What is Digital Painting and why do I love it?!
When I first learned about digital painting, I was a traditional art snob! Despite the fact that the work that was being shared with me was pretty spectacular, I told myself that no one was getting their hands dirty or washing any brushes so this must not be “real art”. One day a young woman showed me her work and something inside of me shifted. She had created it on her IPad and was having prints made and she was selling it! I purchased my very first digital print from her.
As I looked more and more at her piece, it occurred to me that my curiosity was getting the better of me. So I picked her brain and decided to take the plunge! I bought an IPad and an Apple Pencil and proceeded to teach myself ProCreate, the program I use to create my digital artwork. Inside of this piece of technology was a world so unbeknownst to me, and yet it was as magical and whimsical and vibrant and just as much fun as my world of traditional art materials. I am a Virgo and so I don’t do anything half-ass! I completely immersed myself in ProCreate brushes, pastels, drawing tools, color palettes, tutorials, YouTube videos, you name it, I watched it. And I experimented like a crazy woman sailing a rogue ship on uncharted waters!!
Digital painting uses modern technology to provide artists with everything that we need to make great art. In fact, this very technology allows me to create art in ways that I just can not obtain using my traditional materials. Much of my digital work has a glow or a luminescence to it, almost as though it is backlit. I LOVE THIS!!! It was how I birthed my Painting With Light Series.
I still create art with all of the traditional design elements like composition, balance, tonal contrast, direction for the viewer’s eye, etc. I just do it on my IPad, anywhere and everywhere, and unlike many of my traditional art supplies, digital art is super portable. Just close the IPad and go. It’s all there waiting for me at my next destination as soon as I open it back up again. No doubt about it! I am a crazed woman sailing a rogue digital ship on uncharted waters! Whoohoo! Just gotta remember to breathe!
