iPad: is paper dead?

“Why use paper and pencils, when you have Procreate and its trillion brushes?”

Legit question.

I’m a strong user of Procreate myself and I love how it simplified my professional life in many aspects. Amazing tool.

That being said, comfort can breed weakness if solely relied upon, here the importance of traditional techniques. 

I say this for practical reasons and not for a nostalgic attachment to familiar ways(critiques based on the latter often lack logical argument).

Drawing on paper is a vital practice, especially if you haven’t much experience, for a few reasons:

1.

It forces you have a more MINDFUL approach more before you commit to that line, often through “ghosting”

*ghosting: moving the pencil on the paper, simulating the shape you want to draw; you try to see it in your head first, which helps develop STRUCTURAL IMAGINATION.

2.

You’ll often have to restart the drawing from scratch, as if you keep erasing the sketch it will be unreadable. This reinforces your structural vision due to repetition and trains you to LET GO an idea that doesn’t work, developing mental elasticity.

3.

Strengthens your FREEHAND skills on the skin.

4.

Helps develop an eye for PROPORTIONS, as you can’t zoom in and out.

The more something or somebody does things for you, the more you lose capacity to do it yourself.

Furthermore, often procreate designs have life drawn out of them. Let alone tracing. 

RESISTANCE and OBSTACLES are the tools that kick start growth and improvement within yourself.

I believe the smartest approach is Bruce Lee’s: 

Take the best from both worlds, discarding what doesn’t work.

Take advantage of the digital potential with an open mind but be aware of its limitations.

Keep the healthy practice of using a sketchbook.

Trust me, since I use a sketchbook I keep improving. Same applies to painting, that’s what I teach in my seminars.

Ultimately, remember the most important thing:

HAVE FUN.

Compare yourself not to others but to the best version of yourself and don’t be too hard. This is a fantastic journey, whatever level you’re at, we should enjoy every second of it.

**clearly if you really know how to draw, this doesn’t apply to you, you transcend mediums