Creating Art on the IPad : A Walkthru my process

Hello! How are you? Summer is winding down and I’m SO ready for Fall! It’s my favorite season and I always seem to find much focus and peace as we all settle into our routines.

Today, I wanted to share my process on how I created one of the pieces of digital art from my last post. I got lots of responses and wonderful feedback – thank you so much.

Okay here we go…

Using Procreate on my iPad, I create a painted background using various brush tools. My favorite are wet round brush and old brush. I also downloaded the water brush kit from the app store. It has beautiful washes and watercolor effects. Fun!

You build in layers so this would be my first layer or my bottom layer.

Next, I select an image that inspires me. I usually find these on Pinterest. Now, this is the cool part! Look, I love to draw faces and people but for me drawing freehand on the iPad was awkward and clumsy. Maybe I just need a ton of practice but I couldn’t achieve the detail I wanted! I was frustrated so I went on the hunt for an app that might be able to create digital sketch effects like those on Photoshop – enter USketch. You can run any photo image thru this app and it will create a sketch. Very cool right!? I have erased certain elements of the image to suit my needs. This is a separate layer that lies over the top of my painted backdrop.

***tip – you could also take photos of your own sketches and use those! Just use the iPad camera snap away and its ready to import into Procreate ***

Then I start to lay in color behind the sketch on another separate layer. I used the wet round brush for most of the color but make sure you try the smudge tool too to soften your edges and blend colors. You can see here too that I imported a honeycomb pattern and placed that over the painted background. I erased it in places and reduced its transparency to soften the effect.

I imported this vintage rose image from the Graphics Fairy and made it a multiply layer so it is transparent. Another awesome app I use is called Eraser. It will remove the white background from an image so you can overlay/collage it with ease into your composition. Very handy for creating digital art! Love it!

Finally I added in these bees. Another find on the Graphics Fairy. Used the Eraser app to get rid of white background, duplicated the layers and moved them into place.

Finally, I added some drips and splashes of paint as well as a few tape like shapes to create some linear elements. And she’s done.

This is such a pleasing way to create digital art! Very forgiving and easy to learn. Let me know if you have questions! I would be happy to help.

Have fun and enjoy your weekend!

xo,

Ivy

Creating art on the iPad

Hi there friends! I know it’s been quite a while since I last posted but this summer has been so busy! A few days ago, I actually got the chance to sit quietly with a cup of coffee and watch another video from my class with Jeanne Oliver.

This time she was exploring the power of creating artwork digitally on the iPad using an application called Procreate. Being a Photoshop lover, I was skeptical but I’m so glad I watched because Procreate is surprisingly addictive, easy to use and quite robust. I began to create small digital illustrations on my iPad and have been obsessed ever since.

Here are a few pieces I have created already…

I have been having so much fun making these. It’s amazing to create art while on the go. Stay tuned, I will be breaking down the process of how I completed this last piece very soon – complete with some handy tips and tricks!

Hope your week is going well.

xo,

Ivy

Winner of RadLab

Hi all! Just wanted to pop in really quickly and announce the winner of the RadLab giveaway! It’s…

********ANDREA B.********* Woo!

Check out the video below to see what RadLab can do for your photos…

Introducing RadLab from Totally Rad! on Vimeo.

Thanks Andrea for visiting the blog and entering to win! Have fun with RadLab! For everyone else, please remember that if you want to get RadLab use this code to get a 15% discount : GRACEANDIVY (this code expires in 2 weeks) If you want to test drive RadLab go here to try it free for 30 days!

I’ll be back later with a beautiful interior to share with you.

xo,

Photo Love : RadLab Giveaway

Hi everyone! You all know I’m kinda obsessed with my camera and I find so much joy in not only taking pictures but “making” pictures too! I love the versatility and endless possibilities available when using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Experimenting with layers, textures, filters and brushes brings me much happiness and I have to tear myself away from the computer at night! Creativity gives me a caffeine like buzz!

Anyway, my latest favorite tool in conjunction with PS is RadLab! It’s a plug-in that works within PS, PS Elements or Lightroom that you download and oh my goodness – it is addictive! It makes editing photos so super easy (seriously) and I love that you can save what you did in a “recipe” and then apply it to another photo. This works out brilliantly when I’m editing photos for the shop and I want to achieve a consistent look. RadLab makes my post-production SO much faster!

I love it so much that….TODAY I’M GIVING ONE LUCKY READER RADLAB FOR FREE!!!! (worth $150.00)  Yah! To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment and tell me why you want RadLab. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on March 5th! ***Please be aware that you NEED Photoshop Elements 7 (or later) or Photoshop CS3 (or later) to use RadLab.***

I wanted to share a snapshot I took of Grace last summer. It’s not a great shot by any means but with a little RadLab magic it can become something so much better!

Here is the shot after RadLab…

Here is my recipe for this effect:

(if you don’t have RadLab then this won’t make much sense to you, so bear with me.)

{RECIPE: Lights On 100% – Oh, Snap 100% – Punch Out 49% – Contrast 5% – Cool as a Cucumber 70% – Claire-ify 25% – Vario-tone 100% – Iron Mouse 31% – The 600  63%}

Note: I also did some sharpening of her eyes with the sharpen tool and brought more light into her pupils by using the dodge tool.

Voila! A much better pic with better clarity, high-key drama and fresh, crisp color!

Of course, I couldn’t stop there…I went on to do a digital collage piece with this photo. Here it is…Grace helped me and picked out the flower for her hair! :) I’ll show you how I did the digital collage another day.

Had a blast creating these. I hope this encourages you to experiment with your programs no matter what you may have. PicMonkey is a fun, free editing tool to learn on and Photoshop Elements can be purchased for under $80.00, (which is a steal compared to Photoshop) but offers plenty of power to get creative with your shots. Oh and the fabulous folks at RadLab gave me this 15% off coupon code just for my readers! Enter – GRACEANDIVY  at checkout.

Now go play!

xo,

***Full disclosure – I do get a small affiliate cut if any of my readers buy RadLab, just so you know. However, I am promoting it because I truly LOVE it and not for the money. This is the first time I’ve ever had an affiliation with any online product or business.***

My latest digital illustration…

Hi all! How are you? I’ve been a bit of a slacker lately and my poor blog got pushed aside while I enjoyed a visit from my family, learned some new Photoshop tricks and loved on my baby girl. The rain has come in full force to beautiful Portland so days hunkered down in my studio with Claire in my arms, has become the norm. Rain always makes me want to sip tea and get creative so that’s what I did. Here is my latest digital illustration…you can also find it in my Society6 shop.

I really enjoyed using a chalk like brush and hand coloring the elements in this design. The power of Photoshop never ceases to amaze me.

For some really fun Photoshop tutorials check out this site…

Hope you are having a creative Fall! Have a fabulous Halloween tomorrow!

xo,

Beyond Layers Class

Hello there! Hope all is well with you.

Today,  I finally found a teeny bit of time to work on one of the lessons from the Kim Klassen Beyond Layers class and I must say, it was so very delightful to have a moment of creativity! Our assignment for today was to use this lovely photo (provided by Kim)…

and rework it however we choose, using textures, layers and any other editing goodies. Here are two versions of mine…

I used Photoshop for my editing, layered several textures and used some fun brushes to get these effects. Of course, I had to add a French label to the bottle in the first one! ;) Okay, I hear my Claire-Bear waking up so I gotta leave you but I promise to be back soon!
xo,

p.s. Thanks to Kim for all the inspiration and encouragement. If you are into photography and you haven’t been to Kim’s blog, I highly recommend you visit!