Diver’s Cove, Reigate

I’ve been using an iPad and Procreate for sketch practice. Procreate takes a little time to learn and at first seems overwhelming. I’m a skilled Photoshop user – having spent years doing fashion and archival photo retouch and manipulation – so if you’re starting with Procreate, and have little prior experience, have patience. I’ve followed some great tutorials. However, the drawing and painting techniques all seem a bit alien to me – and not my way of drawing. Because I’ve now got the hang of the basics, I decided to take the iPad out and use like a ‘real’ sketch pad. My friend was swimming at Diver’s Cove today, so whilst keeping an eye on the dog from the shore, I had a bash at drawing this beautiful location. I’ve mainly used colour pencils and conté crayons for this – and it felt natural and familiar, as if I was using real paper. It’s a great feeling to be able to just sketch with a studio full of materials, all compressed down into an iPad!

More importantly, it’s not analogue vs digital art. It’s simply about making art at all – and not having artificial blockers. I was telling myself: ‘I don’t have paper’, or ‘I don’t have a pen’, or ‘I don’t have an easel’ – everything was blocking me. The iPad and Apple Pencil just got me started again without blockers. I’m practicing again, I’m drawing again and I feel better for it – it’s an essential thing for me to be drawing – often.

Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” – Andy Warhol