Musings and News-Robin Chilstrom

A Procreate Dinosaureal experiment

3/19/2020

My brother David and I were fiddling around in Procreate a couple of weeks ago and the process movie above is the result of that fiddling. David started the drawing by adding the broad wine-red brush strokes. I saw an image in that field of color and began to follow it along to its eventual completion. This little imaginary dinosaur might be the inspiration for a story about a meat-o-saurus who preferred eating plants, especially in their sweet flowering stage.

That's the magic in the immediacy of working in such a free-form way. I had no idea what we would come up with until I saw a shape in the color field and followed it along as it morphed and emerged. Working digitally, having the option to copy an image and save the original layer, then keep experimenting with the new layer means I have the freedom to try things in a non-destructive way that would be impossible with traditional media. How many times have you worked a drawing or a painting just a tick too far - or, much too far?

And, like the Dino above, I begin to wonder and imagine this little guy's story. Certainly a character I wouldn't have consciously drawn, I seem to be pulled into the river of creative thought-tinkering about his life, his tribe, and why he's eating flowers instead of chasing down prey. A nascent story originating in the stroke of a brush.

I love the flexibility and opportunity to edit and save multiple versions of digital drawings and paintings, though working with traditional media is a much more tactile experience. And, of course, there's a physical 'product' at the end of the process. So, it's not a replacement for making art with traditional media but it is valuable for illustrators and graphic artists. I can try out an idea or play in an instant - without setting up the studio - just open my iPad. Bardot Brush has some fabulous textured papers that help add depth to Procreate drawings. I've attached a few recent examples of my 'learning curve' journeys into Digital Drawing with Procreate.