OT Does anyone enjoy artsy drawing/creative apps?

[Deleted User]

@AudioGus said:

@nick said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:
But then again if you need/want to create something that doesn't already exist then photo filters aren't going to be much help...

You’d be surprised what I can come up with, with a combination of graphic and photo apps in the phone.

Sure, but what I meant was letting your imagination roam free. My most pleasurable moments in drawing/painting are when I just let my subconscious float up and create mad things - it's very much like creating music in that respect. I illustrate and draw for a living so it's a subject I know very well, and I can draw to a high standard, but the bit I really like is making new things up, that's where the real fun is IMO.

It depends how you work, and what the intended result is.

I trained in illustration and design, and have worked, and still do occasionally as an illustrator. But my work doesn’t start with a clean sheet and a pencil - I gather a ton of reference material and textures, and muck about with these for inspiration.

Where digital art tools help me, is in assembling a rough mock-up which I can use as a reference with traditional medium. So I’d use Photo or Photoshop on the desktop for this, but I’m increasingly coming up with ideas on the phone, that may one day be worked up in oils or acrylics.

So I guess the iPhone/desktop is a high tech sketchbook for me.

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:
But then again if you need/want to create something that doesn't already exist then photo filters aren't going to be much help...

You’d be surprised what I can come up with, with a combination of graphic and photo apps in the phone.

Sure, but what I meant was letting your imagination roam free. My most pleasurable moments in drawing/painting are when I just let my subconscious float up and create mad things - it's very much like creating music in that respect. I illustrate and draw for a living so it's a subject I know very well, and I can draw to a high standard, but the bit I really like is making new things up, that's where the real fun is IMO.

I like those a lot, definitely not done by pushing an auto-generate button ...

Those are great critters and shapes!

Just as a complete contrast to the digital stuff (which I love), this is what I started today. Stopped about ten minutes ago, just an underpainting at the moment so still a bit rough:

hacked_to_pieces

@AudioGus said:

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@MonzoPro said:

@bsantoro said:

@MonzoPro said:
I see Procreate had an update a couple of days ago, but it's not appearing in my update list.

Looking forward to the Store being fixed.

Don't you need iOS 11 do be able to download Procreate 4?

Ahhhhh ok, didn't realise they'd up the minimum requirements...that'll be it then, thanks.

I think it was the same with iOS 10. It was listed as an Essentials app back then I think and now it is an Editor's Choice. With some apps it seems Apple gives them a bump in exchange for helping 'soft/strong arm' users to upgrade OS.

I think it's an excellent app, and the few times I've dabbled with it I've really liked it. Maybe it'd be different if I had an iPencil, but I just don't use the iPad for drawing and painting. I'm working on a new portrait in oils today - I think I'm just too used to using the real thing.

Cool, oils are great, good for you. Like with music if I had the space and time I would certainly do more traditional stuff. I have a Wacom Cintiq (I give it a 10) for about twelve years now and that has been huge for me. The Pencil, honestly just is not that amazing to me. A lot cheaper than a Cintiq so I get it but the pencil itself, eh its oK (I give it a 7). The Wacom finepoint bluetooth stylus for my non Pro iPad is almost just as good (I give it a 6) It is nice for loose sketching and painting on the couch or train and then exporting to Photoshop/Cintiq. The past couple years though it has been hard to get the corporate stink of all the commercial brainwashing gack off of me long enough to just slip into enjoying personal work again. I keep trying but probably just need a vacation... or two.

I’ve got a Wacom tablet for the PC/Mac which I occasionally use for Affinity Photo work (cutting out, masking etc.), and freehand vector work (logo’s etc.). I did buy it with the aim of creating paintings in Photoshop - I did a couple of things, but realised the point of doing a bit of creative art stuff was to escape the PC, not spend more time on it. It’s a good tablet though.

I think if I had the big Pro and the iPencil I’d do more digital art on it, but I might not so not worth risking the investment, not at the moment anyway.

