31 October 2011 Your book on digital painting techniques is truly superb...really useful–unlike most of the other material I have studied on digital painting. I believe your grounding in and understanding of traditional painting media is why your book is so good. Although I do not do that much straight cloning (not that I have anything against it), I still found your book invaluable. I will be incorporating many of your techniques into my work. Some of your digital paintings are really well done. I also found the notes on your computer equipment very interesting as well. Thanks again. Regards, Clark Landwehr

Thanks, Clark.  Kind of you to write and let me know you liked the book.  I liked the portrait you sent me - very nice treatment - unfussy and confident.  I am getting towards the tail end of a 10 article magazine series on using Photoshop for photo-painting.  I don't know if you use Photoshop or Painter but if you have Photoshop you might check out the magazine - Practical Photoshop.  I have learnt a lot about Photoshop making the articles and have a great respect for the programme.  As a consequence of immersing myself in Photoshop, I haven't made a picture in Painter for many months and have not tried Painter 12 yet.  That will have to wait till next year. Thanks again for writing and good luck with your own work. David

15 June 2011 Hi David Hope you are doing well. Saw your new portraits in Imagine Publishing Corel Painter Gallery. They are just awesome. You seem to astound us with the dynamism of your brush strokes. Just a query about resolution. For digital photographic printing, I keep my portrait sizes in A4 size and at 300 dpi. But the problem I seem to always face is that the brushes become extremely slow in completing their strokes. Is there any way around this to avoid the tardiness or do you recommend something more practical and feasible? I would very much appreciate your input, please! Wesley

Thanks, Wesley. I'm glad you like my new pictures.  The latest ones were actually done in Photoshop using the Art History brush.  I'm doing a series of articles at the moment for Practical Photoshop magazine so am trying to brush up my Photoshop painting skills.

Resolution.  I quite understand your uncertainty - I was in the same boat.  When I did my book, the publishers wanted all images at 300ppi and brush size/performance was a problem - now, doing the articles, the magazine wants images that are 20" at 72ppi.  The images seem to come out fine in the magazine and brushes operate ok.  The received wisdom is that 150-300ppi is the right size for printed images but I find 72ppi much more convenient and it is great to have settled on a standard size/resolution because now I know the right size for brushes and textures.

Having said that, I don't actually print any of my pictures at full size so can't say for sure what the 72ppi resolution will look like at full size, and my advice would be to try some A4 pictures at 150ppi first and see how they print.  That should free up your brushes.  You could also try painting from a photo at (say) 20"x14" and 72ppi and then printing that image at A4 size but not re-sampling the image when you downsize it.  Try a few combinations. Best wishes David

6 March 2011 Hi David, I am really enjoying your book.  I have been doing digital painting now for about 10 months.  Sometimes I amaze myself, other times I am not impressed. :)  I have ran into a bit of a roadblock in your book.  I am working hard to learn how to do portraits and can do them with brushes and smudging, but haven’t discerned any particular style yet.   On page 47 of your book “Complete Digital Painting Techniques” I was so excited to see the effect I have been working toward.  As I read your instructions I came to part 2 where you say to use Topaz Simplify to create the effects.  I don’t understand how you did that.  So, I am stuck on just the second part of your tutorial.  Is there as way to explain possibly a little deeper how you came up with the #2 example on page 47.  I have tried many things in Topaz Simplify, but don’t get anywhere.  If you have answered this on all the posting you have, I apologize, I don’t get much time to paint and did look for awhile. I am getting close to retirement and am planning on expanding my loving  hobby of photography to portraits and painting. Thank you for your time. John Scheufler

John - I'm not sure I understand the problem you are having.  Frame 2 of the walkthrough on page 47 is just the starting photo with a little BuzSim filter added; here are the sort of settings I will have used: [picture of settings in Topaz Simplify] The setting "BuzSim" (the first in the list of presets in Topaz Simplify) flows from the now no longer sold buZZ Pro filter which made the big breakthrough into simplification of detail without rounding off edges.  I still use buZZ which was made originally by a UK company "Segmentis" and then by a now defunct company called fo2pix.  As this filter set is no longer available I didn't use it at all (if I remember correctly) in the book but it is still my favourite filter.  Like garlic, it needs to be used sparingly.  I wish Adobe or Corel (for their Painter programme) would buy the rights to buZZ and include it as a standard filter in PS or Painter.

