Red Admirals

Hi all,
I've just done a video of how I painted the two red admiral butterflies and uploaded it to youtube. If you would lke to see how I went about it please click on the link below. If you like what you see please consider subscibing because I will have another video coming along soon.

Here is a decent picture of the actual finished painting. It looks like a lot of detailed work but if you watch the video you will see that it is easier than it looks.

I think that it is amazing how quickly one learns to paint when using digital techniques. I struggled for years with watercolour and, to be honest, I didn't actually produce anything fantastic. I would describe my watercolours has, mediocre. If you want to see how much I have improved since I started painting on the ipad last Christmas, check out the gallery tabs at the top of the page.

Partridge done in pencil

Hi all,
Just updated the galleries. Two new digital painting, one of a pair of red admiral butterflies and the other of a long tailed tit that stopped still long enough for me to get a reference photo of him.
I have also upload a new image on the traditional art page.

I'm trying to spend a bit less time on the digital to give my eyes a bit of a break. So I have done a pencil drawing of a partridge and I think it is my best pencil drawing ever. I think the improvement is due to the time spent on the ipad. I have learnt a lot through digital painting because it is so easy to try something and if it doesn't work nothing is lost. I just erase the bit I don't like or delete a layer and I'm back to where I was. With traditional art there was always the fear of taking a risk because the painting could be ruined and I guess that led to mediocrity, well in my case it did.

Here is the partridge but please take a look at the others as well.

 Thanks for looking

Peacock butterflies

Hi all,
The digital painting is still going well although I do have a concern. I love painting digitally but I have a feeling it is affecting my eyes. To try and reduce the problem I'm doing two things. Firstly, when I do a new painting I get rid of the white background straight away. I choose a bland colour and leave that in place until I change it for the proper background when I paint it. Here is a painting  of some peacock butterflies on an aster type plant.

I made short video of how I painted this image and it shows how I used a bland background at the start. Here is the video.

If you enjoy it please consider subscribing, it would be most appreciated.

The second thing I'm doing to save my eyes is to do a bit more tradditional artwork. I don't think I'll be going back to watercolours but I'm going to give pen and ink and graphite another go.

I did a quick ink drawing of a partridge to see how it felt after amost a year of digital art and the experience was positive. Here is the drawing, nothing special but it didn't hurt my eyes at all.

If you have any comments please fire away and I'll be back soon with another butterfly painting.

Tortoiseshells

I have done another butterfly painting in what is going to be a series of four. In my last post I showed you the first one of some painted ladies and I thought it was my best painting so far. Well I think this one is going to run it a close second.

The butterflies are good, but I also like the scabious flowers and the buttercups. It  is beyond my wildest dreams to be able to paint images like this and it is all down to doing it digitally. The combination of ipad and an app called Procreate make it all so achievable. I would love to know what you think, please feel free to comment.

If you would like to see how I painted this image, which includes the copies use of stamp brushes, I have done a short video which shows how it was done.

If you enjoy watching the video please consider subscribing, it cost nothing and if you don't click the bell icon you won't be bothered with reminders. The third in the series will be along shortly

My Best Painting So Far

Hi all,
I have just finished the best painting I have ever done and I'm very pleased. I painted it on the ipad using an app called Procreate and it came out very well indeed. I might be biased of course so without further ado I will show you the painting and you can judge it's merits for yourself.

There you have it, three painted lady butterflies feasting on an imaginary plant that resembles cow parsley. The reference photo was one that I took in the late 90's when we had an invasion of painted ladies. This butterfly is not native to Great Britain and usually only a few make an appearance from overseas.

I painted the butterflies first to make sure I could do them justice and then I painted the flowers on a separate layer. They were painted using a couple of stamp brushes that I created myself and it made the job a lot quicker. Painting each one of those small flowers seperately would have been tedious to say the least.

Here is the reference photo.

I increased the distance between the butterflies to improve the composition and I changed the flowers. The vebena bonariensis that are shown in the photo are nice enough, but I didn't like the combination of orange and purple.

If you would like to see a short movie of me doing this painting, here is a link to a short video I made showing how it was done.

Any comments or question about the painting will be welcome and if you enjoyed the video please subscribe for future offerings.

