iPad Pro and the Procreate app – digital discoveries!

procollage

I returned home from Boston with more than just happy memories – I also got an early Christmas present of an iPad Pro! So what makes the iPad Pro special? It’s simple: This is a tablet for artists and creators.This device is a digital designer’s dream – it has a 12.9″ touchscreen with incredible resolution. Lucky me . . . so many artists like my friends Sherrill Kahn and Susie Monday are huge iPad enthusiasts and digital design experts. I’m still a beginner, but ya gotta start somewhere. The image at the top is my first attempt at making a photo collage design on the iPad Pro. I used an app called Procreate

 When I first downloaded Procreate (it costs $6), I was a little disappointed because it just seemed like a drawing pad app, but then I watched some You Tube tutorials and began to see why artists like it so much. You can insert photos, use layers, draw with a zillion different brushes in a zillion different colors.

One of the most fun things Procreate does is to record your actions and export them to a video. Here is a eight-second video showing the steps that went into the finished image. As you can tell, I’m not very experienced with this program yet, but the learning curve is kind of addictive!

First Experiment with IPad Pro and Procreate app using layers and photo imports from Lyn Belisle on Vimeo.

This process won’t replace the kinds of hands-on art I do in the Studio every day, but it’s a great tool for ideas and digital design development. You don’t need an iPad Pro to download Procreate – you can install it on a regular iPad and have a great time playing with it.

susiemonday copy

If you really want to get into it with a passion, I highly recommend Susie Monday’s Art on the iPad workshops – the next one starts on January 12th – here’s a link. I love tools that expand our repertoire as artists and creators, and my iPad Pro is definitely a gift of inspiration! Thanks, Boston guys 🙂

 

Friday Freebie: Spirit Box Kit

To celebrate the publication of my article, Spirit Boxes, in the Sept-Nov issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, I’m putting together a one-of-a-kind Spirit Box kit for a Shards subscriber. Subscribe before midnight on Sunday and you’ll be in the random drawing. So, YAY! The kit has a shard face, the matboard frame, some decorative paper, and tin to hang the project. Oh, yeah, and directions.

Also, for your weekend viewing pleasure,, I just finished the video of Sherrill Kahn’s workshops at the Studio – what a great time we had! Sherrill and I are fast friends now – that’s the best part of all! Thanks to everyone who came – oh, and don’t forget, there’s a shard face workshop this Sunday with spaces left! Send me an email if you want to make your own Spirit Box faces.

Art teachers and adornments

I don’t know where Sherrill Kahn gets her energy – after two full days of teaching workshops at the Studio, she lectured to a full house of North East ISD art teachers this morning at the McNay Museum of Art as part of their in-service for back-to-school. My painting pal, Gloria Hill, is the NEISD Visual Arts Director and she arranged for Sherrill to come from California for the occasion. Sherrill shared images of her intricate, colorful work and she gave lots of hints to teachers on how to inspire students even on a teacher’s budget. Did you know, for example, that cheap hair gel from the Dollar Store works beautifully as an extender for acrylic paint? Check our her newest book for lots more cool ideas.

Afterwards, Gloria, Sherrill and I went to my Studio to work on face shard jewelry, but not before several of the art teachers showed up just to visit with Sherrill on a one-on-one basis. We did get back to work on our shard faces, and we spent the rest of the afternoon with Ann Pearce creating our necklaces with her help. If you’d like to make your own clay faces, I have a workshop this Sunday, August 25, on clay adornments, so sign up and join the fun! There’s still space.

neck2 neck4 necklaceanns

 

Sherrill Kahn Workshops, Halftime Report

Sunday’s workshop was fantastic – we worked really hard and learned so much that my friend Vicki said her creative brain was full to overflowing. I will be posting a list of resources and photos and other fun things to share later in the week, but let me just say that I wish everyone could have the pleasure of taking a workshop with Sherrill.

Here are a few pics – more to come.

DSCN1899 DSCN1908 DSCN1911

 

Shared Spaces report

What a waste of me being terrified and nervous – the show was fantastic! Thanks to everyone who came out and looked and bought and talked and hugged – and Chef Michael did his usual fine job with the food and drink. Some highlights of the evening:

  • Sherrill Kahn arrived safety from Los Angeles and was able to meet (and charm) everyone, including many who are looking forward to her workshops on Sunday and Monday.
  • Checking out all of the red dots on Gloria’s paintings (and some on mine, too)
  • Seeing friends whom I hadn’t seen in ages
  • Watching Michael making extra wine runs to the HEB across the street – we had more than 150 enthusiastic guests at the opening! Yay!

Here’s a short video of the proceedings. And at the bottom of the post are links to some new workshops at the Studio. Hope to see you soon! Happy dance, happy dance . . .

September Workshops at the Studio
Sign up for new Adventures and Old Favorites!! Click below for info and printable flyers.