Be ready for a frustrating time with the Art History brush.  It is not easy to use and its effects with the various stroke types (Tight Short etc) is unpredictable.  You just need to experiment.  I use it for loose picture treatments nowadays and if you want a looser effect you should stop painting earlier than you think you should.  Leave it in that blobby state for a while and come back to it later to see what further detail it really needs. Experiment with different brush types too - and with ones you make yourself. Hope that helps a bit.  Above all, have fun and good luck with your retirement.  I love mine. David

28 February 2011 David, I saw your book in a bookstore the other day and was blown away by your beautiful images.  This is exactly what I would like to be able to do with my digital photos, but I do not have the full versions of Photoshop or Painter.  I have Photoshop Elements and Painter Essentials.  Can the techniques you describe in this book be accomplished using these scaled down versions of the two applications?  Thanks! Marilyn Lowery

Hello Marilyn Thank you for letting me know that you like the illustrations in my book. I have only dabbled with Photoshop Elements 9 but from my brief experience of it I think you should be able to get some of the effects I achieve - particularly using the Pattern stamp tool. I would buy the Topazlabs "Simplify" plugin for Photoshop and PE to add the ability to make painterly simplifications of images before you brush them. PE also has the Impressionist brush tool though I don't know how well it operates or how effective it is. It may be a bit like Photoshop's Art History brush. I don't know about Painter Essentials I'm afraid. For me, the two most significant brush categories in Painter are the Artists' brushes and Artists Oils brushes - but I do not know if Painter Essentials has these. Good luck and have fun. David

Hi, David, Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly and for your advice.  It’s good to know that I may be able to achieve some of the effects described in your book, and I’ll definitely look into the Topazlabs “Simplify” plugin as you suggested.  I’ve only tried my hand at a few digital paintings from photos so far, so I have lots to learn.  Thanks again for your help. By the way, I love your website too … very inspirational … I plan on being a regular visitor to your site! Thanks, Marilyn

16 January 2011 David, I stumbled across your recent book 'Complete Digital Painting Techniques' the other day in a local bookstore.  After looking through it, I bought it.  I am learning digital painting with Corel Painter and mostly work on painting from my photos.  I always enjoy learning techniques from books and often find it educational to try creating a work in a book when the original photo is offered.  I noted in your book that you state "twelve digital photographs" were available, but the web link in the book does not work.  Are these photographs available?

I did find your web site and will explore it later tonight.  I was able to pick up your eMail address there. I really enjoyed reading your book and look forward to trying a number of your techniques.  I loved two of the full page paintings in the book (the tree picture on page 41 and the floral picture on page 55).  I wonder if you have provided any additional details on the techniques you used to create these two beautiful paintings? Thanks, Fred Holmes

Good to hear from you, Fred.  The download is still available - though a number of people have been in touch from time to time reporting that the link does not work.  The site is hosted by the book's publisher and I am sending your message to them to get you some help.  They are good about providing it. Glad you enjoyed the book.  It was a commissioned book - that is, I was commissioned to write a book about simulating a number of traditional natural media processes and techniques and that is what I have done.  It is not about my pictures per se.  I do not have guides for the two pictures you mention I'm afraid.  But you should find the techniques covered in the book will enable you to copy the approach I have taken in those pictures - you can easily use your own photographs to start with. Good luck and have fun. Best wishes David

Thanks, David.  I appreciate you forwarding my troubles on to the publisher. I spent some time tonight going through your art on your website.  Thanks so much for including the original photos that you created the art from.  It was very educational to see how beautiful a painting can be made from photos.  I will have to go back through my photos with a new eye for painting candidates.  It was interesting to learn that you were commissioned to write the book and now I can understand better the contents and structure.  Again, thanks for a great effort and I am so glad I found the book. Fred

