - but it was a lot of fun. If you have an artistic bent, this program is simply amazing. There are so many tools - brushes and charcoals and oils and acrylics and on and on.

Here is a close-up of part of the painting so you can see the detail. The bad news is the program is even more pricey than Photoshop.  On the upside, there is a student version that is more reasonably priced.