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.