From layers to a giphy via the Slate

The Slate claims to "Give digital life to your paper creations".

Today, I thought I'd have a go at creating a mini-animation using it. On the way, I learned how to use giphy as well.

Start on a piece of paper and draw (this is a nice way of still feeling like you're drawing rather than drawing on a screen)

You automatically end up on layer 1

 Add a layer (layer 2)

Now use the 'eye' icon to keep layer 1 visible as you draw layer 2

 Now use the 'eye' icon in layer 1 to make it invisible so all you see is layer 2.

Add as many layers as you want - each one effectively being a new frame.




Replay regularly so that you can see what you are doing (but it doesn't hide the layers in the replay)

So, hide all the layers and then make each one visible and export as a gif using the Export command.

Now go to Giphy (check the terms and conditions as you may not wish to share this and upload these images to end up with a resulting giphy)

End resulting giphy which you can also download (see below).

Once you know what you want to draw, it becomes easy as the steps themselves don't take much time at all. 

The time it has taken me to draw the images and work out that I needed to:

• use layers and export them as jpegs, 
• use giphy (for the first time)
• write a post with these steps
• grab screenshots of layers from Imagink for said post
• export the screenshots of Imagink of from tiff to jpeg

was less than an hour (and that's including the faff for writing this post)

If you prefer you can also use something like Clayframes and a sheet of paper (last I used it I couldn't import the images).

new tool!

Playing with the Slate (iskn) and getting to know it quickly. Love how it stores the lines.

Attempt 1 -  in offline mode - to my delight it stored the movements (and mistakes).

sketch 1

Attempt 2. This time plugged into the app. Flowers in a vase

sketch 2 - flowers in a vase

Attempt 3. This time using the different settings of the app a Robin.

sketch: Robin

My first request - a melting snowman

Sketch: melting snowman

sketch:houses

making mistakes is ok - sketch

Some notes:

What I loved about the Slate is that it was so easy - I drew something offline - it appeared within a minute of 'collecting' it. Then I could change the background image. I could add layers and I could have a recording of the strokes. It was incredible that I could use it in 'screenless' mode and could travel without the app.

When I managed to use it with the app (after finding a compatible Apple product and updating it) the time it took to draw, export as a jpeg/movie and then upload these to a post was trivial. But having this on a computer means that I am 'tied' to it when using the app. However, it also means I can reuse paper and draw over several drawings.

I also love the idea that I could use it to trace and maybe use as a way of animation.  In fact, when it hadn't managed to note my marks, I could retrace/redraw over the drawing.

Tiny adventures with Artflow

Michael Nobbs encouraged us to take tiny adventures this week for SketchbookSkool. I used this opportunity to finally use and play with the Artflow App forAndroid and over the course of the week dabbling with it for 20-30 mins a go, learned how to use it.

 

Started this by drawing very quickly on the wobbly train and discovered smudging and the brush option. Couldn't fathom how to fill the object but the hair made me like this sketch.

Decided to sketch but wanted to add blocks of colour to get more of a graphic feel - did a sketch and then practiced trying to draw things to fill - something I found very tricky.

Finally discovered how to use the camera and add layers (by this time I had paid for the app). Filling and background was still an option and sadly I pasted the layers including the photo so it peeks through unintentionally. By now I had worked out how to use the pipette to copy a shade of colour from the underlying photo.

Sabine Wisman had encouraged us to try taking our artwork and digitising it by importing it as a photo and adding a layer to trace it. I decided to take this sketch below I did for Penelope Dullaghan's class as the source. I wanted it to feel more graphic-art-like so I didn't only copy it. I also got rid of the original drawing layer.

I then went back to plain sketching because I wasn't entirely moved by the photos but I didn't feel I had full control of the pen or painting the colours. But blocks of colours once I had managed to 'close' the line were quite striking. This type of sketch was a nice mix of sketching and graphics.

I decided to take the photo but this time play with different brush strokes. I also didn't try too hard to trace it. The stylus doesn't give me much accuracy and so I decided not to fight this. I had fun exploring the brick work to make it better.

Finally I worked out how to make the background colour work and drew this without caring too much about the lines (again tracing from a photo). I didn't think I liked this initially, but in the end it grew on me.

