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Uneven Coloring

For a while, I've been trying to color in my sketches in an even manner. However, no matter what I've tried, it always looks uneven and penciled. I've noticed that most artists here are able to do it, so I don't know if there's something basic I'm forgetting, or if I just don't have the right programs. (I have Corel Painter Essentials 3)Does anyone have any ideas?

Well I've never had Painter Essentials 3 so I have no idea what tools it has, but I would suggest, if it's anything like Painter 8 or 9 - to try out different tools in the program (like airbrush or oil) and their variations to see which gives you less grain. Also - I would double check the opacity and flow settings.

For me using a big brush size is the best for filling in large areas. From the image in your gallery it looks like you are filling in on the same layer as your line art, which would make it really hard to do that without painting over your lines, and could be the reason for you using small brushes? Put your line drawing on a different layer as your fill if you can (I haven't used Essentials so I'm not sure if you can use layers), that should help.

I'm not sure what kind of brush you are using, but it looks like some kind of water color brush. Those can be hard to use because layering makes the color darker. Try using the acrylic or oil brush to do fills so you get a solid color.

But yeah, let us know more about the process you are using to create these.

Essentials does have layers; however, they are quite the tricky little beasts. The colors in each layer mix terribly. And so I've been using a small brush to work around that issue with layers. My process? Well, it generally starts with a pencil tool, then I use an art pen called "Tapered Gouache." I really only use the water colors for backgrounds, though, and use airbrushes for shading. I've tried using the paint bucket, but it doesn't have a "close gap" function, so I often got a canvas full of only one color. The acrylics look like chalk and the oils are a messy. I think I might just be up poop creek without a paddle.... But I'll keep trying to find something that works.

Yeah, I remember Painter having unusual layer behavior, with the bump mapped paints some brushes not being able to work with some layers (watercolor layers for example). I can't think of anything off the top of my head that would help, except of course the stock answer of trying something other than Painter or changing your style.

All I can really suggest with Painter is to try using different brush types and layer arrangements. The acrylics may look chalky because your canvas size is really small. I usually have my canvas no smaller than 9x12 at 300ppi (pixels per inch), which equates to 2700x3600. I'm confident that the textures that Painter uses for it's brushes is meant for art being created at that resolution. The paper texture that is making the acrylic look chalky would be more subtle compared to the rest of the image if the canvas was larger. You can then export your image and scale it down when you are ready to put it on the web somewhere.

As for the color blending, I think using a paint, like acrylic or something else, that will not blend oddly like water color does with layers.

As for the line art, I'm not sure what to suggest. I don't know if Essentials has a calligraphic brush, ink brush, or something else like that; something that will make thin lines without blending weird (so markers are probably out too).

Also, don't forget that you can edit brushes or make your own (I'm not sure if Essentials lets you do that though). You'll likely have to do this to get the effect you want. You should be able to turn off some things like texture and other settings to get the brushes to behave better. So if there's a brush that you like but isn't perfect, you should be able to modify it or create a mutant brush that'll better serve your needs.

And if you can, point us to an image that has the effect or style that you are trying to achieve. That'll help since I'm not sure exactly what effect you are trying to achieve in your work, and if it's the process or software that's falling short.