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Digital Speedpainting in AD


kevinmcsherry

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEjBGk55Rp8

 

A painting/illustration made entirely in Affinity Designer and a Wacom drawing tablet. I wanted to complete a digital image without first drawing a sketch and scanning it into the PC.

 

post-30726-0-23234400-1489507964_thumb.png

Using: Mac OSX Monterey on a Mac Mini (late 2014). Wacom Bamboo. Mouse. Pencils. Pens. Other stuff...

 

Kevin McSherry: Creative. Art  :  Illustration  :  Design
The Studio, 17 Aideen Avenue, Terenure, Dublin 6W.  Ireland
+353 (0)86 247 0737   www.mcsherry.ie

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Nice time-lapse. Interesting fellow.

 

AD and a tablet can be a pretty solid painting partnership. I still prefer the immediacy of sketching on paper first then scanning it in. :-)

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Thanks. Yep -you still can't beat a good pencil and paper combination. I'm preparing myself for some commercial storyboarding and the last project I did, I sketched out on paper and scanned. It was a bit laborious, though and I'd like to streamline the process.

Using: Mac OSX Monterey on a Mac Mini (late 2014). Wacom Bamboo. Mouse. Pencils. Pens. Other stuff...

 

Kevin McSherry: Creative. Art  :  Illustration  :  Design
The Studio, 17 Aideen Avenue, Terenure, Dublin 6W.  Ireland
+353 (0)86 247 0737   www.mcsherry.ie

160604_35%2Bicon%2Baffinity.jpg

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I'd really like to try out a cintiq or something similar where you're sketching directly on the screen.

 

Although the physical feel of a monitor screen vs a sheet of paper would take some getting used to I think, especially for a 50 something like me with over 30 years in the game. ;-)

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@retrograde People who use Cintiq's seem to really like them. I just couldn't justify the cost with my current output of digital art. The Wacom Bamboo will do me for the moment, I think.

 

Using: Mac OSX Monterey on a Mac Mini (late 2014). Wacom Bamboo. Mouse. Pencils. Pens. Other stuff...

 

Kevin McSherry: Creative. Art  :  Illustration  :  Design
The Studio, 17 Aideen Avenue, Terenure, Dublin 6W.  Ireland
+353 (0)86 247 0737   www.mcsherry.ie

160604_35%2Bicon%2Baffinity.jpg

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@retrograde People who use Cintiq's seem to really like them. I just couldn't justify the cost with my current output of digital art. The Wacom Bamboo will do me for the moment, I think.

 

I shared your same opinion years ago, then... Boom!  :lol:  

Even a small Cintiq does the difference in the perception of digital art workflow.

I've been improving simply because training is much more natural.

 

Yes it is not cheap, but it is an investment, so if you're an illustrator and it is your main job, I see no reasons at all to stay "cheap".

 

If you're thinking about to purchase a tablet monitor my suggestion is to leave apart any lag/pressure/latency and other nerdy discussions: go and try one, you'll know immediately if it fits your needs. Curiously I took my decision to purchase a Cintiq just after I tried one in Dublin...  :)

If it makes you much more productive or opens you new possibilities it will pay back its money, just because you will be able to do it.

The white dog, making tools for artists, illustrators and doodlers

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Cheers Paolo for your insight.

 

I will give that some thought the next time I need to upgrade. The type of illustration I do is dominated by the pen tool and shape creation, if it was a more gesture based hand-drawn workflow I probably would have switched to a more natural setup a while ago.

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@paolo. I know -I'm such a cheapskate! One day...one day...I'll have to take the step.

 

@Brian: One of the things I'm trying to deal with is mixing up the colours while at full opacity and I'm not quite sure how it works yet. I used the blur tool but I wasn't very successful -it seemed to do very little. Also, DAUB's blenders seem good but for some reason I couldn't make them work in this project -they kept putting in colour instead of just blending what I already had in the pic. I gave up but it has to be just because I'm not used to the process yet. I'll get used to it.

