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The question had been asked what my opinion of Painter X3 was, and whether it would be worth the cash layout for it. After putting in some time with the software, I have come to to a fairly sound conclusion regarding it's properties.
This program is, simply put, my nirvana. I don't even know all the bells and whistles yet, and likely it will have things in it I never even use. There are some of the "painterly" media it imitates, such as the thick impasto paint that I think looks just plain blegh. I tend to stick with the gouache and blenders for the most part (but let's face it, it's not like I've been doing this for a while). I'm sure I'll branch out and play with other types and features, but for now I was able to quickly go in and find precisely the tools I needed to get the look I wanted. A shift+click+drag pulled all my go-to brushes into a single palette and I was in business.
Probably the number one biggest thing for me, even aside from the way colors blend together in a much more natural way for me, is the color mixer palette. Instead of dials, and sliders and assorted cryptomancy involved in getting the colors I want, I can open up a palette, create dabs of color using pigment names I'm familiar with, and with a handy palette knife tool, I can mix my own colors in a very traditional way. The best part, of course, is I can save the palette, start a new one with a different color scheme, etc and so forth.
Here's a screen cap of the desktop in action, showing my brush palette, color palette, and my assortment of color choices. Once I start painting, there really isn't anything I need.
This program is, simply put, my nirvana. I don't even know all the bells and whistles yet, and likely it will have things in it I never even use. There are some of the "painterly" media it imitates, such as the thick impasto paint that I think looks just plain blegh. I tend to stick with the gouache and blenders for the most part (but let's face it, it's not like I've been doing this for a while). I'm sure I'll branch out and play with other types and features, but for now I was able to quickly go in and find precisely the tools I needed to get the look I wanted. A shift+click+drag pulled all my go-to brushes into a single palette and I was in business.
Probably the number one biggest thing for me, even aside from the way colors blend together in a much more natural way for me, is the color mixer palette. Instead of dials, and sliders and assorted cryptomancy involved in getting the colors I want, I can open up a palette, create dabs of color using pigment names I'm familiar with, and with a handy palette knife tool, I can mix my own colors in a very traditional way. The best part, of course, is I can save the palette, start a new one with a different color scheme, etc and so forth.
Here's a screen cap of the desktop in action, showing my brush palette, color palette, and my assortment of color choices. Once I start painting, there really isn't anything I need.
