Tutorial 1-1 - Starting a project

Contents

Preamble

Gather the necessary equipment and materials

Choose a subject image

Simple photographs

Staging photographs

Favour interesting lighting

Shared images

Asking for trouble

Other free image sites

Copyright issues

Prepare the subject image

Choose and prepare a painting surface

Open the application

Installation and launch

Exploring the UI

The main work area

The colour space widget

Create a new project

Load the subject image

Subject rotation

Filter the subject image

Compose the painting

Lock the layout

Save the project

• Part 1 - Starting a project
• Part 2 - The virtual palette
• Part 3 - The sketch
• Part 4 - Colour mixing
• Part 5 - Painting

Preamble apologies and excuses

The program is as intuitive as I can make it but you are still going to have to read the tutorial. There's too much stuff that needs to be done off screen.

Sorry.

There's a lot to read but it's quite simple and many steps can be skipped, repeated or performed out-of-order.

On the other hand the rabbit hole is deep and winding and it's easy to get lost.

On the first read through go top to bottom and don't follow any links unless directed. Particularly those that say … will be explained later. You'll get to those bits … later.

Of course you can click on the next part links near the bottom!

Blocks of text that are in grey and indented are mostly expositions, asides and jokes.

You could probably just skim them or skip them entirely.

Though they did take a lot of time and effort to write. 😢

I know the tutorial starts slowly. I wanted to do everything in a simple order but that means there is a lot of preparation before you actually get to paint anything.

Please do plough on. It is worth it.

At the start it may seem that the tutorial is all about learning the software rather than learning about painting. That's because the tutorial helps us use the software, so the software can help us learn to paint.

The perception that it's all about the software disappears rapidly once we start actually using it.

Currently all the hotkeys are shown for a mac. Generally for Windows substitute CONTROL^ for COMMAND⌘

Note OPTION⌥ is a synonym for ALT⌥
and META⌘ is a rarely used synonym for COMMAND⌘

Other differences will be displayed in the text.

Eventually. Once someone with a Windows machine tells me what they are.

Ditto Linux.

I'll add an OS preference switch into these pages to show the correct keys for your favourite operating system when I can.

Experimental OS button:

WindowsMac: main modifier key

Maybe I'll add different menu item styling too rather than just MacOS dark mode.

One standard MacOS behaviour that I have never liked is the automatic saves on exit or when opening a new file. If you want to be able to play to your hearts content and then quit the program without saving anything then toggle the auto saves off from the menu:

Project Auto save

Or we could just revert to the last save before quitting.

Project Revert to saved

Kinda clunky though.

If this is your second time through the tutorial consider clearing any preferences which got set on your first pass so everything is the back to how it was at installation.

Miscellaneous Clear preferences

But don't if it's your third, remembered preferences exist for good reasons.

Equipment and materials

First muster all the necessary paraphernalia.

Few things here are essential and almost everything can be swapped out with something else. Plan your workflow before you actually buy anything.

These are all links into the equipment and materials page. (A sanctioned divergence from the one true path).

• A computer
• A digital camera
• A printer
• Cables
• Paints
• Acrylics
• Oils
• Brushes
• Supports
• Kitchen roll and rags
• Transfer paper
• An easel
• A mahl stick
• A palette
• Palette knives
• A stay wet palette
• A spray bottle / mister
• Workable fixative
• Gesso
• Mediums
• Retarder
• Foam brushes
• A tripod
• Lamps
• A colour checker
• More brushes
• More kitchen roll and rags

Choosing a subject image

Select a subject image.

Ooh what to choose? This might be the hardest part.

At first I couldn't find anything but it didn't take long before I'd built a queue of images and ideas that will take me years to get through. People and pets, houses and hills, planes, trains and automobiles… I'm sure it will be the same for you.

Simple photographs

To start with choose a simple image where the interest is in the subject itself rather than intricate details or clever rendering.

A pretty girl from the renaissance faire with her hands in view Most people think hands and faces are the most difficult things to paint, but this process works well on them both. So if we choose a photo of someone with their face and hands in view we'll impress everyone, including ourselves.

Complex textures are hard but can often be smoothed out into a simple continuous colour. We don't have to paint every hair or stitch or leaf individually, just get the general shapes and values right.

