Ever since I started in photography many years ago, I’ve wanted to create a “painterly” effect.  That is, an effect that is more a poetic expression of a scene than a literal recording of it.  I’ve talked about this before.  The Corel Painter products I have now are very good but rather complicated and expensive unless you are really dedicated.  I haven’t achieved the skill level I need to show you much with those programs but I recently found free photo sketching software that I find exciting.  I want to show it to you, and if you are also interested in a painterly effect, you might want to try it too.  It is simple to use.  This software works on Windows computers but not Macs.

This was a shot at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in southern Indiana year ago November.  I liked it without the painterly treatment but I like it even more after running it through FotoSketcher.  I don’t know why David Thoiron, the developer of the software, hasn’t charged even a nominal amount for it.

If you try it you will find there are many choices in painting styles and variations within those styles.  I find it liberating.

Try it, you’ll like it.