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Nick Harris gives us the low-down on his favourite part of ArtRage 4
Nick Harris is a fantasy artist who's been using ArtRage for quite some time. As an avid user, he tells us his thoughts about the latest version – ArtRage 4.
"ArtRage can represent any or every stage of my process. I use it to sketch as well as to finish in. I also mix and match it with SketchBook Pro, the interface of which is similarly clean and nice to engage with. In simplistic terms, I view ArtRage as my more painterly tool and SketchBook Pro as more a drawing tool.
Nick Harris says the reference image tool in version 4 is particularly helpful
"I find the reference image tool that was introduced in version 4 very handy. You can paste images (reference, sketches, whatever) onto the screen like post it notes. You can scale, rotate, zoom each image. You can also create custom paint palettes, mixer palettes and such from the same, floating tool palette. I also use custon toolboxes all the time.
Harris says he'd like to see more sensitive brush response
"You can group your favourite brushes along with a custom palette, all making them easy to get to. It's a bunch of features like that that make the whole experience more akin to working in the real world. Yes, their must be all the technical stuff going on under the bonnet of AR, but they deliver it in a very relatable way."
"Something I'd like to see improvement on: while the pencils are beautifully responsive right out of the box, I'd like to see more sensitive brush response on some of the others." Have you used ArtRage 4 yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below.
Imagine FX 131 contains a full feature review of the latest ArtRage upgrade.
Sammy Maine was a founding member of the Creative Bloq team way back in the early 2010s, working as a Commissioning Editor. Her interests cover graphic design in music and film, illustration and animation. Since departing, Sammy has written for The Guardian, VICE, The Independent & Metro, and currently co-edits the quarterly music journal Gold Flake Paint.
