I worked on this photo a good bit in both Painter 12 and Photoshop before getting it like I wanted it. It is a long way from perfect and has a couple of real flaws in it, but I am still happy with it. I was using it as a learning tool to see if I could draw out what I visualized when I captured the image. I do pretty well in Photoshop, but am really just learning to use use Painter, which I will have to master if I want to bring my photo art any where near the level I a shooting for.
Similar to Photoshop, the only real complexity of learning Corel Painter 12 is the richness and depth of an incredible number of tools from which to choose. I can read the books and watch the videos, but the only way to really "own" and program such as this is to wade in, experiment and use the tools, however inappropriate your initial choices and efforts may be.
Below is the original image:
(Shot with the Sony NEX 7. You can see from the extreme crop, the incredible image quality the camera is capable of reaching... with the kit lens.)