Digital art always feels a bit like cheating to me though.

To me it is just like digital or electronic music. You can be creative and genuinely expressive or inovative but the average viewer has little context for what you are actually doing. I actualy met someone who excitedly wanted to show me their paintings... which were filters on their photos. The groovebox of art.

Yep, the problem I have with digital painting, is that it’s very easy to replicate hours/days of intensive freehand work with filter apps. I got the same reaction from friends from posting a portrait that had taken a week of Wacom scratching, as I did from a five minute muck about with phone filters. So I thought - why bother? So all my personal digital art is now knocked out on the phone.

Yah, I hear yah, with digital the craft is simply not evident or even relevant to the audience. Shortcuts/automation etc are the name of the game. 99% of the visual art I personally like is done in the traditional painting world simply because the people doing it can make a living combining craftsmanship and ideas are are enabled/supported (or at least can dream) to make art for arts sake and take it to the next level. Half of why people buy their work is for an appreciation of the craft. The digital world inevitably just bottoms out as a tool for mass market commercial swill. I do enjoy making experimental digital art for art sakes stuff, as the tools are relevant to my career, but in the end, if someone can paint something traditionally that is equally amazing or better (and they do) digital works are simply a noncompeting novelty to maybe get a thumbs up on twitbook.

I must add that I absolutely love a lot of digital artwork - particularly the vector/line character stuff. Beautiful work out there, but it’s just not something I do.

Here is my abstract too much detail phase from about six years ago...

Impressive work !!

richardyot

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@nick said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:
But then again if you need/want to create something that doesn't already exist then photo filters aren't going to be much help...

You’d be surprised what I can come up with, with a combination of graphic and photo apps in the phone.

Sure, but what I meant was letting your imagination roam free. My most pleasurable moments in drawing/painting are when I just let my subconscious float up and create mad things - it's very much like creating music in that respect. I illustrate and draw for a living so it's a subject I know very well, and I can draw to a high standard, but the bit I really like is making new things up, that's where the real fun is IMO.

It depends how you work, and what the intended result is.

I trained in illustration and design, and have worked, and still do occasionally as an illustrator. But my work doesn’t start with a clean sheet and a pencil - I gather a ton of reference material and textures, and muck about with these for inspiration.

Where digital art tools help me, is in assembling a rough mock-up which I can use as a reference with traditional medium. So I’d use Photo or Photoshop on the desktop for this, but I’m increasingly coming up with ideas on the phone, that may one day be worked up in oils or acrylics.

So I guess the iPhone/desktop is a high tech sketchbook for me.

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:
But then again if you need/want to create something that doesn't already exist then photo filters aren't going to be much help...

You’d be surprised what I can come up with, with a combination of graphic and photo apps in the phone.

Sure, but what I meant was letting your imagination roam free. My most pleasurable moments in drawing/painting are when I just let my subconscious float up and create mad things - it's very much like creating music in that respect. I illustrate and draw for a living so it's a subject I know very well, and I can draw to a high standard, but the bit I really like is making new things up, that's where the real fun is IMO.

I like those a lot, definitely not done by pushing an auto-generate button ...

Those are great critters and shapes!

Just as a complete contrast to the digital stuff (which I love), this is what I started today. Stopped about ten minutes ago, just an underpainting at the moment so still a bit rough:

Nice painting. Your music is a lot more abstract than your painting, which is interesting.

[Deleted User]

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@nick said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:
But then again if you need/want to create something that doesn't already exist then photo filters aren't going to be much help...

You’d be surprised what I can come up with, with a combination of graphic and photo apps in the phone.

Sure, but what I meant was letting your imagination roam free. My most pleasurable moments in drawing/painting are when I just let my subconscious float up and create mad things - it's very much like creating music in that respect. I illustrate and draw for a living so it's a subject I know very well, and I can draw to a high standard, but the bit I really like is making new things up, that's where the real fun is IMO.

