Essentials Cafe

The past few days I have been trying to get a grip on this layers thing with added help from Tolouse.  This technique is going to take me quite a while to master I feel, because not only do I have to get to understand how the layers thing works but I've also got to get it working creatively with the art as well.

Anyway I've done a couple of versions using the same Riff file but clicking layers on and off. I will post them both and I will be interested to see what people prefer between the two.  The second one in which I used blue in the background, I used the fill bucket but in my mind I would have loved to used a brush that I could have loaded 2 colours onto (My mind goes way ahead of what I can do now.)  but I don't think I can do this with this programme.

I love chooks as a theme I'm gonna have to find some more pictures of them.  If you have a good one and are willing to share, please mail it to me, thanks.

 

I forgot to mention that the original photo for this one came from Tolouse.......Thanks mate!

 

Now here's Version Number 2.  I think after much consideration I like the first version best but then this doesn't have to be the end of playing with this bird.

 

I prefer the broader strokes and lighter background of your first attempt, but another version with a coloured background is good thinking and good practice for your first steps into the vast creative world of layers, the rooster is very colourful, and the background is too similar tonally, blue was a good choice it is a complementary colour to your overall design, a subdued blue/grey might work better, by all means flood fill, that's what it is for, but you could go to wet in wet watercolour on your background layer and give it a few seconds with a sargent brush, and even soften it to give an illusion of being out of focus and in the distance, you have another choice too, you could play with a gradient background sometime, the edges of chooky are too sharp giving the appearance of a cutout but you are still learning and learning fast and well...... a very brave and happy first attempt into a somewhat confusing world at first, and I am not being picky just suggesting, I can see what you are capable of, and have done so for some time, just keep practicing and enjoying, as you say it is not finished yet, but it is time to remember the words of Winston Churchill...... "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Some of his speeches still bring a lump to my throat, and so will your art.

Thanks for the feedback. As I write this I am playing with the other rooster shot that you sent me and deeply thinking about this layers thing.

Exciting and confusing at the same time.

For someone who has never tried layers before, you've made a great start. I wont go into the way i tell people to treat layers because alan is obviously doing a good job with explaining this. Layers will give you a good grounding though if you decide to use your painting in a program like photoshop or paint shop pro at a later date. Since coming to painter i am hardly using photoshop as before. It is mainly for toning or resizing. It is handy though for more accurate selections, cloning. Well done dianne, i like the first effort in this series and agree with alan regarding the cut out feel of the 2nd one.

I like the first version better too, but may I suggest that instead of just filling with the bucket tool, you try doing a separate file as a background. you can open this as a layer, and if you make it the same size as your bird photo, you can clone your bird onto it. You might also consider uploading the GIMP program. It is free, and it allows you to create files with transparent backgrounds! I sometimes create pictures in the GIMP, save them as transparent background gif. files, and then reopen them in Painter Essentials as a layer onto a different background. It took a while to get the hang of this, but it does give interesting results! Like this one. the butterfly was cloned with a transparent background and saved; the ball was created in the GIMP, and the background in essentials. I then layered them all together!

Hi Pyra, thanks for your insight.  Very interesting to read, but right now I am still working on learning the layers thing and don't think I'm quite ready just yet to add other programmes to this already muddled mind.  I like your idea though and will store it in my memory for use at a later date when I'm ready to tackle yet another challenge.  I have only been doing Essentials 3 since Christmas, and I loaded up the demo model of 4 less than 2 months ago.  I don't have a background of photoshop like some others have on this site. So the learning curve is still steady on an upwards rise.

However, please by all means keep on sharing your little tips and tricks with us all, as it is great to be learning from one another.

I like the first version best, the rough edges somehow look very painterly, well done Dianne. I too struggle a bit with layers, in fact I rarely use them, I need to push myself with that.