EARLY ACCESS // buildings in procreate
Added 2022-02-03 10:39:16 +0000 UTCDrew these sketches to try and tackle two of my biggest art frustrations! The first of which is my (in)ability to draw buildings. I have a really hard time capturing the detail, perspective, and sense of scale. I want to get better at drawing them, so I did a quick study of a picture I took in Porto, which only reminded me how much I struggle with this stuff and how much I dislike the outcome of my workflow. Then I did two quick studies of two african buildings, based on pictures I took in Mali and Burkina Faso about 10 years ago. These turned out a bit better but I still have such a long way to go!
My second frustration at the moment is my Procreate workflow. Painting tends to go fine, but I’m not great at using the tools that are meant to make the construction process more efficient and intuitive, like quick shapes and the lasso tool. So using procreate is a constant back-and-forth process of being frustrated with the workflow, and then looking up easier ways to do things, which helps me learn but also knocks me out of my creative flow. I also struggled with the setup, since drawing on a small ipad didn’t feel great and I can’t bring myself to memorize all the gestures. To fix that, I got a sketchboard pro and hooked up a little bluetooth keyboard so that I could have a similar setup to my cintiq. This way, I can access shortcuts with the keyboard and have an area for my arm to lean on as I draw. This is what that setup looks like:
This is a huge improvement, but I still need to develop a more efficient workflow in procreate, mainly because I want to make more use of textured brushes in it. I feel like it has more potential that I’m not accessing currently.
So yeah, the process of drawing these buildings was incredibly frustrating and I had to resist the urge to throw my ipad out the window. Hopefully future sketching sessions will go better! Hope you enjoy these for now!
Comments
You are right!But the interaction design of Artstudio Pro is terrible for the iPad.
wujinshui
2023-05-30 16:09:40 +0000 UTChaha, so glad I'm not the only one who is feeling that way!!
Loish
2022-02-11 18:05:28 +0000 UTCWe’re usually our own worst critic, eh? I found this so interesting and I thought it might resonate with you too: https://youtu.be/mjAWVZq6wlw it’s a recap of a documentary on Miyazaki. He continues to struggle and fret despite so much success and experience. But he can’t stop trying and bringing joy to people. I feel so much better knowing even a great master continues to feel all of these things.
Andra Mares
2022-02-11 15:53:41 +0000 UTCThe success of Procreate can be largely attributed to large marketing budgets and good campaigns. But at the end of the day, it's a lackluster app that tries to do a little bit of everything and is not really remarkable in terms of quality of life, especially for painters. For sketching, sure, but then any app with a pencil tool is ok for sketching. I highly suggest you try Artstudio Pro (I do not know if they offer a trial version), it is the closest thing to Photoshop on the iPad, accepts customizable keyboard shortcuts, and has all the tools you might need, including the option to import Photoshop brushes and tools that actually behave the same way they do in PS (unlike Procreate). They also constantly update the app and improve it, unlike the yearly Procreate major update (if not even more than that). Do not beat yourself up trying to make Procreate work. An app should work by itself, it is only a tool, and if the tool is incomplete, there is no glory in beating on a dead horse and sacrificing time and energy trying to make it work. There's a lot of buzz around this app, created by marketing and the fact that it may have been one of the first out there, but I feel your pain, it absolutely never worked for me, therefore do not believe there are some hidden secrets inside it, there is quite a lot that is lacking from it, and it should be clearly said so without pretense. At the end of the day, unfortunately, there is no single tool, especially for the iPad, that can come remotely close to Photoshop (as outdated as it is in many respects). Godspeed! :)
Cristian Iancu
2022-02-11 14:07:58 +0000 UTCYeah! Isn't it weird and wonderful how that works? Building things up is really hard, but once it's done it seems so easy. LOL!
Cherice
2022-02-07 18:43:05 +0000 UTCnice! I've been eyeing those too. I'm going to see how far the keyboard shortcuts get me and if I feel it's too limiting, I might snag one of those little keyboards.
