06.26.06
Painting on a computer?
What is a virtual paintbrush?
To create my portrait paintings, I employ a graphics tablet using a stylus (special pen) as my virtual paintbrush. My Corel Painter software turns pen strokes made on the tablet into artists’-media-emulating marks on my monitor screen: watercolor washes, oil bristle brush, palette knife, pastels, colored pencil, charcoal, liquid ink (brush- or pen-applied,) airbrush… the list and the variations within each media and stroke are almost endless.
Physically, I am drawing upon the tablet on a horizontal desk surface rather than an upright vertical surface like an easel (nice, because upright aggravates my tendency to shoulder bursitis.) I see the strokes on my monitor as I make them; I work with dual monitors on my Mac, with the artwork on my larger screen and my tools and palettes on a second monitor.
Tactile sensation is different of course, but still satisfying because the tablet is pressure-sensitive. That means that when I bear down harder, the width and/or density of the stroke increases (and vice versa) which gives it a real artist’s tool feel and allows for plenty of nuances and flourishes and refining.
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Connie Moses, petArtist Portraits With Pets.com and PortraitsWithHorses.com
