| Hi Jinny:
Attached is (gulp!) 1 Mb PDF file,
"Visual Guide to Painter 7 Watercolor". I created this as we were finishing
up development on the new Watercolor Layer. This may be helpful in deciphering
some of the Watercolor Layer's functionality.
Please note that is does _not_ describe
how to create watercolors. It is crucial to understand that the old Watercolor
effect in Painter was necessarily simplistic due to the then-available
computing bandwidth.
I can understand that some users
have become expert with this artificial tool and mourn the loss of some
of its primitive functionality. However, one of the most requested features
since Painter 6 was improvement with respect to watercolor. Users wanted
multiple layers, and perhaps more importantly, "more realistic"
watercolors. Painter 7 delivers
this. To do this, the simplistic model had to be necessarily discarded.
In its place is an extremely realistic physical model simulation of watercolor.
As a result, the simplistic techniques
associated with the simplistic model largely no longer apply. To exploit
Painter 7's Watercolor Layer, a fundamental knowledge of real watercolor
is required. And,as many artists know, watercolor is a sometimes difficult
medium to fully master. That will be true of Painter 7's Watercolor Layer,
as well.
Painter has always striven to faithfully
simulate traditional art media, and in the case of the Watercolor Layer,
I believe it does so extremely well. Users may have lost the "instant gratification
factor" of the old Watercolor, but they have gained a very rich
digital medium based upon a well
respected traditional one. For their efforts to explore and master it,
they will end up with much more interesting and visually satisfying piece
of art.
You may make this PDF file available
for download to users if you wish. Just be advised that I cannot attempt
to answer any questions that may arise. As you may know, I hired Cher Pendarvis
to produce the Watercolor Variants for P7.
She, as a traditional watercolorist,
is imminently more qualified than I to answer watercolor media-specific
questions. Of course, she is pretty busy working on the Wow! book update,
so her available time is compromised. I would advise anyone wanting to
tackle the new Watercolor Layer to get their hands on a good introductory
watercolor media technique book (and there are _many_ of them out there).
I hope that this information will
help P7 users get excited about the new Watercolor Layer and start learning
more about the time-honored medium.
-john
. |