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Paint your own Mona Lisa
November 25, 2002, Eli Schachet
As an abject "Philistine", my only venture into the world
of 'real' artsy painting was a "Paint-by-numbers" set
that I got as a gift when I was a kid. However, the wonder of seeing
my creative efforts come alive as I dutifully filled in the numbered
areas with the appropriately color paint has stuck with me.
Recently I received an invitation to review a new program from
Urban Pursuit Inc. called Nature Painter Digital Canvas. I was intrigued.
The program appeared to be more than just another 'draw and paint'
program. The authors ballyhooed NaturePainter Digital Canvas 1.0,
as an oil painting teaching tool and image editor for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
I downloaded the trial copy, tried it, and became even more interested.
I lost no time in getting the full featured commercial program put
through its paces.
NaturePainter Digital Canvas accurately simulates on the computer
screen what an artist does with paint, pallet and easel. NaturePainter
Digital Canvas is a realistic painting software program that makes
it easy to learn how to paint with oils and acrylics. For the novice
artist, NaturePainter is a great introduction to art, and is perfect
for helping one learn different natural painting techniques before
investing in expensive supplies. More experienced painters can use
NaturePainter to create rich paintings or illustrations, and to
experiment with ideas and colors before committing them to canvas.
NaturePainter is powerful, yet very easy to use. It is packed with
helpful tutorials and features such as a real-time paint rendering
engine, different paint brushes and paint tools, a realistic paint
mixer / palette, an inspiration button and sample galleries to help
jump start your creativity juices NaturePainter is perfect for both
the serious creation of art pieces and for recreation.
The release of NaturePainter comes as the world we live in deals
with more and more economic, political and cultural turmoil. But
for the NaturePainter team, the timing was very appropriate. According
to them: "People are taking time now, more than ever, to look
away from their stock portfolios (I know mine is traumatic to look
at!), and to look inwards toward themselves and their families.
Many people feel that art is an important part of healing and self-discovery.
In some small way NaturePainter can help."
NaturePainter is great as a teaching aid for art educators and
is great for helping to teach both children and adults about the
joys of painting. It is also a useful tool for digital artists to
add realistic, natural paint effects to digital images, making it
the perfect tool for creating oil paintings both on screen and canvas.
Nature Painter is strictly a digital easel, pallet and paint simulator.
It does not draw circles, lines or geometric shapes. It has no text
entering or editing capability what so ever. You can't modify or
massage your digital photos.
NaturePainter does only one thing, but it does that superbly. It
allows you to mix and apply digital paint to a digital canvas.
Download a trial copy to see for yourself what this program is
all about. Visit the authors website at http://www/naturepainter.net.
If, the trial version sparks your interest, spring for the full
featured registered version. It only costs a paltry fifty dollars.
Little enough to bring forth the aspiring Rembrant hidden in all
of our souls.
Eli Schachet is a regular contributor to the Midwest Technology
Journal and can be contacted at eschacht.gtw.net
( See
the full article: It appeared in the Midwest Technology Journal)
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