NOTE: my publisher says the correct url for the downloadable files from my book is:

http://www.web-linked.com/painting/download.zip

9 January 2011 Hi David "Ranunculas by the window" - watercolour simulation - Artwork 2 - this looks very lovely. It has the appearance of watercolour and ink. Love the texture and brilliant colour. Glad to see you are still at it! Happy New Year! Cheers, Joan

Thanks, Joan. Yes, still at it. David

14 October 2010 Hi David, I dropped by your website yesterday and saw that your digital painting book has finally been released. I immediately hopped over to Amazon and ordered a copy. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to getting it. I hope that your pencil/ink sketching simulation techniques are covered—the samples in your Artwork 8 gallery are wonderful. And your watercolor technique, and . . . well, anything and everything you're willing to share!

What do you think of Photoshop CS5's new brush capabilities? I'm taking Tim Shelbourne's first online course (this one's on clone painting, and upcoming classes deal with freehanding in CS5), and he's developed some amazing techniques that give Painter a serious run for its money.

I know I'm not the only one who hopes that your instructional DVD(s) will be produced sooner rather than later. Have you done any tuts for Photoshop Creative or any of the other Photoshop magazines? Or are any on the horizon? Thanks! Diana Sparks

Hi Diana - thanks for your message.  Hope you enjoy the book.  I think I need to stress that I was commissioned to write the book which is about simulating various natural media processes digitally; it's not actually about my picture making approach though of course there is quite a lot in the book about that.  So it's not really 'my' book.  There's a lot of me in it but many - or most - of the tutorials are about how you simulate a process like Alla Prima or Scumbling, as opposed to the way I go about making a picture.  I use a range of techniques and resources for all my finished pictures, not just one.  

Tim Shelbourne is very expert at all this and I'm sure his classes are very good.  I am still coming to terms with the new CS5 brushes - I see opportunities, but am not fluent with them yet.  I need to work with them some more.  Hope to do a DVD soon - no magazine tutorials I'm afraid.  I like writing for magazines, and would happily do more if I was asked. Good luck with your work. Best wishes David

14 October 2010 Hi David, I do see you released a book of your approach to digital painting. Love your work! I create art from cloned images prepped in Photoshop then painted in Corel as I am not a trained artist but as you say "I have artistic ambitions" and enjoy the end result taking it beyond the photograph. I would be interested in videos from you so If you would keep me in mind I would appreciate that. Thank you and good luck on selling more paintings....the buyers are missing out on incredible talent. Sincerely, Andrea Auletta

Thanks, Andrea.  Kind of you to write.  I visited your site and like your pictures - I have of course seen some of them in Marilyn's forum.  I keep saying I will do a DVD but have never got round to it.  Maybe soon... Good luck with your work. David

9 October 2010 Hi David..very relieved to find your site. I'm beginning the world of Digital and am already finding barriers to the acceptance of this medium. People are immediately put off that it is done digitally. So that is an issue that the public has an issue!  I happen to love it ..allows me the speed I love to work at and the endless range of mediums..well u have a kid in a candy store here. Do u print yourself on paper or send it out to print.. also hard to know how to charge for commission portrait work  too. Well I'm self taught ..so it's slow going. But it was great going through your links and beautiful work..so much talent:) Sarah

Hi Sarah.  Thanks for your message.  Digital picture making has me hooked too.  I think that there is a big difference between digital painting from scratch and what I do which is digital clone painting using various techniques.  I completely understand that clone painting is seen as not as challenging as from-scratch painting whether that be digital or the real thing.  I also quite see that people will (and do) consider what I do as cheating because I use a computer.  I don't worry about it now.  I accept that what I do - which is at the far end of the photo manipulation spectrum - is not as skilful as the real thing.   I do it because it makes it possible for me to achieve decent results pretty consistently and way beyond what I would get if I relied on an actual brush and natural media.  I found real watercolour painting frustrating and not enjoyable at all because my success rate was too low.  We can't all be trained artists but we can still have artistic ambitions.

