In this article, I will review Sketchbook Pro. It is surprising to me how few people know about it, but love it once they learn more about it!

The premise of the program is simple: It’s a virtual sketchbook. Right out of the box, the design, interface and ease of use make this a perfect transition tool for traditional artists to digital mediums. This multiplatform (Windows and Macintosh) program is useful, powerful, but not as powerful as high end software such as Photoshop. The worst problem with the software appears to be that it is only available within the US and Canada.

Sketchbook Pro is largely a program suited for use with a tablet and stylus pen. The program has many tools available that simulate real media. The pencil tool is surprisingly supple and mimics using a real pencil just about as perfectly as possible with digital media. The airbrush tool is good for laying down washes of colour, but it can be difficult to achieve small details. The marker, chisel tip pen, ballpoint pen and felt tip pen behave very similarly and as you would expect. The paintbrush tool can be effective, but usually some adjusting is needed to achieve the exact results you may want, usually in terms of opacity. The erasers and smear brushes are both effective and intuitive. The capacity exists to make your own brush, but as of late, my favourite tool has simply been the pencil.

I recommend this very highly to traditional artists who are hesitant in getting into the digital field. It isn’t a seamless transition if you are not familiar with using a tablet and stylus, but the interface is certainly less daunting than Photoshop or any open source art packages. Sketching with the pencil tool in Sketchbook Pro is so similar to sketching on paper, that those who own a Tablet PC, Modbook or Wacom Cintiq may switch to a completely digital sketching existence.

One of the best features in the program is the great intuitive user interface. The whole program can be used with just the semi-circle in the corner of the program. All of the tools can be accessed by putting the tip of the stylus onto one of icons displayed on the semi-circle, which pops up a set of other icons. You move the stylus up, down, left and right to select a function. This “no keyboard” process is reflected in all of the most useful aspects, such as the layers and the resize brush. I love how you rename your layers with your own handwriting! Photoshop users will be pleased that many of the familiar keyboard shortcuts are the same in this program. Perhaps the most useful of which is the space bar, which pops up the zoom and move canvas tools.

Disappointment may rise if people think that Sketchbook Pro is a cheaper alternative to Photoshop. Priced at nearly $200 USD, the price of this powerful software is a lot easier to swallow than the $600 USD tag on Photoshop. However, while the program excels at the conceptual aspects of a drawing, finer details, while not impossible, are harder to achieve. The default brushes are set up to have a whispy, sketchy feel to them and a lot of readjusting is necessary to achieve a polished look to your sketch.

Another problem for myself is that a digital download is unavailable for Europe, specifically Norway, from the Autodesk website. I hope this issue is remedied soon. I will be looking into various ways to purchase this software. Readers, if you happen to know a reseller or a method to buy this software in Europe, I would greatly appreciate a comment to let me know!

Overall, I highly recommend this software to anyone who either wants to get into digital art or an advanced digital artist looking to just get in and draw within 30 seconds of opening the program! Below are a couple of videos of artists making use of Sketchbook Pro.

Sketching with Bobby Chiu: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Yit95pgZEeo

Bobby is a real inspiration of mine. He is very worth listening to in his podcasts as he is extremely enthusiastic and listening to his podcasts was the big push that made me want to really excel in my own artwork.

Sketching with Jason Seiler: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UoQqFyPHW40

Jason is an accomplished caricature artist who also works with Bobby at their studio called Imaginism Studios. Watching him work is a great way to see Sketchbook Pro in action!

Thanks for reading! Have you tried Sketchbook Pro? Let me know how you feel about this program!

If you are reading this, chances are you are an artist wanting to be in the creative field or you already are. This article is catered to those who are not yet in their dream job. The first thing to think about is what you want to do in the industry. Do you want to run your own studio, make characters for video games, or even produce backgrounds for movie sets? These are all different jobs that have different requirements and need to be researched before choosing the right one for you.

Too “starry-eyed”

So say you want to draw characters for video games. What is the first step for this path? Some people would automatically claim that schooling is the first step. While going to a good art school is a great first step, that’s not the option available to everyone. If you are lucky, make the most of it! Go to your classes on time, take it seriously and appreciate this head start. To those not so fortunate, there is still a way and it takes plenty of hard work.

