DAILY DOODLES (Part 4) – GO DIGITAL!

Continuing the ongoing assignment from my painting coach - daily doodling (see part one, two & three). The next chapter has plunged me into the world of PIXELS.
More through necessity than intention this started over the Christmas holidays. With a head full of presents, food and decorations when I wanted my heart to be full of praise and celebration of the real stuff of Christmas, I needed something to focus me, even just for 10 minutes a day, in the midst of the busyness of family life. I set myself the challenge of seeking to engage with God in some type of creative way each day during the break – I decided to set up a Facebook group (Drawing Closer to God) inviting people to join me & keep me going. I tried to mix things up as much as possible - felt pen sketches, poetry, photographs, I even sketched in the sand one day on the beach, and I also thought I'd try digital art on the scribble bit in 'Notes' on my iphone.

My first attempts were very basic but there were things about this media that immediately appealed. I loved the luminosity of the colours when backlit, the immediacy, the simplicity, and of course the 'undo' button! So once Christmas was over and I had a bit more space, I researched how I might use this tool in my art.

Questions

1. Which of the many sketching apps out there should I choose?
2. Which tools mattered to me?
3. What colour selection worked best for me?
4. How easy is it to negotiate? I'm not very technical
   
5. Would the software work on my not very upto date iphone and ipad?

Answers

I googled 'best sketching apps' (or something like that) and found out what the best ones offered. I downloaded a few free ones and played with them. Obviously it's partly a subjective thing, it depends what you're after and what you want to use it for, but for my needs I finally opted for Autodesk Sketchbook and decided to purchase the Pro Tools for £4.99.

Autodesk Sketchbook – why I like it

• certain mark making tools were important to me: good pencil marks, various splatters etc
• I wanted some colour palettes provided, not wanting to create my own every time
• I wanted the app to work well on iphone as well as ipad, with the facility to clear the screen of tools when not in use
• I found a couple of Youtube tutorials (not great but they got me started)
• You can choose what size canvas you work on
• It has some cool tools eg. guide lines and timelapse recording
  

Things I've learned

1. It works OK with a fingertip but I decided to purchased one of those cheap stylus pens which makes my marks feel more controlled
2. When trying out apps I found a lot of them crashed (often just as I was reaching the end of something) and I frustratingly lost hours of work. This was partly due to rubbish apps and partly due to me not saving enough. I've now cleared as much off my phone, ipad and icloud as I can to create storage, which I think was a problem before. I've also been in touch with Autodesk Sketchbook who advised me the best ways to save regularly and thoroughly.
   
3. My early work was made on my iphone and once I saw it on my computer screen I was often really disappointed with the lack of sharpness of the image. I've learnt to create pieces on larger 'canvases' ie 2500x2500 pixels as this way it transfers to a larger setting. I am hoping to be able to print and sell some of my better pieces, so they have to be able to cope with being enlarged from the original 2” square.
   
4. This week I've started having a go with the timelapse function and my daughter has shown me how the iMovie app works so I can add music, take bits out as needed and add titles etc.
   

So here are some examples of how I create a sketch from start to finish.

Working digitally has helped me in a number of ways. It's so easy, it's immediate, there's no cost of materials, there's an 'undo' button. I find it really freeing and fun. It's helping my style develop and it's something I can do anywhere. In fact my digital sketchbook has currently almost replaced my physical sketchbook.
I've used it to import an image of an unfinished paintings so that I can try some ideas digitally before I do it for real. I've also used it for playing around with preparatory ideas for paintings. Here are a couple of preparatory digital sketches next to the finished pieces.

What started as playful digital doodles I am now using as ideas for my paintings on canvas. For this first one below my painting coach challenged me to try a direct copy from pixel to paint. Since then I have looked to copy the essence of a few more.

I know that there is a whole wealth of tools and techniques that I've not tried yet, and I've only been doing this since Christmas but I'm so glad I came across this new way of creating art and I thought you guys would be interested to hear about it. If you haven't tried it yet – why not give it a go?