Inkscape is a fine
vector tool based on SVG. I have used it for several freelance jobs like
the one shown. I am not
reporting anything new here. Other artists are also using inkscape in
professional work. Still there is a stigma that it can't be good because
it is open source. It is like any
graphics software - some strengths and some weaknesses. If you use it in
scenarios that suit it - it is a good piece of software. The latest
iterations has included a gradient mesh tool that is decent, and another
program in this brief review, and praise of GNU and open source efforts -
Mypaint - now has vector layers. This allows a mixed media using both
softwares to create nice mixed pieces. Yes I use Illustrator for most
work because it is entrenched. I have also used Freehand - now gone,
Xara Extreme - now under a different name, and Serif Draw plus for
freelance work. They all havd strengths and weaknesses.
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Krita is new to me.
I looked into it in the past but it was and is ram
hungry compared to Mypaint, and early on it was
not for Ubuntu based distros. But I decided to look into
it again. It is now working fine in various
distros - even Windows - not sure about Mac. The above off
the cuff test practice, is my first official Krita
piece. I fisrt started playing with all the brushes
to see what they did,
and then glommed onto the paint brushes and created the background prep
- the same way I used to prep a painting on
masonite ... and I was surprised how close it looks to how I did it
with actual media. So then I decided to play some
more ... not sure what I would do. I though figurative and started doing
a females partial figure - just of the top of my
head - not looking at any reference. Then started getting into it and
was surprised even more.
It started looking like the way I used to do oil painting. So I am now
officially a Krita convert. It is still ram hungry
compared to Mypaint, but I can't get this oil look in Mypaint. I also
use a commercial painting program on occasion called
Art Rage. It offers the ability to build up chunky oil - not a full
range of traditional chunky oil... at least not in the
version I have - 3. Art rage is a bit better in ram then Krita but
doesn't allow me to mimic the way I specifically rendered
in oil. So this is my experience with digital paint programs to date.
They all offer something - but when it offers me a way
to mimic what I did or do with traditional - I like it! Update: Krita 4
has been released and the brushes included appear to be
faster in general. It looks like a nice step forward. Unfortunatily I
don't see the bristle brushes I use to start paintings with.
I assume they can be imported from the prior version - alternatively I
can keep both running.
The inset in the upper left - a second Krita test. Again - I started
with no idea in mind. Just started scribbling with the brush and ended
up with this figure. It was initially just a nude - but something
reminded me of the few times I had been to the beach. At one point
I was going to try to make it into a full illustration - in fact being a
fan of the Mars Attacks franchise - I was thinking of making
it a spoof advertisement - a big sun tan lotion bottle in the
foreground, to the right, with a label that reads Super Sun Block now
with
Martian Attack repellent - having two Mars Attacks Martians in the
background all frustrated trying to get at her.
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Mypaint has been my go to digital paint program for several years now.
The quick simplicity and light system resource usage just makes it a great general purpose tool. This
paint program will run on just about anything - due to the light over head. I have an old Dell D430
low watt laptop - 1.3ghz and Mypaint works great for sketching up stuff on it. So if you have a low
powered and or old device - Mypaint is good to go.
It's paint brushes aren't specific but work well enough. You can't mimic brush stroke look like in
other more elaborate art programs but it is fast. The dry media - pencil, pastel and blending stump
tools are as good as any ... accept oil pastel. Other art programs do better chunky oil pastel.
So I consider Mypaint the perfect open and sketch tool. It is decent for painting down and dirty quick.
I have used it in conjunction with Art Rage - using Art Rage to get in some chunky oil paint.
Recently Mypaint team added vector layers. This can lead to interesting mixing of some artsy technique
along with graphical vector graphics. The above art is still an unfinished piece being done with the
pencil and chalk / pastel tools.
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The above fantasy
figurative study practice, was done using both Krita and Mypaint.
The centaur piece is actually very old and redone -
just after doing the satyr and dryad piece. I had lost the last full
sized file - so just had a screen cap. I took it
into krita and rough painted in strokes - then back into Mypaint for
detailing.
Each tool has some advantages and disadvantages
and is oft the case I will use more then one program for this reason. I
have stated
this in other places but always good to repeat
some things: this sort of practice - using no references helps build a
solid foundation. The outcome here so closely
matches the way I used oil on masonite - hardboard, that I find it
compelling
to use these two programs in this technique. I
used wet brush tools in both programs and the brissle, and
bristle blender brush in Krita.
