And on Wacom boards, on the few opportunities I used my old one, I used to use it with a trick, that it to always have a smooth, but thick paper or packing paper glued to the surface. The plastic surface is too smooth, for my taste (don'T know how it is with the newer ones), but paper with smooth surface and a weight of 120 or 150 mg per A4 sheet adds the feeling of using a mixture of ballpen and lead pencil when moving the plastic tip of the digital key over it. There is more conbtrol in your movement, it is easier not to stray off with a slight motion of the tip. It feels more naturally.

The apüper must be replaced occasionally, of course, and if you use a pressure sensitive pencil, you may need to readjust the pressure settings for the Wacom board or the painting software, so that you must not use so much pressure anymore and do not cut the paper apart.

Using a piece of paper also works wonders if you want to paint with pastel crayon where you often do not wish to imply much pressure in order to bring only small loads of "paint" onto the canvas.

And check out this guy's mastery of arts, name is Khalid Ipda:

http://www.google.de/images?hl=de&as...&q=khalid+ipda

This is Ambientdesign's home forum, the gallery section: check and pick at random, find good paintings, find overwhelming paintings, find moderate paintings - there are 20 thousand threads! :D

http://www2.ambientdesign.com/forums...isplay.php?f=4

Just a heads-up for our artists - while Artrage is at version 4 on the PC now, I just learned that just short time ago Aretrage finally was released on ANDROID.

:yeah:

I just tested it (4.50 Euros) and in those two hours, more or less, I had no technical glitch or issue - rocksolid so far! (Samsung Galaxy 2 10.1, Android 4.4.2)

Very nice. I have little use for graphic software like this, but I just like it nevertheless, and the interface is wonderful. Even more when you know it from PC, since then you have not much to learn.

https://lh4.ggpht.com/OMt23HKvEydAs8...piXfKxVvA=h900

Nice! :)

I have practiced on and off, started with a Wacom tablet, but I got more into practicing with pencils and paper.

Mostly doodles or just some things. I seem to have a fascination for eyes or something though. xD

Shading and such, is what I've been practicing mostly.

the great advantage of this painting software is the interface. i checked several comparable titles, but none had such an accessible and easy jnterface.

I can paint myself into a corner so, I don't do floors.:03::O:

LOL...something like that :)

Nice piece of kit though :cool:

On my older Galaxy 10.1 2 the brush paints a bit lsower than on more modern, faster tablet, but still I get along, getting used to it. The nice thing is that the brush paints nevertheless smooth curves when I want that, it doe snot break them up in small linear pieces.

These are some pics to illustrate what the specific Android version of ArtRage can do in the hands of a professional painter. All from Artrage homepage. - Don't call it a toy, don't say this app is not capable of truly amazing things! And it handles so easily.

http://www.artrage.com/wp-content/up...nspiration.jpg

http://www.artrage.com/wp-content/up...st_Snowman.jpg

http://www.artrage.com/wp-content/up...ed_Flowers.jpg

And these galleries are the easiest way to see illustrations of the interface, on a cellphone display. Of course, tablet I would recommend. Their specs say it is for Galaxy 4 and higher, but as I said, when accepting that the colour does its magic on the "paper" a bit slower, I can make full and enjoyable use of it on my older Galaxy 10.1 2 , too.

http://www.artrage.com/artrage-android/samples/

Inbuild is the feature from PC to have an original (photo, lets say) "under" you canvas, you can define the opacity, and then you can easily trace trace it, like you would do a first sketch with coal before you actually start with the colours, to do a first draft of the painting, its contours and objects. Brushes can stay dirty, if you want, and in the tracing mode you can set them to automatically pick the colour under them from the original, when you touch the screen.

I hate that I am not more skilled and trained in painting. Actually, I am not a good painter at all, but this thing makes me wanting to be a more gifted talent.

Just found out the Android and PC version of the software are using the same datafile format (.ptg), so you can absolutely begin your work on tablet, and finish it on your PC, if you wish that for any reason. The PC version has some more options. You can also export in .jpg-format.

I played around with the tablet version the last couple of days, and more and more fall into love with it, the interface is so supereasy and superergonomic to adjust colour, brush size and brush characteristics (use of thinner, colour suturation and so on), that you do all this very fast, and easy, and intuitive. Most games cannot be handled as easy as this interface!

I will never be a competent painting artist, but I enjoy to do the colour dance nevertheless, and this is this layman's current attempt to make something of this app - a full manual copy of a painting by Leonid Afremov.

Some refinements and details more must be added still.

http://www11.pic-upload.de/13.02.15/i539y4dmpu8s.jpg

I traced the basic silhouettes with coal/pencil from the original, and then manually painted it, having a minicopy ofd the original on the canvas at the same time. You can with two fingertips zoom and move the "photo" of the orginal that serves as your model, and the canvas you paint on, easily, and fast. It handles so intuitive.

http://www11.pic-upload.de/13.02.15/2pjepyspr3e.jpg

I tried several drawing and painting apps since I got this tablet, and while they all worked, they also occasionally crashed or froze at times. Artrage however even under full stress so far has run stable and without even one single technical hickup. 100% reliability and stability so far!:yeah:

Man, I'm tempted to get a big touchscreen for my PC - doing this stuff not via a graphics tablet, but on a touchscreen, even 10.1 tablet-sized only, does not compare.

I see no reason to get this. For free department, you got GIMP, for payware you got Photoshop.
Does this support brush imports? Actions? Custom swatches?

It's a nice toy, but only a toy.

