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I have been aware of digital art most of my adult life, i.e. since the early 70’s. I’ve made static images. animations, games, manipulated videos and sound. The tools that are available now are astonishing. That said, alongside a phone to quickly capture some aspects of a scene, below is what I use mostly when sketching:

It has in it mechanical pencils with soft drawing leads, short very soft pencils, a mini paint box, water filled brushes, rags, two tiny sketchbooks…… It also isn’t affected by awkward light reflections and doesn’t run out of power. The image below is in that bundle still.

On my Android phone I have a copy of Art Rage, which I also use on bigger computers. This one used just my finger as a pointer/pen.

The first thing to remember about digital art packages is that media rules don’t apply. While you can appear to be painting with oil and a stiff brush, you are just applying dots of colour. If you use a pencil effect, you can expand the the size of the lead to huge proportions, add colour and get that grainy effect of a soft pencil on grainy paper over whatever area you want. If the tool doesn’t give you the effect you want try another one. This lack of rules applies whatever the App you are using.

While you are just applying dots when you work, the apps and devices are very sophisticated nowadays and can detect pressure and speed to recognise gestures. In this way they try to reproduce what you would get when using a brush, pencil or other tool on paper or canvass. To get the best out of this the ‘pen’, device and App work best if they are matched. Don’t forget my finger drawing though.

The final thing I’ll say for the moment is that there are three tools on all Apps that you can use. First, Undo, which usually allows you to go back several times to pretend you didn’t just do what you did. Second a variable size Eraser that will magically rub out paint too. Third is the ability to change the Settings for each tool, for instance to add more thinners or paint.

I’ll keep adding to this post with more detail later.

Good luck.

When I was sixteen I painted this image of the patterns made by cars and people at a Zebra Crossing. I’ve always been a bit obsessed by patterns of movement and the paths made through the world.

When Shelley Art Group set a fungi challenge, I had a picture in my head but realised I would find it hard to realise in paint, so I tried with an app called ArtRage and was pleased with the result, as were others.

I now have an obsession to realise some of those ideas I have never managed before. Meanwhile my other obsession with Schumpeter and Appropriate Technology has sent me on a slight sidetrack involving creating lots of digital images to incorporate in other pieces.

And larger piece in development

A sidetrack for visitors, find the creature sculptures around the garden and buildings.