My Digital Art Practice and Journey with the Procreate App

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Hi, everyone. This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar Channel and in today’s video, I will share my recent journey to make digital art a bigger part of my life using Procreate on the iPad.

************************************** Intro ***************************************

I’m doing this video to share how I used the last several months to get into digital art. My hope is that some of the specifics that I figured out along the way may help others who are thinking about walking down this path. I’m gonna talk through the following things: a little bit of background, the importance of daily practice, why I chose digital art over traditional art, the Procreate app, my supplies, training, ideas for topics or projects, and building a supportive community. Let’s get started.

Background
Are used to draw a lot as a kid. The last time I did anything serious was probably when I took a couple of studio art classes in college. And apart from some creative signs and birthday cakes, I haven’t done much for the last several decades.

That said, I am from a family who creates things. Pretty much everyone in my family of origin makes stuff. My dad and my brother are both inventors and have lots of creative side hobbies. My mom is a basket maker and seamstress. My aunt is a visual artist and bear maker, my grandma was a quilt maker. You get the idea.

I have been recently thinking a lot about the balance in my life between creating and consuming. My very first video on this channel was a deep dive into my thoughts on this. Anyway, I am always looking for ways to increase the level of creation in my life. Unfortunately, I don’t love the products of many of the craftier pursuits, so I’ve turn to visual art.

Now, some people use visual art as a way to express their feelings and emotions. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that’s me. I do perfectly fine expressing my emotions verbally. Instead, I want to focus on being able to replicate the work of others and have fun doing it. I figure my style may emerge as I mimic the style of others.

Daily Practice
If you watched any of my other videos, you know how much importance I place on the building of habits. I know you can’t do everything every day, but it’s really important to work on your craft on a regular basis. Whatever you are trying to get better at, a little practice every day will help you to build that muscle. I want much of my art rendering to become embedded in muscle memory. And the only way you get there is through practice. Even if you spend just three minutes a day sketching, you will build this muscle. Throughout the past four months, I’ve had more time than usual, and I have tried to devote 30 minutes to an hour every day to some kind of drawing. Now that life has gotten a bit busier, I require just 3 minutes a day of sketching. Now, although I am fairly disciplined, I get bored easily, so for me it is important to have a variety of ongoing projects and art styles to keep things interesting. Which brings me to

Why digital art?
I started out this process just drawing on a sketchpad, but soon decided to turn entirely to digital art. There are three reasons. First of all, I love new technology. I really enjoy learning how to do new things using software and just exploring new apps. To me this is exciting and not a chore. This makes me an ideal candidate for digital art, which has an enormously steep learning curve. The second reason is that, if I explore the reasons why I hesitate to do art, much of it has to do with lack of supplies and the time required to set up and clean up. Digital art eliminates all of that. There is no mess – well, except for the one that you’re making on your computer or iPad. And there are no expensive supplies to run out of or to procure. There is a significant initial investment and there are certainly digital tools that you can continue to buy online, but there are no expensive canvases, paints, paint brushes, etc. You can also do digital art anywhere. I can take my iPad outdoors and paint alfresco or I can use the time while I’m waiting for a doctor’s appointment to sketch on my iPad. So digital art eliminates the barriers of cleanup time, lack of supplies, and location limitations. And finally, as I said before, I’m interested in a wide variety of art styles, so it’s great that with digital art I can switch easily and seamlessly between techniques. Right now I am drawing a manga style comic, but yesterday I did watercolor and the day before that pen and ink. It’s easy to switch back-and-forth and there are no additional supplies required. . .