Sponsors
Sponsors

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

An interview with artist Rob Miller

We recently featured two iPad paintings by artist Rob Miller. We were so impressed with Rob's paintings that we decided to dig a little deeper into the mind (and heart!) of Rob as he brings his impressive oil painting skills to the iPad. Rob was kind enough to share some of his latest paintings with us, including this superb demonstration video (seen above).

Tell us a little about yourself, your background and your passion for art?

I am a high school art teacher (fine art and computer art) who loves to paint and draw. I returned to the easel three years ago after a 15-year hiatus during which I was raising two daughters. When I started to paint again, it was difficult for me to put into words how I felt after so many years of being away from the process, but it was like coming home. I guess that's the best way to put it. Reflecting and rediscovering the essence of who I am has been quite a journey. My medium of choice is oil, with the still life as subject matter. I excel in the mastery of light, space, color and attention to detail. The opaque and translucent properties of oil enable me to achieve stunning results ranging from atmospheres full of air and depth, to warm and inviting colors that reflect a knowledge of light and space. I create these atmospheric effects without the benefit of photographs providing an underlying structure, preferring instead to draw and paint solely from life. Though the inspiration for my work is drawn from eighteenth and nineteenth century artists (Chardin, Latour, Fabritius, and Manet), my approach is fresh and modern. My paintings are technically adept and emotionally engaging. I feel that a successful work of art connects with the viewer, stirs the imagination, and touches the soul.

What were the primary challenges you faced in moving your skills to the iPad?

One of the main challenges I faced when moving my skills to the iPad was finding the right app. When I started painting on the iPad, it wasn't a very serious commitment; I would just doodle to explore the capabilities and possibilities of the available apps. I started with "Sketchbook Pro," (an amazing app) however, it wasn't exactly the right fit. I then started to explore the possibilities of "Brushes." The interface felt more intuitive, and though there were fewer options to choose from, they were the right options for me and what was starting to happen with the doodles.

The doodles went from abstract experimentations to realistic imagery. I started to explore some real possibilities of how I could use this as tool. This all happened while sitting in a Starbucks. I decided to tackle an interior scene to see if I could capture space, depth and atmosphere. Three hours later I ended up with this piece, "Busting up a Starbucks." I then started to draw my students (Portrait 1, Portrait 2 & Portrait 3) while they were working on their assignments during class. After several sketches of various students, I began to realize what an amazing tool this is for the visual artist. I will be exploring the landscape next. I want to create a sketch on-site with the iPad, then take the sketch and use it to create an actual oil painting on canvas using the iPad sketch as my study.

How can Apple and third party developers improve the richness of the iPad painting experience?

I think the only thing left to do to improve the richness of the iPad painting experience is to enhance pressure sensitivity. I just recently ordered the Nomad Brush, and I'm really looking forward to experiencing the feel of using an actual brush while painting on the iPad.

Many thanks to Rob for taking the time out to share his thoughts on iPad painting. We look forward to seeing what Rob thinks of the Nomad Brush, it's certainly a favourite around here.

Be sure to check out Rob's 'Painting Journal'.

George Lambro's seriously slick shredding skills

We have often said that GarageBand is a true killer app. Will Android, webOS or BlackBerry Tablet OS ever be home to a music creation app of quite this quality? Honestly, it seems extremely unlikely.

Sure George's guitar solo isn't as organic as the real thing, but this is his first attempt at transferring his real world skills to the iPad and on a platform that is only just over a year old, running an app that is still on version 1!

Exciting times...

Via: Cult of Mac

Comic book artist and illustrator Eric Merced reminds us of the potential of vector based iPad art

Adobe Ideas isn't an app that we feature too often. We fully admit that we have all but ignored vector based drawing apps, focusing instead on bitmap tools such as Brushes and ArtRage. It's time to address this bias and we can think of no better way of shifting the balance than to highlight the gorgeous illustrations of American comic book artist and illustrator Eric Merced.

Eric was kind enough to provide us with some samples of his work and a video demonstration (we know how much you love those!) of his illustration and inking method using a Targus stylus and Adobe's Ideas app.

In addition to Eric's obvious talent for character illustration we noticed just how natural he makes the whole process seem. Apple's 'pinch to zoom' control technique has never looked quite so intuitive.

Follow Eric's creations on his blog, or why not show your appreciation for his work by following him on Twitter. Be sure to check back here for more of Eric's work.

Trubadour iPad Case Made For Musicians (and other awesome people)

An over the shoulder iPad case, made especially with musicians in mind, attached to a guitar strap?

It could be a reality if a new Kickstarter project gets off the ground. This video for the Trubadour iPad Case (very much a prototype at this stage) says it all and it could be yours if you pledge $40 or more.

What do you think, is this a good idea?