Birthday Card

Hi all,
It was my wife's birthday last week so I painted her a birthday card. I didn't paint it to save money, I did it just because I knew she would appreciate somebody making an effort. And let's face it, buying a decent birthday card these days isn't easy. I sometimes wonder what sort of person decides what makes a good card, certainly a lot of the ones I see on the shelves range between being thoughtless and damn right offencive.

Anyway, my wife has a taste for cards that lean a bit towards naive art, so that is what I did. It is based around some lovely partridges that used to visit our garden. There was about eight of them to start with and I took some photos of them. However, during the next few month their number began to reduce. Slowly but surely over a period of about 9 months, one at a time, they finally disappeared all  together.

We live on an housing estate so they could have been killed by cats or perhaps run over, but I like to think that they decided that the woods were a better place to be and that is where they are now.

My wife loved to watch those partridges so I thought she'd like this card.

Thankfully she did like it and she was so pleased it is now hanging on our wall in a frame.
If you would like to see how I painted it here is a link to the short video I made showing how it was done.

If you like it, please consider subscribing and you can see how I progress now that I have changed to digital art. Thanks.

Blue Butterfly

Hi all,
Just finished another digital painting. This one is of a blue butterfly on a Bird's foot trefoil flower. The composition of the flowers came out of my head, which to be honest isn't my preferred way of working. I'm not good at imagining scenes, so find it much easier to work from a photo. From now on that is what I'm going to do.
Here is the painting.

It looks very complex and time consuming composition, but due to the fantastic medium of digital art, it was easier than it looked. If you watch the video that is linked below, you will see how I did it.
I only had to paint one trefoil flower, the one the butterfly settled on later, and from that I cut and pasted the same flower onto the ends of the green stalks that I'd left waiting. They were done on a seperate layer so I was able to reduce the opacity slightly, which made them sit a little further back in the painting. The effect increases the focus on the flower with the butterfly on it.

The small white flowers were all done with 3 different stamp brushes that a created for a previous painting so yet more time was saved there. If I'd been using traditional methods and painted each flower individually it would have taken weeks to complete.

I can't say enough good thinks about digital art because it really does tick all the boxes. If you have any questions please let me know. Meanwhile, I will leave you with a link to the video. If you enjoy it please subscribe and another one will be along shortly.

Lady In Red

Hi all,
I'm here again with another digital painting and to give you inspiration if you have ever thought of going digital.

The painting came about after I took some photographs of bees in my front garden. You may have gathered by now that I like painting flowers and, as beautiful as flowers are, I think they look better with a bit of life on them. So, I was photographing bees to give me reference material for future paintings.

When I looked at the images that I'd taken on the computer screen, this one jumped out at me and was asking to be painted.

Quite a daunting task you are probably thinking and you'd be right if I was doing it in traditional materials. Doing it digitally made the whole thing a lot easier. I tried to make this one look a bit more painterly than my recent efforts and I think it went well.

Here is the finished painting that was, as usual, done on my ipad using a app called Procreate.

Overall I think I did it justice although I'm not 100% happy with the bee. You may be wondering how long it took to paint all those tiny flowers and leaves. The answer is 13 hours. I know that because Procreate records how long you have been working on a painting, in fact, it tells you how many brush strokes you have taken too, why you want to know that I don't know.

If I'd been painting each one of those flowers individually, like I would have done when using traditional material it would have probably taken over 100 hours.

Doing the painting digitally meant I was able to create a brush in the shape of one small flower. I used this in various colours and levels of opacity to place flowers on the screen very quickly. I created 3 brushes in total with 3 different planes and this allowed me to get the rounded shape of the full bloom.

It sounds complicated but in reality it is very simple. If you would like to see how I did this painting, here is a short video which will show the method in more detail.

If you like the video please consider subscribing and I will have another one coming along on few days. If you have any questions about the video or digital painting please let me know.

A Robin

Hi all,
One of the things I could never master when doing traditional art, was painting leaves. I knew what I wanted them to look like, but I could never achieve anything like a satisfactory result.
Here is an example.

Okay, they probably aren't the worst leaves you've ever seen, but they are not as good as I would like. The big issue for me is the veins. Because it isn't possible to paint a fine light line over dark paint, there were only two options. The first was to use masking fluid to mask out the lines, but it never worked for me because the masking fluid wouldn't go on fine enough. I tried using just about everything from a bent nail to a spider's leg but it was still no good. The other method I tried was to paint around the veins. If ever you've tried that method you will also know that life is far too short.

