1

00:00:09,866 --> 00:00:17,500

We will use a reference for the painting. In this case, it’s a photo of a Tuscany
scenery by Grafit Studio. We study that image and see if it meets our requirements:

2
00:00:17,500 --> 00:00:26,666
- Depth. As an aerial scenery and no mountains in the near range, if have depth by
itself. So, I will not change anything.

3
00:00:26,666 --> 00:00:37,316
- Object distribution. The objects are almost perfectly distributed, with one
exception: the original image was half sky / half ground. So I added more sky. Now
it almost fits the Rule of Thirds.

4
00:00:37,316 --> 00:00:47,966
- Flow of the Scene. Almost all lines point to the same zone, so our sight goes to
that tree zone where the road disappear. So I will not change anything.

5
00:00:47,966 --> 00:00:57,916
- Contrast between objects. There’s many small hills and trees distributed between
fields. This is perfect! Maybe I will add less details, we don’t want so many
contrast in our scene.

6
00:00:57,916 --> 00:01:19,683
- Color harmony. The original image was over exposed; it’s a nice effect in
photography, but not for painting. I added an auto-contrast to the image just to
see all details, not to paint in that tone. I decided to use yellowish and warm
tones and I will do that when I paint. I changed the sky, the original was way over
exposed (almost white); the sky I used is only for color reference and general
scene feel, I will paint my own clouds.

7
00:01:19,683 --> 00:01:25,000
Now we create our Document to paint. But which aspect ratio we will use? And which
size in pixels?

8
00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:40,516
Four our painting we will use the very nice Hemp Paper, a colored paper with a very
rough texture. The grain size will be at 100% size. The Visual settings will be the
default ones; we will change them later if needed. The final size will be DINA4 at
300 dpi.

9
00:02:09,216 --> 00:02:25,216
Before we start doing anything, we test the grain size. The best tool to do that is
Watercolor, because it’s the most sensible to canvas grain. I changed the grain
size to 130%. You can use any value at your taste, but I recommend higher values,
because it helps adding details. Then load your reference image in the Reference
Panel.

10
00:02:46,283 --> 00:03:07,448
I recommend to use the Preview Panel, in a small size. This helps to see your
artwork as a whole as if you look your artwork at a distance (something a lot of
traditional artists do). The Preview panel have the “Grayscale” option. When you
press “G” in your keyboard, you will see your image in grayscale, this is helpful
to check the values and contrast of the scene. A good looking grayscale image means
the artwork have the correct values. You must use the “G” very often specially in
the first stages of painting; a good start is everything when you paint.

11
00:03:09,849 --> 00:03:37,000
I also recommend to activate the Pigments option when you paint landscapes. Why?
Real Pigments are made from natural resources. So the Real Pigments mix naturally,
specially when you paint the nature; the colors are very good and near to the real
nature. The Pigments implementation in Rebelle 5 Pro is very close to Real
Pigments. So it’s almost mandatory when you paint landscapes; when you paint
portraits isn’t so important. The Pigments is only available in the Pro version of
Rebelle 5. If you paint almost only landscapes, and you do it in a regular basis, I
strongly recommend buy or upgrade to Rebelle 5 Pro instead of standard Rebelle 5.

12
00:03:39,949 --> 00:04:07,099
In this Workshop I will not use any drawing, I will go directly to the paint
process, I guess the reference is very simple and don’t need any drawing at all;
and really I don’t care if the objects are placed exactly at the same place that
are in the reference, a small variation it’s acceptable. If you feel more
comfortable, do a drawing. But never do it very detailed, it will be replaced very
soon with the painting process; do your drawings just to place the objects in the
scene. If I did a more detailed artwork or a bigger one, surely I will use drawing.

13
00:04:14,083 --> 00:04:23,349
This mixed media method consists of painting first with with oils. Then adding
details and contrast with watercolors. So, let’s choose any oil / acrylic brush and
let’s go. About brushes, I like to paint using flat ones and palette knives, but
use any of your wish.

14
00:04:23,349 --> 00:04:40,416
I always start with the sky. The sky it’s a good starting point to check the value
and contrast in any landscape. In the first stages of painting with oil / acrylic,
don’t use brushes with a lot of thickness. As in real media, the Impasto adds to
the paper texture and it will affect the afterward brushstrokes. So better choose
thin brushes, specially in the sky.

