How to Get Started On Your Painter Journey

I am often asked what is the most effective way to get started in digital painting using Corel Painter and their new Wacom tablet. Here are some amazing (several free) resources that Corel and their Painter Masters have provided over the years. I hope this helps!

If you really want to be proficient at it, stick with it, even if it’s 30 minutes twice a week. Paint on high res files that you enjoy.

Give yourself grace to learn it as a tool. Date Painter. Or speed date it. Open up a blank canvas, and start playing with brushes. Some of my favorites early on were Oils>Smeary Round, Chalk>Color Square Chalk, and Artists>Impressionist brushes! Save often. Make mistakes. You’ll grow faster.

Paint with a limited palette to get started so you can really learn how to see shapes, and what brushes work best with various areas.

Study art and look at paintings closely at almost a macro level to dissect what brushes would possibly make that mark in the digital world. Traditional art and digital art go hand in hand on your journey. Study it!

Draw! Don’t simply rely on blending, or cloning brushes. Those will make “pretty” pictures, but to truly enjoy painting, and make masterpieces, I really believe you have to leave your own “mark” on the painting.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Painte… – This is a huge library of Corel Painter tutorials provided by Corel.

http://www.painterartist.com/us/pag… – Here are Painter’s “Elite” Masters

http://www.painterartist.com/us/pag… – Here is the new Painter Master program

http://learn.corel.com/ – Painter created a Discovery Center with free training materials!

http://www.painterartist.com/us/pag… – Did you know Painter has a list of written tutorials?

http://www.painterartist.com/us/pag… – Painter’s vast list of tips and tricks

http://www.painterartist.com/us/pag… – A wonderful plethora of training materials, forums, and online schools!

http://www.aaronrutten.com/classes…. – I love Aaron Rutten’s training. He’s easy to follow, and teaches sequentially. It makes sense and I always learn new tidbits listening to him!

http://skipallenpaints.com/tag/core… – Skip Allen is a genius. Seriously. Genius. I find his biggest strength is teaching the watercolor functionality of Painter. He really knows Painter inside and out and teaches at the Digital Art Academy

(http://digitalartacademy.com/). He can explain “mysterious” features beautifully and his work is a pleasure.

http://www.helenyancystudio.com/wor… – I would be remiss to not mention the Master who taught me Painter over a decade ago. She brought it all together, and the lightbulbs went off forever changing my world. Helen Yancy is a brilliant instructor, mentor, and artist. She started out traditionally painting in oils, and found Painter. You must check out her works and tutorials! If you ever get a chance to study with her in person, it will ROCK YOUR WORLD!

http://jasonmaranto.blogspot.com/ – I just discovered Jason, and he’s so gifted at simply breaking down technical so you can easily grasp it. I enjoy his Youtube videos immensely! https://www.youtube.com/user/JasonM…

http://www.paintboxtv.com/ -Jeremy Sutton’s PaintBoxTv is an awesome resource! Jeremy is an expressive painter, but a phenomenal educator when it comes to understanding why things work the way they do. He explains things beautifully, and is very entertaining to watch as he paints live!

https://www.pinterest.com/corelpain… – Corel’s Pinterest board. Who doesn’t love Pinterest?

and then there’s my site: http://Youtube.com/HeatherThePainter  and  http://www.HeatherThePainterStore.com/… where Jack and I teach painting in digital and organic formats.

If you want to be notified of my workshops, online webinars, sales, goodies, contests, etc or just hear news about Jack (the painting dog), please visit my site www.HeatherThePainter.com and subscribe to the online newsletter. We won’t spam you 🙂