Oil & Acrylic Tool Properties¶
The
Oils & Acrylics simulate thin or thick (impasto) painting with a wide
variety of preset brushes.
Activate the tool by choosing it in the Tools panel or by tapping the Shift + O shortcut.
The Size, Loading, and Oiliness of the brushes are set in the Properties panel. The more complex mechanics that define an oil or acrylic brush are set in the Brush Creator panel.
Size - Determines the size of an oil or acrylic brush as a percentage (1 to 100) of the brush's maximum size (set in the Brush Creator panel).
Loading - Determines the amount of color (i.e. oil paint) applied by the brush as a percentage (1 to 100) of the brush's maximum opacity (set in the Brush Creator panel).
Oiliness - Determines the oiliness of the color applied by the brush (1 to 100). Lower settings define a drier brush, and higher settings a more oily, smudgy brush.
Pressure - Determines the pressure applied to the brush (1 to 100). This slider is provided for those using a mouse or a stylus that is not pressure-sensitive.
Length - Determines the length of the stroke (1 to 100). At the lower settings, the brush "runs out of" paint quickly, with the highest '100' setting, the paint on the brush is infinite.
Video tutorial
Learn more about the Length slider in this video: Stroke Length.
Note
The Pressure and Length sliders are hidden by default. You can view it anytime by selecting 'Pressure' and 'Length' in the Properties panel menu > Show Sliders.
You can also change the size or loading of oil or acrylic brushes without using the Properties panel. To do so, hold Ctrl (or Cmd) key on the keyboard while dragging the mouse or stylus:
-
Drag to the left to decrease brush size.
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Drag to the right to increase brush size.
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Drag down to decrease the loading of the brush.
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Drag up to increase the loading of the brush.
When you engage in this process, the on-screen representation of the brush (the brush pointer) will first appear in its Resize Color along with the info window with the current volumes' values. The brush pointer will then change in size or loading depending on which direction you drag it and the info window will update accordingly.
Tip
The brush Resize Color of the brush pointer can be changed in the Preferences panel > Tools > Painting Cursor.
Brush Creator - Opens the Brush
Creator with many more settings for brush customization.
'Oils & Acrylics' Tool Modes¶
Oil and acrylic brushes have several different modes that determine how each brush applies, blends, or removes color from the canvas.
MultiColored Brush - Load two or
more colors onto the brush tip and paint with multiple colors. The
beginning of the multicolored brush stroke consists of all picked
colors.
The colors are then mixed into a color which is the average value of these colors.
The MultiColored brush can be activated also by tapping the Alt + M shortcut.
Tip
By using the shortcut Alt (Pick Color) or X (Mix color) you can load more than one color from the canvas or color set onto the brush tip using several clicks.
Dirty Brush - Sets an oil or acrylic
brush to retain traces of a previously picked color along with traces of
any colors it encounters on the canvas. Dirty brush can be activated
also by tapping the Alt + D shortcut.
Tip
Select the Blend mode and click on the canvas without making an additional mark. Colors under the brush will be 'loaded' into the brush and will be used in the next stroke.
Note
The MultiColored and Dirty Brush option can be used in combination with Paint, Paint & Mix, and Paint & Blend Modes.
When using Multicolored or Dirty Brush, you can easily mix the original, primary color back into the wash by tapping the shortcut C.
When using Multicolored or Dirty Brush, you can easily clean the brush by tapping a shortcut which you can set via Preferences > Keyboard > Color > Clean Brush.
Dirty Brush colors can be saved into the color history by enabling the option "Save Dirty brush colors to Color history" in the Preferences > Tool > Brushes.
Paint - Sets the brush to apply the
selected color without mixing it into any other color it encounters on
the canvas (previously called Permanent Brush in Rebelle 3). Paint Mode
can also be engaged by tapping or holding 1 on the keyboard.
Paint & Mix - Sets the brush to
apply the selected color and to mix it into any colors it encounters on
the canvas (previously called Normal Brush in Rebelle 3). It starts with
painting. After you lower the pen pressure you start to mix the colors.
With higher pressure, you paint again. Paint & Mix Mode can also be
engaged by tapping or holding 2 on the keyboard.
Paint & Blend - Sets the brush to
apply the selected color and to blend it into any colors it encounters
on the canvas. With lower pen pressure you blend the colors and with
higher pressure, you paint. Paint & Blend Mode can also be engaged by
tapping or holding 3 on the keyboard.
Blend - Sets the brush to blend and
smudge any colors it encounters on the canvas. In this paint mode the
brush does not apply any color of its own. Blending decreases and
smudging increases with stylus pressure. Blend Mode is engaged by
tapping or holding 4 on the keyboard.
Tip
You can switch between Paint modes and Blend mode by tapping or holding the V shortcut.
Tip
You can make the brush automatically switch to Blend mode after using Paint, Paint & Mix, or Paint & Blend mode for wet media when the brush runs out of paint - enable this option in Preferences > Tools.
Erase Brush - Sets the brush to
erase any colors it encounters on the canvas. Erase Mode can also be
engaged by tapping or holding 5 on the keyboard.
Tip
Each paint mode has a keyboard shortcut (as noted above). By tapping the shortcut, the paint mode is set until it is next changed. By holding the shortcut, the mode is engaged only until the key is released.
Video tutorial
Learn more about Rebelle's Oils & Acrylics in this video: Oils, Acrylics and Express Oils.
Oil and acrylic brushes apply color to the canvas with varying degrees of thickness. This quality is often called "Impasto".
Impasto Depth (0-10) - The overall impasto depth can be adjusted at any time using the Visual Settings panel (choose Window menu > Visual Settings or click the Visual Settings button on the Layers panel).
Gloss (0-10) - Oil and acrylic paints also have a characteristic glossiness - the result of light reflecting off its impasto surface. Paint Gloss can also be adjusted using the Visual Settings panel. Gloss value can be adjusted when NanoPixel is not active.
Rebelle 7 Pro lets you paint realistic metallic strokes and structures
with the Oils & Acrylics tool. Metallic materials can be enabled per
layer by clicking the
icon in the Layers panel.
The look of the metallic materials is customizable. In the Visual Settings panel, you can adjust the following options to modify their appearance:
Metallic Reflectivity (0-10) - Set the level of reflectivity of metallic materials. The higher the value the more pronounced the effect of reflectiveness.
Scale (1-10) - Set the scale of the metallic effect.
Strength (1-10) - Set the strength of the metallic effect.
Lock Reflectivity - When NanoPixel is enabled you can see the reflection moving on the metallic strokes when transforming them or when you pan the canvas. This enables you to find and achieve the best look of your metallic strokes. Once you are satisfied with how the stroke looks, you can use the option to lock reflectivity, preventing further changes while moving the canvas. Note that reflectivity will still adjust during stroke transformations.