Sketchbook on the iPad Pro Review

So I made a super quick review of Procreate for the iPad Pro and now I am going to do a super quick review of all the other art apps I own. Please comment your requests for whatever else you would like me to review, because if I don’t own it that is a great excuse to tell my parents.

So, Sketchbook on the iPad Pro. The free version is an extremely simple app, and if you pay three dollars (half the price of Procreate) you get all the “pro” tools. You know, stuff like the ability to make more than three layers.

This app has some cool features that Procreate doesn’t have.

1. Better selection tools (including a magic wand tool. Yay!)

2. Color and brush “pucks.” (These are two little circles you can move around to quickly change the opacity, size, color brightness, and color saturation. Super handy one you get used to them, especially if you want to work without any menus.)

3. Symmetry tool (if that is important to you.)

4. Text Tool (Yay!)

Now for some things it was lacking. (As far as I could tell.. please let me know if I am wrong.)

1. Layer opacity lock (This is pretty much essential to my workflow for making full colored illustrations, so I was pretty disappointed when I couldn’t find it here.)

2. Good paint and smudge brushes (They have paint brushes, but they are honestly terrible in my opinion.)

3. Two finger touch undo (Instead they have three finger swipe, which just isn’t as mindless. Since almost all of us are used to the gesture that Procreate uses, why can’t more art apps incorporate it?)

4. Tilt sensitivity for the Apple Pencil. (The greatest thing about Procreate is that it had no other app it was trying to copy, and so was able to make Procreate as perfect for the iPad as is possible. Because the desktop version of Sketchbook doesn’t have tilt sensitivity, the iPad version doesn’t either, which kind of stinks.)

Overall, this is not a bad app at all. But I can’t see myself making professional art with it all the time. That is fine, though; after all, it is a sketchbook. It’s more powerful than Paper by fifty three, but a little less iPad friendly. If they worked on it just a bit, I would even be happy to use it professionally. It is so close to being perfect, which is frustrating to me. Let me know in the comments what you think about Sketchbook for the iPad, and wether or not your experience was like mine.

Learning to draw through illustration gigs

I've always liked to draw, but it wasn't until recently that I realized I wanted to make a career of it.

The reason why is that I was always comparing myself to my older sister Mariah, who couldn't help being extremely talented. She was always the one that everybody wanted their portrait drawn by, not me. She was good at likenesses, and I was queen of doodling. I had accepted that I would never be as good as my sister at what I considered professional art (aka realistic portraits.)

When Mariah got busier with school, she handed down the title of family artist to me. She was tired of painting everybody's portrait.



With this new honor came new opportunities, and my sister, Susanna https://twitter.com/suzols , asked me to illustrate the children's book she had written for our niece who was yet to be born. Thrilled at this very first commission, I accepted immediately, before she regretted her decision choosing the doodler, rather than the fine artist. Not so immediate was the actual illustrating. See, by the time the baby was born I had somehow only drawn one picture. Let's just say I wasn't used to making full illustrations, especially ones of baby squirrels, which I had never drawn before in my life. Susanna was gracious enough to try to keep the anger out of her voice when she said, "Fine, but you absolutely must finish by her first birthday."



And so I did, with the help of some "inspiration" (aka watching one Korean drama for every illustration drawn.) But because I had almost no experience making full colored illustrations, almost every illustration looked like it came from a different story. Still, when the printed version finally came in the mail, I'd never been prouder of myself. I didn't consider myself a professional yet, but after that it became a more serious hobby, and I began to see the advantages of actually practicing with a purpose.

Here is where the iPad Pro comes in. I bought it after reaching the halfway point of saving up for a Cintiq Companion and giving up. I'm so glad I did. I took the iPad Pro with me everywhere; on car drives, to babysitting jobs... I am confident that it would have been a different picture had I gone with the five-pound, 6-hour-battery Cintiq Companion.

With that flexibility, I was able to make a few good pieces, which I randomly put on a website called 'Upwork' which I found via a list of ways teens could make money online. A few days later, to my flabbergastment, I got an email saying that somebody wanted to hire me after seeing my portfolio! (And price tag.) I took the job illustrating a thirty-two page children's book, which I would never have had the confidence to take had I not known that all I needed to do was find another Korean drama equivalent.

And yet, I hadn't taken into account the fact that my expectations would have to be so much higher. After all, I was getting paid. Artists in their natural state don't tend to like restrictions, and working for a client can seem binding at times. But making art under these circumstances proved to be twice as educational, and definitely crucial to my growth.

I had many ups and downs, and surprisingly enough it was during one of the downs that I wrote this blog post: 5 reasons why illustrating is the best job ever. Because even during the downs I knew that I was learning, and I knew that it was all going to be worth it in the end, when I was holding that physical copy of my hard work in my hands. I won't ever get over that feeling, which is why I won't ever stop illustrating.