On the other hand, a picture whose beauty is all in its textures, perhaps an extreme close-up of a butterfly's wing or something, might be hard to do justice to.

Don't worry if some idiot is pulling a face in the background or it looks like someone has a tree growing out of her head. Just don't paint those bits. We can make great paintings from flawed photographs.

Remember to visualise the what the end result will look like as a painting.

Staging photographs

How do we make a painting from a photo look less like a photo and more like a painting? If we are taking a photo specifically to use for a painting then we should stage the scene as if we were going to paint it from life.

For still lifes and landscapes we should set up both the scene and ourselves as if we are going to be there for the long haul before we take any photos.

For a portrait we should tell the sitter to put herself in a comfortable pose that she will be able to hold all day. One that she could return to easily for multiple painting sessions.

She won't actually have to, but it will make the shot look more like a traditional painting if she could. We should only take the photo after she's held the pose for at least a couple of minutes and relaxed into it.

Then tell her she looks great. Then click.

Classical portraits often include props and accessories with some meaning to the sitter. Things that act as clues to the sitter's role, occupation, status, attributes and abilities.

Make sure she is holding her judges gavel and that she has her stethoscope and all Olympic medals around her neck. She should be wearing her best body armour and have her scuba mask with a snorkel on her head. Arrange her Nobel prizes and Oscars so they can be seen on a shelf behind her. Ensure all her whips and chains are prominently visible on the side table.

Maybe some objects with relevant symbolism would be fun too.

Try to avoid captured moment snaps. The frozen instant look can end up screaming painted from a photo!

In particular photos taken from odd angles don't seem to translate well to paintings. The majority of classical paintings were staged with the painter and subject at the same eye level or the painter looking horizontally at a still life or landscape. By all means break the rules when you want to but be aware that you are doing it when you do.

More than anything else good lighting makes or breaks a photo or painting. Low morning or evening golden hour sunlight, candles, camp fires, reflections from water …

An on camera flash, not so much.

If possible choose an image that will end up making someone cry.

When we present someone with a picture of their dog, their child or their beloved grandma we want to see some tears.

Favour images with interesting lighting

Good art is mostly about good light.

Repeat it to yourself until it sticks.

From subtle, high-key, misty landscapes by Turner or Monet to dark, dramatic, low-key, chiaroscuro portraits by Caravaggio or Rembrandt.

I find high-key paintings are difficult to do well. I'm not subtle enough. Low-key paintings are much easier if we have a suitable reference.

I love the drama of chiaroscuro (pronounced: key-are-ruh-skoo-roh) and tenebrism.

However, it is rumoured that high-key paintings sell better.

We should try to become consciously aware of why we like our chosen image and keep focusing on those aspects throughout the project.

That's half the art.

Be wary of using your absolute favourite photo of all time in an early project.

The learning curve is very steep here. Save it for your third or fourth go.

Shared images

Bazillions of Free images are available - but always check the small print.

People asking for trouble

If we can't find a suitable image of our own then there are always people asking for trouble on:

• Paint My Photo

  Paint My Photo (PMP) is a social networking site dedicated to sharing photos for artistic inspiration without fear of infringing copyright.

  You will need to create an account in order to be able to see anything, but it's free.
• r/RedditGetsDrawn

  We are a community for redditors who want to get drawn and redditors who want to draw them! Post a photo of yourself or a loved one, and we'll draw you!

  Some great photos of pets too.
• r/RedditGetsDrawnBadly

  RGDB is a subreddit for people who just want to draw and get drawn, regardless of skill level! We've evolved past our name: good drawings are ok, average drawings are okay, bad drawings are okay. We have no standards, upwards or downwards. Just have fun!

  Some fun photos and funnier paintings. Much less pressure.
• r/DrawMe

  Draw and be drawn by cool people.

  Similar to r/RedditGetsDrawn but perhaps a little less formal.
• r/DrawMeNSFW NSFW

  A place where you can get your NSFW pics drawn or your SFW pics turned NSFW by an artist!

  I haven't looked so I couldn't possibly say. 😉
  No, I'm not providing a link. I'm sure you can work it out.
• Croquis Cafe NSFW

  Free art models for drawing. Videos and Still Photos of Female and Male Models.

  Tasteful, artistically posed nudes.
  So I'm told.

