Art Attack! #52: First Foray into Digital Art!

Hey Hive!

We're back again with another Art Attack! If you're new to the series, this is where I share my drawings and the process behind them. A behind-the-scenes look at my artwork, if you will. This is not to say that I'm very good at art, or that I'm a professional in any way. In fact this is the opposite, and serves as a reminder to how I first started, and lets me track my progress too!

So back in Aug 2020, Sean surprised me with one of the best gifts ever - a new iPad Pro!! I've always lamented to him about the troubles with physical art, and that digital art makes everything so much easier and nicer. But I was always hesitant about trying a brand new medium like that because it's so expensive and digital art looks so complicated with the amount of tools and brushes they have.

So for an early birthday present, Sean gifted me the 12.9 inch iPad Pro, the Smart Keyboard Folio, and an Apple pencil engraved with my name! It was definitely one of the most expensive gifts he's ever given me, and I was truly surprised since it was more than a month before my actual birthday! But I guess he thought I might as well start using it since he had it already.

Anyway, once we were settled in our new temporary abode and got setup, I immediately started looking for drawing apps to try, and the first one I tried was Clip Studio Paint! I'd seen a lot of ads about it on youtube and one of my favourite youtubers (who also does art occasionally) uses it so I figured I'd give it a shot.

The UI took some getting used to, but I wanted my first project to be a simple one so I could get used to the app and digital drawing in general. And it just so happened that my friends came to me with an art project at the exact right time!

So a friend of mine, Averyn, whom I have actually gifted one of my art pieces to, got a tattoo of this design some time back:

She really likes these simple, cartoony-looking black and white designs, which inspired me to try a new art style and draw this piece for her:

But unfortunately, the tattoo artist who did her tattoo kinda screwed up and it ended up blowing out pretty bad. A tattoo blowout is when a tattoo artist injects ink too deeply into your skin beyond the top layer and into the fat below. In this fat layer, ink moves beyond the lines of your tattoo. This creates a distorted image. (Cr: Healthline)

So the tattoo ended up looking like this:

While the general design could still be seen, the lines were thick and fuzzy and didn't look as smooth and stylized as the initial design anymore. It was really a bummer, and Averyn wanted to do something to cover it up or fix it. So our other friend, Kai, suggested colouring it! And since we were both artists, we decided to help her out with colour choices.

And I thought this was the perfect first project for me to try out my new iPad! Kai came up with some tentative colour choices, so I set to work on a couple mock-ups. It took some time getting used to the colour wheel and the general UI, but this was my first draft:

Initially I didn't want the background to be too dark so the dark star dots could still be seen, so I tried for a royal blue sky. And Kai suggested light blue for the spaceship. But eventually I thought it'd be nicer to make the light colours stand out and just said screw it; going for a dark background instead.

And eventually I got this!

The blending was a little lacking since I was still getting familiar with the tools, but you get the general idea. I thought this one looked so much better! I wasn't sure if the gradient was gonna be feasible for a tattoo artist though, but that was for her to decide I guess. I knew the beam would be impossible though, but it looked nice so I kept it in.

And the important thing was that Averyn liked it! She totally approved of my colour choices and sent it to her tattoo artist to see if it was doable. She also told me that the sky colours I chose were also an homage to the bi flag colours, which I didn't know! So cool!

Because the tattoo artist didn't have a regular studio, she would be going to Averyn's house to do it and Kai and I wanted to join in and watch so we all met up at Averyn's house on the day!

It took quite a while, but it was so cool to see the actual progression!

I think the whole session took about 2-3 hours, and Kai and I played through Overcooked 2 to pass the time.

Eventually though, the tattoo came out great!

It'd definitely take some time to heal but I was so surprised and impressed at how accurate it was compared to my design! While she couldn't get the dark blue to the same shade I think this looks even better!

I just realised this is the first time that someone ever tattooed something that I "drew" and I'm so honoured it was one of my dear friends! And that it was actually in service to save her tattoo. What an experience!

So that was my first experience with tattoo designs and digital art! Stay tuned for more digital pieces coming real soon!

Thanks so much for reading!