Painting (The Sims 3)

Painting is a skill in The Sims 3 and The Sims 4.

Sims can make small, medium, or large-sized paintings. A finished painting can be named, hung on the wall, or sold either from the easel, inventory, or consignment store. Sketches made from the drafting table or sketchbook cannot be consigned, however.

The Sims 3
The painting skill is augmented by the Artistic trait, and the Extra Creative lifetime reward. Sims can learn Painting skill by using the easel, drafting table, or sketchbook. They can also take a class at the school or college of art. With Ambitions, Sims can register as a self-employed Painter.

Statistics

 * Number of Paintings Created
 * Number of Brilliant Paintings Finished
 * Number of Masterpieces Painted
 * Worth of Most Valuable Painting Sold
 * Money Earned from Paintings
 * Number of Sketchbook Sketches Created

Challenges

 * 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 6 brilliant paintings. They tend to paint far more brilliant paintings and masterpieces than less proficient Sims.


 * Master Painter
 * Master Painters have painted at least 5 masterpieces. Every painting they sell is worth oodles more than the work of normal artists.

Painting value and quality
The value of the paintings varies, and it depends on many factors, including skill level, canvas size, painting quality, number of paintings Sims have made, and some other factors.
 * The base value of the painting depends on the canvas size and skill level. Below is the table of base painting value.
 * The painting value is modified randomly between x0.75 and 1.25
 * The painting value is increased by x1.25 for a brilliant painting or x1.5 for a masterpiece.
 * The painting value is increased by x1.3 if the Master Painter challenge is completed.
 * A bonus is added to the painting value from the number of paintings made (n) on the respective canvas size.
 * Small = n x 2
 * Medium = n x 4
 * Large = n x 6
 * Drafting table = n x 2
 * Sketchbook = n x 3

After the above is calculated, bonuses below will be applied.
 * The painting value is increased by x1.4 for a portrait.
 * The painting value is increased by x1.5 if the artist has Extra Creative lifetime reward.
 * Completing Local Artists Gallery opportunity doubles the value of the next painting. This bonus is only applied once.

The painting value appreciates every day if the painting is made at level 5 skill or higher. The appreciation value is earned from the skill level (s) the painting was first started times the canvas size. If the artist dies, the painting value is added by §930 and the rate of appreciation above is doubled. This bonus will not be given if the artist was already a ghost.
 * Small = s x 0.5
 * Medium = s x 0.75
 * Large = s x 1
 * Drafting table = n x 0.5
 * Sketchbook = n x 0.75

Brilliant paintings and masterpieces are unlocked at level 6 and 9 of Painting skill, respectively. There's a 20% chance Sims will paint a brilliant painting and 10% chance for masterpiece. The chance can be increased by having either of the following benefit:
 * 1) +40% (brilliant) and +35% (masterpiece) if the Sim has completed Proficient Painter challenge,
 * 2) +25% (brilliant) and +15% (masterpiece) if the Sim has Extra Creative lifetime reward, or
 * 3) +20% (brilliant) and +15% (masterpiece) if the Sim has the Perfectionist trait.

Keep in mind that the preceding benefits do not stack. The priority is sorted in descending order, so the benefits will supersede the following. This means that having completed the Proficient Painter challenge will void the Extra Creative reward and Perfectionist trait. In University Life, completing the Advanced Art Training Brilliant and Advanced Art Training Masterpiece opportunities allows Sims to paint brilliant paintings and masterpieces at will. See below.

Painting speed
The bigger the canvas size, the longer it takes for Sims to finish a painting. Small painting takes 3 hours to finish, medium painting takes 5 hours, large painting takes 8 hours, draft takes 4 hours, and sketch takes 45 minutes. Painting a portrait takes 50% more time to complete. Having the Perfectionist trait adds completion time by 15 minutes. Completing the Brushmaster challenge or having the Efficient trait chip (for plumbots) cuts the painting speed in half.

Painting styles
As Sims advance in the Painting skill, the quality of the paintings also get better. There are 171 paintings available to paint (158 from the base game, 13 from The Sims 3: Into the Future). Each painting has minimum and maximum skill caps—Sims with low Painting skill cannot make a high-level painting, and vice versa. This means that once the Sim has advanced in the skill, they will no longer be able to paint unique low-level paintings.