 

For advertising storyboards, though, it's a more basic process and it's worked out well at applying colour to a line so far, even at my digital-beginner level. I bought a copy of Sketchbook Pro but I can't get on with the interface.

Using: Mac OSX Monterey on a Mac Mini (late 2014). Wacom Bamboo. Mouse. Pencils. Pens. Other stuff...

 

Kevin McSherry: Creative. Art  :  Illustration  :  Design
The Studio, 17 Aideen Avenue, Terenure, Dublin 6W.  Ireland
+353 (0)86 247 0737   www.mcsherry.ie

160604_35%2Bicon%2Baffinity.jpg

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@Paolo...It took me a while to cop on that you made the Daub set...Tsk! I salute you!

 

Kevin

Using: Mac OSX Monterey on a Mac Mini (late 2014). Wacom Bamboo. Mouse. Pencils. Pens. Other stuff...

 

Kevin McSherry: Creative. Art  :  Illustration  :  Design
The Studio, 17 Aideen Avenue, Terenure, Dublin 6W.  Ireland
+353 (0)86 247 0737   www.mcsherry.ie

160604_35%2Bicon%2Baffinity.jpg

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Kevin, if you double click on the blender brush you're using in the panel to open up that particular blender brush properties, click on the dynamics tab and navigate to "hue jitter" if that's at anything above 0% it will change the hue of your underneath colour as you use it. 

 

I usually go in and remove any of the hue jitters on all of the brushes (especially the painting brushes) as I don't usually want to add random colour to what I'm working on.

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@kevinmcsherry

Makes sense. I am still trying to understand how to do simple painting with it myself, since I find it a bit clunky at times due of using pure painting software (Krita) for example.

 

For example, I wish you could have a much easier way to increase/decrease brush size. In Krita you can do that by either the brackets (or custom shortcuts) or simply hold shift drag left or right (however Affinity seems to have taken the same ctrl + right + drag mechanic from Photoshop... instead of giving the option to either customize that or change it entirely to something more intuitive).

 

And also there doesn't seems to be an intuitive way to rotate the canvas in AD, aside from using a clunky mechanic of rotate 15/30/45 degree etc.

 

Unless I am missing something here :\

 

 

 

But can't complain really, its a software for a good price tag.

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For example, I wish you could have a much easier way to increase/decrease brush size. In Krita you can do that by either the brackets (or custom shortcuts) or simply hold shift drag left or right (however Affinity seems to have taken the same ctrl + right + drag mechanic from Photoshop... instead of giving the option to either customize that or change it entirely to something more intuitive).

 

I find control and option/alt key dragging left and right to change size and up and down dragging to change hardness about as intuitive as it gets.  The bracket keys never made sense to me in other apps. My fingers are never near that end of the keyboard...

 

I've tried Krita and haven't had much success for my stuff... others love it.

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@retrograde

In my case it never worked, and is one of the things that I see peoples disliking or never use at all which is the Ctrl + Alt + Drag instead of Shift + Drag or giving you the ability to customize that option etc. There are third party software that changed the shortcut of that to something else, but it wasn't the best software.

 

Do keep in mind you don't have to use the brackets, you can change the shortcuts of the increase/decrease brush size within the Photoshop Shortcut settings.

 

You can do the same for Affinity Designer when it comes to customizing the brackets. In my case I switched the brackets shortcut to :

Q = Increase Brush Size

W = Decrease Brush Size

 

I would say Krita is more for painting stuff than doing vectors. But its a really simple program once you get your mind around it. You can also change the Shortcuts to Photoshop Compatibility. 

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@Brian: One of the things I'm trying to deal with is mixing up the colours while at full opacity and I'm not quite sure how it works yet. I used the blur tool but I wasn't very successful -it seemed to do very little. Also, DAUB's blenders seem good but for some reason I couldn't make them work in this project -they kept putting in colour instead of just blending what I already had in the pic. I gave up but it has to be just because I'm not used to the process yet. I'll get used to it.

