As a reward for not spending all my money in Japan and for paying most of my tax bill in advance, I bought an iPad Pro & Apple Pencil for the business!
I’ve been interested in getting one for a few months after so many of my fellow creatives have recommended it and I was very impressed when I tried one in the Apple store. I’ve had a Wacom Bamboo tablet for years but never use it because I can’t work comfortably at a desk (due to RSI). With the iPad I can draw on the sofa and even outside of the house.
I had to buy a case as soon as possible as it’s so thin and slippery and I was terrified of dropping it. I ended up getting this Speck case – I don’t love the cover pattern but was sold by this:
Love that pop of neon orange! Inside is grey and aqua (2 of my favourite colours and it feels very sturdy and is much easier to hold. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have anything to hold the Pencil but there is a crease in the front that stops it rolling off. The case also folds up into an adjustable stand, which will be handy for watching video.
As well as for drawing, I hope to use it for many of the business related things I do on my personal phone. A lot of apps are much better on the bigger screen and I’ve been updating more on Tumblr and Pinterest (and reading a few comics!). I’ve even turned off all my shop notifications on my phone so I’m not being distracted by new orders and enquiries. So far it’s working well and I’m wondering how I managed without it.
Drawing is fun too – the Pencil is intuitive to use and you get a lot of control over lines and coverage, plus it’s nice for typing as well. I’m still playing with all the drawing apps – it’s easy to get frustrated when you’re not immediately brilliant at using new materials and tools so I’m not putting any pressure on myself to share things publicly until I feel more confident.
Mostly I’ve been messing about with Amaziograph (it makes repeats and kaleidoscopes) and doing some colouring in to get the hang of using the brushes and mixing colours.
This is my favourite so far! Colouring page sites are terrible at crediting artists and sources sadly – if anyone knows the artist, please let me know as I’d love to colour in more of their work!
Anyway, I will share some of my original doodles soon. Let me know if you have any fun creative app suggestions too. I only really have Procreate and Amaziograph.