This can be overcome in The Sims 3: University Life. Sims who have reached level 6 in Art Appraiser career at either branch can receive the Advanced Art Training opportunity chain from the abandoned warehouse. Once Sims complete the opportunity chain, they are given the ability to paint paintings at any skill level on the easel, which also unlocks Advanced Art Trait Brilliant opportunity, which unlocks Advanced Art Trait Masterpiece. Completing the respective opportunities will enable Sims to paint brilliant paintings and masterpieces at will.

Trait-based paintings
Each painting has 9 variations that depends on the Sim's traits. All variations of the painting are equally weighed if the Sim has one or more traits on the list. The variations of the painting generally use Photoshop filters to create the effect.

Still-life paintings
At level 5, Sims can paint a still-life painting and sketch. When choosing this painting type, the screen will display a camera interface. The players can position the camera to capture the still-life snapshot for the Sim to paint. The still-life painting has 2 basic effects. Either effect will be applied to the painting randomly.

At level 7, Sims can paint portrait of other Sims or pets. The players can take the snapshot of the other Sim or pet. They will pose while the Sim paints. Portraits take 50% longer to complete, but the value is worth 40% more than regular paintings.

At level 8, Sims can memorize scene using the cellphone. The camera interface will be displayed for the players to capture a snapshot. Sims can later paint from memory on the easel, based on the snapshot taken from the memorize scene interaction.

Stylized still-life paintings
Upon reaching level 6 Painting skill, Sims can unlock additional stylized still-life paintings, providing they have the required traits. There are three types of stylized paintings, i.e. Genius, Insane, and Somber. Genius style requires Genius trait, Insane style requires Insane trait, and Somber style requires Grumpy trait. Having the Artistic trait will unlock all the styles.

There's a chance that Sims will apply a style when painting the basic still-life painting if they have certain traits or moodlets. This only happens randomly, and cannot be done on command.
 * Somber: Grumpy and Can't Stand Art traits; Lonely, Desolate, Disappointed, Lost A Friend, Rejected Proposal, Heartbroken, Mourning, Boring Conversation, Embarrassed, Humiliated, Upset, Feeling Unlucky, and Buzz Crashed moodlets
 * Genius: Genius trait; Buzzed, Divine Meal, Intrigued, Honor Student, Learning Quickly, and Tranquil moodlets
 * Insane: Insane, Over Emotional, Neurotic, and Never Nude traits.

Reaching level 9 of the skill will unlock the Somber style regardless of the trait, but not the other two.

Trivia

 * There's a 20% chance the painting will be displayed at the art gallery, but only if it's sold directly from the easel.
 * Crafted paintings cannot be stolen by Kleptomaniacs, but can still be robbed by burglars.
 * If the Sim has the Extra Creative lifetime reward or has completed any of the skill challenges, his/her right hand will sparkle while painting.
 * When renovating a house as a Sim who works in Architectural Designer profession, decorating the house with the portrait of the client or member of the client's household will add bonus scores.

Allusions of real life paintings
Most brilliant paintings and masterpieces are allusions of real life paintings. The paintings below are some of the examples.

The Sims 4
In the Sims 4, painting skill can be increased by painting on easels, drawing on placemats at restaurants, or spraypainting/airbrushing street murals. Painting skill can only be developed by teen and older Sims. Reaching Painting Level 10 is the requirement of the Refined Palette Achievement.

Different emotional states enable paintings to be created that have auras corresponding to the emotional state the Sim was in who painted it. The player can enable the emotional effect or disable the emotional effect.

Emotional states that affect painting:
 * Confident: Viewing a confident painting or being in the same room with one, can cause a Sim to become confident.
 * Flirty: Viewing a flirty painting will cause a Sim to become flirty. Being in the same room with a flirty painting increases the odds that a Sim will become flirty.
 * Angry
 * Sad
 * Playful
 * Inspired: Painting while inspired causes Sims to gain painting skill faster and earn more money from their paintings.