 

 

 

This sounds somehow strange...

DAUB Blenders are pure blenders and should not put colours... 

Could you explain this deeper, I could help you maybe!   :)

 

 

For the blending consider that Accumulation Jitter (the Opacity Jitter of Krita, CSP, Photoshop) wasn't available when I crafted the Concept Tools. I'll provide to update them as soon as I can because it makes a lot of sense there.

 

 

@kevinmcsherry

Makes sense. I am still trying to understand how to do simple painting with it myself, since I find it a bit clunky at times due of using pure painting software (Krita) for example.

 

 

The painting experience in AD and AP is rugged but not yet perfect compared to pure digital painting app.

But it is also true that you have much more flexibility.

 

For example vectors in Krita (or Photoshop) are a pain in the...

 

mule.jpg

 

 

Mule!  :D

 

AP/AD vector engine is smooth as silk and is perfectly merged with raster painting, and for blocking purposes together with the simple stupid yet amazing layer clipping I'm faster than ever.

 

About shortcut customisation I'd love to see more options too, but personally for brush sizing I do prefer the Photoshop/Affinity/Painter/CSP way to do it. Brackets make sense as modifiers, but are something much more meaningful for retouchers and photographers maybe. 

The white dog, making tools for artists, illustrators and doodlers

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Using AD and AP, on OS X with a Wacom Bamboo; this hint is fantastic -thanks Retro.It works perfectly with me and saves a lot of time.

Kevin

 

I find control and option/alt key dragging left and right to change size and up and down dragging to change hardness about as intuitive as it gets.  The bracket keys never made sense to me in other apps. My fingers are never near that end of the keyboard...

 

I've tried Krita and haven't had much success for my stuff... others love it.

Using: Mac OSX Monterey on a Mac Mini (late 2014). Wacom Bamboo. Mouse. Pencils. Pens. Other stuff...

 

Kevin McSherry: Creative. Art  :  Illustration  :  Design
The Studio, 17 Aideen Avenue, Terenure, Dublin 6W.  Ireland
+353 (0)86 247 0737   www.mcsherry.ie

160604_35%2Bicon%2Baffinity.jpg

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Hi Paolo,

I just made a very quick movie of the blender at work. First: I realise that I'm probably doing something daft -or leaving something out but nevertheless, here goes...
https://youtu.be/eYFqFpgwmzA

 

 

This sounds somehow strange...

DAUB Blenders are pure blenders and should not put colours... 

Could you explain this deeper, I could help you maybe!   :)

 

 

 

post-30726-0-04655900-1489753109_thumb.png

Using: Mac OSX Monterey on a Mac Mini (late 2014). Wacom Bamboo. Mouse. Pencils. Pens. Other stuff...

 

Kevin McSherry: Creative. Art  :  Illustration  :  Design
The Studio, 17 Aideen Avenue, Terenure, Dublin 6W.  Ireland
+353 (0)86 247 0737   www.mcsherry.ie

160604_35%2Bicon%2Baffinity.jpg

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Hi Kevin, from your video it looks like you simply haven't selected the blender tool. You still have the brush tool selected. Try doing the same thing but select the blender tool in the tool panel, it should work properly for you...

 

This is one of those instances where Designer should automatically switch the tool to match your brush. The icon in the brush panel already is correct, it should automatically switch imho.

 

I believe Photo does this correctly now. I've brought this up a few times already in the forum, so thanks for providing a great example video Kevin ;-) 

 

Happy St Paddys day to you btw! Just saw you're in Dublin. 

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Ah -NOW I get it! I do feel daft; there's even a picture of the little pointing hand, for Heaven's sake...
Thanks so much.

 

And happy St Patrick's Day to you too, Retro (and all Affinitorians. Stormy day here, I'm glad I didn't venture out to see the parade -I watched it on telly!

