New Paintbrush Companion

One of my favorite activities in college was going to the local art supply store (so “artsy” of me, I know) and purchasing a new paintbrush. There is something so satisfying about finding a new paintbrush companion that will be your closest friend on your next painting. This brush is going to be by your side through it all. It will help you perfectly articulate your vision for a painting, and will encourage you to keep going even when you’re hungry, lonely, and tired. 

Now as a digital artist, I don’t go to the art supply store, but I do constantly update my tools. I recently upgraded to Corel Painter 20/20, and can I just say: I am ecstatic! More on 20/20 in a future blog, but now I want to talk about a brush that came as a bonus with the purchase.

This brush instantly brought me back to that same feeling of joy I got when picking out a traditional brush in college. This brush gave me hope when I felt like just throwing away a painting. This brush reminded me of why I do what I do. This brush is called Dripper. Dripper is part of the Expressive brush packs available on Painter’s website, and I couldn’t be more happy.

When I heard “Circles” by Post Malone, I quickly sketched out the rough framework of its inspired synesthesia painting (featured below). But the struggle I faced with this painting–as I do with most synesthesia paintings–was translating that quick sketch into a more detailed representation of what I saw when I listened to the song.

The best way I can explain this struggle is equating it to explaining a weird yet vivid dream to a stranger. You have all the details in your mind and it seemed so real, and yet no matter how hard you try to descriptively explain the dream, it somehow doesn’t seem as exciting when you say it out loud.

In the same way, synesthesia is a very difficult to translate, especially when every change in tone or every introduction of a new instrument evolves of the image I see. But when I discovered Dripper, my whole life changed (maybe a little over dramatic? Or maybe that’s what every new discovery in life actually does? Who’da thunk I was artsy and philosophical?!). 

I was at a point in my painting with Circles that nothing seemed to work. I couldn’t fully describe the vision I was seeing and I wanted to count it as a loss. But I refused to let go. I would have tried every variation of every brush if I needed to–and that might have taken a while since there are thousands of brushes.

As soon as I started testing Dripper, I knew it was the one. Dripper is that random speckled look that adds dimension and character to the painting. It was exactly what I needed to articulate what Post Malone’s vibrato looked like. With a few layers of Dripper’s handiwork, the synesthesia painting of “Circles” was born. Order “Circles” here or request your own synesthesia painting here.