15
00:04:45,199 --> 00:04:55,416
Now it’s time to get used to Painting Modes. It’s a very unique feature in Rebelle
5, and a very important one for your workflow.

16
00:04:55,416 --> 00:05:02,400
It allows you tu use any brush with different painting behaviors without swapping
to any other brush. They are located in the Properties window

17
00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:16,233
Starting from left to right, they change the painting behavior to: 1- Paint (only
Paint), 2 - Paint and Mix (always start with paint ten higher pressure paints and
lower pressure blends), 3 - Paint and Blend (lower pressure always mix, higher
pressure always paint, the same as other software like Clip Studio or Paint Tool
Sai), 4 - Blend (Only blend), 5 - Erase (only Erase).

18
00:05:16,233 --> 00:05:24,516
The shortcuts are the keys 1 to 5, so it’s very important you get used to them; it
will make your workflow much faster and comfortable, because you don’t need to
change constantly to other tools.

19
00:05:28,883 --> 00:05:42,716
Start painting with 1 or 2. Blend with 3 or 4. Blending not only helps doing smooth
gradients (it’s better to do any gradient in the first stages), it also helps
smoothing the thickness. So in this first stage it’s a good idea to use blending
very often

20
00:05:42,716 --> 00:05:56,550
The sky gradient don’t need to be a perfect one unless you want it, of course. I
guess the visible strokes in the sky adds personality; if the sky is perceived as a
gradient, is enough, even if it isn’t a perfect gradient.

21
00:05:58,216 --> 00:06:09,900
In real life the sky gradient is barely noticeable or non existent at all. But when
you paint it’s better to add a stronger gradient even if it doesn’t exist in real
life. It adds depth to the whole scene.

22
00:06:11,683 --> 00:06:25,516
For the colors in the sky, don’t use only one blue. Use different ones. At this
stage it doesn’t matter which blues you are using, or if they are too cold or too
warm. You can always change that later. Also, when you add clouds or any object in
the sky, the color perception may change a lot.

23
00:06:27,199 --> 00:06:42,916
About the colors, I like a lot to use the Oil Pigments color palette included in
Rebelle 5. It’s a very good palette which mimics traditional media oil colors. And
a very good selection to start too. As you paint and mix over and over, you will
obtain lots of different colors in the scene; then
it’s a good idea to start color picking colors in the already painted scene. You
can use the Mixer Palette if you wish.

24
00:06:47,066 --> 00:07:00,750
Now we continue with the far mountains. At this point, I strongly recommend to
paint only in ONE layer. Why? It adds a lot of richness and color mixing in the
whole scene, and at this stage you only need to add a general background to add the
first values of the scene, not a perfect paint.

25
00:07:00,750 --> 00:07:11,616
Later, when you add details, you will have time to define better the edges of you
wish, or paint in different layers if you feel more comfortable.

26
00:07:13,866 --> 00:07:24,733
For the background mountains, they must have more lighter values than nearest
objects. As you add nearest objects, they must have darker values.
27
00:07:27,433 --> 00:07:38,300
Keep adding more distant mountains. Now you can see if the sky needs to be tweaked.
Paint over if you need to do it, I’m my case I needed to make the horizon brighter.

28
00:07:42,716 --> 00:07:55,383
For the foreground fields, it’s better to start with dark values, then add the
colors over it. Otherwise, it’s harder to paint darker tones if you start painting
the lighter colors. Try to avoid using pure black or pure white when you paint;
this way it’s easier to retouch the darker or lighter zones if needed.

29
00:08:04,816 --> 00:08:17,482
Start painting the fields and any other foreground element. Make loose strokes, at
this stage don’t try to be too much precise. Just add colors to create the general
shapes and composition.

30
00:08:19,583 --> 00:08:32,250
You can use very saturated colors if you wish; later on you can make the colors
look less saturated. Remember to do all the painting in ONE layer. This helps to
create better color transitions, and to avoid too many sharped edges. You may add
some zones of trees or any other element (the roads, the houses if there’s any),
but very roughly.

31
00:08:50,116 --> 00:09:02,783
As you progress, you can see if the painting is going well. Focus just in the
colors. Now you can start to make tweaks. To tweak the Contrast and brightness of
the painting, select the Menu option Filter -> Brightness/Contrast. If you need to
saturate/desaturate, select the Menu option Filter -> Hue/Saturation.

