18 October 2006  Loved what you doing with these images.. Would love to learn a few steps to create some of what you have learned... any suggestions??  Please advise.. I have Photoshop on my laptop.. Barry, USA………

Thanks.  I think you should get Painter 9 too.  There’s a bit of a learning curve -  don’t be put off.  I recommend Jeremy Sutton’s “Painter 9 Creativity”.  This provides very good straightforward advice about using Painter and also some good ideas  - and inspiring too – for doing brushed simulations.  The watercolours in his book are not very convincing but for them try 'How to Wow, Photoshop for Photography' by Jack Davis and Ben Willmore – this has very clear guidance on getting watercolour effects.  There are of course many, many approaches and that’s the fun of photoart.  You need to get a digital tablet too – I use a Wacom Intuos 3 6”x8".  I am sure you know this but it’s really important to look at real natural media if you want to get decent digital simulations of them.  This is very enjoyable I find and brings a new interest to looking at great art.  David

19 October 2006  Thank you very much for your response..  I'll purchase the Painter IX and attempt to re-create some of the changes and techniques you have discovered, learned and used.   If you ever decide to make a tutorial please let me know.. I would surely be interested.   I greatly admire your work. Thanks again, Barry

30 August 2006 Good Morning David  Thank you for your reply regarding the brush for showing canvas texture. I have Painter 9.5 (latest version) and I haven't been able to locate the brush you spoke of so I am wondering if it is a custom brush. I am new to Painter...new to digital art as well so it just may be my inexperience in locating the brush (it doesn't appear in the list of oil brushes). Thanks again, and I am looking forward to seeing more of your work. Regards, David

There are some in “Artists Oils” and “Chalk” but I can't see any in "Oils" - sorry for the bad steer.  I set out below how I make my own Grainy brush in the Brush Creator using a standard Oil brush.  I strongly suggest you rummage round the Brush Creator and make it your friend - get used to customizing brushes yourself – this is a very important element in getting the most out of Painter.  The following assumes you are using a pressure sensitive pen tool:

In “Oils” open “Thick Wet Camel 10”.  Open up the Brush Creator and the "Impasto" function, and then change "Depth and Colour" to "Colour" unless you want a 3d brush effect.  Then open the “General” function.  Change “Soft Cover” to “Grainy Hard cover”.  This will enable the Grain function for the brush which you will see below the “Opacity” function.  Set Grain to 20% (remember that Grain strength decreases the higher the Grain value).  Set “Expression” to “Pressure”.  Make sure you have a texture selected in the “Paper Selector” which is the top left hand little square at the bottom of the Tools Palette (I use “Artists’ Canvas” mostly).  Have fun and experiment.  David

30 August 2006  Hello David: I really like your new paintings...all of them. I have a question about the one of the gentleman with the glasses. I like the effect that you have created with some of the canvas texture showing through in places. Is this effect created with a single brush or is it from painting over the texture itself?....the effect however it was created gives a very convincing oil paint effect.  Looking forward to more of your work.  David

The canvas texture is produced in Painter by using an oils brush with the word "Grainy" in its name.  In the brush tool bar set the graininess to about 16% which gives a good effect.  I don't use any overall canvas texture in Painter.  I occasionally add a little in Photoshop, but Painter can do a better job. David

24 August 2006  Hello David, The new releases are so nice. Maybe you don't need to do a tutorial; just working through the differences between the photo and final result are good tools. Your canvas technique nails it down for me. Oh, and also, the sketch technique of the building with the sort of woven cross-hatching and a breath of blue for the sky is a fun event to look at. Any chance you could tell us if you worked through Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro with that one and maybe a hint about your approach? Okay, thanks for lending your sensibility to the world. Your pictures are so full of surprises. Looks like you've recovered the lost brushes and then some. You are the best.  Kind regards, John

Thank you John.  The Chelsea Harbour (actually on the river Thames) scene was done in Photoshop using a small brush in Pattern mode.  First I made a pattern out of the photo and then, using a small brush and lots of patience. the scene was brought back to another layer filled with white with loads of cross hatching.  Generally, I use Painter for oil and acrylic simulations and Photoshop for watercolours and pen and pencil drawings. I don't use PSP at all.  Hope this helps.  David

23 August 2006  David, I stumbled into your website in my pursuit of the Buzz set of filters by Fo2Pix. I already use Art Master Pro in conjunction with Photoshop CS and have been considering Buzz as possibly a useful addition. I also have Painter but as a beginner (in terms of artistic manipulation), have not found the software very user friendly. I find your style and artistic interpretation very appealing.  This is very close to what I am trying to (with many a stumble), work towards.  I have a considerable collection of, dare I say, good quality photographic images from a wide range of countries and have been keen to explore artistic interpretations which may revitalise the work and perhaps enhance the commercial potential. After many years of travelling and working internationally I am now based in Cornwall.  Your site is a mine of useful information and now that I have found it, I will certainly be returning regularly.  I will particularly value learning more about the Wow brushes to which you refer.  Paul McCullagh

Thank you.  I am glad you like my pictures.  I thought that Art Master Pro already had the filters that buZZ Pro has – it is very much more expensive.  The most useful buZZ filter is the Simplifier and Art Master Pro must have this – it was this filter that really put buZZ and its original producer Segmentis on the map.  I would be very surprised if you had to buy buZZ.  I should check this before you spend any money. It is a helpful filter but needs to be used in combination with other techniques as it has such a strong tell-tale look.  You are lucky to have a stash of good photos -  I am scraping my photograph barrel now and must get out and find more images that interest me to work on.  Good luck with your own picture making.  Thanks again for contacting me. David