Loish
2022-02-07 08:41:57 +0000 UTCthanks so much greg! really appreciate your support. I totally agree, although it's uncomfortable at first, it's so rewarding to try new things over time. It's my dream to continue drawing and experimeting for the rest of my life :)
Loish
2022-02-07 08:41:09 +0000 UTCthank you! I do think about that a lot when I'm frustrated with a certain software or workflow - how frustrated I was when trying to find the workflow that now feels so natural and easy to me. I also generally feel like the results of my "frustrated" mindset are better and more interesting than when things are really easy for me, just because trying new things is good for my creativity in general!
Loish
2022-02-07 08:38:55 +0000 UTCHey Andra! Thanks for the kind words ~ I do think that's my main struggle when it comes to these building sketches (the final result falls short of my expectation). I didn't use perspective grids on these, but it would surely have helped a lot so I will be doing that in the future!
Loish
2022-02-07 08:36:29 +0000 UTCThese are actually lovely and, at the same time, I know that in our mind’s eye we often imagine our intended artwork differently so our audience doesn’t even know that some things fell short of that expectation. But, to us, these are lovely. Please keep sharing and I hope to see a process for these eventually, especially the Porto streets one with that awesome perspective! Did you use a perspective grid guide? Love the colour and light and textures too 😍
Andra Mares
2022-02-05 21:44:56 +0000 UTCThank you for sharing! I had the same trouble and what helped me was remembering that I went through the same process when I first started painting in Photoshop (and during some of the big updates after they change everything). It took some time, but pushing through the frustration is really important to developing how you will work in the iPad and a smaller surface. I really enjoy these pieces you shared and cannot wait to see more. Just be patient with yourself. Your work is incredible!
Cherice
2022-02-04 16:27:49 +0000 UTCIt's great for me to see you pushing the boundaries of your subject matter. Landscapes, buildings, forests and more. You have great talent and it benefits from broadening your horizon. How dare I say this? Well, I've painted (watercolor) since college and taught art for almost twenty years. I'm a "senior citizen" but I continue to create. I'm starting to learn digital painting (Krita) to have a creative outlet as I age. I hope you don't mind having a fan who checks in with bits of (hard earned) advice now and then. I'm happy to see you growing artistically.
Greg Schultz
2022-02-04 16:15:09 +0000 UTCAwesome! Glad they helped you out :)
Kat Craig
2022-02-04 15:05:08 +0000 UTCI absolutely adore procreate and haven't looked back to photoshop since I used it. For posture the board is certainly a good idea! I also just a keyboard with shortcuts specifically developing for procreate...be interesting to see if it improves the workflow in making use of the left hand more 😅 Wireless Keyboard for Procreate: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09CGQS6WH/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_HPWZT7H6QTWHAK442HBZ
Sophie Meyer
2022-02-04 14:58:15 +0000 UTCLove the buildings. You have done a fab job. And loving all the tips in the comments. X
MRoberts_art
2022-02-04 13:46:30 +0000 UTCit's interesting how better specs do not always lead to photoshop working better. i've upgraded my computer gradually over the years but still run into issues with photoshop sometimes. i think it depends a lot on windows updates which are always ongoing, and interactions with other software and tools. either way.. photoshop is not the fastest program sadly!
Loish
2022-02-04 10:42:48 +0000 UTCthanks for this suggestion kat! I used them yesterday for the first time and it was really helpful.
Loish
2022-02-04 10:39:54 +0000 UTCit is! I, too, had my mind blown when someone told me this.
Loish
2022-02-04 10:36:51 +0000 UTCit depends entirely on the software/app! procreate sadly doesn't let you customize the shortcuts, but the ones I particularly like using is "S" for selection, "B" for brush, "E" for eraser, and space bar to access a quick pop-up menu on the screen. for photoshop, I use shortcuts for the brush, lasso tool, eraser, hue/saturation, color balance, pretty much everything honestly!
Loish
2022-02-04 10:31:52 +0000 UTCi feel like there's something about pens, especially with a really fine tip, that lends itself really well to architecture!
Loish
2022-02-04 10:30:13 +0000 UTCWaaaaaa that looks so cool
Patrick Sheng (fb)
2022-02-03 22:57:46 +0000 UTCThe last two buildings look amazing. I especially like the last one. I can still feel your style in that one. I actually never really touch architectural stuff, EXCEPT when using pens. I actually love drawing angular things in pen. Living life on the edge! Hahaha.
