Learning to Use Procreate - Musings from a more Traditional Artist

in Hive Learners2 years ago

Learning Procreate

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so last year, like any other sensible human cooped up i decided to learn a new art skill. i got a nice Ipad and an Apple pencil (totally essential i feel) and ventured into the joys of digital art.

I HAD done a few classes on Krita and i have done a reasonable bit in Inkscape, but never drawing on the screen like you do on an ipad with procreate.

My art experience was oils on panel and acrylics on canvas and panel. Painting clothes... never digital stuff. (although manipulating graphics yes... just not drawing)

Review:

MUCH easier than drawing on a detached tablet. With my PC i draw on a black board that translates into the computer and i can tell you that this is no easy task to start with. After many pages of practising drawing circles i started to make progress. However with procreate as you are drawing on the actual screen it was much more intuitive and the brain/hand co-ordination did not have to be relearnt. while the ipad is pressure sensitive you need to get used to the wide variety of tools.

Positives:

pick up and take anywhere as long as charged.

save and delete redo keys - however this is no good if you bugger it so bad that the ctrlZ won't work anymore and you don't know where you are. As i was playing with repeat patterns on the ipad this was actually an issue. As sometimes i wasn't quite sure WHAT i had done wrong and no matter how many copies i made it was all wrong. However i think this is inexperience rather than poor software... lol... I miss the Krita function where you can DRAW IN REPEAT PATTERNS. OMG folks if you have NOT DONE the KRITA software for repeat patterns you are missing out. Just saying.

If you want repeat patterns you need KRITA as i was disappointed with procreate

Brushes... these are just so cool and i love some of the effects. especially some of the light effects.

layers are amazing turn on and off layers to see what different lighting or colours looks like. This is awesome. However to get LOTS of layers like you might need in a repeat pattern you need a high powered ipad and a smaller canvas size. i like to draw big sometimes so i needed to watch this. to be fair... ive never run out.

Disadvantages

Software - i run PC and it is a bother trying to get a stream from ipad files to PC files with ease. I resorted to drop box and i really don't like it. I'm a set and forget girl and i like my automatic update photos from google photos and one drive. Then i sort of managed a like via google photos... but still its a bit clunky at times getting the "set up" for the sharing correct

Cost - well not really i mean the program is so cheap its darn near free.. but like anything these days you need to pay for upgraded brushes and the like.

The lack of an integrated repeat pattern tool. If Procreate had this feature i would run skipping through the forests with joy.. lol but alas it is "in process". as you can see above this was the one feature i was actually expecting and it was not there.

Some designs and art

Nothing fancy and in fact some of my bigger pieces are not here... but meh... they are in the mass of "can't find in the folder as i don't like the software integration..." pile.

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So Above was a ballet grunge REPEAT tiling piece that i used to make wrapping paper and was thinking about fabric for a ballet leotard?

I print my fabric quite often (i send away the art and get fabric back). I have not done this yet. But i like it. its lots of grungy layers and writing.

It was what my daughter liked. lol

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This was an abstract tiling piece that i used for fabric. It was so easy to use the layer to switch out the background colours for different colourways.

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This was a quick drawing i did, as i love the blend of watercolours and pencil/pen brushes. Just scribbles but i like the colours.

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The i practiced drawing an eye... lol


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Then i drew a butterfly :-)


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These are some leves that i drew and them practiced using the masking layers to add the highlights in yellow... THAT IS a cool feature!!

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This was a tiling design that i was playing with as well. i do rather like the little bees...

CONCLUSIONS

well.. anyone who says the digital art is not a REAL art skill has never tried it. It is JUST as hard as traditional art for clear and certain. I never thought this, but i know lots of people pooh pooh people that draw on a computer. Just because you can erase something, doesnt mean you can draw it right afterwards.

I like procreate, and if it had the seamless tile feature like Krita it would be a pretty big slam dunk for me!!!

Anyway thanks so much for stopping along and reading my posts I am just loving my HIVE experience so far. Such a fun platform for sure.

For those that don't know my i'm currently focusing on Daily painting and somewhat amusing my self and my family with Acrylic pouring.. lol.. i wish i had a separate studio for that as it is so messy.

My other HIVE interests are:

  • cooking
    sunset photography (i take photos of the sky every night)
    Art
    Graphic Design
    Gardening (just a smidgion)
    Ballet
    Sewing - I make Tutus and ballet costumes too...

Here are a couple of snaps of some of the stuff i do outside what you see up in the posts above.

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LOVE AND LIGHT

BLINGIT

Sort:  

I should get procreate… lol

Nice review, glad your enjoying the iPad and if enough people want the extra feature apple will add it in soon.

 2 years ago  

I know a lot of people on the internet are complaining about this lack of feature. It would be just so very handy if they could include it.

fingers crossed they do. Thanks for stopping by!

sarah

 2 years ago  

Hi @blingit Welcome To Hive Learners Community.

I noticed you’re not a verified member of our community, so please do join us on discord to fully complete your verification process. Here are Guidelines on how to complete verification process from our discord server:-

https://hive.blog/hive-153850/@kronias/new-and-updated-guidelines-on-how-to-complete-verification-process-stage-01-from-our-discord-server

Here’s a link to our discord server: https://discord.gg/KhkP3tgSj2

Also, don’t forget to read our community rules and guidelines in other to avoid going against any of them.

https://hive.blog/hive-153850/@kronias/rules-and-guidelines-of-hive-learners-community-and-summary-of-our-roadmap

Thank You

 2 years ago  

Hi @Prayzz

thanks for your message. I tried a few months ago i think but the discord would not let me join?

Ive tried again and i can get in, my name there is Talidazolam i think?

Im in Australia. i see many people have their country next to their name. Mine says "verified artist" in the list, but not next to my posts :-)

Thanks so much

Sarah Blingit and Talidazolam on discord :-)