Each individual has his own ideas about 'why to draw?' and 'what to draw?" That is why every painting is different. The subject of a drawing and what it expresses, the artist's perspective and his approach towards art, his way of expressing himself, and his understanding about art are all subjective. In this book I do not propose to discuss about how an artist should think; in fact even whether he should think or not. I do not have that right. This book is also not about the thought processes behind painting a picture. But I surely wish to talk about the technical aspect of painting, and how to handle digital media most effectively to express one's thoughts.
Over the years I have handled almost all traditional/conventional media used for painting. Having worked with almost every medium, I have a good experience about the results achieved with each one of them. Time and again I have experienced the little things and quirks about each medium. When working with traditional media we use paper, canvas, glass, stone, and other surfaces. Our media may consist of oils, watercolour, ink, lead pencils; our tools may be brushes, knives, rollers, or pens. Every surface and the medium that comes into contact with it leads to the development of a sensitive, mutual relationship between them a kind of bond. Paper and paint "talk to each other. There is an exchange. There is something else at work here. Whenever a pencil, brush, or knife or anything else comes into contact with paper or canvas, that touch triggers an effect on the chemical processes in the artist's brain. In this sense, the artist's world is 'alive'. I have experienced this interplay of touch and sensations when working with traditional media, prior to handling digital ones. When looking at digital media from this perspective it is important to understand clearly, the difference between the traditional media that are 'alive' and the digital ones that are artificial. It is equally important to note that if one has not handled all the traditional media, it may well be difficult to use the digital ones effectively. One of the important points to grasp is that the colours in digital media are nothing but different shades. There are literally hundreds of thousands of shades of every colour. When we work with any traditional medium oils, watercolour, pencils, or pastels - we have to actually mix the necessary colours on the palette. With digital media - whether they are oils, watercolour, pencils, or pastels - the colours are the same, only the tools change! In other words, you can even use 'coloured charcoal', for example. You would only need to select the 'charcoal' tool. When working with traditional media (oils, watercolour, pencils, or pastels) and surfaces (paper, canvas, wood, stone, etc.) we often have 'accidents'. A painting develops as the artist notes these accidents, responds to them, and goes ahead, Barring a few exceptions, such accidents do not happen with digital media. Here, colours do not spill, nor do they flow down the paper.
The paper does not get wet, and there is no question of the painting drying...everything is virtual here. Just as plucking the strings of a sitar and 'playing' it on a synthesizer are two different things, so also digital painting is different from actual painting.
I love to experiment with different media and see the results in my paintings. So I felt an urge to explore this youngest medium of all, and which is totally different from any other. I used it, and tried to understand it. Having done so, I was able to get rid of a lot of misconceptions I had held about digital media; it also further strengthened my love of traditional ones. I set on a journey to see how far I could minimise the artificial effects of digital media and stretch them to bring them as close to conventional ones as possible. This book is a sharing of technical details I discovered during this journey.
I would like to reiterate that this book is not about the subject matter of paintings, the thoughts behind them and the sensibilities; it is not about colour combinations, compositions, or realisations either. The discussion will be limited to the effective use of tools and how far they can be stretched to achieve the desired results.
There is a particular technique for using digital media, so the handling has to be appropriate. Even after doing hundreds of digital paintings I cannot say that I have gained complete mastery over the medium. However, constant research and study have enabled me to gain a good command.
I came across a lot of technical difficulties when using various Apps while working with a digital pen on an i-Pad. In this field too, I had no guru and had to learn everything by myself. The main purpose of this book is to introduce the techniques to those who may like to try this new medium, and make things a bit easier for them.
Matters like how to draw pictures (and why to draw them), whether they should be in monotone or colour, whether realistic or abstract or surreal, whether to copy photographs or not, whether to paint on location, whether to paint landscapes or seascapes or portraits, or whether to delve deep into one's mind and express the feelings and thoughts therein with sensitivity - are best left to each person to decide for himself. Each person has his own way of drawing. Some work according to a plan they may decide upon a subject, draw it, then decide about shade-light areas and finally apply paint after planning that too. Others may directly apply paint without a basic drawing. I do not have a fixed way of painting. I use whatever method strikes me as appropriate at that time, the main idea being to depict the subject in my mind effectively. Naturally, I use dit erent approaches at different times. It is best for each person to stick to his was in order to express himself in the most effective way. A lot of technical issues crop up when painting. One finds it difficult to express one's ideas because of ignorance about handling a particular medium and this leads to dissatisfaction. Digital media happen to be a novelty Journel for all of us. So technical difficulties are felt quite acutely.
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