I’ve been running Painter 3 since 1996…

I’ve been running Painter 3 since 1996. Never upgraded, didn’t use it much. However, through the magic of ebay I have obtained version 5 of the program (wahoo!) and now the program is stable (I used to crash after about 15 minutes of doing anything), and doesn’t look like a program designed for MacOS System 7 (lots of plain black and white interfaces). I’m pleased as punch. And to honor this – here’s a new header for the home page. I played with the natural media tools in Painter – calligraphy pens, water, airbrush, and so much more. The most current version may be 7 and be owned by Corel– but the leap from 3 to 5 makes me terribly happy.

Why does software cost so much? And when did I become so cost conscious about software? I guess it’s also that I always viewed Painter as a frivolity. It’s not strictly necessary for me to have it to do web work, so why spend hundreds to keep it upgraded? I see software like games or “fun stuf” as an extravagance. And I suppose I see letting loose my artistic tendencies as an extravangance.

Maybe I should start seeing that part of me not as an “extra” – but rather as part of my “core.”