First realise that you don’t have it easy. You may have to work a job you don’t really like for eight hours a day or more and then go home and force yourself to draw for another two. However, you do need to try to keep your head from going into the clouds. As frustrating as your current job is, don’t think about quitting and living off of freelance. This spells disaster for the unprepared! You aren’t as good of an artist as you think you are and there is always room for improvement. If you get someone to honestly critique your work, you should be told this. This prevents you from getting an ego!

The steps to your dream

Keep yourself grounded. The best way to get a job is to figure what it is exactly that specific job entails. Will you have to have to have a large body of work, lots of various subject matter? Or can you just get enough clients coming to you for art in your specific style? What seems like a dream job at first, after research may not be. A concept artist job includes drawing things you may not be comfortable with on a regular basis. Buses, people, animals, weapons, machinery, landscapes… You may not have to draw each to a technical precision, but you need to have a firm understanding of all these objects and how they look and work.

After researching your career path and you are certain that you are willing to do the work necessary, you need to get a portfolio together. This is the hardest part for those not in a portfolio assembly line… aka school. For those in school, those projects that you hate are great material for your portfolio! When forced to make your own portfolio, you have to force yourself to do those projects you don’t like. This is a very difficult step, but it will be the one that lands you the position you want. Stray away and far from your comfort zones and practice!

How have you followed your dream to your desired career? Please share in the comments!

Originally from Norway, Henning now lives in Greece and is helping to develop the MMORPG Darkfall. In this interview, I ask Henning some questions aspiring artists may wonder about. You can view more of his artwork at HenningLudvigsen.com. Enjoy!

Q. I think a big reason people stop drawing as kids is out of fear of failure and their art not being accepted. Have you ever felt this way and if so, how did you overcome this feeling?

A. I never had this fear, and everyone around me was always very supportive concerning my interest in drawing and painting. I’ve always been the artsy person in my group of friends, and I decided from my early years that I wanted to work with illustration when I grew up. The transition towards art school and the art and design industry simply happened on its own. In some cultures, art isn’t considered a “serious” profession, which I think it very sad as you do see this all around you, all day, every day.

I think that it’s a good thing having the personal skills of always jumping into any tasks with both legs, even if there are tasks you’ve never handled before. I personally think I have this skill, and I don’t really listen to people who find my work unserious.

Q. I grew up as pretty much *the* artist, I didn’t know any other people who liked to draw as much as I did. What advice do you have for people in similar situations and how would you suggest they maintain their creative buzz?

A. I had the very same situation, but then again, I never had any problems with my creativity. I think that looking at your self as something special and different from the others might help. Try to figure out WHY you want to work with art, and do it because of that. Don’t do it for the wrong reasons, or you will finally loose your muse and productivity.

Q. What advice can you give to us artists who are starting out in the creative field? What are some of the best ways to get noticed?

With the modern times, I believe in having a strong online presence for getting noticed and for getting projects and offers. Having a solid portfolio, and always deliver more than what is requested from you when you get the chance of proving yourself. It’s a very competitive profession, and with the internet, you have to make yourself visible by producing quality in a reliable way.

Q. How do you suggest balancing networking and drawing time, as each is important in becoming a successful professional artist?

A. Networking is extremely important for getting your name out there, and also for getting the cool jobs and projects. Both things takes time and none of them should be underestimated, which usually means long days and crunching hours.

Q. Drawing a lot is the only way to get better, but until each of us get our dream jobs, we have to juggle real life, other jobs and art. What is some practical advice for us artists with a busy schedule on how to improve our art?

A. First of all, hope that you have an understanding and supportive partner. Working with art WILL mean long hours and unpredictable projects popping up when you least expect them to do. Painting a lot if of course important to improve, but don’t burn yourself out. If you’re meeting the wall and find yourself in an art slump, either take a break and wait for it to return, or MAKE yourself work though it. Both things works for me.

Remember that even simple 30 minute speed paintings helps you to improve, and I believe that everyone can make time for this once per day no matter how busy they are. It’s all about self education.

Q. What do you find is the best way to market yourself to get noticed and get a job within the creative field? Do you suggest limiting your genre and style or making it expansive enough to permeate multiple genres?

