Guides / Marks and effects
Variations for layering
Paint the stroke in hand nearer or farther, broader or finer, and build an effect from its parts, each stroke moving in its own time.
- Free
- Every depth and scale variation, on every brush but the pens, and the parts whose looks are Free: Flame, Embers, Smoke, Current, Leaves and Blossoms.
- Plus
- The parts from Plus looks, such as Candle, Wildfire, Choppy sea and Foam.
Choose Ultramarine and paint a stroke across the top of the page with the brush as it comes. It is the one to compare with.
Choose Ultramarine and paint a stroke across the top of the page with the brush as it comes. It is the one to compare with.
Tap Watercolor, the medium in hand, and its brushes unfold. Then tap the brush in hand again, here Round. Its variations unfold. As it comes, then far and near, broad and fine.
Tap the folded wheel, then Watercolor, the medium in hand, and its brushes unfold. Then tap the brush in hand again, here Round. Its variations unfold. As it comes, then far and near, broad and fine.
Click Watercolor, the medium in hand, and its brushes unfold. Then click the brush in hand again, here Round. Its variations unfold. As it comes, then far and near, broad and fine.
Choose Far, broad and paint a second stroke below the first. It is wider, paler and softer, and it moves more slowly, like something in the distance.
Choose Far, broad and paint a second stroke below the first. It is wider, paler and softer, and it moves more slowly, like something in the distance.
Open the variations again, with Watercolor and then the brush in hand, and choose Near, fine. Each variation starts from the stroke as it came, so the row holds still while you try them. Paint a third stroke. It is narrower, darker and quicker.
Open the variations again, with Watercolor and then the brush in hand, and choose Near, fine. Each variation starts from the stroke as it came, so the row holds still while you try them. Paint a third stroke. It is narrower, darker and quicker.
Now build a fire. Tap Amount to open Marks and motion, then choose Fire and Flame. Choose Crimson and paint a stroke upward.
Now build a fire. Unfold the wheel, tap Amount to open Marks and motion, then choose Fire and Flame. Choose Crimson and paint a stroke upward.
Now build a fire. Click Amount to open Marks and motion, then choose Fire and Flame. Choose Crimson and paint a stroke upward.
Open the variations again. With an effect in hand, its parts come first, after As it comes. For fire, core, body, tongues, sparks and smoke, in the order a fire is painted.
Open the variations again. With an effect in hand, its parts come first, after As it comes. For fire, core, body, tongues, sparks and smoke, in the order a fire is painted.
Choose Sparks, then Orange, and paint over the flame. The sparks rise with their own timing, never in step with the flame below.
Choose Sparks, then Orange, and paint over the flame. The sparks rise with their own timing, never in step with the flame below.
Last, open the variations once more, choose Smoke, then Slate, and paint above the fire. Three strokes, three parts, each moving in its own time.
Last, open the variations once more, choose Smoke, then Slate, and paint above the fire. Three strokes, three parts, each moving in its own time.
Painters build a picture up in layers: far before near, the broad mass before the fine detail. The variations do that for the stroke in hand, as the colour's shade ring does for the colour.
To open them, tap the medium in hand on the wheel's rim, so its brushes unfold, then tap the brush in hand again: the outlined one, among the medium's brushes or the recent brushes. Its variations unfold as rings of strokes, after Brushes, which leads back to the brushes.
- 1 As it comes: the stroke in hand, before any variation.
- Far strokes are thinner, paler and softer, and they move less and more slowly. Near strokes are bolder and quicker. Mid keeps the depth and changes only the scale.
- Broad strokes are wider, with longer, slower waves: the mass of a shape. Fine strokes are narrower, with shorter, quicker waves: the detail.
- With an effect in hand, its parts come first, before the depths: Fire (Core, Body, Tongues, Sparks, Smoke), Water (Deep, Current, Chop, Foam, Spray) and Nature (Mass, Stems, Leaves, Blossoms). Other effects, Weather among them, vary by depth and scale.
- A pen has no depths or scales: far and near would only be a thinner and a wider line, which Size already gives, so a second tap on a pen opens nothing. With an effect in hand, a pen still offers the effect's parts.
Every stroke painted with a variation or a part starts its movement at its own point, so layered strokes never pulse together. Strokes painted with the brush as it comes still move in step, as before.
A variation keeps the rings open, so you can try one after another. Each one starts from the stroke as it came, so the row doesn't change under your finger, even after you reopen it. On iPhone, the second tap on the brush in hand keeps the wheel open, and a variation folds it like any pick; press and hold one to keep the rings open. Choosing another brush, motion or mark ends the variation. The gauges don't: you can fine-tune a variation with Size, Strength and the motion gauges.
Variations never change the colour, which stays the one in hand, and never add a motion. Effects are built in their colours: deep red, orange and yellow for fire, as the brush settings' Build it up suggests.
Plus: Depth and scale variations are Free on every brush that has them. A part is Plus when its look is: Flame, Embers, Smoke, Current, Leaves and Blossoms are Free; Candle, Wildfire, Deep eddies, Choppy sea, Foam, Sea spray, Leaf clusters and Bare vine are Plus, with a Plus badge.
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