Many artists throughout the ages copy master works to improve their skills. I figured since I was learning something entirely new, I may as well double up on my learning by copying the work of an artist I admire, Karen Offutt. Above is my first attempt at painting in the program.

I made the leap and got my own iPad Pro and Apple Pencil and started playing around in Procreate. I still had to bring my talent to the tablet. It was just like any other set of artist tools I use, just in a different form. First, the program doesn’t “paint” for you and second, it’s not as easy as I thought it would be. My first digital attempt at painting in Procreate referencing a work by Karen Offutt Entering The Digital Fine Art AgeĪ coworker let me try out the program Procreate on his iPad Pro and the lights started to turn on in my mind. This means you will still be “drawing” and reestablishing your lines as you go even if you trace. Just like any physical painting, all of the reference lines get painted over unless you have them on a separate layer which I don’t like to do (it’s incredibly annoying to me). It changes all the time based on the time frame I have and what I really want to accomplish with the work. Sometimes I’ve transferred drawings using a grid.

Many artists have traced or transferred images for centuries. Selecting a color from the reference photo may be the destination, but you still have to paint in the colors that get you there and simply selecting from the photo is of no help in that regard as far as I’m concerned. Selecting colors from the reference photo is helpful for learning values, but you need to have knowledge of what color to start with in order to create blended colors. However, it’s still the artist that brings their unique skill set and interpretation of the subject to life using the tools in the program just like you would use paint and a brush. There definitely is an opportunity to “cheat” by being able to trace images and color select right off reference photos. Painting a portrait from a reference photo in ArtRage

Speed painting procreate