32
00:09:11,683 --> 00:09:21,333
Remember to use the greyscale mode to see the values of your painting (press the G
key on your keyboard, press G again to see again the original colors).

33
00:09:56,283 --> 00:10:05,933
As you progress, you can start to add more details, but keep in mind this stage is
only to build the scene not to be detailed. You can also start to adjust some parts
of the scene; maybe make the sky gradation softer (use any brush in Mix mode).

34
00:13:25,133 --> 00:13:34,783
Start adding the clouds. There’s many ways to paint them.

35
00:13:34,783 --> 00:13:44,433
The easiest one it’s the same on any digital painting software: paint the brighter
zones with brighter color (try to not use pure white), paint some desaturated and
darker blue on bottom, then mix that (trying to preserve the edges on the top). The
Mix tool also helps to light some zones (if they aro too dark).

36
00:13:45,983 --> 00:13:57,132
For the clouds, I recommend to make your own clouds. Try to not use any reference
at all. Make your own shapes, improvise. Don’t overdo the clouds, and don’t add too
many clouds. You can use any textured brush or any brush which reacts to paper, to
add some small clouds; but don’t abuse that.

37
00:15:18,100 --> 00:15:26,783
The scene starts to look nice. Now it’s time to add texture and details with
watercolor! When you already have a layer with oil, there’s two ways to paint over
with watercolor:

38
00:15:26,783 --> 00:15:37,500
1. Applying the watercolor in the same oil layer. This way, if the watercolor have
enough water, it will affect the oil layer; specifically, it may soften the zones
you apply the watercolor. The watercolor brush strokes will be affected by the
thickness of the oil layer; in addition, it will add extra thickness.

39
00:15:37,500 --> 00:15:48,216
2. Applying the watercolor on a new layer. This way won’t change anything in the
oil layer. This is like glazing with medium in real media. The watercolor brush
strokes will be affected only by the paper texture.

40
00:15:50,899 --> 00:16:01,616
Use any of the two ways. But, I recommend to paint in a new layer, because it adds
more flexibility and texture. In any case, I recommend to use any brush with 100%
Water and Opacity as much high as possible (without being at 100%).

41
00:16:01,616 --> 00:16:15,583
In watercolor the most important settings are Water and Opacity, use any brush you
wish and change those settings. As with oils, my preferred brushes are the flat
ones. The Rake of Bristly brushes may help to paint the grass zones, or simply add
a little of texture. The round brushes are ideal for details.

42
00:16:17,266 --> 00:16:26,882
I started trying to paint watercolor in the same layer as oil. As you can see, it
softens some zones and blend the colors, adding some nice gradients and colors.

43
00:16:26,883 --> 00:16:38,883
You can start to add details, like trees. Take into consideration that watercolor
remains wet. So, if you like the results at any moment and you wish to avoid the
alteration in the shapes, DRY the layer (press Shit+D in your keyboard).

44
00:16:40,850 --> 00:16:54,183
I don’t recommend the use the Canvas Tilt at 100%. Add just a little bit of tilt,
in any direction but preferably to the bottom. In landscape painting I like to add
small zones with reds and oranges, it adds more richness to any landscape painting.

45
00:16:54,183 --> 00:17:03,033
For the trees foliage use any textured brush, remember you paint the feel of
leaves, not 100% leaves.

46
00:21:57,766 --> 00:22:06,616
I decided to start painting watercolor on new layers.

47
00:22:06,616 --> 00:22:15,466
Create a new layer in Normal layer blending mode. It’s time to add textures thanks
to the behavior of watercolors with paper. It’s also time to start painting any
detail you wish. The process is very straightforward:

48
00:22:15,466 --> 00:22:24,315
- Change the water amount. More water = more softening and also Canvas Tilt gravity
affects more the watercolor. Less water = more precise but less randomness.

49
00:22:24,316 --> 00:22:33,166
- Change the opacity if needed. Unless it’s at 100%, the watercolor is usually
transparent. I recommend 80%, it allows to paint in your desired color but it also
retains a little bit of under color.

50
00:22:33,166 --> 00:22:42,015
- Paint. You can wet the layer before painting, in case you need to soften
anything; press Shift+V to wet the already painted zones.

51
00:22:42,016 --> 00:22:47,216
- Dry the layer, to avoid softening any edge.