In the beginning I tried to cover as many drawing and painting styles as possible to offer myself as a diverse artist. Throughout the years I kind of found my own genre, and I believe that if you want to become really good at something, you need to limit your style and genre. By time, you will probably narrow down no matter how diverse you’re aiming to be, unconsciously.

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If you have any suggestions or tips on the format or would like to be interviewed yourself, just email me or leave a comment!

Hillary, also known as Hibbary on deviantArt, illustrates here how to go about the process of dying paper in a detailed tutorial. This technique is a great way to achieve a textured look to your paintings. Not many tutorials on the subject are so succinct and illustrative. There is plenty of room for creativity here.

Have a go and try dying your own paper. Comment and show off your work!

It’s “Too Hard”
We’ve all been inspired by other artists. It’s part of the definition of being an artist - observing others. And who better to observe than someone who enjoys the same hobby/ career/ profession as you? However, doubt can get in the way of inspiration. While at first you may be extremely happy looking at someone’s work and you can just feel that spark of creative energy flow within yourself, trying to emulate someone else can prove to be frustrating. Perhaps their skill level is above yours and you aspire to be like them, but in the course of trying, you discover how much unlike them that you are. It’s very frustrating. You might even claim, “it’s too hard”. But hard is a relative term. What comes naturally or easily to one person might be an uphill struggle for some one else. But you know what? The person that struggled will find it a lot more satisfying when they get the results they want than the person who didn’t have to try.

A Fear of Failure
Sometimes we’re so scared of failing that we don’t even want to start. This is where you doom yourself. Here’s the thing: you will make mistakes and in the course of making these mistakes, you WILL fail at what you were trying to achieve. Ok, so maybe fail is a bit of a harsh word- but it is true. When first starting out, the grand ideas in your head will not come to fruition on paper, it’s that simple. It will not happen at first. It’s this realisation that you need to come to terms with. You need to tell yourself- It’s OK to not be perfect. You CAN “mess up”. And if you do mess up, you do not need to ball up the paper and toss it in the trash. Try having a sketchbook dedicated to just experimenting. It may not be the greatest work you own, in fact, it shouldn’t be. But by dedicating yourself to a medium that allows you to make mistakes, then you’re telling yourself it is ok to make them.

Don’t Let a Fear of Failure Rule Your Artistic Experimentation
You can’t let a fear of failure rule you. The best way to do this is to benchmark your progress against one person - yourself. When you do this, you have nothing to judge by except your previous mistakes. If you constantly view artist’s works that are highly out of your skill level (and be honest about your skill level), then you ARE doomed to failure. There is a point in your career as an artist, whether the pursuit as a hobby or profession, where you can look at other artworks and not judge them against your own, but rather be inspired by that spark of creativity and go with it. First and foremost, you have to have your own identity as a unique artist. You have to get out there and not be afraid to challenge yourself against your old skill level. And most of all, you have to be brave enough to realise that you have to make mistakes in order to get better.

Use Your Mistakes to Drive Your Technical Expertise
Everything you know know is because you learned it at some point in your life. You were born knowing nothing. Some things you may have picked up more quickly than others, but you did learn everything you now know by making mistakes. You didn’t just stand up one day as a baby and start trudging across the room with perfect balance. How could you? You had no proper leg muscles. A part of learning anything is about training the “muscles”. You can’t be too frustrated at yourself for not knowing how to do something if you’ve never tried it before. And more than that, you can’t be expected to know how to do it perfectly the first time. Drawing is no different. You have to flex your drawing “muscles”, which consist of the way you see and even the technical expertise of laying pen to paper or learning a digital painting program. You have to train your eyes to see “correctly”, not just interpret the objects around you as learned shapes (ie: triangle for nose, almonds for eyes). Once you have trained your drawing muscles well enough, you can use your mistakes to your advantage. What do I mean by this? Well, by experimenting, you open your mind up to doing things you wouldn’t normally do. When you do this, sometimes a perceived mistake from one drawing can be used and honed as a skill in in another. One example is if you are practising hatching and the lines aren’t perfectly spaced. You may feel this is a mistake at first, but later come to realise, it’s a good way to indicate a gradient going from light to dark. Many good things come from experimenting- just don’t be too afraid to try!

What techniques have you tried lately? Have any of your mistakes turned into masterpieces?