Повседневные моменты с помощью iPad

Габи Кампанарио в Сиэтле

Evening commute

The lady in front of me was tapping the screen of her smartphone, just like every other commuter aboard my evening bus. I don’t think I would have paid much attention to what she was doing if it wasn’t for the striped purple-and-black fingerless gloves she was wearing. They caught my eye. They looked more colorful than the gray pair I usually wear this time of the year. And they appeared to scream “Sketch me!”

I was crammed on the back of the bus, with little elbow room, but I managed to pull my iPad mini and my Wacom Stylus from my bag. Moments like this repeat all the time, but the experience is a little less mundane if I stop to sketch them.

It’s in situations like this, when the setting isn’t too comfy, it’s dark and I don’t have much time, when I appreciate digital sketching the most. The Procreate app didn’t disappoint. I used the “ink bleed” sketching tool for the lines and the “flat brush” painting tool for quick broad strokes of color. I resisted working the sketch further after stepping off the bus. But thanks to the magic of digital sketching I can always duplicate the file if I want to create new versions for other purposes later.

I can understand why some artists aren’t drawn to digital sketching. I wasn’t either at first. It just can’t replicate the tactile feel of sketching with real ink and real paper. But the medium is growing on me. You can’t deny how powerful the technology is and how much more sophisticated is getting by the day. While I don’t foresee giving up traditional media ever, my iPad and Stylus have now earned their spot in my daily sketching kit.

Below are some other everyday moments digitally immortalized with the Procreate App and my new trusty Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus. If you’d like to follow my adventures with iPad, I’m sharing the results on Facebook.

A few members of my son’s middle school jazz band

Morning coffee with my daughter

Seattle’s cool rainbow zebra crossings seen through the window of a coffee shop

And back on the bus!