Corel Painter Part 4

Laying in the head with soft brush tool

After experimentation and thought, I've decided to adopt Painter 2019 for part of my digital work. Painter Essentials, which I also tried out, is a considerably less expensive alternative, and a fine one. Happily, the more complex program came at a discount as part of a bundle with a new Wacom Cintiq. If you're in the market for a Wacom, check out the bundle on the Corel website.

Meantime, exploration of Painter continues. These are stages in copying an oil portrait by Peter Paul Rubens. The subject is the Duke of Buckingham, a fellow originally named George Villiers, who was the first to hold the title. The Duke was a favorite of King James I of England, and also of Charles I, for a while. He was a member of the minor nobility who worked his way into the Royal court, was knighted in his early 20s, and elevated to the peerage by James I a few years later. Eventually Buckingham controlled the entire 17th century court. Unfortunately for him a

Scrubbing in large masses

widespread whispering campaign suggested that he and the King were romantically involved, though no proof of a physical relationship has ever been unearthed. In any event, Buckingham eventually fell into disfavor with King Charles and with the British public too, so much so that Parliament tried to impeach him twice, though the King nullified those. At length he was murdered by an irate former army officer.

The Rubens portrait of Buckingham was done about 1623-5 and recently rediscovered in Scotland after being thought lost. The original has much of the same sparkle as other autograph works by Rubens, the liveliness of expression and brushwork featuring prominently. The Duke is shown against a vague multicolor background, garbed in navy blue velvet with a royal blue diagonal sash. His hair is modishly long, beard trimmed into a neat goatee. He wears broad and flamboyant mustaches and smiles at us with the same direct and perhaps mischievous look Rubens gave to his first wife, Isabella Brandt in his famous portrait of her dating to around the same time.

More massing of color in the figure and background

In copying Rubens the goal has been to test the Thick Paint tools of Painter and to learn from Rubens as well. So my beginning is like that of many, a rough envelope of the head and shoulders with just enough outline or detail to depict the volume of the head. The full head of hair, tall brow wide mustache (on the sitter's right) and pointed beard helped as landmarks and measure points. Using the oil paint tool and a dull dark red, I approximated his wide ruff and sash as well as the slope of the shoulders. In the second panel I've begun scrubbing warm darks in the hair and beard, then throttled the tool width to a considerably smaller size and sketched in the central features. These will be obscured eventually by overlying skin tones. In the third panel the background colors are being scrubbed in and the navy velvet of his tunic is indicated, as is the sash, which will be massed-in before the next stage. All of these masses have been placed using Painter's orginary Oils tool, generally the medium bristle.

Background, ruff, and skin tones initial

In the final panel of this post (but not the final portrait) I've changed to the Thick Paint set of tools to attempt to emulate the richness of brushwork and color put down by Rubens almost 400 years ago. The overlying colors and thick paint lend more substance to the ruff and to the face. Central facial modelling was actually easier than expected with these particular tools. Varying chroma, value and hue at will is a big plus when doing digital painting. For oil painters such changes require careful mixing of physical materials based on a thorough knowledge of the properties of pigments, oils and so on. So it is easier digitally.

The next steps will be to modify and brighten the painting, adding detail, lights, further color and modelling of the head and shoulders. I'm not sure how many layers or steps will be involved, but when there are sufficient images more will be posted.

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Previously:
Corel Painter
Painter Part 2
Painter Part 3