Artefactual Skills for Simulating Impasto Effect in Digital Painting: An Adobe Photoshop Solution

Abstract

Impasto is one of the fascinating techniques in studio painting that traces its foundation to the period between the 17th and 19th century Italian painters like van Gogh. It is characterised by thick application of paint in a plastering mode to artistically model forms on a canvas using either a bristle brush or a palette knife. When effectively executed, the technique finishes with the effect of ridges that cast shadows under grooves created by the thick application to give the painting its unique tactile contrasting appearance. In digital painting, the painterly effect of impasto is simply impossible to execute. Most of the well-known graphic application software cannot offer any applicator that can render the characteristic effect excellently. The author of this paper has developed a practical scheme for achieving this result using the Craquelure Filter in Adobe Photoshop version 21. The principal objective of the author is to employ the descriptive and demonstrational research methods to illustrate this artefactual scheme, which constitutes a practice-led exercise under the design-based research scheme. In this scheme, the author engages two of the major digital painting techniques: “Digital photo-art” and “Traditional digital painting” techniques to execute a figure painting composition in impasto style.