I’m learning to recreate my collage style on Procreate because with two little kids, I don’t have a lot of time to get out all my art supplies and work in traditional media. But I haven’t had much success digitally, so I decided to do a little analysis. I started with this image of a little girl jumping. The first picture is a cut paper collage. The second is a drawing on the iPad using Procreate. I used the pencil tool and added colour with the pastel tool. What I found was that the first version was much, much better than the second, even though I spent the same amount of time on each.
Looking at both, I find the first version is livelier and more interesting. The linework is more varied, and uses colours other than black. The colours are layered and textured, lending the image depth and letting the viewer’s eye linger. The digital version is somewhat stilted, more generic and not as vibrant. The only pros to the digital version is that the colours are brighter and the face is clearer.
I tried a digital version again. This time, I inked in with traditional media, took a photo and then coloured in Procreate. But I stayed a lot looser, and used different layers and textured brushes. I also erased some of the black line and used the eraser to recreate the shape my scissors make. Success! I feel encouraged.
This is far from my first attempt at recreating traditional work in a digital format, but it is my most analytical. I find I am able to duplicate the original much better. I know it’s not quite there, I’ll keep at it.