So in the painting I've just completed I set myself the challenge of painting some realistic looking autumnal leaves, and because leaves on their own don't make for a fantastic composition, I added a robin.

I know, summer has hardly arrived yet and I am painting autumnal scenes with a Christmas robin, sorry about that. Anyway, here is a picture of the finished painting.

I think it would make a nice sympathy card. I also think you will agree that the painting of the leaves is much better than the one a above. It is so much easier using digital media, fine lines of the lightest colour will cover even the blackest black so it has to be a winner. All you need to do is concentrate on painting your image not wrestle with ways to achieve it.

If you would like to see how I painted the image I have made a short youtube video. Here is the link.

Please consider subscribing if you like it and another will be along soon.

Creativity

Hi all,
When I created my youtube channel called and called it " The Armchair Artist" I wanted to show how easy it is to do art on an ipad. It takes up less space an it is easier to pick and carry on with a painting than it is with traditional art, because you don't have to get all the paraphernalia out. There's no doubt about it, real art can be a bit of chore especially after a hard days work. The net result is that it is easier not to bother and if you don't bother you can't expect to get any better. Practice makes perfect and that is a fact.

However, I may have confused some people and they have assumed I called it "The Armchair Artist" because I was too lazy to get up and do some proper painting. In this post I would like to dismiss that train of thought by showing that I'm, not a couch potato.

Those of you who follow my other blog http://www.shirewriting.blogspot.com/ will know that I do a lot of creative things with wood like, turning, carving and pyrography.

Here is a short video of a walking stick that I have just finished.

If you enjoyed the video please consider subscribing, I am currently working on a painting with autumn feel which features a robin. Hopefully I will be showing that in my next post.

Lilies

Hi all,
I'm still doing the digital painting on my ipad. I'm not getting as much free time as I would like but I'm setting about an hour aside every night.

I have only been doing the digital art for about 5 months and feel that I have made great improvements. Here is a picture of my latest piece.

I think it is good and beyond anything I could have hoped to have done using traditional painting media.

It struck me the the other day that there are very few digital painters around that concentrate on flowers and nature. Most people who take up digital art seem to think that it can only be used to paint skull, dragons, warrior princesses and manga, whatever that is.

I am trying to redress the balance and prove that traditional style art can be done digitally and whats more it is easier.

I have done video of the me painting these lilies and you can see for yourself how easy it is. I used 2 brushes and 6 colours  only. Please take a look and subscribe if you like it.

Thanks for looking. My next one will be of some autumn leaves and a robin,

Blossoms

Hi all,
I just thought I'd share a couple of my latest digital paintings with you. The first is of some cherry blossom, which I have done against my usual black background. I use a black background to put all the focus onto the flowers.

My wife, who is probably my biggest critic said, "The flowers look like marshmallows and the stalks look like chocolate."
Very nice indeed, I didn't know if I should hang it on the wall or eat it. I like it even though it does look a bit plastic. That is probably the only drawback with digital art, it can make paintings look too perfect and sterile.

I was going to show you the video of how I painted this blossom, but due to trying to save storage space on my ipad, I very annoyingly deleted it by mistake. All I'm left with is the jpeg image you see above,

To put things right I thought I'd have another go at some blossom. It just so happened that the crab apple tree in our garden was just coming out so I took a few photos of it. I had to borrow the bee but I though it would give it a bit of life.

For this painting I decided to do away with the black background and give it a more natural look.

Given that this is my first painting of a bee, I like it a lot. The leaves fade into the background just has I intended and I like the three focal points of the flowers and the bee.
However not everybody thinks the same. A couple of people have commented that they think the leaves should be darker and more pronounced and that the focal point is at the top which makes the composition top heavy.

Now it may have been better if the bee was in the bottom lower third so that it looked as if it might fly into the picture rather than out of it, but then I wouldn't have got those beautiful buds. And does it matter? Do we always have to have the point of focus on thirds. Who's rules are they?

Regarding the leaves. Yes I could have made them darker and made them more prominent, but I was looking for a painterly effect.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning about the comments I love having them it all helps to make us better artists through awareness.

Unlike the blossom at the top of the page, I managed to create a video of how I painted the blossom and the bee, here is the link.