Niquey
2022-02-03 18:14:13 +0000 UTCI think these look wonderful. How do you use keyboard shortcuts? Right now I only have a tablet, my computer is too old to run photoshop. I used to use it for correcting images (and I created digital scrapbooking supplies for several years) so I am really familiar with photoshop and keep wanting to push keys to get things instead of going to a drop down menu.
Reelynn
2022-02-03 17:43:44 +0000 UTCLove! Cannot wait for a tutorial or voice over of this!
Sharon Tu
2022-02-03 17:33:47 +0000 UTCIt’s possible to use keyboard shortcuts ? You’re blowing my mind.
Lima
2022-02-03 16:36:48 +0000 UTCI think these are great! I love the first one. Definitely understand the frustration though. Buildings/perspective is hard as it is, but using a tool that you haven't found a good work flow with can make it much harder. Have you tried using the perspective grids in Procreate yet? Using those with drawing assist on the layer helps me at least get a good sketch going, then I can turn that off for the painting process.
Kat Craig
2022-02-03 16:11:09 +0000 UTCOooh the sketchboard is the best thing I’ve ever done for my wrist!
Alissa Jakins
2022-02-03 15:49:23 +0000 UTCI feel your pain with the procreate work flow , I bought a small shortcut pad for it (YESWORD I think is the brand) , but tbh it just feels less convenient that PS I started with Clip studio and switched to PS as most people do when they see all the professionals use it, it did not make me better automatically. However it did after a small while feel better to me. For performance I have to say I recently upgraded to the m1 mac mini from a fairly good laptop ( laptop had 32gb ram, quad core i5 cpu and rtx 1060 gpu so it was a great laptop ) But photoshop just murdered it. My M1 mac mini cost me 800eur ( granted bought a monitor and other stuff ) only has 8gb ram but it hasn't so much as stuttered since I started using PS on it.
Kevin Casey
2022-02-03 15:32:19 +0000 UTCI love how the colors came out for all your references. I also have a love hate relationship with procreate.. I made the test of drawing the same picture on photoshop and procreate and was a lot faster and was able to get what I wanted from photoshop. I've kind of given up using the lasso tool in procreate - it's more of a "painterly" medium now, but still has amazing features.
Daniella Tran Van
2022-02-03 14:15:14 +0000 UTCthanks so much! I might export the process videos and post up the ref images in a separate post :)
Loish
2022-02-03 13:51:58 +0000 UTCI'll probably try it out some time! i think everyone has their own favorite software and that's okay. photoshop will always be my go-to, but sometimes i'm so frustrated with the lagginess of textured brushes and then I find myself pining for the speediness of procreate.
Loish
2022-02-03 12:46:49 +0000 UTCi relate to this! it's so bad for my posture to sit hunched over a tiny screen. the board definitely helps to take on a more relaxed posture, but it's still an issue.
Loish
2022-02-03 12:45:50 +0000 UTCI’ve debated getting an iPad Pro for this purpose many times but always imagined I would end up with these exact same issues. I use clip studio, and recently tried photoshop for the first time since 2014 and I felt that same “why it don’t do?!?!” frustration and actually ended up abandoning PS (again,lol). It does have some superior color editing tools, but it still doesn’t feel like it’s made for drawing/painting to me. On the plus side of clip studio, it now supports .abr brushes (the macalabs brushes you mention often are now available as .abr and are supported, requiring a small tweak to randomness) and it has literally the same exact interface/functionality on tablets as it does on PC. It has its downsides of course, like anything. I’m sure you’ve had plenty of softwares recommended to you, but I thought I would mention these aspects anyway in case it’s helpful to anyone here.
Gary Brimer
2022-02-03 12:39:19 +0000 UTCThanks a lot for sharing your setup! I’ve found that my wrist gets sore after drawing for extended periods of time on the ipad so I’ll definitely look into the sketchboard pro, had no idea that was a thing!
France
2022-02-03 12:30:41 +0000 UTCOmg these are gorgeous! I can see each of them as a scene in a comic or videogame. I would totally buy anything with a story that features your art. It's so nice to hear more about the behind the scenes. I feel you on struggling to find a working workflow, and its nice to see how you try to find solutions. It also makes me feel a little bit less anxious about my own struggles with finding a good workflow :) as always it's great seeing your art and the process behind it.
