[By Don Low, Singapore] Technology changes everything. Whether technology has improved our lives, there are split opinions; many agreed and many disagreed too. For me, technology has somewhat changed the way I sketch, and obviously changed the way I commute.
On the part of commuting, I welcomed the GPS. The world is smaller now and a lot more accessible because of that technology. There is a very popular app called Citymapper, that integrates data for all kinds and modes of transport, especially so for public transport. Just yesterday, I used it to take myself home on the public transport after I brought my car to the service center. After I keyed in my home address, it showed me multiple options of how I could get home. After I chose the bus that stops right in front of my doorstep, it showed me where I should take my bus, a map to take me to the bus stop, when the bus would arrive, the duration of the journey home, and at which bus stop to alight. Eventually I would get a notification when the bus is approaching my home. Nifty!
Now my mind has the reassurance that I have 30mins on the bus to sketch before I get home. Such convenience and ease could only come when we embrace technology and not resist it; and I know of people who resist technology as much as I resist “Windows” or the PC (no offence, I’m a Mac user).
There are many ways to sketching as there are many ways to make a pizza. Sketching digitally is always something that I envisaged myself to do since a long time ago. I did not have any luck with that until iPad Pro and Apple Pencil came into the scene, thanks to Robsketcherman, the superhero who came to my rescue when I was very desperate for a solution after all options failed for me. I would always tell people that I am his disciple when come to digital sketching on the tablet. I started drawing on the iPad Pro in 2016 and everything changes.
Firstly I enjoyed the mobility of the tablet, and like what Rob would share, everything that you need is at your finger tip. With the right app (procreate) you get to explore the possibility of drawing with a pencil to painting in oil, without having to carry too many things in your bag. I still have my sketchbook and drawing tools with me, but now I have an additional option to either draw analog or digital. The drawing app could even capture the entire process in a time lapse video. Now with iOS 11, you could choose to record the whole sketching process in real time if you like.
I also love the fact that a JPEG of the line art can be exported to the desktop and printed on the laser printer (only if you have drawn and painted on separate layers). In this case I can’t print on too fanciful papers like watercolour papers but I can add a simple watercolour wash on the print out.
Living in a day and age like this, and being able to afford to buy technology and marrying both traditional and digital approaches is a blessing.