If you enjoy the video please consider subscribing. It is free and you won't even get bothered with notifications if you don't click the bell icon.

I will have another video for you soon.

Polyanthus

Hi all,
At the bottom of our garden we have a couple of polyanthus plants. The flowers are like those of a primrose, but many flower heads are formed on a single stem.

Anyway, I took a photo of one of them because I though it would make a nice painting.

I decided to make the painting simpler by ignoring the background and making it black. This would not only save me some work but it would make the colour of the flowers pop out.

Here is the finished painting which I did on my ipad using an app called Procreate.

I think it turned out pretty well and I did a short video of it which I have uploaded to  my channel, The Armchair Artist. If you would like to watch how the painting was created, here is a link.

If you enjoy the video please subscribe, it cost nothing and if you don't click the bell icon you won't be bothered with notifications. I am trying to do a video evey week so that you can see how I progress and give you an insight into didgital painting. Taking up digital paining is expensive unless you already have a ipad, where if that is the case, I'd download Procreate in a heartbeat and get on with it.

The Armchair Artist

Hi all,
Following on from my last post where I showed you my latest digital painting, "Magnificent Magnolias."

I have now done a short video to show how I did it. You will probably be amazed at how simple the whole process is. There was no need to go to a studio or some other shared space and get all the painting paraphernalia out, I did it while sitting in my armchair. How cool is that. Believe me, if you can do a half decent painting with the traditional kit, digital painting will astonish you.

If you want to see what I mean. You can see the differece by comparing the digital vs the tradditional paintings by clicking on the appopriate tabs at the top of the page. Which do you think are the best?

Anyway, If you want any advice about going digital or any other questions or comments please ask. Meanwhile, I will leave you with the link to the video.

Thanks for looking and please subscribe to see more. it doesn't cost anything.

Magnolias

Hi all,
I really am enjoying doing digital art on my ipad. It is the best thing I ever did and I will 100% not be going back to the tradditional methods. I struggled with tradditional methods of painting and couldn't even get close to producing the images that were in my head. However, after going digital I am now a lot closer to producing what I wanted

I no long have to think about what paper to use and wonder if could I do better with more expensive paint or  even more expensive brushes. With just and ipad and an app called Procreate I can make the images that I always desired.

If you are thinking of making the leap into digital art, stop thinking and do it now. Here is a picture of a pair of magnolias that I completed recently.

I couldn'y have got even close to this with watercolours. So, if I can do it so can you. Chuck your brushes in the bin and say goodbye to wishy washy images. Go digital, relax in your favouite armchair with your ipad, put on some mellow music and make art. If you have any question, please ask.

Talking about armchairs, I have just released another video on my Youtube channel, "The Armchair Artist"  in it I show how I painted some bindweed on some trellis.

Please take a look and subscibe if you want to see more. I will try to do a video af every painting I do in the hope that I can inspire others and help them to do digital art. Thanks for looking.

Harebell jungle

Hi all,
Just a quick post to update you on my artwork. My move to digital art has been fantastic and if you are thinking of moving in this direction my advice would be, do it now. I have just done a painting of some harebells with a common blue butterfly and it came out really well.

The thing is, I painted just the harebells first and then realised it needed a focal point. So, I created a new layer and added a butterfly, if I didn't like it, I could delete that layer without damage to the original image. This just could not be done with watercolour paints.

Anyway, here is a link to the video of me doing the painting. Please take a look and if you like it please subscribe to see more.

Ps anybody want to buy some watercolours.

Leaves

Hi all,
Just a quick one to let you knopw that I have finished another digital painting of some tulips in a vase. I got the flowers for my wife after she'd had a stay in hospital and she like them so much I thought I paint them for her to remember them by, not least because I don't buy flowers very often.

Anyway here is the painting.

Considering this is the first time I've painted a bunch of flowers in a vase I'm very pleased with it. The leaves may look a bit thick and rubbery and the colour of them isn't quite blue enough but on the whole I think it is a tidy painting. One thing is for sure, it wouldn't have turned out so well if I done it with traditional media.

The more paintings I do on the ipad the more convinced I am that I will never use traditional painting methods again. When I thing about the rigmarole I used to go through to do a water colour painting makes me shudder.
Choose a type of paper cotton or not, rough, hot pressed, what or not. Then soak it in water for a while before sticking it onto a board with gummed tape. When it was dry I would have to then find a suitable place to actually do the painting, usually a table that is used by the family for other things, like eating. So when I'd done a bit of painting I'd have to pack all the stuff away again so that the table could be used for its main purpose.

