{"id":4303,"date":"2017-11-20T12:25:11","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T16:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevirtualinstructor.com\/blog\/?p=4303"},"modified":"2019-06-27T20:54:46","modified_gmt":"2019-06-28T00:54:46","slug":"drawing-political-cartoons-using-procreate-start-to-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevirtualinstructor.com\/blog\/drawing-political-cartoons-using-procreate-start-to-finish","title":{"rendered":"Drawing Political Cartoons Using Procreate – Start To Finish"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\"Drawing<\/div>\n
\n
Political cartoonist, Ashley Hurst shares his process for creating political cartoons using the app, Procreate.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

I remember the world before Photoshop, iPads and digital cameras. It was an analog world – cassette tapes and Cable TV were kings. Pencils and paint brushes were my tools. I was first exposed to an early version of Photoshop in college and at the time, it seemed unsuited to traditional drawing<\/a> and painting media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All of that has change inside of two decades. I\u2019ll admit, I was resistant to digital drawing and painting at first. I worried about the viability of \u201cvirtual\u201d artwork. <\/p>\n

I was wrong. <\/p>\n

Whether you are a professional illustrator or you draw for fun, there are many advantages to drawing on a tablet. Let\u2019s first consider those general advantages and then take a look at a specific application, Procreate. Designed for the iPad, Procreate offers a slick and intuitive drawing experience.<\/p>\n

4 Reasons To Draw Digitally<\/h2>\n
\n

1. Mistakes<\/h2>\n

To draw well, you must embrace the fact that erasing happens. Erasers have a bad habit of leaving marks and marring the surface. Of course, nothing erases as completely as a pixel. When you work in Procreate there are no eraser marks. Besides erasing, you can undo numerous steps in most applications. Procreate allows you to \u201cundo\u201d every mark you make because it stores your sequence of marks in memory, from start to finish.<\/p>\n

2. No More Photographing Drawings<\/h2>\n

When I was an art student, I had to learn how to photograph artwork well. Good quality photographs improved your chances of getting into art shows or selling cartoons. Today, most editors review illustrations digitally, even when they are meant for print. If your art is digital to begin with, you can cut out the photography step – saving time, money and effort.<\/p>\n

3. Create Multiple versions<\/h2>\n

Cartoons created for the internet are often in color. However, many publications only print in black and white. Working digitally, you can duplicate a file (drawing) midway through the process. Finish one version in color and the other in black and white. This time saving trick allows the cartoonist to submit the most appropriate version of their cartoons to each publisher.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

4. Work Anywhere<\/h2>\n

Artists have been working outside of the studio for sometime now, carrying essential drawing tools with them – paper, pencils, pens, markers, etc. Drawing digitally (especially using Procreate) lets you go a step further and take your entire studio with you, not just the essentials. Of course, an iPad with Procreate is not only a portable studio but a portable office. Make and sell your art all in one place or in any place.<\/p>\n

Using Procreate to Create Drawings<\/h2>\n

The remainder of this article focuses on Procreate only. There are many applications built for artists that share some of the features of Procreate but, in my experience, Procreate has everything I need and none of what I don\u2019t. It is a powerful drawing and painting platform. Let\u2019s look at some advantages to using Procreate, then we will go through the process of creating a political cartoon, step-by-step.<\/p>\n

Why Procreate?<\/h2>\n

Familiarity<\/strong> – At this point many in the art and design industry are familiar with Photoshop. But you don\u2019t need to be an expert in Adobe Photoshop to use Procreate to it\u2019s fullest. However, if you have experience with Photoshop you will be up and running almost immediately since there are similarities. For example, if you are accustomed to using dozens of layers to build your images or you use masks to isolate individual elements, you can still do these things in Procreate.<\/p>\n

Cost<\/strong> – For the cost of one sketchbook or canvas you can have Procreate forever. That\u2019s a great value. Of course you have to buy a touch sensitive iPad and Apple Pencil first (It’s worth it, if you’re wondering).<\/p>\n

File Size<\/strong> – I used to draw with Brushes, a program that is available for the iPad. It is a simple program with many limitations. For one, the file size\/resolution matches the screen size. This limitation prevented me from doing serious work in Brushes. Using Procreate, I can make a canvas as large as 16,000 pixels wide! For cartooning I like to make my files double the intended print size.<\/p>\n

Customizable<\/strong> – You will probably find all of the tools that you’ll need built in to Procreate. My favorite brushes came pre-installed. However, on the off chance that you can not find a tool that makes the mark you want, you can create\/upload your own brushes as well, giving your work a unique look. You can also visit the Custom Brushes Board on Procreate\u2019s forum to download more FREE brushes and brush sets.<\/p>\n