It depends how you work, and what the intended result is.

I trained in illustration and design, and have worked, and still do occasionally as an illustrator. But my work doesn’t start with a clean sheet and a pencil - I gather a ton of reference material and textures, and muck about with these for inspiration.

Where digital art tools help me, is in assembling a rough mock-up which I can use as a reference with traditional medium. So I’d use Photo or Photoshop on the desktop for this, but I’m increasingly coming up with ideas on the phone, that may one day be worked up in oils or acrylics.

So I guess the iPhone/desktop is a high tech sketchbook for me.

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:
But then again if you need/want to create something that doesn't already exist then photo filters aren't going to be much help...

You’d be surprised what I can come up with, with a combination of graphic and photo apps in the phone.

Sure, but what I meant was letting your imagination roam free. My most pleasurable moments in drawing/painting are when I just let my subconscious float up and create mad things - it's very much like creating music in that respect. I illustrate and draw for a living so it's a subject I know very well, and I can draw to a high standard, but the bit I really like is making new things up, that's where the real fun is IMO.

I like those a lot, definitely not done by pushing an auto-generate button ...

Those are great critters and shapes!

Just as a complete contrast to the digital stuff (which I love), this is what I started today. Stopped about ten minutes ago, just an underpainting at the moment so still a bit rough:

Nice painting. Your music is a lot more abstract than your painting, which is interesting.

Thanks. Yeah people have said that to me before - maybe I get all the weirdness out in my music!

AudioGus

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@nick said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:
But then again if you need/want to create something that doesn't already exist then photo filters aren't going to be much help...

You’d be surprised what I can come up with, with a combination of graphic and photo apps in the phone.

Sure, but what I meant was letting your imagination roam free. My most pleasurable moments in drawing/painting are when I just let my subconscious float up and create mad things - it's very much like creating music in that respect. I illustrate and draw for a living so it's a subject I know very well, and I can draw to a high standard, but the bit I really like is making new things up, that's where the real fun is IMO.

It depends how you work, and what the intended result is.

I trained in illustration and design, and have worked, and still do occasionally as an illustrator. But my work doesn’t start with a clean sheet and a pencil - I gather a ton of reference material and textures, and muck about with these for inspiration.

Where digital art tools help me, is in assembling a rough mock-up which I can use as a reference with traditional medium. So I’d use Photo or Photoshop on the desktop for this, but I’m increasingly coming up with ideas on the phone, that may one day be worked up in oils or acrylics.

So I guess the iPhone/desktop is a high tech sketchbook for me.

@richardyot said:

@MonzoPro said:

@richardyot said:
But then again if you need/want to create something that doesn't already exist then photo filters aren't going to be much help...

You’d be surprised what I can come up with, with a combination of graphic and photo apps in the phone.

Sure, but what I meant was letting your imagination roam free. My most pleasurable moments in drawing/painting are when I just let my subconscious float up and create mad things - it's very much like creating music in that respect. I illustrate and draw for a living so it's a subject I know very well, and I can draw to a high standard, but the bit I really like is making new things up, that's where the real fun is IMO.

I like those a lot, definitely not done by pushing an auto-generate button ...

Those are great critters and shapes!

Just as a complete contrast to the digital stuff (which I love), this is what I started today. Stopped about ten minutes ago, just an underpainting at the moment so still a bit rough:

Nice, looks like you have some solid skills!

richardyot

@AudioGus said:
Here is my abstract too much detail phase from about six years ago...

Nice - Photoshop and 3D are my stock-in-trade but I still looked at that picture wondering how the hell it was put together. Interesting and original work.

AudioGus

@richardyot said:

@AudioGus said:
Here is my abstract too much detail phase from about six years ago...

Nice - Photoshop and 3D are my stock-in-trade but I still looked at that picture wondering how the hell it was put together. Interesting and original work.