Other free image sites

Again, check the small print.

• commons.wikimedia.org
• Unsplash
• Pixabay
• Pixambo
• Pxhere
• Morguefile
• Pexels
• ISO Republic
• PikWizard
• StockVault
• Stock Up
• Negative space
• Fancy Crave
• Pictography
• Barn Images
• Gamut
• Kaboom Pics

Copyright issues

Just be careful.

None of the following matters if we are just using images for private training and practice. But it might become a problem if we produce an unexpected masterpiece that we then want to show-off.

IANAL but in the US (and similarly everywhere)…

Paintings based on photographs are derivative works and cannot be sold or published without the permission of the photographer.

17 U.S.C.   § 106 provides: the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to… (2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;

Note that it's usually the photographer, not the subject, that holds the copyright. Unless they've sold it or passed it on.

The Associated Press vs. Fairey (Barack Obama Hope poster).

So we should get permission before spending days painting a picture that we then can't show to anyone.

Citizensketcher (also NAL) suggests that translating to a different media *might* be sufficient to be within Fair Use. His article is here.

Most things on r/redditgetsdrawn and the like are fair game. The poster usually is, or has the consent of, the photographer and they are implicitly giving us the go ahead. However, if an image looks too good, we might want to ask if it was from a professional shoot. People usually just buy the images from photographers not the copyrights for them. The poster may not actually have the rights to give out!

The subjects of an image don't seem to have much say in the matter. At least not when they're adults in a public place. But if you are the photographer be polite and respect other peoples privacy.

Public place doesn't include publicly accessible privately owned spaces. That's the only reason I haven't painted my favourite Starbucks barista.

If you intend to use the photos commercially and the people are identifiable then you will need a release form. Country specific consent requirements

I went to a renaissance fair. Everyone was super proud of their costumes and really seemed to love being photographed. A target rich environment!

Though not strictly speaking a public place.

Special rules exist for pictures of identifiable products.

So don't depict Denzel Washington as an alcoholic pilot slugging a bottle of Bud. (Though Budweiser lost that one).

There are cases where people have claimed they themselves are an identifiable product.

Special rules also apply to photographing minors. Be careful that you have permission to photograph or paint children.

The same rules apply for non-photographic images too. We can't use someone else's paintings or other digital images without permission.

If we remember that this is all about learning how to paint, rather than creating a painting as a product, then we'll probably never upset anyone if we use their images as references. Indeed we may never even come to their attention. Regardless it's best to stick to our own photos of non-copyrighted things and our own consenting friends and family.

But if you see an image online and you really want to use it then just ask. It can start some great conversations. People are often flattered that you want to use one of their pictures for a painting and they will be interested in seeing the results.

You've made a fan already.

You can use any of my images for (non-commercial) painting references (only) as long as you let me know before hand. (Not every image here is mine).

Prepare the subject image

It can be easier to experiment with changes to the look of a subject image in a photo editing application than during painting. Subject image editing.

Kelsea after a quick dodge and burn in GIMP .
Original DSC05101

Original DSC05101

I tried for a chiaroscuro look here.

In GIMP I dodged the highlights and burnt the shadows for increased contrast, and burnt the edges for a vignette. It only took a couple of minutes but I think it increased the drama immensely.

Many artists whinge and rail against using photo references. They often complain that in photos detail is lost in the shadows.

But that's exactly what I want!

I don't want equal detail throughout the painting. I want drama!

A statue model at a wine festival .
Original DSC05078

Original DSC05078

I tried for a high-key look with these two photos.

Slow and elegant .
Original DSC05207

Original DSC05207

In GIMP I increased the brightness, added a white vignette and air-brushed out the remnants of background. I dodged the highlights and mid-tones and then burnt the shadows to recover some depth.

I'm not as happy with these edits. Even though they are not clean enough as stand alone images they will be fine as painting references.

They are high on my to paint list. But the list keeps changing and I haven't got enough time.

You paint 'em.

Of course the very best way of changing the lighting in a photo is to actually change the lighting in the scene and re-shoot it. This is rarely possible unless you're setting up your own still life.

Choosing and preparing a surface

Preparation is optional, but if we are going to do it, then we should consider doing it now.

We'll be glad we did when we're itching to start painting and it's already dry and ready to go.