52
00:22:49,216 --> 00:23:00,300
You can merge the layers when you are satisfied. You can keep them unmerged if you
wish. In case you merge the layers, remember to keep Pigments activated; if you
merge a Pigmented layer with o no-Pigmented one, the merged layer will have the
Pigment option switched off.

53
00:23:01,766 --> 00:23:12,850
Keep painting!

54
00:27:10,816 --> 00:27:16,899
Now it’s time to add more life to our painting, playing with Layer Blending modes.
I start creating a new layer and using the Multiply layer blending mode on it.

55
00:27:16,899 --> 00:27:23,649
This layer will serve to add shadows or darken any zone. I don’t recommend to use
black or any unsaturated color. I recommend any blue or green.

56
00:27:23,649 --> 00:27:31,183
Watercolor have some transparency, but I don’t recommend to use too dark colors in
Multiply layers. If it looks too dark, you can change the layer opacity, but it may
be better to change the brush opacity.

57
00:28:11,383 --> 00:28:18,916
Create a new layer. This time we will use Overlay layer blending mode. Overlay mode
adds contrast to the below colors, but using the chosen color instead of changing
only the value.

58
00:28:18,916 --> 00:28:26,448
It’s like a two in one blending mode. You achieve more contrast in addition to some
degree of color shift. I like to use it to add more life to my paintings, using
yellow or reds colors.

59
00:28:27,666 --> 00:28:35,948
We add lighter zones to the distant mountains, simply using the same color of the
mountains. We do the same with clouds; it will add more color richness with
different shades of blue, using this method.

60
00:29:53,050 --> 00:30:01,332
Then, I start to use RED or ORANGE, just for adding more color variation. I also
like to use red in the sky, just for fun; if you want to do it too, don’t overdo
it.

61
00:30:04,116 --> 00:30:12,399
Keep painting on the Overlay Layer, but don’t overdo it. Just a little looks
awesome, if you use it too much it will look too much fake.

62
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:38,283
Then create a new layer in Lighten layer blending mode. It will serve to add a
lightning setting to the scene.

63
00:32:38,283 --> 00:32:51,616
In this case the light comes from the top-right area, so paint this zone. In this
case I decided to use Yellow, because this is how I prefer the lighting setting in
this scene. Mix the colors to look more soft.

64
00:32:55,149 --> 00:33:03,433
Keep painting until you like. Just remember to don’t overdo it.

65
00:33:03,433 --> 00:33:14,233
If you paint with a realistic style, your “painting is never finished” (Leonardo Da
Vinci). But in this case we don’t want to be realistic, we want to be loose.

66
00:33:14,233 --> 00:33:22,515
So don’t overdo it and stop before you add too much details. With practice, you
will create more detailed and realistic artworks; this time we do a fast and loose
one.

67
00:33:33,616 --> 00:33:41,899
At this time, I consider this artwork finished. But it’s a good practice to make
some final retouches.

68
00:33:41,899 --> 00:33:50,183
Remember to sign ALWAYS your artworks! You can do the first stages of retouching
inside Rebelle, the most useful options are:

69
00:33:50,183 --> 00:33:56,333
- The menu option Filters -> Color Balance is useful to change the tones of you
artwork.

70
00:33:56,333 --> 00:34:03,399
- The menu option Filters -> Hue/Saturation is helpful to make your artwork more or
less saturated. You can also use it to change the tone, but it’s more useful the
previous filter.

71
00:34:57,783 --> 00:35:10,883
Then you can Export it to PNG or JPG (don’t use compression in JPG). In Rebelle 5
Pro you can use the NanoPixel technology. It add almost infinite detail to any
artwork. Export with NanoPixel if you wish to add more resolution to your artwork!

72
00:35:11,816 --> 00:35:20,665
External software with more advanced tools (like ML driven technologies) may be
useful. But I consider Rebelle 5 is enough to do color corrections.

73
00:35:20,666 --> 00:35:38,016
In case you need extra software, I recommend Photoshop; it’s industry proof
software, and Rebelle 5 have the Connect plugin for Photoshop, so they integrate
very well. Other useful options are Pixelmator Pro in Mac or Affinity Photo for
Mac/Windows.

74
00:36:03,516 --> 00:36:24,933
And this is it. I hope you enjoyed this workshop and it encourages you to create
many paintings! Thanks everybody, specially Escape Motions team.