I resisted buying an iPad for years. I didn’t need it. I didn’t want it. I prided myself on using actual materials for actual paintings, and maintaining old style slow time in this instant digital world. The truth is, I don’t actually make many actual paintings. I’m actually very busy. If I were go to the studio to set up for an actual painting, which I wouldn’t, because my to do list is longer than the page I wrote it on, but if I did it would take at least an hour before I was even looking at the thing on my easel, and another thirty minutes to get all the colors out on my palette and get my brushes wet. So on a busy day, which is all days, I just don’t go.
Lately I’ve been teaching online, and now this Christmas present iPad is just sitting on my desk. It’s three inches from my elbow. Know how long it would take for me to start a painting? 19 seconds. I just timed it. 13 more seconds to pull up a reference photo from my files, and I’m in. Know how long it takes to mix a color? 4 seconds. And when I’m ready to stop for a moment or for the day, clean-up takes zero seconds. Zero. If I’m going somewhere I can pop it in my bag. If I’m waiting for an appointment I can pull it out again. I can change paintings, try something, go back. To see my composition, I can zoom out. To change the composition to be better, I can add or cut. To change the colors or values, I can slide a bar. I can mix a color, layer, glaze, and edit faster than you can say “Gamblin.” No need to set aside a project I’m groovin’ on just because it’s wet. This thing is ready to go.
David Hockney, using Procreate on an iPad
Did you know David Hockney uses Procreate? Yes, an 82 year old man was ten years ahead of me.
“I bought an iPad as soon as they were out in 2010. (…) I began drawing on an iPad and I loved it. Of course I love drawing but I thought it was a terrific medium. Everything is at your fingertips, there’s no cleaning up.” – David Hockney Interview 2016
This is not a replacement for real paint. It’s an addition. It’s something I can do that’s easy and interesting. It’ll make me better with color, better with composition. I have no doubt it will make me a better painter, and reward me with creative moments I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
I know I can figure it out on my own, but I’m impatient, so I’m taking Keith’s Digital Painting classes. Care to join me? Spring classes start this week!
Digital Painting with Procreate, Wednesday Morning (Shortie) $95
Digital Painting with Procreate, Saturday Morning (Shortie) $95
Landscape Painting with Procreate, Wednesday Morning (Shortie) $95
Portrait Painting with Procreate, Saturday Morning (Shortie) $95
[image_with_animation image_url=”8093″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Image above from Agora Gallery’s post “How to Recognize an Art Scam” In the last week, I’ve received 2 art scam emails. They read as personalized letters, including the title and size of my painting, mid paragraph. Neither email asked directly for anything, so no red flags, not right …
Next on the list of Carlos San Millan’s inspiring painters: Yann Kebbi. Kebbi was born in Paris in 1987. After receiving a degree in illustration, he continued his studies in Paris, where he spent his time creating prints, monotypes, and pencil sketches. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, and …
In my last post I shared Auerbach’s study of ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’. This is another post about artists studying other artists. Did you know that Picasso did a series of studies in Velasquez’s Las Meninas? When we did modern studies of masterwork compositions in class, many students did one little study of a painting and figured …
Laia was a groundbreaking female artist in a male-dominated era. Born in Cyzicus (present-day Turkey) in the 1st century BCE, she earned her place in history with her exceptional portraits of women, a rarity at that time. Pliny the Elder praised her quick and high-quality work, noting she could crush her male peers in both …
Why I want to learn digital painting
I resisted buying an iPad for years. I didn’t need it. I didn’t want it. I prided myself on using actual materials for actual paintings, and maintaining old style slow time in this instant digital world. The truth is, I don’t actually make many actual paintings. I’m actually very busy. If I were go to the studio to set up for an actual painting, which I wouldn’t, because my to do list is longer than the page I wrote it on, but if I did it would take at least an hour before I was even looking at the thing on my easel, and another thirty minutes to get all the colors out on my palette and get my brushes wet. So on a busy day, which is all days, I just don’t go.
Lately I’ve been teaching online, and now this Christmas present iPad is just sitting on my desk. It’s three inches from my elbow. Know how long it would take for me to start a painting? 19 seconds. I just timed it. 13 more seconds to pull up a reference photo from my files, and I’m in. Know how long it takes to mix a color? 4 seconds. And when I’m ready to stop for a moment or for the day, clean-up takes zero seconds. Zero. If I’m going somewhere I can pop it in my bag. If I’m waiting for an appointment I can pull it out again. I can change paintings, try something, go back. To see my composition, I can zoom out. To change the composition to be better, I can add or cut. To change the colors or values, I can slide a bar. I can mix a color, layer, glaze, and edit faster than you can say “Gamblin.” No need to set aside a project I’m groovin’ on just because it’s wet. This thing is ready to go.
Did you know David Hockney uses Procreate? Yes, an 82 year old man was ten years ahead of me.
“I bought an iPad as soon as they were out in 2010. (…) I began drawing on an iPad and I loved it. Of course I love drawing but I thought it was a terrific medium. Everything is at your fingertips, there’s no cleaning up.” – David Hockney Interview 2016
This is not a replacement for real paint. It’s an addition. It’s something I can do that’s easy and interesting. It’ll make me better with color, better with composition. I have no doubt it will make me a better painter, and reward me with creative moments I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
I know I can figure it out on my own, but I’m impatient, so I’m taking Keith’s Digital Painting classes. Care to join me? Spring classes start this week!
Digital Painting with Procreate, Wednesday Morning (Shortie) $95
Digital Painting with Procreate, Saturday Morning (Shortie) $95
Landscape Painting with Procreate, Wednesday Morning (Shortie) $95
Portrait Painting with Procreate, Saturday Morning (Shortie) $95
Related Posts
Art Scam Emails
[image_with_animation image_url=”8093″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Image above from Agora Gallery’s post “How to Recognize an Art Scam” In the last week, I’ve received 2 art scam emails. They read as personalized letters, including the title and size of my painting, mid paragraph. Neither email asked directly for anything, so no red flags, not right …
Yann Kebbi
Next on the list of Carlos San Millan’s inspiring painters: Yann Kebbi. Kebbi was born in Paris in 1987. After receiving a degree in illustration, he continued his studies in Paris, where he spent his time creating prints, monotypes, and pencil sketches. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, and …
Picasso’s studies of Las Meninas
In my last post I shared Auerbach’s study of ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’. This is another post about artists studying other artists. Did you know that Picasso did a series of studies in Velasquez’s Las Meninas? When we did modern studies of masterwork compositions in class, many students did one little study of a painting and figured …
Laia’s Selfie (maybe)
Laia was a groundbreaking female artist in a male-dominated era. Born in Cyzicus (present-day Turkey) in the 1st century BCE, she earned her place in history with her exceptional portraits of women, a rarity at that time. Pliny the Elder praised her quick and high-quality work, noting she could crush her male peers in both …