Thursday, July 21, 2011

Working with Ambient Design's ArtRage Studio Pro

I discovered ArtRage a few years ago when I tried out the free 2.5 version and was immediately impressed that such a light installation code-wise could produce such a fantastically real feel for the mediums it produces.

I bought myself a WACOM Bamboo graphics tablet a short time later and discovered its controls worked perfectly with the ArtRage interface.

A short time later I picked up a commission that required the nuances of airbrush and watercolors so I went ahead and bought the Studio 3.0 version so I could use all of the tools.


A couple of weeks ago I again found myself needing some features available in their newer StudioPro version 3.5 so got the inexpensive upgrade and again was super pleased with the quality of the tools. One of the things I find valuable in collaborating with designers and other artists is the ability to work on projects using ArtRage and Paint.Net.





Both applications have the capability of importing and exporting files in the .PSD Photoshop format, making it possible to use a wider variety of tools and to work with web designers more easily.






Whether painting in oil on rough canvas or inking with colors on an animation cel the feel is just like working with that medium itself.

Needless to say I find myself glued to my studio, excited with my projects and having so much fun that Celeste sort of interposes food between me and my drawing to coerce me to eat.