Game Help:Sims 3 Skills/Painting

Varieties

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

Level	# Paintings Available
0	7
1	7
2	8
3	15
4	15
5	20
6	17
7	16
8	15
9	13
10	11
Brilliant	9
Masterpiece	10
TOTAL	158

Each painting has nine variations, which are influenced by a Sims personality or mood. 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.

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.

Styles

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

Classification	Description	Example	Triggering Moodlets	Triggering Traits
Basic	Not influenced by any moodlet or trait
Artistic	Painting is somewhat blurry, losing much detail (Paint Daubs filter)			Artistic
Can't Stand Art	Strokes become thicker and darker (Dark Strokes filter)			Can't Stand Art
Computer Whiz	Painting turns into a bunch of tiles (Patchwork filter}			Computer Whiz
Evil	Everything gets tinted with red			Evil
Genius	Painting becomes a bunch of single-colored polygons (Stained Glass filter}		buzzed, divine meal, intrigued, honor student, learning quickly, tranquil	Artistic, Genius
Gloomy/Somber	Everything gets tinted with blue		desolate, disappointed, heartbroken, lost a friend, mourning, bored, embarrassed, feeling unlucky, humiliated, lonely, rejected proposal, upset, buzz crashed	Can't Stand Art, Grumpy
Insane	Painting loses a lot of detail (Cutout filter)			Artistic, Insane, Over Emotional, Neurotic, Never Nude
Neurotic	Everything gets all neon (Glowing Edges filter}			Neurotic
Virtuoso	A slight glow is added (? filter)			Virtuoso

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.
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	?

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 fare 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.