Tips

​The world is constantly in motion; vibrating and ever changing.  As such, I've been taking a semi-abstract approach to my painting techniques in recent years.  Notably a build and destroy, and rebuild approach.  I enjoy the energy and life of the paint marks that cut across the canvas.  Like a dream, there's a sense of shifting reality.  Over the years, Corel Painter has become my tool of choice as it mimics real paint exceptionally well.  Here are some tips on achieving a similar look in Painter, and an example of my process:  

•  To achieve the look of thick paint I use a combination of the Thick Paint and Impasto Brush Sets.  The majority of my favorite brushes I have created, and a few are available for free download on the bottom of this page.  The brushes interact with the papers, so I have created some of my own paper textures to really rough up the paint as it is layered.  The Corel default papers can also be roughened up by increasing their contrast.  Overall, the more variety you can create with your marks, the more like real paint it will be.     
  
• Lower the default amount of the Thick Paint under Corel Painter, Preferences, Thick Paint Layer.  30%  has been ideal for me.  This can also be done by double clicking on the Thick Paint layer, under Layers.  Additionally, lower the Shadow Strength to around 2% found under Canvas, Surface Lighting, Shadows (Thick Paint Only).  Impasto Brush amounts can also be lowered under Surface Lighting if desired.
  
•  Real paint is messy, and will have color variation when mixed on a palette. To mimic that variability, I use both the Mixer Pad set to Sample Multiple Colors, and also add some Color Variability to virtually all of my brushes.