Corel Painter Essentials
Encyclopedia
Corel Painter Essentials is a home software studio
for sketching
, painting
and turning photographs into paintings. Corel Painter Essentials is now in its fourth incarnation.
The Drawing and Painting workspace is used for doodling, sketching or painting from scratch.
The Photo Painting workspace is used for creating a painting from a photograph. In this workspace, a variety of styles of paintings can be created from a photo in a single click. Alternatively, one can paint by hand with the program automatically choosing colors from the corresponding location in the original photo.
, acrylic
, watercolor
, gouache
, and ink wash paints, together with pencils, pens, charcoal, pastels, chalks and a variety of blenders. A variety of paper textures or canvas
es can be chosen for use in conjunction with any of these media.
Color can be selected from a set of traditional paint colors, adjusted by hue/saturation/value, or mixed in the mixer palette
that mimics a traditional painter's palette.
The page can be freely rotated while drawing or painting, as one would do when using a traditional piece of paper.
The program also provides standard image editing
features including layers and filters
.
is used by commercial designers, entertainment artists, professional photographers and fine artists.
Painter Essentials provides many of the same core features and capabilities as Painter X. However, in addition to the features of Painter Essentials, Painter X allows more customization of the user interface
and brushes, and provides over 800 brush tools as compared to approximately 90 brushes in Painter Essentials.
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
for sketching
Sketch (drawing)
A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work...
, painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and turning photographs into paintings. Corel Painter Essentials is now in its fourth incarnation.
Workspaces
Painter Essentials provides two workspaces that can be switched between at any time.The Drawing and Painting workspace is used for doodling, sketching or painting from scratch.
The Photo Painting workspace is used for creating a painting from a photograph. In this workspace, a variety of styles of paintings can be created from a photo in a single click. Alternatively, one can paint by hand with the program automatically choosing colors from the corresponding location in the original photo.
Tools
Painter Essentials provides a variety of brushes and media including oilOil paint
Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varnish may be added to increase the glossiness of the...
, acrylic
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
, watercolor
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
, gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
, and ink wash paints, together with pencils, pens, charcoal, pastels, chalks and a variety of blenders. A variety of paper textures or canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
es can be chosen for use in conjunction with any of these media.
Color can be selected from a set of traditional paint colors, adjusted by hue/saturation/value, or mixed in the mixer palette
Palette (painting)
A palette , in the original sense of the word, is a rigid, flat surface on which a painter arranges and mixes paints. A palette is usually made of wood, plastic, ceramic, or other hard, inert, nonporous material, and can vary greatly in size and shape...
that mimics a traditional painter's palette.
The page can be freely rotated while drawing or painting, as one would do when using a traditional piece of paper.
The program also provides standard image editing
Image editing
Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they be digital photographs, traditional analog photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such as an airbrush to modify photographs, or editing illustrations with any...
features including layers and filters
Photographic filter
In photography and videography, a filter is a camera accessory consisting of an optical filter that can be inserted in the optical path. The filter can be a square or oblong shape mounted in a holder accessory, or, more commonly, a glass or plastic disk with a metal or plastic ring frame, which...
.
Learning Material
The program includes a set of tutorial videos by John Derry. These teach the viewer various techniques from automatically creating a painting from a photo, to introducing some touch-up by hand, to creating a cartoon, drawing or painting from scratch. Sample files are provided to allow one to follow along while watching the videos. The accompanying manual provides the same tutorials in written form, plus reference material and an art tips section.Relation to Corel Painter
Corel Painter Essentials is a hobbyist version of Corel's Painter line of software. Painter Essentials is used by art and photography hobbyists, while Corel Painter XCorel Painter
Corel Painter is a raster-based digital art application created to simulate as accurately as possible the appearance and behavior of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking. It is intended to be used in real-time by professional digital artists as a functional creative...
is used by commercial designers, entertainment artists, professional photographers and fine artists.
Painter Essentials provides many of the same core features and capabilities as Painter X. However, in addition to the features of Painter Essentials, Painter X allows more customization of the user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
and brushes, and provides over 800 brush tools as compared to approximately 90 brushes in Painter Essentials.