Magical Moonlight

One of the programs I use for my digital art is Corel Painter. This past December I decided it was time to upgrade from version X to 12. Ok, not so much as decided as had to since my Painter X was destroyed in a flood. I chose the right time since the program was on deep sale.

I can say that so far I'm definitely not disappointed in version 12. 

That's not to say that Painter X was bad. Just look at this painting I created on it in 2008.

Magical Moonlight, © 2008 Tracey R Gates

It was my first attempt at making a digital painting and still one of my favorites. While I've been spending a good deal of time playing with my new granddaughter, I plan to get back to drawing and painting this year.

For Christmas 2011, my wonderful husband bought me a Wacom Intuos4 medium tablet. The drawing space is larger than the one I had on my Intuos3. I also like the texture of the drawing area. It feels more paper like rather than the extremely smooth surface of the Intuos3. Although, I will admit that the nibs seems to disappear a lot faster than those for version 3.

The combination Wacom tablet and Painter program really helps me create digital art as I would with traditional acrylic, brush and airbrush on canvas. There are settings for acrylic, oil, pen, pencil, marker, etc.. The program is set up so that each medium behaves just as it would traditionally. The tablet is set up so that it really does feel like I'm holding the brushes, pens, or other artistic tools. 

I still paint traditionally, but this is great for those times when I don't want to drag out all the supplies and easel. Especially since my craft room looks a bit like a tornado went through at the moment, but, hey, it's getting back to normal. 

Prints of "Magical Moonlight" are available at my artist page through Tracey R Gates artwork at Artist Rising, or at my online shop at PixieLed Originals.