Thanks, that process was a bit of a meandering path. In the end there was a lot of overpainting, way more than I would want to do again. I recently revived it a bit taking another stab at the process and it is pretty much achievable more simply now with extruded photoshop vectors in 3dsmax. Also I am thinking about 3D printing or VR potential So all done in 3D is a bit of the experiment. Not enough hours in a day though of course. Which 3D progs do you use?

audiblevideo

@richardyot said:

@AudioGus said:
Here is my abstract too much detail phase from about six years ago...

Nice - Photoshop and 3D are my stock-in-trade but I still looked at that picture wondering how the hell it was put together. Interesting and original work.

Yup. super nice yours and @MonzoPro.
At first I thought they were painted over fractals

richardyot

@AudioGus said:
Which 3D progs do you use?

Many many years ago I started on 3D Studio R4, which was a DOS-based program, then switched to 3D Studio Max once that came out. I have to admit I never felt any love for the program, so eventually I switched to Modo about 10 years ago. I love Modo, although like any program it has its flaws. I also use Zbrush (which is amazing), Substance Designer, Substance Painter, and Mari.

A selection of my 3D work:

I also worked as a lighting lead on a french-language film:

AudioGus

@richardyot said:

@AudioGus said:
Which 3D progs do you use?

Many many years ago I started on 3D Studio R4, which was a DOS-based program, then switched to 3D Studio Max once that came out. I have to admit I never felt any love for the program, so eventually I switched to Modo about 10 years ago. I love Modo, although like any program it has its flaws. I also use Zbrush (which is amazing), Substance Designer, Substance Painter, and Mari.

A selection of my 3D work:

Fantastic work! So very charming and technicaly sophisticated too! I love it.

I also love ZBrush but it really has not fit into any of my work so far but I do make sure to keep some time in it every year as you never know how jobs change etc. I started a couple personal projects with it with the intention of getting into the Substance Suite but I have been in the low poly mobile world for so long now I have relaxed that strategy.

Modo certainly seems worth learning, paticularly for concepting, what an a amazing beast. I love the modifier stack of Max but it seems like Modo is like this but on steroids.

jigglypuff

Painted with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil in Procreate. I love this combination of hardware and software. I followed a video tutorial by James Julier: https://www.youtube.com/user/axis432/featured

AudioGus

@jigglypuff said:
Painted with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil in Procreate. I love this combination of hardware and software. I followed a video tutorial by James Julier: https://www.youtube.com/user/axis432/featured

Ahh sweet, reminds me of home at the top of the ski hill. Lovely colors and atmospheric perspective..

hacked_to_pieces

Here a music video I made with Caustic and some desktop 3d programs.

CracklePot

@richardyot said:

@AudioGus said:
Which 3D progs do you use?

Many many years ago I started on 3D Studio R4, which was a DOS-based program, then switched to 3D Studio Max once that came out. I have to admit I never felt any love for the program, so eventually I switched to Modo about 10 years ago. I love Modo, although like any program it has its flaws. I also use Zbrush (which is amazing), Substance Designer, Substance Painter, and Mari.

A selection of my 3D work:

I also worked as a lighting lead on a french-language film:

I watched that film with my daughters and we really enjoyed it.

CracklePot

Man there is just too much talent around here! "Awesome stuff!!!" to everyone who showed some samples.

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

@CracklePot said:
Man there is just too much talent around here! "Awesome stuff!!!" to everyone who showed some samples.

Second. I enjoyed them all.

DrippyFaucet

So I wasn't aware but affinity designer is also coming to iOS and I'm so excited!! The devs say "in the coming months" but if you like vector-y stuff "Vectornator Pro" seems very promising. Devs are very nice and dedicated. Lots of healthy, big updates already in its sort life

jigglypuff

@AudioGus said:
Here is my abstract too much detail phase from about six years ago...

I really liked the combination of bright colors and 3D shading. I could see that artwork hanging on my walls.