Of course the net result of all this is that I couldn't be bothered because it was too much trouble. Digital painting is simper any easier. I can stay in my armchair, pick up my ipad and be painting within a minute. The result of this is that I do it more often and my art already improving. If you are considering going digital, don't dither anymore just do it and you'll nerver look back.

Having said that, I've just uploaded a new video to my channel on youtube, It is a short video showing how I paint leaves digitally. If you've ever tried painting leaves in water colour you will appreciate how simple it is to do it digitally.

Please Take a look and subscribe if you would like to see more. Thanks for watching

Clematis and redbubble

Hi all.
I've finished the clematis image and very pleased with it I am too.

No you may be looking at this image and be thinking that it isn't very realistic and you be partly right. The thing is, it wasn't meant to be realistic, it was meant to be a pleasing to the eye and, just as importantly, to be able to be used as a design.

It isn't for hanging on a wall like you would expect, but to be used as a design on various products via print on demand. I have come across this company on line called Redbubble and they take independent artist images and print them onto products like, tee shirts, mugs, phone cases and cushions etc.

All I have to do is upload my images and they do the rest. I can even set the percentage of markup that I want from each sale. They take care of the shipping etc, so no trips to the post office like you would with a normal on line shop.

It sound almost to good to be true. The only downside is that it is very popular with artists and other people who are just trying to make money, so the competition is intense. I am lucky that it is only a hobby for me and it gives me an outlet for my work which would otherwise just go into a folder or languish on my hard drive.  Seeing one's artwork printed on so many products gives me quite a buzz and even if I make no sales I can still buy products with my own designs to give as gifts, how cool is that.

Anyway, I haven't got much in my shop yet but if you want to see what it's all about please click on the shop link on the right hand side of the page. I called the shop The Armchair Artist to keep it in line with my youtube channel of the same name.

I have uploaded a video of me painting the above image and you can access that by clicking on this
link.
I am trying to make each video more informative and I hope you you enjoy watching it. If you do please consider subscribing and you can follow me on the rest of my journey.

In my next video I hope to show how I paint each leaf in details, the process and the brushes.

Stamp Brushes

Hi all,
I have managed to find a few hours this week to start another digital painting on my ipad. I am still enjoying the process and I am more convinced than ever that I won't be going back to traditional art. I have found the benefits of digital art and the results to be amazing.

Anyway, I'm not trying to convince anybody to take up digital art because it is very expensive to get started. The purpose of this blog and the videos that accompany it are to show what can be done by a novice, and thus, giving anybody who is on the fence about taking up digital art, information that may allow them to make a well informed decision. To buy new, the investment required for a 10.5 inch ipad and pencil, plus software is almost £700.

I sold my airbrush and all the stuff that goes with it last week for a nice price so that has helped with my investment.

Right, let's get on with some art. Some of you will remember this pencil drawing I did of a clematis.

It turned out well. Quite realistic in fact and showed me what can be done with just a pencil and paper. However, it lacks colour, so I thought it would be a perfect candidate to see what I could do with the same image on my ipad. I also wanted to make it larger to test out the difficult of creating a bigger image on a small screen. The pencil sketch is 5 inches square and digital one I'm doing is 8 inches square.

The first thing I did was paint the trellis.

Now all I had to do was paint some leaves and the clematis flowers on it. The app I use for my art is called Procreate, which for £10 is incredibly powerful. It allows the artist to make their own brushes and I took full advantage of this by creating some stamp brushes. I used these to help me position, the leaves, flowers and buds in the best places on the painting. Sketching each one in by hand would have taken ages and there would have been discrepencies in size and shape.

I love being abole to create these brushes and use them to make a great image. I am only halfway through the painting but if you watch the video below, it will give you a taste of what can be achieved.

I've only had the ipad about 10 weeks but it has exceeded my expectations. If you have any question of comments please let me know. And, if you enjoyed the video please consider subscribing so that you don't miss the second part. Thanks for watching.

Iris Painting

Hi all,
Time is flying this February, it only seems like a couple of weeks ago that I was carving the turkey and now its nearly March. At least the weather is nice, I can't remember a better end to winter.

