Carlyn Beccia - The Digital Renaissance: Classic Painting Techniques in Painter and Photoshop

THE

DIGITAL

RENAISSANCE

THE

DIGITAL

RENAISSANCE

CLASSIC PAINTING TECHNIQUES IN PAINTER AND PHOTOSHOP

CARLYN BECCIA

CONTENTS

Dear Reader,

This book will teach you how to steal. We wont be stealing silly things like hotel soap or really cool street signs. We will be stealing art secrets from the greatest master painters that ever lived. Now, you are probably thinking, I dont want to steal. I want to create original art. We all know copying is bad. From the moment we are given our first box of brightly-colored crayons, we are taught the artists creed: do not copy. Then we go through art school and it is beaten into our heads: find your style.

Ironically, this is the opposite of how Renaissance artists learned to become great painters. Renaissance apprentices were required to copy masterworks for at least ten years before they were allowed to paint their own original works. They then moved on to painting backgrounds, hands, and garments. Only after many years of copying, were they allowed to paint faces and forms. A young Michelangelo began his art education by visiting the chapels in Florence and meticulously copying the frescoes of Domenico Ghirlandaio. Leonardo da Vincis famous Vitruvian Man is now believed to be copied from an earlier version by Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara, a Renaissance architect and expert on Vitruvius. Auguste Renoir copied the paintings of Raphael in order to learn the secrets of the classics. Van Gogh painted for only ten years of his life, but he spent the first six years doing studies and copying works by Jean-Franois Millet. Choose any master artist and you will find a work he copied.

Trying to paint like the great masters has certainly been a humbling experience. Will you mistake my paintings for a Van Gogh? Maybe if you have had a really big swig of absinthe. Still, Van Gogh did teach me new understandings of how colors interact with each other. Can I now paint like Matisse? Hell no. Yet, I was able to free my concept of spacial perceptions. Can I now smear paint like Sargent? Only when I have delusions of grandeur. But I do feel like I have learned how to create stronger movement in my paint. Unless you are exploring a career as a professional art forger, replicating another artists painting techniques should never be the end goal. It is a means to an end. Consider it part of your Renaissance training: first we copy, then we make it our own. Picasso said it best; Good artists copy. Great artists steal.

So lets pull up a chair and become the most wicked of thieves.

CARLYN BECCIA

I am rather glad that I never learned how to paint.

VINCENT VAN GOGH

Vitruvian Man

Leonardo da Vinci c. 1490 Pen and ink with wash over metal point on paper.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusai c. 182932 I have focused on Western art in this book, but I encourage you to explore the Eastern masters. Many famous artists were influenced by Japanese prints including Matisse, Van Gogh, and Picasso.

This book may cause increased blood pressure if:

You want to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, or (insert other software program here).

I teach how to paint digitally. I do not teach how to use software. If you want a book on software programs, go look for one of those brightly colored yellow books with the word dummy on it. If you want to learn how to paint digitally (and learning the software is an added bonus) you are in the right place.

You believe buying this book will turn you into (insert name of famous artist here).

There is only one Picasso and he will never be duplicated. This book might turn you into Picassos diabolical prodigy, leading the next art movement, but it does not promise to reincarnate the dead. For that, you are in the wrong book section. Look for the bohemian dressed lackeys under the New Age sign. Those are your people.

You want a detailed biography about (insert famous artists name here).

I read through hundreds of letters, witness testimonials, and second sources to focus on each artists painting technique. Yes, you will get a few personal biographical details sprinkled on top, but if you are looking for a full biography from birth to death, please refer to the bibliography in the back of this book.

You are impatient.

Some of the tutorials in this book are really tricky. They are going to require you to walk through the stepssloooooowly. Yes, you can still learn from skimming, but not if this is your first time picking up a digital painting book. Vincent Van Gogh once questioned, What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Well Mr. Van Gogh, I would say that life would be pretty dull. Approach each of these tutorials with courage, and if you get stuck, you can always email me.

If heaven had granted me five more years, I could have become a real painter.

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI

Welcome to The Digital Renaissance. I guess if you bought this book you might want to know a little bit about the author. Thats me below, dressed like Anne Boleyn in a French hood and a brown damask gown trimmed with cloth of gold. I am smiling even though my stays are cutting off my circulation and my brute of a husband wont stop flirting with the hired help. If that sounds like gibberish, then I probably am not going to run into you at a Renaissance Fair. Thats OKperhaps our paths will cross elsewhere? In the meantime, here are a few random facts about me when I am not playing dress up:

I am an award winning childrens book author and illustrator. My books are mostly about things you dont want your kids repeating at the dinner table.

I am an ellipseophile. I love to put ellipses in my writing. If you find too many ellipses in this book, blame it on the editors. I have no self-control.

I am an uglitarian. I only eat ugly animals. Lamb and pigs are out. Chickens and fish are fair game.

I often make up words and try to convince others that they are real words. I tried to name this book The Digissance, but the Marketing folks didnt find it very catchy.

I love goatstheir crazy eyes, the way their ears flop around as if they dont belong on their face. I believe everyone would be happier if they spent more time around goats. I recommend reading this book in the company of goats.

I dont like monkeys. They are always up to no good. You will not learn how to paint monkeys in this book.

Details from the Angel Series

Corel Painter I have focused on portraits in this book because they personally inspire me. Portraits always tell a story. I recommend that instead of following these tutorials with the exact same subject matter, you find your own narrative voice and pick a subject that inspires you. It doesnt matter if you are painting femme bots or fruit, the results will be the same if you apply yourself fully to the task at hand.