This is just another tool (like watercolours/pastels/lino etc.) and playing with it helps you work out how you want to use it. A week of playing with it has made me enjoy it more than I realised. Plus, when I printed it out to make the 'big adventure', I was really pleased with the results. 

PS.

• I discovered how to use the mirroring tool
• If you want to draw portrait in Artflow (it's set to landscape) - just ignore the menus and adapt. I used it for portrait most of the time.
• I also tried Sketchbook app after this and the learning curve wasn't very steep. Once you get the hang of one, it seems less daunting.

Mark making adventures with carbon paper and acrylics

Paint the reverse painting on carbon paper with acrylic

This week's klass on SketchbookSkool's  Expressing Klass  was by Penny Dullaghan. She spoke of experimenting with mark-making and how one sentence about Paul Klee had led her to experiment with a new technique with oil paints. I won't tell you what that was as you can join the class to find out. But one sentence she said struck me - acrylics dry too quickly. Now I'm impatient.

After a bit of experimenting in the morning and then letting things burble (see last image) I ended up using acrylics as a form of masking/stencilling.

I painted a scene (remember it will be the reverse on paper) with red acrylic on carbon paper.

1. I used it without it drying too much to see ... (with pencil marks)
 

2. then darker marks using a biro

3. then used the biro to fill it in a bit - wasn't too sure about red marks tried to make some into flowers

Now that the paint was dry, I tried again for a more ghostly effect

And then again on a paper with a bad acrylic wash (very impatient)

This shows all the experiments earlier in the day

The gauntlet is thrown...requests for sketches

To kick-start the year, I told folks that I was accepting requests and they did not disappoint!

Suma: "Space and farming"

Riffing off Suma's request, Max upped the ante:

Max "Goats and flying squirrels, in space on a farm"

Justin was inspired to request something he is keen on - I like to think he can use the sketch in the business plan

Justin - "Pods, the future of everything"

Lily then asked for "a gold dolphin swimming in lemonade on the edge of Mars - I opted for pink lemonade

Lily : "a gold dolphin swimming in lemonade on the edge of Mars...

And then Louis asked for: "a lion, trapped in a duvet, on the edge of a toilet, trapped in jail, sticking his tongue out at a tiger. The jail is on the edge of Mount Everest and should have a curtain over it too."

So, here goes a series of pictures to convey the request:-

The complete picture:

12 favourite sketches from 2015

Looking back at sketches from 2015 - asked myself to pick one from each month.

Jan 2015 One of my first few tweeted sketches and of a building I had noticed when I had first moved to Reading.

Feb 2015 - My favourite sketch from the evening Life Drawing Wednesdays  at Jelly run by the amazing Mark Andrew Webber

Mar 2015 - This started out as a request from  for 'Aliens taking tea with a rabbit' but became the picture for a group I ended up creating on Facebook to encourage friends and others to draw.

Apr 2015 -  Drawing a florist at work live (Sonning flowers)  was really enjoyable as I have been a part-time florist myself. This was the one of the first sketches I had to cut out and scan and give away - a very liberating act that I didn't think I could manage.

May 2015 - I love this sketch for many reasons including that it was the first one I've done using a drawing app and my finger that I really liked. Even so, I did the date wrong/American style - it was done in May

June 2015 - Feeding ducks in the rain.

July 2015 Sydney Padua speaking live at RYND for Reading Skeptics in the Pub

Aug 2015 - Watching the magnificent Bikini Beach Band at a private party was fun. Drawing them was hard.

Sept 2015 - Having a cuppa tea at the new Cup Reading was lovely esp the teapot

Oct 2016 Some commuters catch your eye because of their poses or their faces and it's nice to try different ways of the same poses (they are always sleeping, on a device or reading - staring out of the window is rare.). I am sure I have drawn this person before so have a fondness for him.

Nov 2016
A request for 'A friendly robot carrying a teddy - oh, and Columbo' - I love doing these collaborative drawings as it feels like a joint creation.

Dec 2016 - Watching Slow TV for Xmas was inspring. Done on new coloured cards.
The first time I saw slow tv was in May when it covered the Kennet and Avon canal.