Select a painting surface (aka supports or substrates).

Acrylic paint will stick to pretty much anything as long as the surface isn't loose or greasy (not oils or oil primer) and oils will stick to acrylics so we're golden.

Be aware that thin paper may buckle warp and and that oils may corrode untreated surfaces.

I use cheap pre-prepared canvas boards, pre-stretched canvases, card, wood, MDF…

I'll use canvas when I mean painting surface from here on.

Select an appropriate size.

Don't use too big a canvas to start with.

If you can’t paint, paint big. Audrey Flack

You might think it'll be easier to work on a bigger area because the details won't be so small and fiddly and you can paint looser.

But it never seems to work like that. Not for me. I like a certain density of quality so painting big is just a lot more work.

Besides, with the Artist's Helper we can paint so we don't need to paint big.

To start with pick a size that will need only one or two printer sheets to cover it. Four at the absolute max.

Until you work on a really small canvas it is hard appreciate how precise and detailed it is possible be. It's an eye opening exercise.

Literally.

Some canvases shown in the tutorials may be bigger just to demonstrate lining up printed sheets and other transfer methods.

Later some tutorial canvases may be as big as garden fences - but that's just because they need painting. A project for me in the near future will be to paint something on a fence in my garden that hides a water pump.

I'll post pictures if I ever get round to it.

If the surface isn't sealed or the texture is too rough or too shiny then consider adding a coat or two of gesso. Pronounced: jesso

Gesso fills in some of the texture on overly rough canvases and provides a nice grippy surface for the paint to grab later. It is hard to paint on a surface which is too smooth and shiny or one that is overly rough. Cheap canvases and canvas boards tend to be quite rough. Gesso can also protect the support from the acids in oils paints.

Consider toning the canvas.

Imprimatura - Katherine Griffin's blog

Imprimatura is an initial stain of color painted on a ground. The term literally means "first paint layer".

Painting on a white surface can be daunting so perhaps cover it with a coloured wash.

I just mix in some colour when I do the gesso.

A neutral, mid-value, coloured background will help when evaluating contrasts. Colours can seem very dark against a white canvas but are easier to judge on a toned ground.

Although, when using the Artist's Helper we are not going to have to judge colours by eye anyway.

Choose a colour that will suit the painting. Some artists like a hue that matches the painting so it's easy to cover. Some like a contrasting hue so it's easy to see the bit's they haven't done yet.

With a matched toned ground any missed spots in the painting don't show up as harsh glaring errors.

Even if they would have been filled later this still matters during the course of the work. It helps the artist to love the work at every stage. It really shows when the artist was in love with their work all the way through.

But be warned, the early stages always look ugly anyway.

I like using acrylic gesso with a little burnt umber mixed in. Gesso is very opaque and can easily cover up the previous abandoned painting. When I'm experimenting I'm too tight to buy new canvases, I just paint over old ones (the one thing I have in common with Van Gogh 😬).

It's more efficient to prepare several canvases at the same time. During a project we might want to experiment with a technique without touching the canvas so it's useful to prepare a couple of sheets of canvas paper in the same way too.

Always stand wet canvases vertically so they do not collect any dust.

…and so your cat doesn't walk over them and leave gesso paw prints all over the house.

Even when they are vertical make sure they are somewhere totally inaccessible so your cat can't rub against them.
Beth. Mochyn.

Fur in the paint. Paint in the fur. Both not good.

Not that it's ever happened. Purely hypothetical.

Whilst we are being hypothetical, when you get up to make a cup of tea do not leave your wet paint-palette on your chair.

Or if you do, remember to move it before sitting down.

Just sayin'.

The application

At last.

Installation and launch

TODO update image

Mac

Mac users should download and open the ArtistsHelper.dmg archive and drag the .app file to their Applications folder. (A symbolic link icon is provided in the .dmg ). (Actually you can drag it anywhere you want and it should still work).

Before I lashed out on Apple Developer Certification Apple's Gatekeeper service would put it under quarantine and I wrote some instructions about how to get round it in Mac troubleshooting. Hopefully they shouldn't be needed anymore but I'll leave them there just in case. Call me

Windows

Windows users should download and open the ArtistsHelper.msi file and do whatever it is that Windows users do with .msi files.