After that moment of contrition let me say that the way I go about my pictures can be pretty complex now and involves many techniques and processes.  Nor is it all machine - I usually have a lot of freehand brushwork in my pictures in addition to the cloned element and of course you still have to make many of the same artistic choices as you do when painting from scratch with real brushes.  Clone painting is in my opinion at its least successful when the clone artist ends up with an image that looks more less like the starting photograph.  This is a common problem and is usually the result of over-painting and of not knowing when to stop or what look you are after.  For me, clone painting is best when it simulates successfully a natural medium and painterly style.  I find that going after this is quite sufficient a challenge for me now and still gives me many interesting artistic problems to solve en route. 

I sell almost no pictures - only a handful of people have asked me to make a painting for them.  Nor do I print my pictures - I just love the challenge of creating the pictures and then sharing the results with visitors to my website.  That's enough for me.  But when I have sold I made absolutely clear that the painting was digitally made using a clone method.  There is no doubt that people are underwhelmed when they learn that a picture is a cloned effort.  But I live with that - I get a kick when people can't tell if one my pictures is a real natural medium or not.

Good luck with your digital picture making.  I love the (real, I assume) watercolour called Carmel on your website. Best wishes. David

18 July 2010 Hi David I have just revisited your website and I am (still) so impressed with your work. I like the progression into very real simulation of natural media. I was very surprised to read that you don't sell your work. That's amazing considering that it never ceases to impress. Your water colour of Girls on holiday in Brazil is absolutely beautiful and is really close to the real thing. Awesome. Please continue to impress and inspire those of us that can only dream about producing such amazing work. Regards, Ashley

Thank you very much for your kind email.  I'm very glad you enjoy some of my work and that it is helpful to your own.  The main reason I don't sell my work is that no one asks to buy it!  Best wishes David

2 July 2010 Hi David, My name is Wayne Osborne. I live in Miamisburg Ohio just southwest of Dayton. I really love your work. You do the kind of art that I aspire to do. I have Corel Painter 11 and Photoshop CS4. I have been using Photoshop for years but not really as a painting tool but to create web graphics, abstract art using plug-ins, and graphic design. I am not retired and want to use my time doing what I have wanted to do for years, but never had the time, learning to paint and pencil draw in software. I have been practicing for about two months now and hope to have some artwork up on my imagekind site soon. I really like the art work you do. I want my work to be close to the kind of art you are doing. I have had a terrible time during my life drawing the human figure and animals. Landscapes, buildings, and plants are no problem, but I have block when it comes to drawing living beings. I want to overcome this! Do you have any advice? Also you have a very nice, well-organized web site. Thanks for your time Wayne Osborne

Thanks, Wayne.  Nice of you to get in touch.  I'm glad you like some of my pictures.  Although I have drawn with a pencil and pen, and painted in watercolour, almost all the work on my website is clone painting of one kind or another.  That is, it uses brushes in Painter and Photoshop to paint with colours from one image, usually a photo, into another, usually a blank image of the same size.  The fun is that you do not have to be a skilled draughtsman to get the subject in an image accurately depicted on your blank sheet.  In Painter this is with clone colour painting and in Photoshop, something of the same effect can be achieved with the Art History brush and the Pattern Stamp Tool used as a brush.   The challenge is to end up with a cloned image that looks like a painting rather than an exact copy of your starting photograph.  Achieving this requires that you understand what real natural media  - like oils and watercolour - look like, how texture appears in natural media, how to prepare a source photo so it will make a good painting, which brushes to use and in what style, and what processes to apply to your cloned image to finish it. There are some tutorials on the Corel Painter website which are worth looking at if clone painting appeals to you.  I think there is one on that site that I contributed some years ago to Painter magazine which has easy, intermediate and advanced walkthrough examples. Good luck with your painting. Best wishes David

