What defines something as a painting?

Traditionally, painting is considered to be a 100% tangible medium. Typically, my studio setup consists of canvases, brushes, paints, sketchbooks, among many other materials. However, artists may not always have access to these or may be unable to work on paintings (especially oils) without the proper space to do so. My personal work-around with this is digital painting. I acknowledge that many artists may not approve of traditional terms being used to describe digital artwork. However, brushes within digital art programs have developed vastly over the years, allowing artists to create painterly art on-the-go.

Which digital art programs?

A majority of my digital illustrations are made in Procreate. This program is a one-time purchase art program that is easy to navigate and I highly recommend for new digital artists! Once I got a hang of Procreate, I branched out and gave Clip Studio Paint (CSP) a try after it being recommended to me by another illustrator. CSP offers a variety of textures, models, patterns, brushes, and an expansive library of digital materials. Overall, CSP provides many more opportunities and I especially love the default oil paint brush. This program does operate on a monthly subscription basis but I highly recommend it for artists wanting to try out a more advanced approach.

Artist’s Statement

Otter Plush is a digital painting created using a combination of the oil paint and chalk/pastel brushes in Clip Studio Paint. This piece was made while I spent two weeks in Erie, away from my studio and art supplies. When I am unable to create art for long periods of time, I start to get somewhat of an “itch”. In order to work around this (without bringing a painting setup everywhere I go), I’ve frequently brought my iPad with me so that I can create regardless of how far I am from home.