# Meet my friend Sam.



## TJ1985 (Sep 13, 2015)

The photo I used as reference came from a lucky glance out the window a couple of winters ago. The picture was done in Artrage 4 using several tools, primarily the watercolor brush and pencil.

For those who are curious about species.. I'm not sure really. I know cardinals have the riddish-orange beak, so Sam may be a juvenile Samantha.  




Thanks for looking, and thanks in advance for critiques.


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## escorial (Sep 13, 2015)

has a lucid body that is defined by the beak and wood..the eye is the focal point for me but i'm thinking am i looking at the same picture you are...or is my resolution on screen the same....


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## TKent (Sep 13, 2015)

Sweet! That looks like you did it with watercolor and pencil. I'm going to check out that software. (OMG I did not just say that. My hobby backlog is so long, I will never get to everthing. I must resist. I must resist. I will NOT download the software. I will NOT download the software. LOL!!)


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## joshybo (Sep 13, 2015)

I wish that I had any sort of talent when painting.  Very nice work, TJ!


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## TJ1985 (Sep 13, 2015)

Esc, I do realize that the penciled segments do sort of take over visually, too sharp and crisp. I'll keep an eye on that, thank you. 

TK, caution is advised because it is highly addictive.  

Josh, thanks, it means a lot to me.


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## escorial (Sep 13, 2015)

i do like that mix of the sharp and lucid...gives it depth


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## TKent (Sep 13, 2015)

I love pen/pencil and watercolor. So much better to me personally than straight watercolor. I took watercolor classes one time and that is so hard. I'm a control freak, and watercolor is at best coerced into submission. I can't tell you how many times I ended up with colors going where I didn't want them to go...

So Artrage sounds awesome. Finally, I'd be in control.


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## TJ1985 (Sep 13, 2015)

TKent said:


> I love pen/pencil and watercolor. So much better to me personally than straight watercolor. I took watercolor classes one time and that is so hard. I'm a control freak, and watercolor is at best coerced into submission. I can't tell you how many times I ended up with colors going where I didn't want them to go...
> 
> So Artrage sounds awesome. Finally, I'd be in control.



It does have a lot of control, especially with 4. I can have tools like the palette knife lock at a specific angle to move oil color where I want it, and thanks to Ctrl+z, I can erase ruh-rohs and try again. I think there's a free demo version, but I'm not sure it has full functionality. I will say, it seems like a halfway zone between traditional painting and digital, and some may not like that too much. I notice this especially when I'm playing with mixing colors. If you do a red line and a blue line right beside it, even if one line is substantially smaller, you can make it take over by mixing from that side. I've figured out a few screwball methods for accurate mixing, but it takes a little toying with to get the hang of it. 

I should now confess: I'm addicted to mixing colors and color theory... Who would have guessed that you can mix yellow, magenta, and cyan, and with a little twiddling it makes white*... This is sorcery I will decode... It's not hard to sit down to do a quick drawing or painting and discover that you've spent the last hour mixing colors, and exploring functions. Playing, lol. You'd probably like it. It's one of few programs I have that came with a manual worth reading, and there's new functions all over the place that I was certain "I'd never use" yet that always come in handy. oil brush, watercolor, palette knife, airbrush, ink pen, pencil, paint roller, felt pen, crayon, paint tube, eraser, and a few other tools that really are tough to describe. 

Edited to add: White's not possible when mixed in regular paint, but in computer programs, it works. Artrage has a "real color blending" mode that is much more like real paint.

If you have a graphics tablet, I think you'd enjoy it more. Drawing/painting with a mouse is like parallel parking a van using only your feet.


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## Abby (Sep 14, 2015)

It's a lovely study, I like it!


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## popsprocket (Sep 14, 2015)

He's adorable.


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## Gumby (Sep 14, 2015)

Nice work! I'll have to check out that software, it sounds interesting.


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## Sonata (Sep 14, 2015)

I think it is delightful - and brilliant!


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## TJ1985 (Sep 14, 2015)

Gumby, Sonata, thanks for looking.


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