(via Wired Magazine)

This Week on iPad Creative - 15th to 22nd May 2011

This is what we have been talking about this week on iPad Creative:

Castlerama. A demonstration of the Unreal Engine 3 for iOS - A brief look at the iPad's gaming future.

'Cannonball' and 'Pipes & Pottery' by Rob Miller - Two videos showing off Rob's brilliant Brushes artwork.

Review: New iPad only KidsMag is Gorgeous, Fun and Great Value - In this review we cover a great kid's magazine that could save you money in the long run, it is a hit around here.

'Morgan Freeman' by Albert Lewis, Jr. - Another amazing video showing just how much skill and talent goes in to these iPad paintings, again using the Brushes app.

Unleash your cat's artistic potential with Paint for Cats - If it is artistic and creative and involves the iPad we try and let you know about it, no matter who the artist may be!

David Kassan painting from life with the iPad 2, using the Nomad Brush and ArtRage - This promtional video for our top stylus recommendation the Nomad Brush shows one of today's master artists at work.

The Frisco School of Music presents 'iBand' - This video shows how much fun we would be having if we were back at school right now.

'Make You Feel My Love' by Joshua E. Yoon - A great voice and a lot of nerve (plus GarageBand and an iPad for both audio and video recording) went into making this music video - be sure to check it out. 

Gears. A stonkingly good game and a sumptuous audio visual feast! - This apps 3D visuals and gameplay have divided opinion from our commenters. We love it, what do you think?

We guarantee you have never seen an iPad painting quite like this before - A little bit of fun, and actually a great image, but would you do this to your iPad?

We guarantee you have never seen an iPad painting quite like this before

Probably best not to try this one at home folks.

Link: Jos Van Riswick

Gears. A stonkingly good game and a sumptuous audio visual feast!

Gears by Crescent Moon Games is a 3D physics based ball rolling game that is ideally suited to the iPad. Featuring 3 unique worlds with 27 courses to navigate through Gears is a serious, yet accessible, challenge. In many ways it reminds us of Super Monkey Ball, it certainly has the same basic play mechanics. However, Gears is streets ahead of Super Monkey Ball in every way.

The graphics are rich and diverse and the music beautiful, it's clear that some serious talent and time has been applied the world that Gears inhabits. As you would expect it's particularly pleasing on the iPad 2.

Thankfully, this attention to detail has made its way through to the physics simulation and most importantly the control system. Tilt control is included as an option, but it's the touch control that truly shines! There are times when you have to navigate ridiculously small pathways, often while battling against several forces of nature all of which are conspiring to cast you off a precipice, but at no time did we feel like the control system was to blame for our failure - it's intuitive and rewarding.

As an aside, the first time we played Gears we found ourselves wondering just how spectacular it would be in true 3D. There are times when it's hard to make out the correct pathway because of the vivid clarity of the environmental graphics. When Apple eventually release an true 3D iPad, as we believe they will, Gears would be a near perfect experience.

At just $0.99 (£0.59) Gears is complete bargain.

App Store Link: Gears

'Make You Feel My Love' by Joshua E. Yoon

Take one particularly splendid tune, an iPad 2 for recording the piano track and capturing the video, add one Samson Meteor microphone and a whole lot of vocal talent. Bake for 2:31. Job done!

App Store Link: GarageBand

The Frisco School of Music presents 'iBand'

We can only imagine the fun we would have had in music lessons had the iPad been around in our day. Almost anything is possible when an entire band's worth of iPad music software can be purchased for less than the price of a KFC 'Bargain Bucket'.

The students of Frisco School of Music have been busy transferring their real-world musical skills to the virtual arena. iPads running a variety of music apps, including GarageBand, Pocket Organ C3B3, iJ Bass and VoiceJam were used to perform three Beatles tunes. iRig Mic running VoiceJam on an the iPad was used to record the vocals. Nice to see the iPhone 4 being used to capture some of the close-up footage.

Great work guys! We look forward to seeing where you take 'iBand' next.

App Store Links: GarageBand, Pocket Organ C3B3, iJ Bass, VoiceJam

Further Reading: Kiss the sky! iFourmance, an amazing iOS band perform Purple Haze and rewrite the rule book

David Kassan painting from life with the iPad 2, using the Nomad Brush and ArtRage

David Kassan is no stranger to iPad painting, in fact it's safe to say that he is one of the most popular iPad artists currently on the scene. It's great to see David putting both the Nomad Brush and ArtRage (both of which we adore) to such superb use.

As an aside. Looking at David use the iPad 2 it struck us how much we really want an iPad Pro, basically an iPad with a larger screen. 15" would be perfect, but we wouldn't turn our noses up at a 13" iPad either. Are we alone here, do you see a market for a larger iPad?

App Store Link: ArtRage

Further Reading: Nomad Brush Review