Together, the iPad and the Apple Pencil make for a formidable alternative to paper and pencil, canvas and paint. But do these "analog" materials still have the edge?
Astropad's new Rock Paper Pencil v2 is a clever set of accessories for the iPad-centric draftsperson. It consists of a removable matte-finish screen protector, which clings to the front of the iPad, and a couple of metal tips for the Apple Pencil, which feel like a ballpoint pen and can take a lot more wear than the standard plastic tip.
The result is that using your iPad and Pencil feels a lot more like using a pen on paper, with the familiar "tooth" of a pen on cellulose. On the face of it, it seems like the perfect setup, but is it really better than more established media?
"While the iPad offers unparalleled versatility and convenience, there's a unique charm to traditional paper and paint. I appreciate the tangible connection with physical media, especially when sketching initial concepts or exploring textures," said professional designer Olivia Tian in an interview with Tech Times.
"The paper brings a certain organic unpredictability that a tablet can't quite replicate. There's tactile feedback and responsiveness when using real brushes and pencils that can enhance creativity. On the other hand, the iPad provides a vast digital canvas and a range of tools at my fingertips, streamlining workflows and enabling precise adjustments."
Portable Studio
Digital Sandbox
The Apple Pencil is amazing for drawing. It's pressure-sensitive, it also detects how far you tilt it, and there's almost no input lag. Compared even to a well-equipped studio or art supply store, the iPad is stuffed with great tools for designers, painters, and people who draw in ink or pencil. The Procreate app is chock full of different kinds of brushes, from oils to watercolors to crazy digital concoctions that would be impossible in the non-digital realm.
There are also less obvious advantages. For example, if you reach the edge of your virtual canvas, you can just extend it.
"A tablet provides infinite room and scalability of space," said brand designer Natalie Charlton. "I also like that I have hundreds of pencil, pen, and brush options, as well as unlimited colors, in a single device rather than having to carry around materials."
Added to that, your studio will never stink of linseed oil (although maybe that's actually a downside), you'll never ruin a short with ink, and you can carry your entire portfolio with you-and also back it up.
But sometimes, the real stuff still has advantages. There are the obvious ones, like never running out of battery or being (relatively) waterproof, and the less obvious ones: Despite an infinite canvas, your images' size is limited to the 12.9-inch iPad screen. And how do you exhibit these pictures? Printed, the faux paint textures can look weird, and if you're using screens, you're going to need a lot of them for an exhibition.
But there's another, bigger divide: The nature of a tightly-programmed environment limited by the software developer's imagination, and the infinite environment of raw, real-world materials.
If I am painting with oil paints on a wooden board or canvas, and I don't like the result, I can scrape it back to the surface, and when I start over, I see the ghost of my first attempt. Or I can grab some dirt and rub it into the paint. I know an artist who used to mix sand with some of their acrylic paints to change the texture. You can hurl paint from across the room. And so on.
But when using an app, you cannot do any of this unless the developer has added a sand-texture feature or a speckled, paint-splashing algorithm. This might sound esoteric, but what is creative expression without creativity? While an app offers thousands of options, it can only offer things that have already been thought of.
"Working within the limits of a medium programmed to mimic another does have its challenges," said Tian. "Despite advancements, I think digital tools may sometimes lack the nuance of traditional media. However, the convenience and efficiency of the iPad often outweigh these limitations, especially in a professional setting where time is a critical factor."
It's also a little odd to ape the textures of, say, oil paints. It feels fake, like adding film grain to digital photos. It doesn't have to be that way. Painter and photographer David Hockney "paints" on an iPad because he likes its digital aspects-the light comes from within rather than reflecting off the paint's surface, making for a fundamentally different result.
None of which is to say that the iPad is a bad tool for artists. Quite the contrary. As we said at the top of this post, it's just amazing. But by its very nature, it can never quite rival physical media, so perhaps artists might embrace its digital nature and skip the faux watercolors and ersatz oils, at least for a moment.
About the author: Charlie Sorrel has been writing about technology, and its effects on society and the planet, for almost two decades. Previously, you could find him at Wired's Gadget Lab, Fast Company's CoExist, Cult of Mac, and Mac Stories. He also writes for his own site, StraightNoFilter.com, Lifewire Tech News, and iFixit.
