Designing Women: Jane Conner-ziser

We get so wrapped up in Photoshop stuff, we often forget about the extraordinary work being done in Corel Painter! One particular artist will totally sweep you away, so I knew I had to get her into this year’s Designing Women. . . ladies and gentlemen, meet : Jane Conner-ziser!

When Daryl Wise sent me a copy of his very hot new Secrets of Corel Painter Experts book I was knocked out by the work it exhibits! Wow! We get so wrapped up in Photoshop stuff around here, we often forget about the extraordinary work being done in Corel Painter! Wow. But one particular artist in the book totally swept me away, so I had to inquire if we could get her into the Designing Women issue this year. But before he could even respond, I had connected with Jane Conner-ziser directly. Wow.

The essence of the art

In my first conversation with Jane, I knew we were immediately on the same page. The Photoshop 911 forums continually get requests for help in the kind of image retouching and painting disciplines that really cannot be answered in a forum, or even online. There are a million tutorials out there on the naked web that promise to make you able to create extraordinary works of art. Even the big boys brag about how they can teach you. But folks; I’ve got bad news. As Jane will attest, there aren’t any silver bullets for this kind of expertise. There are no angels who can touch you into truly masterful work. It takes thousands of hours of experience, coupled with just plain hard work. It takes a broad background in the arts, tempered with stack after stack of projects that build the skill set required. Then there’s talent. Sure, you can create all manner of cool stuff with a photo and some software. But without some talent, it won’t be world class.

Jane Conner-ziser: World Class Talent

I really cannot come up with a better way to explain the art and craft of Jane Conner-ziser. Thumbing through her creations just makes the spirit soar. Her ability to interpret reality into a thing of beauty is unmatched by all but just a select few. Here’s an example…

Here’s a work that started with a photo that could have been excellent in its own right. But when Jane applied her magic, the image becomes something much more, now, than a portrait of a pretty little girl. (See the two images in rollover comparison!) Jane has taken the essence of the person, verbatim, and injected her own dream-like vision to arrive at a completely transformed statement that transcends a portrait. And, while the subject if faithfully represented, this vision tells a story — transports us to another place and time! Masterful.

The talent and art is not presenting reality but enhancing reality. Notice the skin tones and fabrics. Jane interprets these into a texture and form that shows what they are while allowing us to feel what they are in a mentalscape. If you want a photo, just take a picture. But the visual suggestion of what it is makes it more important than it is. We’re invited to dream the details rather than experience them. The gauzy fabrics in the skirt and slip become a visual feeling rather than real fabrics. Jane says:

The goal for this style of painting is to create a detailed, photo-realistic painting in the cameo area of the portrait (the head and chest area), plus all skin tones, and then gradually add fantasy and a heavier brush technique as you move away from the focal point. The background and clothing usually reflect full brush work — hence the name heavy oil (as opposed to a transparent hand-colored photo). Every artist develops her own look through her strokes, but the end product is consistent in detail development.

Next Jane transforms some snapshots into a magic vision of childhood…

In her “Peter Pan” work, Jane completely recreates the subjects into a familiar dreamscape that both informs and delights. Here, you can see the snapshot components, and the finished intent. Now take a look at the full work! Notice how the landscape and sky are worked in based on separate photos. You can feel the gate and fenceline in the painting. Jane writes . . .

This was a customer commission that bloomed from a discussion with the mother regarding her wishes to have a special portrait made of her three daughters that would capture the magic of their childhood forever. She felt that the two oldest, twins, who were ten at the time would too soon grow out of their childhood fantasies.
      I love the Peter Pan Painting because I feel it does capture the fun and fantasy of childhood and I know my client and her family treasure the painting. I like it because it’s simple and it illustrates the magic that is possible when artists command technology.

Please read Jane’s full account of the creation of “Peter Pan”

At the Beach is another creation where simple reporting, or artistic interpretation was not enough. This truly difficult shot betrayed the parent’s desire to capture the emotion and feeling of the children at the beach. We’ve seen it … we all see the actual event differently than a camera can ever capture it. (Roll-over the image below)

(be sure to see the full version rollover here)

I started using Painter about 12 years ago. I used to do photo painting with oil paints on top of black-and-white photography. Once I realized the potential of technology, I was sold — until I realized that the software was a bit delicate on the 200+MB files that were typical in the photography industry at that time. Since then, the file sizes that photographers work with have gotten significantly smaller, and the software is a lot more sophisticated and fast. Now it’s a pleasure to work with Painter!

Classic oil portraits can be digitally painted faster and cleaner than ever before. I use a modified original color photograph as the under-painting, saving myself about 60 percent of the time it would take to create the colors from scratch. I precompose, color-adjust, enhance, size, and retouch in Photoshop and then paint in Painter — but this is just my personal preference and workflow I use for speed. I plan to have most classic oil paintings finished within 2 hours max.

Jane’s background is in fine arts and she has been a retouching artist and painter for over 25 years – long before digital. She’s won just about every honor that’s out there, and continues as a celebrity in the digital image world. And, here’s good news for those of you still thinking there’s a filter, plug-in or app for that … Jane teaches! Private lessons can be scheduled, or any of the seminars and workshops she conducts around the world.

See and learn a lot more from Jane in chapter 17 of Secrets of Corel Painter Experts: Tips, Techniques, and Insights for Users of All Abilities, by Daryl Wise and Linda Hellfritsch. Plus you get the wonderful works of fifteen of the leading Painter experts in the world. If you’re into Corel Painter, or you want a worthy alternative to Photoshop, check out this book for sure. And do not miss Jane’s web site:

Jane Conner-ziser

Do not miss Jane Conner-ziser’s Portfolio

Private Lessons & Workshop/Seminar Schedules

See more from the 16th Annual Designing Women editions, and …

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