$399.00 USD

What version of Corel Painter are you currently using?

Subscribe to our email list.

I have read and agree to the terms and conditions of this page as follows:

TERMS OF USE & COPYRIGHT NOTICE

By completing your purchase and downloading these files, you are entering into a legally binding agreement and affirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to the following terms of use:

DIGITAL PRODUCT POLICY

All digital products are non-refundable and non-transferable. Due to the nature of these files, all sales are final. Access instructions will be emailed after checkout—you must check both:

“Subscribe to our email list”
“I have read and agree to the terms and conditions of this page”

COPYRIGHT & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

All backgrounds, textures, overlays, and related digital content are the original intellectual property of Heather Michelle Chinn and are protected under United States and international copyright laws. Purchase grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, single-user license to use the materials in accordance with the terms below.

You are not purchasing ownership of the files—only the right to use them under specific conditions.

PROHIBITED USES

You may not, under any circumstances:

Sell, share, gift, sublicense, or otherwise redistribute the files in any format
Upload, input, or train any artificial intelligence models using these files, in whole or in part
Submit the files (original or modified) into any generative AI platform or dataset for the purpose of:

Creating derivative images
Training or fine-tuning models
Iterative design or image-to-image workflows
Style transfer or content extraction

This includes, but is not limited to: Midjourney, DALL·E, Adobe Firefly, ArtBreeder, NightCafe, Deep Dream Generator, Stable Diffusion, Leonardo AI, Fotor, Images.ai, DeepAI, Stable Diffusion, Google Imagen, Ideogram, Recraft, Seedream, Grok, GPT‑4o and other similar AI tools, software, or training environments.

Use these materials to create or sell “new” backgrounds, overlays, or textures derived from the originals
Print, repackage, or license these files as standalone products, whether in digital or physical form
Provide layered PSD or PNG files to clients or end users that contain any editable version of the background
Use in any commercial offering that enables others to access, extract, or isolate the background as an independent file
Sell purchased designs to any background (digital or physical) selling platform in ANY iteration

PERMITTED USES

You may:

Incorporate the backgrounds into your own photographic or painterly client work as flattened files
Use them in commercial editing for portraiture, composites, or digital painting, provided that the background is not extractable or resold
Use them as painterly bases inside programs such as Corel Painter or Adobe Photoshop, provided that the work is hand-rendered and human-created

LICENSE RESTRICTIONS

Each download is licensed to one individual user only. Multi-user licenses, studio licenses, or bulk permissions must be arranged in writing and purchased separately.

All rights remain exclusively with Heather Michelle Chinn.

ENFORCEMENT

Unlicensed use, distribution, AI ingestion, or resale of any kind is a violation of copyright and will result in immediate revocation of access and potential legal action. Tracking measures and unique file signatures may be used to enforce compliance.

QUESTIONS OR PERMISSION REQUESTS

If you are unsure whether a specific use is permitted, or if you wish to inquire about a custom license, please email:
[email protected]

For backgrounds and textures downloads, please see User Agreement or link on the store for terms of use. For some ideas on how to use the backgrounds and textures please visit (and subscribe!) to Heather's Youtube channel and blog here:

https://www.heatherthepainter.com/blog/how-to-creatively-use-textures-as-clipping-masks

https://www.heatherthepainter.com/blog/2

https://www.heatherthepainter.com/blog/a-variety-of-outcomes-with-one-background

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej4pVVp0cg8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlzTIUKn35Y

Corel Painter Master Elite, Corel Approved Painter Educator, PPA retired IPC juror, M. Artist, Cr., M. Photog., former Golden Artist Educator

Updated June 24, 2025

2023 Creating and Using Functional Backgrounds Masterclass REPLAY - Study at your own pace

This Masterclass REPLAY includes:

Almost 10 hours of Video!

41 high resolution BACKGROUNDS

22 high resolution TEXTURES

4 worksheets

25 of Heather's Corel Painter brushes compatible with Corel Painter 2021 (or newer)

Reference images

and more!

Watch as Heather builds a portrait from the ground up—guiding you from a blank canvas to finished head—while emphasizing that the background space is just as vital to the final image as the subject itself. No freehand painting knowledge required.