I'm so thankful that I got to jumpstart my career in such a major way, and I think other kids can have just the same advantages if they get started right away. Because in the end, talent vs no talent is simply the difference between a seedling and a seed; they both have to be cared for in the same way to be able to grow. Wherever you lie on the spectrum, I guarantee that with enough effort, you can go as far as anybody else.

Sorry!

Hi everybody! I am really sorry that I didn't post last week; life has been so crazy recently. Anyway, I am working on another major article that sort of goes along with this one, and tells my artistic journey so far. I think I can get it out by Sunday. But here (How the iPad Pro has changed my illustrating career) is the article I wrote for Medium last week that has gotten 80k views so far and got put on Business Insider.

The reason why life has been so crazy is mainly because of two things:

1. The reactions to my article have been enormous and overwhelming, and I was living in a blur the first couple of days. Also I was interviewed (here) and I've been getting some new work offers that I am trying to sort through. It is all a lot or a fifteen year old to take! 😬

2. We suddenly took possession of a dog.

So please forgive my absence. I will be back on Sunday! (The reason it is taking longer to make this one is that it will also be illustrated, as the one on Medium is.)

Apple Pencil Review

Drawing on the iPad pro is simply the best drawing experience ever. But what about digital painting? What about professional commissioned art?

Well, how is this?

Or this?

I am 3/4 of the way through making a children's book ENTIRELY on the iPad Pro. Here is a sneak peak of the front cover without the words:

I am certainly not the best artist out there, but what I am trying to say is that the only limits to what this Pencil can do is your own capabilities.

The iPad Pro screen is not as toothy as a Cintiq, but I don't see that as a problem, especially after I put a matte screen protector on to add some extra texture. I have complete control over where the Pencil is going to draw.

Since I've started making all of my art with the Apple Pencil, I've not gotten a single case of artists' cramp, even though I have recently been drawing for hours straight on that children's book. I think this is because the weight of the Apple Pencil is perfectly balanced. Great design! I never knew how much that mattered until I started to use it.

There are only two qualms to the Apple pencil.

First, it is as easily lost as a regular pencil. Supposedly the regular Smart Cover has magnets for it to cling to, but I own the Smart Keyboard Cover because I also use my Pro to write. I assumed that the Keyboard would be the same as the regular cover but the magnets it has aren't strong enough to hold the pencil. I have lost the Apple Pencil more times than I can count, and I don't even go out that much. Once, after it snowed, I miraculously found my Pencil buried in a frozen puddle that had tire marks over it the day after I lost it. After some digging, the Pencil proved to have survived, other than me having to replace the nib.

Speaking of nibs, I want to make it clear that the Apple Pencil was designed specifically for sketching and writing. People were making fun of it's name when it first came out, but it holds more meaning than just being a code word for stylus. The nib of the Pencil is made of a fairly hard plastic that is meant to feel exactly like a sketching with a real pencil. That is both great and not so great, because to some the Pencil may not feel as natural for painting with. Now, I've heard rumors that Apple is planning on coming out with some softer replacement nibs, which I think would be wonderful, but that may also be just a rumor.

I hope this has helped you in your consideration of the Apple Pencil. Make sure to leave a comment with your thoughts, wether you own a Pencil or are on the fence.

Review of Procreate on the iPad Pro

Procreate is an essential part of all iPad pro artists' lives, and it is almost perfect. Here is a quick rundown of the major pros and cons.

Pros:

1. Canvas sizes can be huge, but limits make sure you can still be speedy

2. Features are professional

3. Design is unobtrusive

Cons:

1. Not as flexible as some would prefer

2. Inking can feel slightly unnatural 

I do wish that Procreate would add just a few more features, all of which are mentioned on the Procreate forums. Savage Interactive is very active on their forums, though, so hopefully it will only be a matter of time for them to add them in. I'm sure they are working hard to keep Procreate as innovative as possible, and finding ways to add the new features without inflating the program too much.

I am sorry for such a short post; I have been very busy with the illustrations. Next week I'll be reviewing the Apple Pencil.

5 reasons why illustrating is the best job EVER!

1. You can achieve your goal of reading a million books

Audiobooks are my best friend. I am not normally a great multi-tasker, but for some reason drawing is different. I can listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or my favorite music to keep me inspired. I can't do that with anything else.

2. You are GETTING PAID for DRAWING

What more can be said? Since this is my first illustrating job that wasn't for a family member, I was willing to get paid a super small amount. But it's still something, and next time I will have the confidence to ask for more. The most important thing is the experience, though, which as I mentioned in an earlier blog post is priceless.

