Game Help:Sims 3 Skills/Painting

Painting is a skill career, your sims can register as Self-Employed painters, earning special rewards for selling their work.

Varieties

There are several paintings available for Sims to paint per level.

Level	Small Canvas	Medium Canvas	Large Canvas	TOTAL
0	4	1	2	7
1	3	2	2	7
2	3	2	3	8
3	4	3	3	10
4	5	6	4	15
5	6	8	6	20
6	6	7	4	17
7	5	6	5	16
8	4	7	4	15
9	5	4	4	13
10	4	4	3	11
Brilliant	2	3	4	9
Masterpiece	3	3	4	10
TOTAL	54	56	48	158

Each painting has nine variations, which are influenced by a Sim's personality. That makes a total of 1580 paintings available for your Sims to create on the easel!

Skill Levels

Sims can be anywhere from painting level zero to ten. Paintings come in levels zero to ten, plus two bonus levels of Brilliant or Masterpiece.

Level	Abilities
0	"Practice Painting" interaction with easel; can select small, medium, or large canvas*
1
2
3
4	"Practice Painting" interaction changes to "Paint"
5	Still-Life painting unlocked; paintings not sold now appreciate in value; highest level child-Sims can achieve
6	Can paint Brilliant paintings; more still life styles unlocked (depending on traits)
7	Portrait painting unlocked
8	Can "Memorize Scene" with cell phone to later "Paint from Memory"
9	Can paint Masterpieces; "Somber" style unlocked for still-lifes
10

Note: The Prima Guide states that Sims with no painting skill (0) will "Dabble" with the easel and be unable to select a canvas size; this has not been observed by players surveyed thus far. The interaction is noted in the easel parameters, however. Speculation is that this interaction was a part of the beta only.

Brilliant & Masterpiece

At level six Sims will be able to randomly paint a Brilliant paintings; level nine for Masterpiece paintings.

There are two ways for a painting to receive one of these labels: (1) a Sim paints above their level--for example, a Sim with a painting skill of six paints a level nine painting; (2) in addition, the game also has nine paintings exclusive to the Brilliant category, and 10 paintings exclusive to the Masterpiece category.

Brilliant Painting - Value of paintings is increased by 25%

Variable	% Chance
Base	20%
Perfectionist trait	+20%
Proficient Painter achievement	+20%
Extra Creative Lifetime Happiness Reward	+25%

Masterpiece Painting - Value of paintings is increased by 50%

Variable	% Chance
Base	10%
Perfectionist trait	+15%
Proficient Painter achievement	+25%
Extra Creative Lifetime Happiness Reward	+15%

Speed

This is only the basic information on painting speed; in theory there is more to it perhaps?

Note that skill level and number of paintings completed have no effect on painting speed. Mood supposedly does, though specific effects are yet unknown.

• Large paintings take 480 Sim minutes.
• Medium paintings take 300 Sim minutes.
• Small paintings take 180 Sim minutes.
• Painting a portrait takes 50% longer.
• The fabled "Dabble" interaction is supposed to take 50% longer.
• The Perfectionist trait supposedly adds some amount of time. Reports vary.

Styles

There are 158 basic paintings. Each painting has nine variations, which can be triggered by a Sim's personality. Basically, EA ran each of the 158 paintings through some Photoshop filters (name included under "Description" where applicable) or added a color layer.

Trait	Description	Example
Basic	Not influenced by any trait
Artistic	Painting is somewhat blurry, losing much detail (Paint Daubs filter)
Can't Stand Art	Strokes become thicker and darker (Dark Strokes filter)
Computer Whiz	Painting turns into a bunch of tiles (Patchwork filter}
Evil	Everything gets tinted with red
Genius	Painting becomes a bunch of single-colored polygons (Stained Glass filter}
Gloomy/Grumpy	Everything gets tinted with blue
Insane	Painting loses a lot of detail (Cutout filter)
Neurotic	Everything gets all neon (Glowing Edges filter}
Virtuoso	A slight glow is added (Diffuse Glow filter)

Value

While there is a degree of randomness to how much your painting will sell for, there are a few basic rules. The basic things that affect a painting's value are canvas size, skill level, number of paintings the Sim has made, appreciation over time (starting at level five), brilliant/masterpiece status, portrait, or the painter's death.

