From My Perspective

Good things really do happen when you expect them the least.

For years I’ve been on the lookout for good ways to explain the advantages of designing and rendering by hand with Procreate, versus traditional designing and rendering by hand with pencil on paper. I haven't found the exact right words yet, but I keep looking. 

Gary Larson has converted to drawing on digital tablet

Gary Larson has converted to drawing on digital tablet

Then this morning I woke up and saw on Twitter that the cartoonist Gary Larson was starting to cartoon again. He retired from drawing "The Dark Side" about 10 years ago, but according to this announcement he was starting to draw again-- for fun. Not the deadline-based, cartooning with which he entertained the world for 15 years, but drawing for his own amusement. Naturally my interest was peeked!  But then it got better.

He explained that something in his work flow had changed and re-energized his love of drawing--a change brought about by a constantly clogging pen. I'll let him explain the rest.

"So a few years ago—finally fed up with my once-loyal but now reliably traitorous pen—I decided to try a digital tablet. I knew nothing about these devices but hoped it would just get me through my annual Christmas card ordeal. I got one, fired it up, and lo and behold, something totally unexpected happened: within moments, I was having fun drawing again. I was stunned at all the tools the thing offered, all the creative potential it contained. I simply had no idea how far these things had evolved. Perhaps fittingly, the first thing I drew was a caveman."

As for my own effort to explain my conversion to Procreate digital design and rendering app, this is how I worded it on my Patreon page:

"Since the dawn of time, humans learned to imagine a better world with only a pencil or paintbrush in hand. With every creative act, the imagination moved the pencil, the pencil pushed back on the imagination, the artist listened and the world became a better place. When computers, CAD and Photoshop first revolutionized architectural practice, this ancient act of designing with a pencil lost its way. Now with the help of Procreate and the Apple Pencil, "the world's oldest UI" can re-assert its rightful place in the world of digital design."

Not quite as entertaining as Gary Larson's, but you get the idea.


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You know what to do next…'Tube me on Youtube. Tweet me on Twitter. Insta me on Instagram. You know the rest. Love you guys. Let’s keep Procreating! ®

--James