On the painting front, I am still learning my way with the digital art on the ipad. I can't see me ever going back to any sort of traditional art and to that end today I sold all my airbrush kit. The thing is I didn't use it that much because I didn't have enough space to leave it set up. Therefore, there was never enough time to get it all out and when I'd finished I'd have to clean the brushes out etc. When you add to that the fact that you had to wear a protective mask when airbrushing, the whole thing became too much of a faff.

Anyway, it has gone now and I'll stick to the ipad. Here is the latest digital paint that I have done of a couple of irises. I enjoyed doing it and I think it looks pretty good.

If you would like to see how I did this digital painting please go to my youtube channel The Armchair Artist

The programme I use is called Procreate and it can be downloaded for just £9.99 from the app store.
If you like the video please consider subscribing and you will get notification when I upload a new video. I aim to do one every 7 or 8 days and you will be able to see how I get on with this new technology.  If you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Roses are Pink

Hi all,
 In my last post I showed you my first attempt at painting a rose digitally on my newly acquired ipad. It turned out perhaps better than expected but the background was a complete mess. See what I mean.

Anyway, I wasn't very happy to leave it at that so I drew in some leaves and a bud to finish it off more to my liking. Doing this using traditional art methods would be almost impossible, I know it is possible to lift out a certain amount of watercolour paint, be let's be honest, the paper never looks the same again.

Anyway, I erased some of the background and drew in some leaves and a bud which I then painted digitally. Here is the same rose with the new background.

I think this is a great improvement and it has convinced me that the possibilities of digital art are massive. Like I said before, I pondered over trying digital art properly for a couple of years and in that time I wasted a whole lot of money on more and more art materials whilst trying to find the thing that would help me make the images I desired. I think I have found it digitally.

I know that some traditionalist frown at digital art and if that is how they feel, fair enough, but I doubt I will ever go back to real brushes. How many amateur artists have been led down the path of buying better and better quality brushes to improve their art. I was convinced. I finished up buying brushes made from the hair of a squirrel that had been hand fed hazel nuts from the only tree left in a Bolivian swamp. I also purchased the best paper, 100% cotton that was so strong and archivable that my painting would still be here a million years after the last pyramid had been returned to sand.

Don't get me started on artist's quality paint because if you've got plenty of money to chuck about the sky's the limit. One is always left thinking, that if one had used paint with a higher percentage of pigment and less binder, one's paintings would look much better. Thankfully, I didn't go too far down this route.

To put it in a nutshell. Yes, over the years my paintings did improve slightly each time I improved the quality of my materials but that was still tiny when compared with the increase in the costs.

On the other side of the coin, digital art has cost me a huge amount of money up front. However, it has provided the biggest improvement in my art and now that5 I have made in initial investment my running cost are almost zero. No more expensive paints, papers, inks, brushes and other accessories like the dreaded masking fluid

I don't have a mission to convert anybody to digital art, all I'm doing is recording my observations and reporting how I'm getting on and at the moment I'm very pleased. If you would like to see how I got on sorting out the rose above here is the link to my channel, The Armchair Artist .Any comments and questions are welcome

In my next post I will be doing another rose hopefully a a bit better.

A Rose

Hi all,
The digital art is going pretty well. I'm still desperately trying to get to grips with the app that I'm using called Procreate, but I think it is just a matter of practise.

This week I managed to do a rose. The background is pathetic but the flower ain't too bad.

I tried several brushes in this painting. Sketching, inking, airbrush and textured brushes in an attempt to get the effect I was looking for. I am very pleased seeing as it is my first rose using a digital medium.

In my last post I said I'd tell you why I am having ago at digital as apposed to traditional art. Well there are many reasons and, one of the most important for me is the result.

I know there are some people who say it is enjoying the process that is more important than the result, but I'm afraid I need a good result too. Like many other amateur artists I believe that I have the knowledge to be able to paint, however, once I add some water to some paint and put it on the canvas it goes down hill from there and I end up with something mediocre. I understand about colour, contrast, shadows and composition, but the execution lets me down.

I have put it down to the lack of control. One needs to be very adept at mixing the right amount of water with the paint and dampen the paper just enough. To be honest, most of the time I was waiting for happy accidents which might have happened in one small area of the image but overall the painting was below expectations.