Before I bought a signing certificate Windows security asked a lot of questions as detailed in Windows troubleshooting. Hopefully is should all go swimmingly now.

*NIX

Users of Linux or similar proper operating systems should check they have Java installed ( How do I install Java? ). Copy the and jar file somewhere convenient and launch it directly from there.

I very much doubt anything useful is written under *NIX troubleshooting.

Exploring the UI

While we wait for the  cat ^{^H^H^H} canvas preparation to dry…

The application has:

• a menu at the top
• the main work area on the left
• the tools tabs on the right - initially showing the Space 1 tab containing the colour space widget
• a toolbar at the bottom

Switch between the tabs on the left with {number} , between the tabs on the right with {number} or either with the view menu.
View Left pane
View Right pane

It's all pretty dull until we get some data in it.

The main work area

The main work area is where the virtual canvas is displayed. It consists of several layers each of which shows a different aspect of the project.

Layers Listed here for completeness, no need to worry about them now

• oriGinal - the original subject image
• Subject - the subject with filters applied
• sKetch - a sketch generated from the filtered subject
• Paints - a paints image generated with our virtual palette
• Outlines - outlines of the areas of paint
• seLections - a layer showing the currently selected paints (and more)
• Canvas - for a photo of our work-in-progress
• comparison X - a layer showing a comparison of two other layers
• copY - a layer to hold an image of the work area captured with C

Each later can be shown individually with the toggle buttons at the bottom right. When All layers are being shown their ordering and transparency is controlled by the Layers 3 tool tab. Explained later.

Currently, however, they're all blank. How dull.

Pan the display by dragging with the mouse or touch-pad.

Press and hold the left mouse button and move the mouse.

{cursor keys} also pan the focused panel. (Add for smaller jumps).
Or, if you have a multi touch trackpad, press and hold and make a two finger movement. ✌
Also see the preference trackpad_pan for other control options.

Zoom in and out using the mouse scroll wheel or the slider control at the top right.

On my MacBook the mouse scroll wheel is a two finger touch-pad drag.

Ovens vary; adjust cooking time accordingly.

The scroll wheel zoom is centred on the mouse pointer. Instead of dragging to pan I'm in the habit of zooming out of one place and in to another.

Same difference. I can't see why it would drive some people crazy, but apparently it does. I see it as stepping back from the canvas before focusing on the next area.

We can also zoom with the slider control in the top right corner or with these hotkeys:

-

zoom out

+

zoom in

it's = really, since there's no , but plus for more, minus for less is easier to remember (assuming a standard English keyboard).

9

reset the pan and zoom

0

zoom to the canvas' physical size. This allows us to see the image on the monitor the same size as it will be in the canvas.

On a 13" MacBook that is. There's a configuration item we can tweek for other monitors. natural_scale .

This area will be more interesting once we add a subject image and some paints. I promise.

The colour space widget

This control is where the colour information will be displayed. Pan and zoom it in the same ways as the work area. Tilt and rotate it by holding down while dragging the mouse or with the slider controls at the top right.

Various different colour spaces can be displayed.

Colour space Colour space

CIELab (aka CIE L*C*h(ab) 1976) is my favourite. I'll explain why later.

Even though it's quite fun to just swivel it around area will also be more interesting once we add some paints.

I'm going to delay further exploration until we have loaded a subject image and added a few colours to our palette. This is because many of the commands won't yet be enabled and many of the layers in the work area will be blank.

Buttercup: When are we going to get to the colour mixing stuff?
Humperdink: [startled] Too soon, my angel. Patience.

Create a new project

When the application is first launched it will already have a default project open.

The default physical canvas dimensions are 16x12 inches. If that's not the size of our chosen physical canvas we can either resize it:

Project Resize…

or create a whole new project:

Project New… ⌘N

Either way we'll be asked for physical canvas dimensions.

If we are creating a new project we may be asked if we want to save the current project (see Auto save below) before the canvas dimensions dialog is shown. If it's our first launch we probably don't want to.

Fill in the dimensions and accept them.

I apologise that the default units are inches. I feel so ashamed 😔
It also makes me cringe that it's height first then width but that is how most galleries quote canvas sizes and I'm trying to get used to it 😖

Load the subject image

Load the subject image with

Project Load an image Subject…

or by dragging and dropping it onto the work area.

