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iPad Pro for New Artist?

J

JerryFox123

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 5, 2016
10
2
Just had a semi-crazy thought, how good would an iPad pro be for a new person getting into the arts and crafts? :)

I used to draw alot as a small kid back in middle school and my only formal experience is from a quarter college drawing class.

Wondering how easy it is to get into it with the software provided in the iPad pro and ease of use of the Apple pencil.
What software is even available for use with the apple pencil on the Ipad Pro? I'd like to look into it.

I guess the main use would be for cartoon / anime type of drawings (at least at the start)

Any thoughts or suggestions? :) Please help :D

p.s. Already got iMac I use for video editing and macbook pro I use for work. This tablet would only be used almost exclusively for drawing
 
i would suggest peruse the app store for artists' apps. they'll have all the regular and best ones reviewed in there. then go to an Apple shop to test the iPad/Pencil combo out for yourself.

drawing/writing on a sheet of glass is a completely different experience than drawing or writing on paper. I'm a full time artist myself and was drooling at the thought of doing my art on an ipad with a pencil before they came out a year or so back, but when it did, in reality, for me personally i dont find the art side of my iPad/Pencil too thrilling. not 'natural' and tactile enough.

i love my Pencil/iPad combo and use it thoroughly on a daily bases as a stylus/mouse replacement device, scribbling notes all day long, but for me, i dont do 'art' with it unfortunately :(

for a beginner into art the ipad/pencil combo is a most expensive venture
 
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If you're literally new to art, and it sounds like of like that's the case, a sketchbook and a pack of charcoal pencils are cheap enough.

Wacom makes decent non-screen tablets, if you really insist on getting digital for the first time.
 
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As a designer, the iPad Pro has changed how I work at the core level. It's taken my work from just being there, whether in photoshop or similar, to being hands on. It's been a breathed new life into my own art creation.
 
It's really good, especially the 12.9"

You can have a sketch app and a YouTube video open in split screen and go to town.
 
Brammy said:
It's really good, especially the 12.9"

You can have a sketch app and a YouTube video open in split screen and go to town.
Click to expand...
Also this. I specifically like the 12.9". I had the 9.7", and it wasn't as impressive to me. The big canvas of the 12.9" is fantastic.
 
Thanks guys for the input :)

I think I'll go trying it out some more in the apple store before deciding. Might consider getting a refurbished one to save some $$ ;)

Are there any services that'll 'lend' you one of these for a price?
 
you can always purchase one from Apple, then send it back for a full refund if you dont likey. dont know exactly the time scale you have, but i think it's about 2 weeks or so.
 
I have the Ipad Pro and am just a hobbyist artist. I've taken high school and college courses, but always did it as a hobby. I took up drawing again when the first Note 10.1 came out and boy did it change how I felt about drawing again after decades of not doing it. As CAD is to drafting, Drawing Digitally to me is much faster, easier, than drawing traditionally with Pencil and Paper. I have an IPP 12.9 with a Glass Screen protector. I don't mind the slick drawing on glass feeling. I got use to it quick enough. As someone said, check out all the art done with it in the Thread Share your drawings with your Ipad Pro and Apple Pencil. Lots of amazing artists on this forum and I learn from seeing some of their art and like to post my own.

As someone who came from an Intous Pen and touch Large tablet, I did adapt to drawing with a non screen tablet, but I hated the disconnect of looking at the screen, instead of what I was drawing on the tablet. I love my Ipad Pro, it keeps me going with my Art and Procreate is probably the most top rated app. When I drew on Android, Sketchbook Pro was as good as I could find and Procreate blows that away in my Opinion. There are other good apps, I probably have at least 20 on my IPP. Each has something a little better than another, but I always come back to Procreate. The Adobe apps are good too, but I'm not that use to them, so don't use them as much. I think you would like the Ipad Pro, especially if you see what it's capable of.
 
sjleworthy said:
you can always purchase one from Apple, then send it back for a full refund if you dont likey. dont know exactly the time scale you have, but i think it's about 2 weeks or so.
Click to expand...
I was wondering about this, can they reject the return for any reason?
 
I had an Ipad Pro 12.9 that I purchased in Feb. of this year, it was my first one. While I liked the Ipad Pro, I was upset because the side by side didn't work with my favorite drawing Game Draw Something. I can use a floating browser on my Note 10.1 tablet and was upset to not have this to use on IOS for viewing reference images while drawing in the game. So I found out you can, but have to be Jailbroken, which I wasn't going to do with a New $900 device. So I kept it about 10 days and then returned it. No problems when I explained why I was returning it. Could have just been a good store or Apple manager, but I believe it doesn't matter the reason why, You have 14 days to return it.

After seeing that Samsung wasn't going to release any more Note Tablets, but a Hybrid with Window/Android on it, I decided to overlook this shortcoming in the end of March this year and went and Bought another IPP 12.9. There was nothing else out there that met my needs for a Tablet. So I'm happy I chose to go back to it. I still am surprised that more Apps are not made to use the Side by Side Feature. It works in Procreate and other drawing apps fine, but not in all like the game I mentioned. So was a bit of a letdown on that, but still is a great device.
 
Are you specifically interested in learning digital drawing ?

You don’t really need an iPad to learn drawing - drawing is observation/imagination and, basically, using your hands to do some marks on a surface. :D Your technique might actually improve more if you learn the « old way », since there won’t be any shortcuts like snapping lines and masks when you sketch.

If you’re just getting started, and you want to get iPad Pro only for drawing, it depends on your ressources but that sounds like a big investment when you could just get some paper and pencils.

If you really want to get an iPad Pro anyways, and would like to draw as well, then yeah from my experience with it it’s a good tool (don’t have one of my own yet but played a lot with the Pencil + iPP already). But I think it’s worth it to experiment with real world materials for drawing, especially if you're learning - there are things I never would have thought of using, but then I did and the tool (for example a specific type of ink brush) actually influenced my drawing style and the feel of drawing.
 
zapzoup said:
Are you specifically interested in learning digital drawing ?

You don’t really need an iPad to learn drawing - drawing is observation/imagination and, basically, using your hands to do some marks on a surface. :D Your technique might actually improve more if you learn the « old way », since there won’t be any shortcuts like snapping lines and masks when you sketch.

If you’re just getting started, and you want to get iPad Pro only for drawing, it depends on your ressources but that sounds like a big investment when you could just get some paper and pencils.

If you really want to get an iPad Pro anyways, and would like to draw as well, then yeah from my experience with it it’s a good tool (don’t have one of my own yet but played a lot with the Pencil + iPP already). But I think it’s worth it to experiment with real world materials for drawing, especially if you're learning - there are things I never would have thought of using, but then I did and the tool (for example a specific type of ink brush) actually influenced my drawing style and the feel of drawing.
Click to expand...

I do agree with this post. If you're just starting, the Ipad Pro is an expensive tool for you to learn on. Then again, if you learn on that instead of traditional pencil and paper or such, you could do better with it. My Point being that it does have it's advantages as I said earlier in the thread, that drawing on Pencil and paper don't. From a lot of reviews I read online for Tablets and on Amazon, artists do say that more and more that do it for a living, are transitioning to digital drawing. So It can help you in that way, because that will be what you learned on.

If it is just purchased for Drawing and you don't like drawing that way, then you have two weeks to decide and I would return it, because there is a thread on here about the resale value not being that good.
 
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