Hi David  As to my favorites that's difficult because I like them all, but that being said, my absolute favorite is the painting of the two boats (next to the barn painting which I also love) in Artwork 4. Also high on my list is the canal painting (#9) in Artwork 1 (this REALLY looks like a watercolour). I also really like the sunflowers (these would make a great tutorial because of their simplicity) and bowl of fruit in  Art 2. I guess my preference for watercolours is obvious but I am very fond of watercolours and your simulations are great. I realize that each painting is really an individual in regards to its techniques, but I think it is the thought process and basic principles you use in creating a painting which would make a tutorial valuable...personally I am not looking for a "canned" technique which can be applied to all paintings but rather a basic approach which can be altered to suit the painting.

Thanks.  That's very helpful.  I'll see what I can do.  David

12 August 2006  hi nice pics, i got a problem, can you help, i installed buzz pro in to the plug-ins folder like you do, but to my surprise even though i can c the plug-in name, it  is not active.  Do you know what I am doing wrong? I have no problems with other plug-ins. Thanks, regards, Gerry please reply to ... if you know the problem, Thanks so much

Thanks.  I've emailed you separately.  I can't remember the solution to this problem which is familiar.  I vaguely remember having to put buZZ into the Plugins/Filters folder and then pointing PS to it in PS's preferences/plugins.  Sorry I can't help more.  David

18 July 2006  David, your work is magnificent! I am a Buzz Pro fan as well, but I love the way you have expanded on and improved the image even more using your own artistic ability.I am a real admirer of watercolour paintings and just love the watercolours you have done. I am considering a Wacom tablet and I notice that you use the 6"X8" tablet with a 21" monitor. With the 21" monitor do you find the 6X8 tablet sufficient or do you think the 9X12 would be better ?  Looking forward to seeing more of your work.  David Gray

Thanks, David.  I have used a 9"x12" and found it too big, requiring too much hand movement - nothing to do with the monitor size, just the physical size of the tablet.  The 6"x8" is perfect for me and works fine with 21" monitor because the Wacom surface area is automatically mapped on to the monitor screen.  I use a resolution of 1280x960 with my monitor - quite large but poor eyesight requires this.  You won't go wrong with a Intuous3 6"x8" - a wonderful tool.  David

6 June 2006  Hello David - This is just a brief comment about that wonderful duck wading in mid-stream, its beak in the water - page 2, bottom row, middle picture - very charming. I always get a kick out of breezing through your latest works of art. You continue to improve, geez, you're the Man! Just know you are real appreciated out there in Cole fandom. Kind regards. John Fielder

Thanks - I appreciate it, John. The duck was wading in a stream in the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park, London, quite rightly paying no attention to me.  I do like ducks and chickens - wonderful to paint.  I'm struggling with some landscapes at the moment - I find them very difficult.  I'm thinking of making a new Artwork page specifically for new pictures so returning visitors can find them quickly.  The other most recent pictures are a scary self-portrait and a picture of my daughter drying her hair (which she doesn't like at all!) on Artwork 3.  I like it though.  Thanks again.  David

5 June 2006   Just had a peep in your albums David and think they are great.  Love how you do your portraits and your flower pics are stunning.  Have a thread at the Inn called Near to home, with lots of scenic photos...in the member to member photo art challenges...maybe you can find something there you would like to paint!!!  Kind regards Patricia Kay

Thank you, Patricia.  I will certainly have a look at your photos - I am always interested in finding new photos to "paint".  It is very nice of you to make this offer.  Recently, and on a retouching forum, I did a treatment of a photo that had been posted to see what could be done with it, and when I subsequently asked for permission to show my version of the picture on my website (with due acknowledgement) the copyright owner/poster turned me down.  So I am a little wary now of putting work into an image on spec!  Thanks again.  David

4 June 2006  You images are very creative and have such an artistic touch. I have been looking for a piece of software that would do what Fot2pix seems to do from their online demo and from you creations. Did you have any trouble with it working on CS2 and did you get the full pkg (approx. $200)? I couldn't find out how long this company has been around and how stable it is for future development and availability for updates, tech support, etc. Any info on this?  Thank you for taking the time to respond.  Joni

Thanks.  Fo2Pix has been going for some time and make a number of products - I have been using their buZZ software (only) for four or five years and the last product I bought was buzz Pro 3.  Like everyone else who uses buZZ, I find the Simplifier filter in it the most useful; I know of no other PS plugin that can do what the Simplifier does so elegantly.  I believe you can buy this filter by itself at a much reduced price - you can check this.  I think that the rest of the filters in buZZ Pro 3 are less interesting and I have no use for the big ArtMaster and PhotoArtMaster programs.  I cannot give you advice on the big programs I'm afraid - I don't know anyone who uses them.  I don't use the Simplifier in all my pictures - I actually use it increasingly less and am now pretty careful only to use it with other techniques so as to avoid the tell-tale Simplifier look - this is attractive but to people who know, immediately recognizable - particularly in the way it treats foliage and branches.  I'd try the Simplifier first - it works fine with CS2.  David