Hello to everyone out there and the Do Art Nation! Summer is off to an amazing start as we continue to bring art, creativity and wacky energy to audiences across the country!
I recently got a taste of one of our brand new workshop offerings: the digital art Workshop! I had a digital art Workshop out in Independence, Iowa, the other day, and watching these kids learn to create with a tablet and stylus was a truly fascinating and memorable experience.
Each artistic medium has its own possibilities and constraints, its own challenges and thrills. With digital art, the possibilities inherent in the many tools available even on a simple program like Procreate often make for the intimidating challenge of not being quite sure where to begin. So as I prepared for the workshop, I was anxious that the sheer number of tools and possibilities would overwhelm the kids and it would be difficult to get them to focus on one or two key ideas.
As the kids arrived, I was amazed at the ease with which they all got into the program, and began to almost seamlessly create. I gave them my usual beginning prompt: draw me in a wacky way! In only a few minutes. I was looking at some incredible pictures of me with my banana hat, a purple version of the other thing called another thing, and so much more. We went over some of the basics of Procreate, like layers, brushes, and the incredible stabilization tool. But even though I did my best to explain the rudiments of the program, the real emphasis was on experimentation and creativity. By the end, the kids were making their own comics, with such incredible results as a monster eating a planet and a fluffy cat cloud that gets fluffier and fluffier as the panels progress.
It was an incredible and truly inspiring time! We’ll be bringing this workshop to libraries all over the country, so check out the calendar on our website doartproductions.org, and come see us!
Do you like to make digital art? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to keep creating!
