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
A selection from Keith Pfeiffer’s Tiny Paintings Class Another word for Tiny Paintings is Thumbnails. Thumbnail sketches are often used to test out ideas, and making adjustments before launching into a big project. These itty bitty paintings are a series of low pressure color and composition experiments. This is one in a series of posts …
“The beginning is the best part. Why continue? Yes, things will get richer and deeper, but the simplicity and directness of a birdsong is soon gone. When I get old and begin losing my marbles I will learn to keep it simple, the way Matisse, De Kooning and Whistler did in the end.” – Alex …
The couple enjoys works by Rothko and Albers. Sarah Cascone, October 28, 2015 Alma Thomas, Resurrection (1966) in the White House family dining room. Photo: Pete Souza, courtesy the White House. Barack and Michelle Obama may be entering their last year in the White House, but that doesn’t mean its too late for the president …
This is the second in a three-part series on Scott McClellan, head of ceramics at the Seattle Artist League. While the first explored the weighted forms and grounded presence of his pots, this post moves into the logic behind the motion—how McClellan builds structure from chaos, makes space for noise, and turns repetition into a …
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
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