Feathery Brushstrokes in SA?

Here’s a kind of effect I don't know how to achieve in SA.  This comes up because my basement is chock full of my physical abstract paintings (on 3’ x 4’ masonite panels), so if I could produce similar digital versions in Studio Artist, I could get back to work! :-)  See the three attached .jpgs for a structure I use often--broad, often vertical feathery striations done with a large coarse bristle brush.  If John Dalton, or anyone else, could suggest settings in SA that would produce similar effects, I’d be very grateful. 

Thanks,

John

Seeing Through.jpg

Entrapped.jpg

The Revolt.jpg

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  • Using the Procedural Brush option for the Brush Type parameter in the Brush Type control panel if the paint synthesizer is one approach to creating bristle brushes. There should be numerous paint presets that use this setting in the factory paint presets. I can search for some specific ones later.

    It's easy to search for paint preset names in the mac finder using searchlight, so you could search for 'bristle' or 'scratchy'.

    Working with Interactive MultiPen pen mode is another approach to creating dynamic bristle brush effects. This pen mode simulates multiple bristles working together in a brush. You can use pen pressure to interactively modulate the individual bristle nib sizes.

    • Response to John Dalton's reply.

      Thanks for these two stimulating suggestions, John.  I've taken the time to fairly comprehensively test the available presets that allow those two options.  However, though many interesting results have turned up, none of them even roughly match the 'feathery' coarse brushstrokes  I'm looking for.

      So:

      1. Could you suggest some specific presets+ settings that I might  have overlooked in each case?

      2. Corel Painter 2016 now has a particle brush technology that can produce effects roughly of the desired kind, but I'd prefer to work within SA.  I've tried a few presets using SA's own Particle Paint mode, which looks promising, but again, any specific preset/edit suggestions would be much appreciated.

      3. Potentially there are SA MSG-produced effects of the right kind, eg. Bernard Bunner's 'quick test':

      https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2472684648?profi...

      Presumably the relevant algorithms could be adapted to allow for interactive mouse/stylus input as brushstrokes?  Or is this already possible?

      4.  The basic algorithm needed is simple?  Start with a line of paint dabs where the stylus is located. As the stylus moves, continue to lay down paint dabs in its current position (compensating for directional changes).  Thicken/thin for stylus pressure changes as needed--end of story?  Could this simply be added as a basic coarse-brush preset?

      Thanks much!  John

      • Sorry if I had too many queries here, perhaps you could answer just #4 for the present?  Also, please recall that I’m a new member who really needs your help!

        • John Dilworth, I am not clear on what you are asking with your #4. There many presets that will orient with path direction and many that are pressure sensitive if you have a wacom tablet. Beyond existing presets,  it is possible to make almost any "brush" pressure sensitive and to make any "brush" that uses the procedural brush type appear to be a coarse or open bristle brush.

          There are also maybe half a dozen different approaches to get that open brush look that you are seeking. In addition to using a the procedural brush type (Brush type panel) and adjusting the bias and gain / path length  and path width increments so that the preview tile (the middle tile of the 3) shows just a few high contrast lines, one can use a Multipen brush (pen mode panel) or a region draw pen mode. Further I tried to suggest that it is not always helpful in SA to think of the drawing tool as a direct analog to a wet world tool. There are ways to create open canvas looks that have nothing to do with "laying paint down." Tools and effects that selectively erase or drag paint are another path. Tools that "sketch"  or create textures (MSG and the texture synth) are yet another way.

          The best way to find out what works for you is to experiment. Bernard spent hours exploring every algo set in the MSG, just to know what each does by itself. He has still only scratched the surface of what they can do in combination.

          SA 4 has the ability to run a preset while you adjust parameters. CMD-R will auto run a preset. While it is running you can change the pen mode for example and see what difference it makes (warning changing the start mode while in Cmd-r auto run can lead to crashing the program). My recent post 'Treed' is the result of this sort of experimentation. The markings start from the same preset I adjusted the penmode and a few of the associated variables. I am a poor scientist- no notes on which variables- so I honestly could not tell you exactly what settings were used.

          Btw, there is built in to SA the ability to make your own presets even before you know much about how the program works- under the help window there is a hyperlink to PaintSynth Evolution.

          Using the PS evolver is simple. start with 2 presets the results of which you like. Mingle these to get a novel preset. When you get a result that you like add that as a third source to mingle. etc. You might for example start with Richard's scratchy and my Richter1a mingle and go.... My Itchy brush posted in this thread works quite differently from Richard's Scratchy preset. You could mingle Itchy and Scratchy and see what comes of that.

          In short the sorts of brushes you describe in your #4 already exist, and you have the power to make your own.

          On a different note the algos used to create the brushes are never as "basic" or "simple" as what you think you are seeing as a behavior on the digital canvas. Remember that nearly all types can run Freehand, Semi-auto or Full auto (not to mention as a particle brush or in dual mode). In each case the same descriptive algorithm produces very different results.

          I do sympathize with how overwhelming SA can feel for a new user. If you truly want to make the program sing, to have it become a creative partner of sorts, there is no short cut, no substitute for experimentation.

          That said, I enjoy challenges, and routinely take up the gauntlet when a user here asks "can this be done?" in response to your query I have created 36 or so open bristle brushes. I will post a handful in the preset sharing group later.

          • Thanks, Mike, I really appreciate your very detailed help, and look forward to experimenting with your new brushes--as well as with all of the other basic approaches you suggest!

  • Yes there are many ways to get this type of result. Not all of them involve painting with color. There are many brushes that will drag or displace paint that is already on the canvas. I think you will want to look at those too. Look at the Richter and Mills sets I posted a while back. 

  • Variations on 'Seeing Through'

    In case anyone’s interested, here’s a reason why ‘feathery’ or ‘streaky’ brushstrokes are one artistic preoccupation of mine--and one I haven’t found in other artists.  They provide a kind of image in which the spaces between the paint streaks are as central to the design as the streaks themselves--where the visible paint is no more than a kind of veil or lattice, through which you can see the mysterious, possibly infinite blank spaces behind.  Also this paint vs. space duality can be echoed in the larger structures as well, with larger blank canvas areas being as important as the larger paint structures.  

    For an example, see the ‘Seeing Through’ image in my initial post. To further illustrate the general idea, I’ve done a series of Filter Forge variations on that image, thumbnails of which are attached as a single Lightroom contact sheet. (I’m sure similar images could be produced in SA, but I’m more familiar with FF’s ability to retain the fine detail of an original while interestingly transforming its larger structures in various ways).  I’ve also included titles for the images--assigned to explain how each initially strikes me.

    -- Comments on any of this are very welcome!

    Cheers,  John

    Variations on Seeing Through_JD.jpg

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