All Things Painter Rendering the Mind's Eye by John Derry

I've been an artist all my life. I was the kid in class who the teacher would ask to draw a turkey for the Thanksgiving bulletin board. With a lifetime of realizing ideas on paper—and now digitally with Corel® Painter™—under my belt, I've become accustomed to generally arriving at the image I intended. And yet, when I'm working with students in my workshops, I find that rendering the mind's eye can be quite frustrating for some. Fortunately, Corel Painter is an excellent aid for refining this skill.

A visual idea is like a spark of energy that jumps from the mind, transits the mechanism of eye-hand coordination, and manifests itself via physical mark-making tools onto an accepting medium. At these crucial stages there is a required mastery. The first stage—the idea—is often the biggest challenge. After all, without a worthy vision, how can one arrive at a worthy result?

A visual idea can almost always be encapsulated in written form. I often use a nearby pen and paper to write down a sudden thought or partial visual idea. This will happen to me when I wake up at night. I keep a notebook next to the bed for just such occasions. When an idea hits me (and I manage to wake up), I'll jot down the idea for review in the morning. I have many of these thoughts organized together so that I can review them and allow them to percolate. Sometimes the initial idea is a bit fuzzy or incomplete. But with the concept written down, I can reread it and build on it until it is ready to be translated to a physical medium.

However, one doesn't always have writing materials handy. As a result, I've developed mental sticky notes I employ in these situations. When I'm out driving, for example, I'll often see a good photographic subject (of course, I never seem to have my camera with me in these situations!). I'll mentally note the time (for lighting conditions) and place. Almost automatically, I'll commit my mental note to paper at the next convenient opportunity.

Corel Painter is the ultimate sticky note for these visual ideas. With the vast Corel Painter toolset at hand, a nascent idea can be more fully visualized than with a piece of paper. The key to a satisfying result is to not fall into the trap of attempting to realize a final result too early. Ideas often need time to focus and mature. Rather than attempting a grand multimedia statement, my approach is to initially sketch my idea with one or two tools—often in black and white. The Corel Painter multiple undo facility encourages experimentation. There is no need to get the idea exactly right the first time. Multiple iterations generally lead to positive refinement.

A good visualizing skill to develop is what I refer to as the Conceptual Squint. Whether on paper or monitor, an artist often sketches an initial idea with many quick overlapping strokes. To the casual observer, such a sketch is just a wiry mess. The artist, however, can apply the Conceptual Squint to look through the chicken scratches and clearly see her idea. I have a theory that this is the reason so many artists don't like to show unfinished work—because an observer will only see the chicken scratches.

If you are looking to sharpen your visualizing skills, try utilizing some of the techniques I've outlined. Use Corel Painter as a tool to quickly get an idea into visual form. And don't shoot immediately for a final image. Be prepared to refine and revise the idea over several iterations. Most importantly, be willing to edit your ideas and discard the weak ones. Without a good idea, it's impossible to end up with a good image.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go draw a picture of snowman.

John Derry
Somewhere in Kansas

John Derry is a pioneer of digital painting and one of the original authors of Corel Painter. Since 1985, he has leveraged his background in drawing and painting to advance the look and experience of traditional art-making tools on the computer. John has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in Fine Art and is a practicing artist and photographer. He teaches Corel Painter workshops around the country and is currently serving as Corel's Painter Ambassador-at-Large. John's Web site is at www.pixlart.com.