I recently started working on art again. I’m trying to practice my hand, so it’s baby steps I’m taking. I started playing with Procreate on my iPad and Apple Pencil 2. It’s always abstract; I’m no artist, but it’s fun and I feel like I’ve accomplished something, however small. There is some absolutely fantastic art created in Procreate by people who can actually illustrate. I don’t do that. It’s a powerful App for artists.

I’ve seen art online that I would love to emulate. I hope to make a large mandala using water-colored paper and Posca Paint Markers, or maybe it’ll be Sharpees. I’m not sure. Meanwhile, in an effort to practice my hand, I’ve created some little pieces on my iPad. I found this idea online. What I saw online was made with watercolors and pens. This is digital.

It was difficult for me to use an Apple Pencil 2 on the iPad’s glass screen. I watched a few Procreate tutorials and found the authors were using tools I knew nothing about. One of those is a screen protector called Paperlike, and it works as the name implies. The other item is a cover for the pencil, making it easier to grip. There are a lot of those “skins” to choose from, and they’re not terribly expensive. Some of the reviews for those skins suggest that you will find it difficult to use the skin on your iPad cover and that it may not charge properly, or fit into the pencil holder of the cover. I haven’t had any trouble with mine except that I do have to pay attention to how I place the pencil. You will want to be sure that you see, on the screen, that the pencil is charging. Once you’ve achieved that position, it will charge just fine. I think it’s well worth the price and extra effort, even if you never draw anything on your screen. Both of these items help improve your ability to write legibly on your iPad.

My hand is still unsteady, but these two items improve my control a great deal. You wouldn’t know it by what you see above. Baby steps, after all. It’ll get better.