Let me name you a cliche: I have always loved drawing.
The last few years bear witness to this often casual hobby. But the last few years also saw my interest dwindling. My drawing sessions became sparse. From a couple of drawings a year, I ended up with just a handful of finished "products"; I'd be lucky to end up with four.
Then I got the Note 10+. (No, this isn't paid promotion! As if!)
Drawing with the Note 10+
A few months ago, I got my hands on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+; I initially intended to utilize it in note-taking and its other unique S Pen capabilities -- purely work-related reasons -- but I eventually realized that I can also draw with it.
The following sketch is one of the first ones I drew with it.
His name is Aciel
Internet aunts and uncles also know him as Gunhoo. But in the West, he is Aciel Park, the son of a well-known South Korean soccer professional, Park Joo-ho. This kid's pretty well-known, to be honest.
And definitely cute.
The sketch above was just... that. A sketch. I didn't intend it to be a full-blown drawing. I was busy with work, anyway. Drawing wasn't in the agenda. Granted, I recorded the whole process, but I had half the mind of just dropping the whole thing after the first few minutes.
However, the unanticipated want and thirst to finish a single drawing (heck, my first drawing of 2020) in the middle of an unbelievably warm February -- backed by the awesome S Pen experience -- made me see it through the end.
What was supposedly just a simple test drawing turned out to be my first 2020 drawing. I didn't know how it felt at first -- satisfied? That the sketch actually somehow looked like the cute Aciel.
Proud? That I actually -- actually! -- finished a drawing. I make that sound like a miracle, but it is. That's a given if it's me we're talking about.
App used: Autodesk SketchBook on Android
A quick SketchBook review
The app was awesome! There is an S Pen mode only, which lets me draw without having to worry about my hands making random sketches here and there. The user interface is incredibly simple and easy to get used to. Best of all, there is a wide array of medium choices! Even the "pencil" tool used in the Aciel Park drawing made the drawing look like it actually used a pencil.
However, there is no layer clipping. This gets kind of problematic especially in drawing with colors. I am a layer clipping kind of person, and I only tolerate the lack thereof in traditional drawing. There's also the problem of my projects suddenly getting corrupted... which will be expounded below.
The ECQ drawing spree
The Philippines has imposed a nationwide lockdown for nearly 60 days now, and I have been on the edge of my seat, trying to find something interesting to do. I can always work. I mean, my job is on the cloud anyway. But intermittent and often slow internet connectivity made doing my tasks nearly impossible.
In the last few days, I found myself exploring...
So I ditched SketchBook.
I had the gall, despite not having used it so extensively just yet, but its tendencies to getting my drawing files corrupted after me deleting some weird album that suddenly shows up in my Gallery wasn't sitting well with me. And no, I can't simply ignore said albums -- I'm nitpicky like that.)
I tried a new drawing app. It's called MediBang Paint, and the other said that the app was a little underrated. The picture above is one of my newer sketches in MediBang (based on this reference), and I fell in love with the feel, the UI, and the ability to clip my layers!
I'll probably share the MediBang experience here soon.
P.S. It's been a while! The irrational boredom I'd been experiencing lately has made me a tiny bit productive, so I'll try to post while I can.