Avocados, Procreate, and Learning Curves

New Beginnings Are Hard 

In June 2021 I decided I wanted to start working with digital art. My dad was a little worried that I was replacing physical artwork with only digital work. Procreate is another art medium - and it's become one of the main tools that I use to create (especially after having our baby in the summer of 2022). So, that summer I ordered a new iPad, I downloaded Procreate, I charged my Apple Pencil - I was ready. I decided the first thing I wanted to paint would be an avocado. I'd painted avocados before. They're something I'm familiar with and I thought it would be a great first painting. 

I started working on my avocado and was so disappointed! I've been making art for twenty years this fall - at the time I'd been making art for eighteen years and I couldn't believe that my avocado looked like a weird bean. I couldn't figure out the shading, the "paint" wasn't opaque, and none of it looked the way that I wanted it to. I felt very discouraged. 

I took a deep breath and I remembered some advice another artist had given me: take your time and keep practicing. I knew that digital art would have a steep learning curve. It's a new medium. It's unfamiliar. I wasn't a master with oil paint the first time I used it. I wasn't a master with watercolor. 

Learning new mediums takes time and practice. So, I stuck with it and I kept making art in Procreate. 

Keep on Keeping On 

In the time that I've been using Procreate I've made some great pieces of art and I've made some real flops. I've experimented with different brush types and techniques so that I can stay more true to my style. My goal with the digital art that I make is that it retains texture. I don't want my pieces to look flat. I don' want them to look digital. I want them to look like they could be a physical work of art. 

Knowing that my skillset with this tool has improved in the time that I've been using it, I wanted to challenge myself to create a new avocado. I don't believe that any artist should compare themselves to another artist. It isn't fair - we all have different backgrounds, skillsets, and styles. The only artist you should ever compare yourself to is yourself. 

In working more with Procreate I can see the way that my style has changed compared to that first avocado. I've become more familiar with the app. I'm better able to determine which brushes I want to use for a project and  the way that I can get them to work as I need them to. 

The avocados are a wonderful reminder that when we try something new we are all beginners again. There's something liberating about starting over from the beginning because 

you are given a chance to have fun and explore something you haven't before. The avocados are a reminder to lean into those feelings of uncertainty and discomfort - because eventually those feelings will fade. Keep on keeping on when you're trying something new and unfamiliar.