ArtRage 3.0: Oils

I’ve had ArtRage 2.6 for a while now, but just yesterday downloaded the 30 day trail of ArtRage 3.0 to try it out.  I was impressed with the new features, and really excited about the new watercolor brush.  But first, I played with the oils, testing out the new options.  Just to give you an idea of the changes, here is a side by side comparison of the screen from 2.6 and 3.0:

With version 2.6, I never really was able to get the hang of the way the oil paints blended together.  Whether this was user error, or a difficulty with the program, I keep me from using it for any full scale paintings.  I had fun using it for sketches and speed painting, but not for elaborate illustrations.  The fairy on the right was painted this way, in 2007.

I found that with the new settings in 3.0, it was much easier to create the effect I wanted with the oils.  Each brush comes with four presets that were helpful.  The palette knife also I has a lot of new nifty presets.  I really enjoyed working in the program.  I spend 2.5 hours on each of the small paintings below, and am really happy with the level of detail I was able to achieve.