I am so glad that you brought the subject up of clone painting. I was wondering if what I was looking at on your site to be clone painting. I have a serious question about ethics on this matter. Yes, I have been studying how to do just that with a tutorial CD I got from Lynda.com with John Derry explaining everything about Painter 11 and that is one of the subjects. My dilemma is, is cloning a form of cheating? Please, I am not trying to step on your toes, just the opposite, I want to know how you feel about someone buying your artwork believing that you painted it the old traditional way of just looking at the subject, on location, and painting like De Vinci, compared to what you are really doing, tracing? I want to do what you are doing, I am working on a piece right now, but I am bit reserved about presenting it as a pencil work or oil painting work, when it is not, it is software work. And even beyond that one can get Painter to do AutoPainting, I don’t have to know a thing and I can create an art piece that could pass as a Seriat or VanGogh to the novice. So help me out here, how to do you reconcile your work to your buyers? Also thanks for the tip on the Art History Brush and the Pattern Stamp tool, those are two tools that I have never used in Photoshop. Well, that will change soon.

I never sell my work.  If I did, I'd make clear that the images are cloned.  It would be wrong to sell your cloned work as being free-hand painted.  Also, I always credit the original photographer - where it wasn't me - on my website.  I quite accept that some people think that clone painting is less skilful and tantamount to cheating.  A long discussion can be had about that but basically for me there's enough of a challenge in creating realistic natural media simulations using whatever help I can get.  I'm happy with that.  But you should not represent your cloned images as something they are not.

Thank you very much for your thoughts on the matter. I agree completely. I am new at this posting work on the Internet and trying to sell my art. ImageKind.com is a bit confusing for me to use. I am not sure how to go about informing viewers that the work is cloned from a photo. I will continue to investigate. I am quite surprised that you don’t sell you art. It is quite lovely. The portraits of Tim, Susan, Marcella, and yourself are very good works, but my favorites are Ducks in an Orchard (just beautiful scenery), Lilies, and Orange Lilies ( We call them Tiger Lilies here, and I have them every year both in my back patio area [just bloomed] and my front area right by the front door [due in about two weeks]) You really captured their beauty and them swaying in the wind. Thanks for responding to my questions. I feel better about what I am doing now. You keep going too, because your work is well appreciated!

14 May 2010 Hi David. Really enjoyed looking at your site and galleries again!(I have visited a few times in the past few years) I liked that I could see experimentation and evolution of your style over the years. Your art is fantastic, especially your portraits and landscapes! I thought it was so neat to see your reference photos below as well. Digital painting, particularly watercolours have been a passion of mine for some time and I love to share techniques and talk about it with other digital painters. I have had a website and or a blog for about three years, my present one for a year and it’s something I find important for me to do as a digital painter. Even though I’m self taught in all aspects and still have tons to learn I feel that my blogging and demonstrating what I am doing is of interest to many people. Doing my small bit to educate the public (including traditional artists) about what is possible with the digital medium.

Really impressed to see your work published  in Painter Magazine. You mentioned you would like to know about other sites concerning digital painting. May I recommend Karen Bonaker’s Painter Talk Forum . It is a very friendly and supportive forum with an emphasis on learning and sharing. Many of the members are new to digital art, but it’s fun to see people have such fun being creative!

I would like to suggest you have a look at my website as well. I really would like to have more comments and dialogue going on, but I guess that takes time to build. I am going to add a link to your site to my blog roll, and you may link to mine if you like. Meanwhile, it’s been great talking to you. Keep up the great work and HAPPY PAINTING! Kind regards, Joan A Hamilton http://www.joanahamilton.com/

Thanks for writing.  I enjoyed looking at your site and see you paint from scratch rather than clone (as I do).  I salute you for doing this - my thing is using a range of digital techniques and processes to simulate natural media.  I escaped to digital from real watercolour some years ago which I found too challenging and rarely produced work I liked.  It is easier for me to get decent results using digital cloning techniques in Painter and CS.  I find this approach pretty challenging but less demoralising that from-scratch painting. There's always more to learn and I am constantly building and refreshing my knowledge about artists I like so that I can try to emulate things they do that I admire.  I'm getting to know the new CS5 brushes at the moment. I have posted this exchange in my website visitors' book and this will show the links to your site and to Karen Bonaker's. Best wishes David