Have you ever been to one of those paint club exhibitions that are held in village halls all over the country. You look at all the paintings, nit picking and thinking you could do better. There are usually a couple of standout paintings but the rest look, let's be truthful about this, blinking washed out.


Well thats how I felt about my own attempts especially at watercolour. You may have seen these two images before but for me it sums it up when it comes to results.

Of course it is a matter of taste, but for me the digital picture is far superior and that is one of the reasons why I want to master the art of painting digitally. I will explore another reason in my next post. Meanwhile, if you would like to see a short video of me creating the rose picture above, here is a link to my Youtube channel and the painting. The Armchair Artist

Digital Art

Hi all,
I am pleased to report that I am still enjoying my venture into digital art; it has opened up new possibilities for me. It is great for doodling and even better for attempting something decent. It is still early days for me yet because I'm still feeling my way around the software.

Here is a loose painting of some birch trees in the snow. I wasn't trying to be proper realistic, I just wanted to see how one could create depth in a digital painting.

 It's only a small painting but it proved to me that a sense of depth was easy to achieve in a digital way by using a different layer for each depth of the painting. It is possible to reduce the opacity of the whole layer or just when using a brush so it is very easy. I also like the fact that any mistakes can be undone easily.

I recorded the painting of the birches and posted to my new Youtube channel called "The Armchair Artist." If you would like to see how the painting was created here is a link to the short video
Please have a look and let me know what you think.

The purpose of creating the channel is two fold. Firstly it will record my progress during my journey with this new media. Secondly, there may be other traditional artists out there who are, like me, disillusioned with normal art and fancy giving the digital a try. Giving most new art forms a go isn't difficult. If you fancy having a go at pastels for instance, like I did, you can just buy a small set and some paper and have a go relatively cheaply. (Then, if you have as much success as I did you can shove them to the back of the cupboard, never likley to be used again.) The point is, having a go digitally is an expensive business, so perhaps by seeing how I'm getting on others might or might not risk their money and have a go.

So far it is all going to plan and I'm more than pleased with what Ive managed to do. In my next post I will try to explain why I am going digital and what I didn't like about traditional art.

The dark side

Hi all,
So, Christmas and the new year have passed us by again. I'd like to say I had a great time but I didn't. Still, I won't go into that. The new year is well a truly here so there is a lot to look forward to now that the false expectations of Christmas are behind us.

I am going to carry on with my pencil work, but this year I'm determined to give digital painting a decent try. There are several reasons for this which I will go into in future posts but for now I'm  excited to show you how I'm getting on.

I treated myself to an ipad pro 10.5 inch for Christmas and my mother in law got me an apple pencil to go with it. After a lot of research I also purchased a app called Procreate which is about as good as painting apps get, in fact it is marvellous. I can't believe what you get for a tenner.

This was my first step in digital art, so I started off with something I could do easily with a pencil or paint. I had a quick go at doing a clematis flower.

This was a very quick sketch and I was pleasantly impressed by the ipad and the app. So, I thought I'd do another, this time a cherry.

Now considering I hadn't got much idea about what I was doing regarding the app, I was again very pleased with the result.

During my research about digital painting I came across an artist on youtube who had here reference photo on the same screen that she was painting on, so I thought I'd give that a quick try. I popped into the garden and picked a cyclamen leaf and photographed it. I then imported the photo into procreate to see if I could copy it.
The leaf on the top left is the photo and you can see my attempt at a quick copy.

Again this was just a quick sketch to see what could be done. If I had taken longer I'm sure I could have got a very close likeness.

So, obviously my first impressions of doing digital art are very good. I am hoping that I can give anybody who is thinking of taking the plunge into this media, a  flavour of what they can expect.

The cost of entry into digital is very high, for me it was almost £700. However, the ongoing costs associated with digital art are very low. Brushes, canvases, paper and paints etc will be no longere be required or will any of the other mirade of accessories we artist think we need.

There are lots of other benefits that go along with digital art and I'll tell you about some of them in a future post.

For now, please take a look at this picture. I did one last year in watercolour and the other a few days ago. Which do you prefer?

                                                             

 The one at the top is digital and the other is watercolour.

I have also started a youtube channel so that I can record my progress. Here is a link to my introductory video. I hope you enjoy it, any questions or comments please let me know.