Tina Kavčič
2022-02-03 12:17:21 +0000 UTCOh, also, random, but do you have those photos from Africa available to view anywhere? I run a cheetah-themed pet sim and we're currently looking at redoing some of our manmade environment art and it can be really hard to find photos of African architecture that fall somewhere between 'look how poor they are boohoo' (hooray racism) and 'extremely fancy brand-new urban buildings' without going to either extreme - hard to just find regular buildings. We're just looking for references for casual daily life in a village or rural setting type stuff.
FaroreNightclaw
2022-02-03 12:11:30 +0000 UTCThese buildings look fantastic! I admit that for me, Procreate is more of 'what I use when I have to because I can't use my desktop' (ie if the power is out, or I'm not at home) so I can't imagine putting this much effort into using it as if it were a static set-up and not a mobile thing. I don't know anything Procreate does that another desktop app doesn't do better, honestly. I know some people do amazing stuff in it (and this is a great example!) but I've always seen it as skill trumping the inaccessibility, tool deficiency, and general restrictions of a runner-up program. I'm curious what you get out of Procreate that you don't get by working in Photoshop, if you're going to be using a static set-up?
FaroreNightclaw
2022-02-03 12:08:24 +0000 UTChaha yes that is still true! I don't use all of the tools available to me in photoshop still. but I've found some tools there that make it so easy and fast to quickly put something down, and i have not yet figured out a way to do the same in procreate.
Loish
2022-02-03 11:48:37 +0000 UTCI didn't get any customs fees fortunately! they shipped it from ireland for EU customers.
Loish
2022-02-03 11:47:39 +0000 UTCI feel you! But that struggle is not something that could be seen in those paintings. Specially the Porto one. I don't know if it's the composition, the colours or the sense of depth, but it ended up being my favourite. And the thing with Procreate reminded me of a bunch of years ago, watching videos of you painting, admitting that you barely use a tiny portion of all the Photoshop tools: one or two brushes, one or two layers, hue and a bit of liquify
Juan Gagliardo
2022-02-03 11:39:43 +0000 UTCI'm sure you'll find the setting more convenient for your workflow then! Thanks for the review, I am already considering buying it! Did you get any customs fees when you received it?
Tholia
2022-02-03 11:28:11 +0000 UTCI haven't tried that setting for quick shapes, will definitely try that during the next drawing session! can really recommend the board, i've heard from other artists that it's also helpful if you want to draw on the couch. it just gives more surface area for your arm to rest!
Loish
2022-02-03 11:25:06 +0000 UTCI think I took about 2 hours on the first one and 30 mn to an hour each on the other two! it was pretty intensive, way more time than I usually spend. 30 minutes is a good length of time for a focused study!
Loish
2022-02-03 11:23:48 +0000 UTCThese sketches look great Lois! I understand your frustration but really, if you wouldn't have explain the story behind, I think no one would have guess you struggled here. It looks like concept art for a Pixar movie :) About the QuickShape, I only use "draw and maintain" - last option from QuickShape settings from touch controls - which feels like the most natural setting to me. Have you tried this already? Also, I totally agree on the lasso tool. It needs to be improved and also, we do miss a gradient tool! Thanks for sharing your setup with the board by the way! I was thinking about buying something to make it more comfy too. Drawing in the sofa in definitely not healthy ^^'
Tholia
2022-02-03 11:05:05 +0000 UTCThey are amazing! I too struggle with perspective and buildings and I feel so insecure when it comes to drawing and painting them. You are amazing :)
Lin
2022-02-03 10:52:46 +0000 UTCThese are incredible!
Liisa
2022-02-03 10:48:14 +0000 UTCI love that first painting so much!!! I’m really liking the textures and color palette you used in these pieces. Also interesting to see how your style shifts a little when working with a different setup (reassuringly relatable). Will there be a timelapse post on the first piece by any chance? 😍 would love to see the references you used too!!
aidreu
2022-02-03 10:47:16 +0000 UTCMay I ask how much time do you spend on one of these studies? I started doing studies too to break my art block and trying to keep it around 30 minutes max.
Esperanta Dragon
2022-02-03 10:44:07 +0000 UTCWow!!!
NadiaMakesSomeArt
2022-02-03 10:39:54 +0000 UTC