 

Kevin

Using: Mac OSX Monterey on a Mac Mini (late 2014). Wacom Bamboo. Mouse. Pencils. Pens. Other stuff...

 

Kevin McSherry: Creative. Art  :  Illustration  :  Design
The Studio, 17 Aideen Avenue, Terenure, Dublin 6W.  Ireland
+353 (0)86 247 0737   www.mcsherry.ie

160604_35%2Bicon%2Baffinity.jpg

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Hi Paolo,

I just made a very quick movie of the blender at work. First: I realise that I'm probably doing something daft -or leaving something out but nevertheless, here goes...

https://youtu.be/eYFqFpgwmzA

 

 

Ok problem found.

You have to select the "Smudge Tool" icon (the one you can see aside the brush preset).

AD doesn't switch automatically to the tool bound as AP does, so you have to select it first.

 

Follow this tutorial

 

 

;)

 

EDIT: Ok Kevin have been faster...  :P

The white dog, making tools for artists, illustrators and doodlers

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EDIT: Ok Kevin have been faster...  :P

 

:D  Sorry Paolo.

 

Any development with Serif re automatically choosing the right tool icon? It sure would make painting in Designer a smoother, more intuitive affair.

 

What with the connectivity between the 2 apps you'd think these types of similar behaviours would be in sync. It's probably just a case of Photo getting a little more love because of it's later development cycle...

 

Any word on this for 1.6 MEB?

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This sounds somehow strange...

DAUB Blenders are pure blenders and should not put colours... 

Could you explain this deeper, I could help you maybe!   :)

 

 

For the blending consider that Accumulation Jitter (the Opacity Jitter of Krita, CSP, Photoshop) wasn't available when I crafted the Concept Tools. I'll provide to update them as soon as I can because it makes a lot of sense there.

 

 

 

 

The painting experience in AD and AP is rugged but not yet perfect compared to pure digital painting app.

But it is also true that you have much more flexibility.

 

 

AP/AD vector engine is smooth as silk and is perfectly merged with raster painting, and for blocking purposes together with the simple stupid yet amazing layer clipping I'm faster than ever.

 

About shortcut customisation I'd love to see more options too, but personally for brush sizing I do prefer the Photoshop/Affinity/Painter/CSP way to do it. Brackets make sense as modifiers, but are something much more meaningful for retouchers and photographers maybe. 

 

 

Totally. I really love how easy it's to make vectors in Affinity. If by any chance in the future, they continue improving the painting mechanics as well, I am sure I will stick with AD for almost everything. Right now when it comes to painting, I use a pure digital painting software as you said (Krita in this case or a latest one I have been exploring Paintstorm Studio)

 

But if AD continue improving in that area as well, I am sure I will stick with it. I dig the transparency tool, gradient, and the flexibility of swapping through layer effects without having to re-open the window. There is so much good stuff in this program that is awesome.

 

Hopefully at some point you will also be able to hide selections (unless I missed the shortcut for that), since not seeing the selection allows you to see what kind of change you're doing much easier than having to deselect and ctrl+z etc.

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EDIT: Ok Kevin have been faster...  :P

 

:D  Sorry Paolo.

 

Any development with Serif re automatically choosing the right tool icon? It sure would make painting in Designer a smoother, more intuitive affair.

 

What with the connectivity between the 2 apps you'd think these types of similar behaviours would be in sync. It's probably just a case of Photo getting a little more love because of it's later development cycle...

 

Any word on this for 1.6 MEB?

 

I have no idea... But yes, the tool binding is something very clever and I'd love to have it in AD too.

Also unlocking HLS jitters with Wet Edges and Accumulation should be amazing (so far you cannot jitter colours if you're using accumulation or wet edges).

 

I guess Matt is working hard to craft a very polished painting engine that will brush away ( :D ) all known glitches.

I somehow suspect that the stabiliser are just the of the iceberg...

The white dog, making tools for artists, illustrators and doodlers

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