The author of the tutorial is David Kelly.
This tutorial explains how by using AKVIS ArtWork Home Deluxe plugin and its Stroke Direction tool (unavailable in the Home version) it’s possible to create images with an oil painting look that display subtle, realistic looking brush strokes, that where required, can be made to follow specific image contours.
ArtWork Home Deluxe’s ability to move and reshape pixels along the contours of lines drawn using its Stroke Direction tool, together with its other photo-to-paint conversion sliders enables users to create oil paintings from digital images that display more realistic, directional brush strokes. Where it’s necessary to create brush strokes that follow specific image shapes, e.g. hair and facial contours, ground furrows, tree lines, clouds, architecture etc., the Home Deluxe plugin’s Stroke Direction tool certainly does a good job.
Please, follow the steps below to create a realistic oil painting from a photo:
Deciding where in an image and at what angles to draw stroke direction lines will normally be determined by the image’s contents. However, as in any creative process stroke direction line placement may well be influenced by an individual’s own artistic interpretation.
Click images below to view larger versions. Save these to your computer to compare the delicate differences between the two ArtWork processed images, strokes.jpg and nostrokes.jpg. For detailed comparison purposes you will need to use image editing software that includes a Layers palette. Follow the instructions in the “Comparing results using Layers” section.
Comparing results using Layers
Hiding/showing the “strokes” layer makes it easier to view the subtle but effective changes using the Stroke Direction tool can make to an ArtWork processed image.