Base Values by Canvas Size

Level	Small	Medium	Large
0	1	10	30
1	3	15	50
2	8	25	80
3	12	40	110
4	21	75	150
5	30	110	220
6	55	150	300
7	100	225	425
8	145	310	600
9	200	400	750
10	280	525	1000

Other Factors

Description	Bonus
Experience Contributor	Painting number is multiplied by 2, 4, or 6 (depending on canvas size) and that value is added to the painting. For example, if this is your Sim's 6th painting and it is small, 6x2=12 so the value of your painting will be increased by 12 Simoleans.
Random Multiplier	The base value and experience contributor are multiplied by a random number between 0.75 and 1.25. Just 'cause.
Appreciation	For level 5+ only: Skill level of the painter (at the time the painting was created) is multiplied by 0.5, 0.75, or 1.0 (depending on canvas size) and that value is added to the painting every other day for the remainder of the painting's existence. For example, if your Sim is skill level eight and they paint something medium, 8x0.75=6 so six Simoleans will be added to the value of the painting every other day.
Artist Dies	Upon the artist's death, the painting's value increases by 930 Simoleans, and the appreciation rate of the painting doubles. Note that this only applies the first time the artist dies, and does not apply to any paintings painted by Sims who are already dead (ghosts) at the time of creation.
Portrait	Value is increased by 40%
Brilliant	Value is increased by 25%
Masterpiece	Value is increased by 50%
Master Painter achievement	?

Still-Lifes

Our subject for our still-life examples: Sleeping Gnome McMulty

The "Paint Still-Life" interaction with the easel is unlocked when your Sim reaches skill level five.

At level six Sims unlock "Paint Stylized Still-Life" and any combination of the three styles (genius, insane, or somber) depending on their traits.

Moodlets can also affect the style of the painting. For example, if you have a Sim paint a still-life while they have the lost a friend moodlet, they may do so in the somber style even if you didn't tell them to.

Similarly, some traits can influence the style of the painting. For example, an overemotional Sim may randomly paint an insane still-life.

Style	Unlocked For	Influencing Traits	Influencing Moodlets	Example
Basic Type 1
Basic Type 2
Genius	Genius, Artistic	Genius	buzzed, divine meal, intrigued, honor student, learning quickly, tranquil
Insane	Insane, Artistic	Overemotional, Insane, Neurotic, Never Nude
Somber	Grumpy, Artistic, ALL level 9 painters	Grumpy, Can't Stand Art	desolate, disappointed, heartbroken, lost a friend, mourning, bored, embarrassed, feeling unlucky, humiliated, lonely, rejected proposal, upset, buzz crashed

Also, starting at level eight Sims can "Memorize Scene" with cell phone to later "Paint from Memory."

Challenges

There are three different challenges for the painting skill.

Challenge	Description
Brushmaster	Brushmasters have painted at least 30 paintings, and as a result, paint much faster than normal painters.
Proficient Painter	Proficient Painters have proven their worth by painting at least six brilliant paintings. They tend to paint far more brilliant paintings as masterpieces than less proficient Sims.
Master Painter	Master Painters have painted at least five masterpieces. Every painting they sell is worth oodles more than the work of normal artists.

Miscellaneous Facts

• Large paintings add an environment bonus from +2 to +40.
• Medium paintings add an environment bonus from +3 to +30.
• Small paintings add an environment bonus from +4 to +10.
• Sims find paintings being looked at by others 50% more interesting.
• Paintings cannot be swiped by Kleptomaniac Sims, but can be stolen by burglers.
• When a painting is sold, there is a 20% chance of it being shown in your local art gallery.