My favourite. I love drag and drop.

We can drag an image from a file explorer or even from a web browser.

When we are dragging an image from a web page we should be aware that it might be being used as a link. In this case what we are actually dragging is the anchor for the linked page not the image as we might think.

If we drop a link to a web page on it the program will probably become very confused. WTF is this?

Images may also be backgrounds for other elements. To prevent any problems it's best to drag the image into the browsers address bar to make sure it is an image then drag that image to our app.

Also, just a heads up for the future, once the work area is locked a dropped file will not be interpreted as a subject image but as a work-in-progress canvas image.

Which layer is currently showing when the image is dropped doesn't matter.

The Space 1, Palette 2 and Histogram 7 tool tabs also accept images by drag and drop.

Subject rotation

If we have taken a photo with the camera on its side it may need to be rotated.

Filters Subject Rotate

Most cameras and phones have sensors so they know which way is up and they write some metadata into the image.

I was left hand side up when this was taken.

This application can read this and perform a corrective rotation automatically.

If it doesn't get it right, which is a distinct possibility if it has been rotated in an image editor, use the Rotate command repeatedly until everything is peachy keen.

Filter the subject image

The Artist's Helper makes no claims to be a digital image editor. The bulk of the subject image preparation should be done in a dedicated application such as PhotoShop or GIMP. However, for the sake of convenience there are a few filters available which can be applied to the subject.

Filters Subject

These are all detailed on the filters page.

It's best to get any filtering which can resize or morph the image done before we compose the image on the virtual canvas and all colour filtering settled before we start sampling colours from it.

The only filter I regularly use is the oil filter which simplifies any tiny, pixel level, details. This is especially useful to smooth out and rationalise the paint area boundaries in the Outlines layer.

The brightness and saturation filters can be useful. Colour correction is rarely appropriate for subject images. Some of the other filters just aren't very good.

Compose the layout

When the subject image is first loaded it's plonked in the top left hand corner at the maximum zoom to stay within the virtual canvas.

Original DSC00851

To better position the subject on the canvas hold down the key and drag or scale.

It doesn't matter if the image spills out over the edge, those bits just won't get painted, or if it doesn't cover the whole canvas, we'll just have to ad lib. those bits. Just get the interesting bits nicely positioned.

If we think we might want to frame the finished painting then we should leave a little extra room all round the edges.

When we move or scale the subject image some rule of thirds lines will be shown. These disappear on non-layout mouse movements or they can be toggled to always show from

Work area Show rule of thirds

Not so much a rule more of some guidelines.

Don't worry about the green lines, they are the print area boundaries and will be explained later in setting up the print pages.

Notes on composition.

For all mouse dragging operations we can use the selection box in the footer to specify the mode rather than holding the appropriate modifier key.

But once you learn the modifier keys you will never use the selection box again.

Also notice that when we hold down a modifier the select box will changes automatically, this can help us check which modifier is which and which options are valid for a given circumstance.

Lock the layout

Once we are happy with the layout, we should lock it. This will prevent us moving the subject by accident when we're panning and zooming or selecting colours.

Work area Lock layout

When the layout is locked the subject image is clipped to the virtual canvas rectangle. The image alignment markers become hidden (unless they've been toggled on in the menus). Any menu items and commands that can alter the layout are disabled and the behaviours of context sensitive operations, such image file drop, may be altered.

In fact we're quite likely to unlock it again later to set the print pages and the image alignment markers before we print out and trace or otherwise transfer a sketch. We'll have another opportunity to finesse the subject's position on the canvas then.

It is only after we position the image markers and lock the layout again that it becomes really important.

The relative positions of images and markers are locked but we can still pan and zoom the whole work area view.

Save the project

Now is a good time to save the project with an appropriate, memorable or amusing name.

Project Save as… ⇧⌘S

The project will be saved in a bundle directory containing the configuration and copies of any images used.

On a Mac a ".bundle" is a directory that looks like a single file.

You shouldn't ever need to look in this directory but all the details that you don't need to know can be found at project storage,

Close and reopen the application.

Because if there are any problems then it's better to discover them now!

Tune in next time when we focus on colour selection in: Tutorial 1 part 2