Introduction  
    Charcoal  
    Conté Crayon  
    Crayon  
    Cubist  
  Dabble  
    Impressionist  
    Palette Knife  
    Pastels  
    Pen and Ink  
    Pointillist  
    Scraperboard  
    Sketch Pad  
    Watercolour  
    Water Marker  
    Wave Paper  

   5. Dabble

The Dabble art stroke makes image pixels look like dabs of paint. You can choose from a variety of brush strokes and specify the brushstroke size.

Dabble works well with a variety of images, but may produce its best results with scenic pictures as a very good impressionist rendition can be achieved. It also works better with medium to large sized images, rather than with small ones, if you wish to keep the details within the image easily discerned. Dabble has a number of different 'Styles' which are similar to different brush types or painting tools, which can radically change the effect produced.


1. Open a suitable image. In the example here I have chosen is 835096.WI from the Photos/Landscap folder of CD#3 from Corel Draw Suite 9. (Fig 1)

 


2. Open the Dabble dialogue box (Effects > Art Strokes > Dabble). The dialogue box has three main controls: Style, Randomize and Size (Fig 2a).

 

 

The Style control is a drop-down list of six options: Sprayed Stroke, Round Stroke, Default, Cotton Ball, Ice Cube and Sponge. The first three are similar to regular paint strokes, however the final three are very different and are not like paint brushes at all, but resemble painting tolls that their names imply. (Fig 2b).

 

 

 


3. First off, turn the preview on then press the Reset button (Default Style, Randomize = 1, Size = 1) and observe the result. (Fig 3a)

 


4. Now press the Randomize button a few times and observe the changes in the image preview. The placement of the brush strokes changes also as if starting to paint at a different point within the image. (Fig 3b)

 


5. Press the Reset button again and then change the Style to Sprayed Stroke. The strokes now all appear to be in the same direction and more organised. (Fig 4). Randomize again to see the effect

 


6. Reset again and choose the Round Stroke Style. No the strokes are much more even, softer and even more organised. (Fig 5). Randomize again.

 


7. For all of these Styles we can also change the Size of the brush stroke. Increasing the size reduces detail but can also provide you with the exact brush size you need for a particular effect.


8. Lets check out the three remaining styles. These can sometimes make the details in your image rather obscure, but, especially when combined either back with the original or with other effects, can create a very interesting result. Check out the results for Cotton Ball, Ice Cube and Sponge. (Figs 6A, 6B and 6C).

 

Fig 6A.

Cotton Ball

   

Fig 6B.

Ice Cube

 

Fig 6C.

Sponge

 


Here's some examples of using these later effects as suggested:

 

Fig 7A with Dabble's Cotton Ball Style:

Make a duplicate of the background image then apply a Dabble Art Stroke to the duplicate. Use the Eraser Tool with a large amount of Soft edge to uncover sections of the original beneath the dabbled duplicate. Then use Image > Adjust > Color Hue to change the Hue of the duplicate.

Fig 7B with Dabble's Ice Cub Style:

As above, create a duplicate first the apply the Ice Cube Style. Change the Merge Mode of the duplicate to Overlay.

Fig 7C with Dabble's Sponge Style:

Duplicate the image, apply Dabble's Sponge Style. Change the Merge Mode of the duplicate to Color Burn, the apply a Gaussian Blur with a radius of 5 pixels to the duplicate.


Other Examples (using duplicates and masks):

 

Fig 8
Fig 9



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