Ivan

This is my iPad, who I've named Ivan. Ivan the iPad, it amuses me!

I got it for digital art. Sketching, journaling, all that stuff. It's the latest generation, 128 gig, blah, blah, blah. Everything a graphic designer could hope for. I got apps. Every art app recommended by people teaching iPad art classes: Ink, Paper by 53, Concepts, 123D Sculpt, My Sketch Paper, Adobe Ideas, Penultimate, Sketchbook Pro, PS Touch, Dailybook, ArtStudio, Noteshelf, ArtRage, Paperless, Day One, Procreate, Brushes, Bamboo Paper, vJournal, Fit Paper, Inspire Pro, Pattern Brush, ArtTree, Scrapnote, Jotter. And yet...I haven't made a single piece of digital art. Zero. Oh, I've started a couple of things, a journal page or two, played with some apps, downloaded some brushes. But no art. Yesterday, Kelly asked me "Why are we afraid to make art on our iPads?" and I have an answer. I'm not afraid - I have no fear of the blank page or computer screen or whatever. It's not fear that stops me. It's that when I'm journaling, when I'm sketching, when I'm pouring my heart into my work - I want to feel it. I want to touch the texture. I want to feel the pen scratch across the page. I want to dip my brush in paint and spread it across the paper. Yes, I think it's cool when you can simulate that with a digital brush. But I can't FEEL it happening. I told Kelly what we should do is forbid ourselves to do any other kind of art for a month and force ourselves to use the iPads. She said we'd never make it, and I'm sure she's right - I doodle on EVERYTHING. I'm not sure what the solution is, or if there is one. We'll see!