3. You have something to show for afterwards

Seeing your illustrations in print is the most rewarding thing ever, even if you just used the Apple photo book printer to print one copy of your book for your niece, which is what I had to do because I didn't have time to do anything else. Let me tell you that is NOT a reccomended way of going about it, but the product did come on time and it was just cool to see my hard work in its proper form.

4. You can work from home

Or, if you have an iPad Pro like me, you can work from ANYWHERE. #ipadprolove

5. It's FUN

When I'm stuck with artists block, I'd rather do anything other than draw another pig. But for the most part, the experience has been one of the most amazing ones in my life. Sure, there will be times when you want to throw your iPad pro onto the ground (hopefully you have a matte screen protector) but other times you will feel profoundly blessed, and it is totally worth it.

Good luck! Keep drawing! And make sure to leave a comment! I'd love to hear what you think illustrating being a full time job. What are your favorite or least favorite parts of drawing for money?

The App That Every iPad Pro Artist Needs-- Discussion

Everybody knows about Procreate, possibly because the App Store has featured it like CRAZY ever since the iPad Pro came out. It was and still is easily the best iOS art app. There are lots of reasons why-- here are just a few of them.

1. Workflow

Procreate is super special because it was not only built specifically for the iPad, but it was also designed specifically for the iPad. You'd think that is pretty fundamental, but you might be surprised at how many art apps on the App Store miss the target by a long shot. Their problem is usually that they are trying to replicate standard desktop apps like photoshop, and think that the more like photoshop it is the better. Procreate knew that the workflow would be completely different on an iPad, and figured out how to make that experience the best one possible.

2. Pro Features

Custom brushes, advanced layer options, and humongous canvas possibilities-- Procreate clearly has the professional digital painter in mind.

3. Community

An active community is key, I think, to a good program. From collecting helpful tips and tricks for using some procreate, to suggesting ideas for improvements, Procreate's forums are just wonderful.

And yet, there seems to be a trend within the suggestions section, that I don't think Procreate is recognizing, nor do I think they neccassarily should. This trend goes something like this:

1. Please make a text tool

2. Please make a text tool

And, last but not least:

3: PLEASE MAKE A TEXT TOOL! PS. HOW HARD WOULD IT BE?

The problem with these complaints- I mean, suggestions- are that they don't really stand with Procreate's foundation. As is, Procreate has a very specific customer in mind: a digital painter. They don't want to clutter up their amazingly simple interface with tools that not every single one of their customers will use. And I agree with that completely, except for one problem-- There isn't an app as good as Procreate for the group of artists that need a text tool, aka the comic artists. To make a comic on the iPad pro you have to use multiple apps to get what you want and those apps just aren't as well designed as Procreate. 

Whoever creates an amazing app that makes creating comics on the iPad even more of a joy than using a desktop app will be a very very rich person indeed. And so, obviously, I am trying to figure out ways to do just that. The point of this post is to start up a discussion with the comic artists out there about what they would like to see in an app specifically designed for making comics. Also, I have a few fairly revolutionary ideas of my own, and want to see what you guys think. Here they are:

Layers

Sketching Layer

When you open a new canvas, you are already on a sketching layer. The basic idea of a sketching layer would be that when you are on it, it automatically hides all the layers above it, but when you are on a layer above it, wether it be another sketch layer or not, it's opacity is automatically lowered by 50 percent. This is also helpful if you want to import a sketch, or if you want to make an animation.

Inking Layer

When you are finished with your sketch, you can make a new "inking" layer. This layer is an automatic reference layer for the layers above, and just like a sketch layer, it has its own pen tool and color that you set when you first make the layer.

Regular Layer

Just a normal layer, and even if you have multiple the color stays the same throughout switches.

Tools

Eraser - Tap and hold to clear layer/selected (Also have an block eraser option for removing whole lines/segments at once while inking)

Smudge - Tap and hold to blur layer/selected

Paint - Tap and hold to fill/gradient layer/selected

Select - Tap and hold to select layer contents

Text - Tap and hold to edit text on layer (?)

Gestures

Double tap on tools to bring up options for those tools. Double tap on layers to bring up layer options. Tap and hold on tools also does an action (such as clearing the layer/deleting selected if you tap and hold the eraser.) Tap and hold layers to move and group them. Two finger tap to undo, three fingers to redo. Two finger swipe up/down to move up/down a layer.

Exporting

The option to export all layers as separate images at once. This would be helpful for animation and I am sure a bunch of other things.

Misc. Stuff That Procreate Doesn't Have

Unlimited canvas

Lazy mouse

LAYER GROUPING

Bluetooth keyboard support??

Voice commands?????

Easy/quick horizontal flip access

Go wild! Throw out your craziest ideas! This is a community brainstorm session.