This is no graphics studio, this is exclusively a painting software. And this part of graphics: painting, it does extremely well, and in even greater workin detail in its PC version. It can create works of the same quality than GIMP or Adobe - but with

a.) an interface that you do not need to learn over weeks and months of collecting experience, but that is ridiculously intuitive (what you cannot tell of GIMP, Photoshpo, CoralDraw or Paint Shop Pro);

and b.) with much lower a price;

and c.) with superb technical stability.

Take it for what it is, Dowly, not for anything else, this is no photosuite or all-inclusive graphicsuite, this "only" is a painting-"simulator", to put it this way. What it does - painting - , it really excels in, and especially for using watercolours it has collected a reputation apparently of being the best for that technique on the market. I have some amateur experience especially with earlier versions of PSP and Corel Painter, and I left them behind in frustration over their complex interfaces, these are not really programs that are easy to access, and GIMP and Photoshop I gave up on even faster. Users also say that there are some details in Artrage that set it above the competition, the coklourpicker for example is preferred by not a few people. Artrage is much more accessible, cheaper and can create AT LEAST as good results regarding painting, than the others. And in the ergonomy department it leaves them all in the dust, I dare to put it that drastically. :yep:

To answer your question, Artrage 3 and 4 (on PC) support custom brushes as well as stickers. If by swatches you mean predefined colour palettes, seems to be possible, too (never tried that, never needed that, I just skimmed their forums quickly). What you mean by Actions, I do not know.

http://artrage.deviantart.com/galler...stom-Resources

Note that the Android and iPad versions are not offering the same amount of functionality like the PC versions 3, 3 Studio Pro, and 4. See comparison here:

http://www.artrage.com/product-comparison/

Needless to say that on PC the working speed of the brush also is faster than on a two year old tablet.

Do not take my amateur painting above as an example for what the limits are with Artrage! That picture shows MY limits, not that of the software. :03: I did oil only because it works best on my slow tablet, watercolour is too ressource-hungry and slows down the brush too much (Galaxy Tab 2 is below their recommended specs...) I am surprised that it nevertheless can be worked with on my tab at all.

http://www.artrage.com/artrage-4/features/

I suppose there is some merit to what they say-- the first girl you fall for you’ll never forget and maybe the same is true of art programs. Photoshop was the first art software that I really learned to use. While Photoshop may not have kept up with most of its competitors in the brush and inking tools department, it more than makes up for it on the back end with its editing features. I guess it comes down to what you are comfortable with.

So, I tried hanging with Ginger, Betty and Veronica, but I keep coming back scrawling on hands and knees to Mary Anne. Whatever does (or doesn't) float your boat. :D

http://pyxis.homestead.com/MaryAnnDawnWells.jpg

I only want it understood that it makes no sense to compare a manual (handcrafting) painting program with a universal picture processing editor/suite. Photoshop and GIMP and Paint Shop Pro all offer manual painting tools as parts of their total packages - but none of these painting apps they feature seem to come close to Artrage when we talk about manually painting images. Software like Corel Painter or Artrage is best understood as "simulators" of real world painting, and not few people would say that Artrage is the best of this kind there is. It is superior in a.) the visual result it creates, and b.) in handling and ergonomy of the interface.

Does it feature one-click photo correction tools? No. Neon effects? Not that I know off. Warping and other artistic special effects? I think not. But why the heck should it? It is no photo processing app and no general picture editor. It is a painter, not more, not less. But this it is with all excellency.

Do you expect a racing sim to offer you the opportunity to fly planes? Would you demand Euro Truck Simulator to feature Formula One cars as well as Rally cars and GT series? Hardly. Assetto Corsa does not feature any planes, it is inferior to any flight simulator regarding flying. But as a driving simulator it is the best there is.

Artrage is a painter app. Not more, not less. And digitally simulating the act of manually painting it probably does as good as no other of the usually mentioned graphics suites. The others are generalists. Artrage is a specialist.

BTW, for PC a new version just came out, 4.5.4.

I do paint for a living, as you may be aware, and a friend once commented that there was software in development which would enable people to do exactly what I do but on their computers. He wasn't trying to unsettle me, but I said I wasn't too concerned as they'd never be able to produce the tactile finish of an oil or acrylic painting, which is after all one of the things which distinguishes an original from a print.

That said, these are very impressive works...

http://i.imgur.com/Uba58Zu.jpg?1

This one of mine has had some computer-retouching: I removed my signature!

(PS/ I like your album, Torplexed)

I have set up the manual for Artrage 4 (PC) here (LINK), so that everybody interested can get an impression about its options, possibilities and interface.

Actual software version is 4.5.4

I am using a Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet, which has a relatively simply pencil, pressure-sensitive, that's all about it. I can only imagine how the newer Intuos pencils with tilt recognition and other gimmicks work with Artrage. The software recognises them all. Using the Bamboo Tablet already is working great.

Best use of course is either a PC Win 8 system with touchscreen and painting directly on screen, or using one of Wacom's dedicated LCD graphics tablets.

I've been looking at this program thanks to you Skybird.
I've got a Vistablet I've been wanting to play with.
Photoshop and others are great but sometimes you want so simple it's just fun.
:yeah:

I do sometimes miss the world of analog painting and inking. The vivid colors and the effects of texture, the imperfections and charm of the interaction between the fibers of the paper and the pencil and ink, the feel of paper under my hand, the drag and friction of the brush along the illustration board.


However, the fumes of a poorly ventilated room full of volatile organic vapors, that I don't miss. :D Well, maybe sometimes. Is there an app for that yet?

http://pyxis.homestead.com/Toxic-Torplexed.jpg

NONSENSE! Mr. Bean, .... comes up with a plan by sneaking into the gallery at night and replacing the damaged painting with a poster that he alters to make it resemble a genuine painting with egg whites and Allison's perfume....http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...r_high_res.jpg
http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thum...-Version-3.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nson_Rowan.jpg:D :har: