Time for a new post...
Last February, the family and I were finally able to purchase an iPad 2. We've wanted one for a while now, so once we got it we went through the obligatory "Christmas morning" experience of finding all the free goodies in the App Store. "Oh boy! Look at what this one does!" you get the idea.
After hours spent playing Temple Run and other addicting games, I buckled down and got an app I've been waiting to use: Sketchbook Express. This free app is a pretty robust drawing app, and apps like it were a big reason why I've been excited to get an iPad. I've been meaning to get back into some more frequent practice of drawing/sketching, and I knew the iPad had some great apps for just that purpose.
So, with Sketchbook Express in hand, and armed with only my Digitus Secundus Manus, I set off to draw. My first subject was the movie poster from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, featuring just Caeser's face:
In that exercise, I quickly found the limitations of the free version of this app; the biggest of which is that it limits you to only 3 layers. Being a Photoshop junkie, I about died. But, it worked out, and I was pretty satisfied with the outcome. That being said, the free version ran its course, and it was time to buy the full version: Sketchbook Pro.
It's at this point that I'm going to bring up a blog post I recently read that gave a pretty clear definition of the differences between a professional artist and an amateur. Of the six main differences, I most strongly related with "amateurs are not consistent, and wait for inspiration to come to them." Let me clearly state now that I am most definitely an amateur (in case you couldn't tell by the picture already).
So, the next time inspiration hit was while I was playing with my kids. Some of their toys were strewn on the floor, so I grabbed my iPad and snapped a picture of a toy that seemed like a good model. I like this process. I get a picture loaded in my Photos app, then load up Sketchbook Pro, and use the four-finger swiping motion to flip back and forth between my "subject" and my "canvas."
I was enjoying the process, but was finding it hard to keep myself motivated to draw/sketch consistently. I enlisted the help of a friend, by suggesting we participate in drawing challenges together. He was up to the task, so our first challenge topic was "item around the house." He chose an apple, and I chose my wife's Japanese bowl:
Our most recent challenge was to pick our favorite Disney character. My friend chose Buzz Lightyear, and I chose Robin Hood:
My drawing is a mash up. It's the Disney character, but the composition is from the movie poster from Ridley Scott's recent version starring Russell Crowe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_(2010_film)
So, all that to say: I'm loving our new iPad 2, Sketchbook Pro, and the chance to get back into some creative exercises!
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