You'll receive:

OVER 6 hours of pre-recorded, streaming Masterclass videos you can access via your online library
Access to Controlling the Texture in the Background webinar replay (120 minutes plus goodies)
Intro to Corel Painter 2021 video (1hr18m)
Brushes pack for Corel Painter 2021 (and newer)
Homework assignments each session
PDFs
Heather's BONUS 2023 (un-released) Backgrounds Pack
Some of Heather's favorite backgrounds from the last few years to study at high resolution (including Alla Prima, Alla Prima ll, Foundations, and some of the earlier collections)
22 of Heather's high resolution textures

Some of Heather's high resolution paintings, and reference images to study the brushwork "up close"

“The background is your supporting role—fail to cast it well, and the entire painting collapses.”
This isn’t just theory—it’s the structural truth behind every compelling portrait. In every workshop and webinar, Heather drives this point home: your subject may be the star, but it’s the background that holds the stage together.

This masterclass shows you how to paint supporting space with intention—combining traditional composition strategies, painterly texture building, and thoughtful brushwork to create harmony between figure and ground. Without it, no amount of detail in the subject will save a piece that lacks foundation.

You'll learn how to utilize organic materials and utilize them in a digital space for a truly life like painted look in your backgrounds. This extended workshop will cover editing and layering in Adobe Photoshop (CC and newer), and painting in Corel Painter 2021 (or newer) with a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet and pen. The pre-recorded Masterclass tutorials can be streamed whenever you have high speed internet through your online library!

Heather will cover how to make one of a kind textures organically for digital use using traditional media. You'll learn how to layer textures, tricks and pitfalls, how to prepare them for Corel Painter's "Texture" palette. You'll also learn how to incorporate backgrounds you might already own from this store into your textures or backgrounds arsenal. Heather will demonstrate how to identify and use brushes in background building, as well as edge identifiers for painting the subject into the background if the background was painted separate of the subject.

If you're looking to create unique backgrounds for your own use, or even selling them on Etsy, or maybe it's looking how to better merge your subject to the background space, this class is for you! A basic understanding of layers and maneuvering Photoshop and Corel Painter are required. Please note an Intro to Corel Painter 2021 video is included to help you manage your setup.

While this course is designed to teach you to create your own backgrounds, please note if you are using any backgrounds from this store the terms of agreement are still in effect. You can view the terms here.

Replay ONE - Textures - merging traditional with digital

Replay TWO - Layering tricks and brush identification

Replay THREE - Gestalt - Merging the subject with the background texturally

Replay FOUR - Finishing the subject into the background

The Original Masterclass: Building from the Background Out

This is more than a painting tutorial—it’s a foundational study in crafting background space with purpose.

Watch as Heather guides you through her complete process, painting a portrait head from start to finish while placing deliberate emphasis on constructing the background by hand. Using textured brushes, layered design theory, and old-world composition principles, you’ll learn how to:

Build atmospheric depth from scratch
Anchor your subject with intentional light, shape, and space
Use textures and brushwork to mimic traditional surfaces
Elevate your portraits beyond filters or overlays—into painterly storytelling

You get access to:
A curated brush + texture set
Full worksheets, PDFs, and reference images
Essential background composition lecture for artists and photographers alike

BONUS Backgrounds

Class Requirements

Adobe Photoshop CC or newer
Corel Painter 2021 or newer
A pressure sensitive tablet such as a Wacom
A digital camera of some sort. Your cell phone is not recommended but if that is all you have access to, so be it.
Black acrylic paint (cheap, dollar store paint is fine!)
High speed internet

Please note only this does not include any LIVE sessions - simply the REPLAY from the first Original Creating and Using Functional Backgrounds Masterclass!

This Masterclass goes through the not so lovely "OH POOP" moments when you have to make the subject work with the background space. You'll see it ALL in the replays. If you can't make it work, let alone know what to look for, the overall painting will not work. Don't let a few elements keep your masterpiece in the dud pile. This image is what you'll see from start to finish in the Study At Your Pace REPLAY.

What People Are Saying:

Your backgrounds are always so amazing. So talented!

P.K. S.

(During the critique) It was amazing to watch how you took a background which I felt was quite good... and in a few minutes made it infinitely better. When I watched you paint, you knew instinctively what would and would not work...

W. T.

I highly recommend Heather’s 2023 Creating Functional Backgrounds from Scratch MASTERCLASS. This 4 part tutorial was one of the most informative classes I have ever taken. I loved the fact that the class is divided into 4 sections that allow you time to absorb very useful material before moving on to other aspects of background painting. You can work at your own pace. You will not regret signing up for this Master Class and will receive many useful brushes and textures along with easy to follow instructional videos. This class is money well spent for your Painter education.

Tana P