More Digital Sketches!

Another week's worth (almost) of digital sketches, done on the iPad Pro in Procreate. These are all done 'by hand,' meaning that I don't upload and alter a photo. I use photo references from Sktchy in the same way I would use them if I were doing these in my sketchbook, or on WC paper or canvas. I have the photo nearby (often in my iPad mini) to look at, but am using the Apple Pencil in the same way I would use a 'regular' pencil or brush to sketch and paint.

The sketch on the right above (with 3 raccoons) was a challenge to use multiple photos to create a new story. The original photo had one raccoon. This is something I actually do a lot of  when I design tapestries; work from multiple images. It was probably my favorite challenge of the month, because (in part) it felt familiar.

The challenge for the 'Frida Kahlo' style sketch was to import a background for the figure, after you had sketched it. I used a Henri Rousseau painting and added the birds (also a part of the challenge.) The sketch on the right also asked to import a background, using a photo you were to take yourself. I shot a photo of the light coming through my sheer studio curtains. The middle sketch was again from the tutor who is a cartoon artist. It was done from looking at a photo. I always loved his days, as they felt like 'recess;' as his tutorials were 20-30 minutes, and most of the others took an hour.

The biggest advantage - and also the biggest disadvantage - that I can see in doing digital art, as opposed to 'analog art,' is that perfection always feels attainable. You can erase and undo, you can use multiple layers and 'paint glazes,' fixing and correcting until you suddenly realize you have spent an hour or two on a sketch that you will actually not do anything with. It's not even in a sketchbook that you can take off the shelf and leaf through months or years later, unless you print it out. And, if you print it out, it looks like digital art. It feels to me like the artist's hand (although it is used much the same as with other media) is lost in translation.

I know I will continue to use this handy (and expensive) tool. I will use it much like I have used PhotoShop over the past many years: I'll start out in my head with an idea, scribble it in a sketchbook, paint or photograph it, then put it into the app to 'fix,' to alter, to change size or color or direction, then take it back to the sketchbook or into the computer to finish into a usable design. And maybe I'll continue to 'sketch' a bit on the iPad, just because it is so mess-free and so portable.

I do look forward to choosing my own 'muses' again! These were all chosen by the tutors, and I stuck to them, so that I could learn the techniques that were new to me. Tomorrow is Day 30, so I have one last sketch to do, and another handful to upload here. Then I'll post what I've been doing at the loom again!

Still 'Procreate-ing' (digitally, that is...)

I am still doing the #30Days/30Faces challenge on the artist's #Sktchy app, so here are sketches 7-14, from week two. The 6 instructors all have different work methods and art styles; they also choose the photo images we work from each day. For the most part, I stick to the demonstrated style, digital brushes, and method used, though I am allowing my own style to take over when I prefer to do so. The above sketches were all done in #Procreate on an iPadPro with an Apple Pencil. The first, done with a gouache style, the middle one with charcoal brushes, and the one on the right in a comic book style.

These were also done in the same digital app; Procreate. The middle sketch was done with pencil and ink brushes, from a photo of a man looking out a window with blinds. The other two used ink and watercolor brushes.

The two end sketches here are not digital, though the middle one is. The middle sketch is again a comic book style, and I confess that I really love this style! It is a lot of fun to create, and I love the 'clean-ness' of it. The other two here are  from my sketchbook, and are done with a black Bic ink pen. The one on the right is a self-portrait, and the left one is of a lovely child's photo from #Sktchy.

Digital sketching still takes me longer than sketching with 'analog' media does, but I confess that it is pretty handy to just grab one tool - the Apple Pencil - and to not have any mess or cleanup. Most of the tutorials are almost an hour to watch, as well (except the comic style ones.) So I have dumped most of my social  media time for the month, and am using my online time for these lessons. I am missing seeing what everyone is doing on Instagram, but I'll be back there in August. In the meantime, I'm learning to sketch digitally - and I'm weaving a tapestry and have warped my floor loom and begun weaving some rag rugs (with much enthusiastic help and interest from Poe and Ringo, requiring me to cover the loom when it is not in use.)

Two weeks done, 14 of 30 sketches. The month is flying by, as it does when I'm having fun!

Let's Get Digital, Digital!

For my birthday this spring, my husband got me a new iPad Pro, with an Apple Pencil. So I no longer have any excuse (not that I was looking for an excuse) to not join the large number of artists creating digital art. 

Then, for the month of July, the Sktchy App offered a month long workshop with a number of talented instructors presenting daily lessons, all in Procreate on the iPad. I decided now was the time to leap into this new way of creating, especially as I'm not going anywhere anyway.

These 'paintings' are all done digitally. They are not 'traced;' each is sketched, then 'painted' just as they would have been done using any other media. Procreate has the capability to use 'ink,' as in the top three sketches. It can look (and act) like charcoal, gouache or watercolor, oil, or airbrushes. When using the pencil, the 'brushes' act very much like traditional media. It is pretty amazing.

What I find a bit distressing about creating digital art or illustrations is that it is much easier for an artist to strive for perfection. You can undo and redo to your heart's content - and I think we all tend to do that! So I tend to lose my characteristic 'messiness,' and I feel like the results are more generic than if I had used traditional 'analog' media, where all my work would show - mistakes and all. Also, in this search for perfection, a sketch I would do in my sketchbook in about 20 minutes is taking me an hour, or even much more. And then.... I have a digital image that I'm not sure what to do with, on my iPad.

But it is good to keep learning new things. And perhaps I will find this new media useful for design work, or for illustrating something someday. Who knows? In the meantime, I'm having a bit of fun.

My life is but a Sketchbook....

Say his name: GEORGE FLOYD

Even though I am staying isolated, not just for my own sake, but for the sake of everyone (and I'm sure I'll say that again,) I am not unaware of what is happening in the world, and I am, to be honest, horrified.  I am horrified that not everyone has equal rights and opportunities in our country, and indeed, in the world. I am horrified that something so insignificant as skin color or tone makes a difference in how someone is treated and reacted to.  I am horrified that not everyone sees and cares about this, and that even at the top level of our country racism is alive and active and encouraged in others. I am truly horrified. It brings me to tears.

I am also horrified that science, and even common sense, is scoffed at, once again even at top levels of our country, and encouraged in others. I am horrified that so many think what they want to do is more important than the effects of their actions on others.

I wonder if our country can come back from this horrifying time? Can we become more caring? Can our divisions be healed? Can common sense and common decency be restored, and even more, can it grow to be more inclusive, instead of divisive?

This blog is about my art. It is not about politics. But my art is, as is obvious from these recent sketchbook pages, about my life. I am concerned. 

It concerns me when I go to the grocery store here, where the Corona Virus is spreading more rapidly than ever, that far more people are mask-less than are wearing masks - such a simple thing to do to act out of our concern for others.

It concerns me when a president who should lead, if not by policy, at least by example, gathers large groups of mask-less people (many whom are obviously in the at-risk group,) and when he politicizes  and scoffs at scientific and medical findings for his own gain.

It concerns me when peaceful protestors for a worthy cause are treated as terrorists.

I love my country. I care about the people around me, especially those whose lives are more difficult than mine is. But right now, I am very concerned. In fact, I am horrified.