The Painter IX Wow! Book

Well written with many different styles and applications illustrated throughout. Yes, it is very technical and hard to follow when just reading, but all graphics software tutorials are. You have to sit down with this book and work through the chapters, especially if you have no training in Photoshop. If you are serious about using Painter, then this book is a must have and probably all you need.

I first discovered Cher Threinen-Pendarvis' Painter WOW! books when I was struggling to learn Painter 5.5 all by myself in a rural area where no one had even heard of digital painting. I own The Painter 5,6,7,8 and IX Wow!Books and I credit the author of these books as one who is responsible for my passion for digital painting and my love of the Painter program. The only problem is having space for all of the books, for I would not part with one of them as they are filled with underlining, with my notes, and the quality art work is a source of inpiration. The Painter IX Wow! Book teaches the novice not only how to use the program but, through artists'examples, how to apply that knowledge to whatever type of art one wishes to create. It also teaches veteran users about the new features in Painter IX. This is a book to pore over, to study, not just breeze through, although that alone is pure pleasure due to the quality of the pictures. The book functions as a good on-going reference to look up "how-to" instruction regarding using the features of the program and it includes familiar and new to the book artists and as well as information not in previous Wow! editions. Also included is an excellent chapter on printing digital paintings and the resource section in the Appendix is valuable. I highly recommend this book to those new to Painter and to veteran users of the program as well.

This book offers a first-hand look at how to take full advantage of many of the tools' feature set. From layering colors to enhancing photos to various imaging effects and beyond, the author explains how you too can become a master of this latest version of Painter. With numerous color examples of what others have done with the tool, ideas will flow and you'll see how limited your own skills are. If you can envision it, you can certainly do it with this tool, and this book will help you use the tool better. Thankfully, there is always Undo for those times when your own skills are lacking in what actually looks good.

My only problem with this book is that I look at the selection of work that is exhibited here and lament my own limited talent. In the hands of these people Painter is what mere canvas was to the old masters. I must say that Ms. Threinen-Pendarvis has done a masterful job in her own right in explaining what the program will do. Her approach, her writing style, is much, much better than the standard click-on-this approach used by many writers and suitable for the beginner or power user. This is combined with what seems like more than one color picture on each page, brilliantly printed on a very white paper stock. It's a beautiful, as well as informative book. Now if only I could load the CD [demo version of the software, phots, video clips, stuey guide and over 100 custom brushes, and more (developed by Cher)] into my head and develop some talent.

With this edition of Painter IX Wow! Book, Cher Threinen-Pendarvis has revealed Painter in even greater detail than her previous editions with in-depth discussions of Painter's interface and tools, its brushes (old and new), and more examples. Both the entry-level and experienced Painter user will find useful and practical information. In addition, the expanded contributing artists galleries with discussions of how each image was painted, showcase the amazing stylistic diversity of the artists who use Painter--animation, book illustration, editorial cartooning, web graphics, jewlery design, fine art (both representational and abstract), medical illustration, etc.--showing the flexibility of Painter's digital artistic tools which allow the user to work entirely within the digital realm and its integration with traditional artistic tools. Even if you have a previous edition, this is a must-have book!