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All of the above tools have something decent to offer. After 20 years - my experience - which goes all the way back
to Photoshop 2.5 and Aldus Freehand, leads me top look for individual tools - not looking for one software package to
limit my efforts. I have noted many other artists using and some promoting the above software as well - and IMHO - well
deserved promotion. You may note that I have left GIMP out of this review of open source graphics programs. I have only
used GIMP for conversion from Open raster from Mypaint to Photoshop format and some simple tasks. I have never used it
for painting or typical Photoshop type work. I have seen people do some decent digital painting with it though.
All of the above open source software will most likely continue to grow and offer more as time goes on.
I use all Gnu software in both Linux and Windows. When using Linux - I have used the following distros for a fair
amount of time: Mint in XFCE, Peppermint, Manjaro in XFCE, Bodhi, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu, Mageia in Mate, XFCE,
and Enlightenment. Mageia still has Xara Extreme in its repositories and even though it is old - it is still ripping
fast! I have tested other distros in the form of sketching - like AntiX - running Fluxbox or ICEwm. Because Xubuntu
has been improving a lot and amd tending to stick to Ubuntu Studio - which is based on Xubuntu. If just sketching
in Mypaint - any decent distro that supports the light weight and fast Mypaint is good to go.
Just to be thorough, the last group
above are art pieces that were done
in Xara. So why put these here,
and what is Xara. Xara - was a lightweight
- yet fastest most stable vector
program to hit the graphics program
scene. The ability to do art fast,
and the ability to do levels of
complexity that would choke other
vector programs made it the sleeper
in vector programs. Early on it
was partnering with Corel and also
worked with the GNU - open source
community to create a free, open
version. Sadly conflict apparently
killed this effort and Xara developed
into it's own full program - pulling
away from Corel. Please verify this
as I read these things in passing
- so for details and what not -
you need to look up. Now the lament
part: The last distro I know of
to fully support XaraLX was Mageia.
It appears to work OK in 32 bit,
but not in the 64bit version of
the distro. The abstract fish was
an attempt in 64 bit. Xara crashed
too many times, so I took it into
Xara Extreme 2, on an old WinXP
laptop, to finish it. The other
two pieces are very old, and were
done in Xara Extreme 2. All the
tools I used to do them are in XaraLX.
The difference is the interface
was greatly improved. So a valuable
tool on the Linux side appears to
be dead now, and it was the only
vector tool to rival the best out
there for down and dirty - and heavy
duty vector art. Don't get me wrong
- I like and use Inkscape. But inkscape's
memory/ data handling is slow and
limited comparatively. So I lament
the loss of XaraLX. I wonder - had
it worked out succesfully when the
GNU community and Xara got together,
would other Commercial software
companies considered at least porting
their stripped down versions - like
say Photo Elements. Well that is
pointless speculation and the only
hope for XaraLX would probably be
if Magix - which is linked to the
XaraLX site, decided to fund an
effort to revive the LX version.
Possibly as a means of offering
a very very stripped down version
of what has become a very mature,
multi faceted program, in hopes
that it brings more people in their
direction. After all - the last
time I had a chance to test a version
- version 6 I believe - it was the
same super fast - faster then any
other vector program, only with
a lot more features.My opinion is
that once one gives Xara a real
try ... really learning the tools
... they, like me will become frustrated
with other vector programs. The
other programs will seem convoluted,
and slow. I have become more at
home in Linux now and would gladly
run all my digital art efforts from
Linux were the needed software in
place. There are distros more stable
then Windows and the cariety of
choices in desktop paradigms and
base distro engines - one can easily
find a great match. Mac and Windows
are a take it as we offer it proposition.
So from a Linux enthusiast perspective
- I lament the apparent death of
XaraLX. Kudos to Mageia for supporting
it as long as it did. Side note
to this side note section: Mageia
6 - in Plasma and or Enlightenment
- just awesome!. Xfce and MATE also
good. The Plasma - though higher
in overhead then Kubuntu - is as
fast and is the best looking Plasma
- when set to dark theme IMHO.
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All
artwork © 2000 to 2018 Ron Weed unless rights sold
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