After 25 years as a Hospitality and Digital Marketing expert, I decided to venture into the digital painting space and started drawing and sketching as a hobby. I imagined that it would be a great way to continue to use the creative side of my brain. I have never ventured into painting deeply, but I wanted to try something new and have always loved technology. Digital painting seemed to be a good fit for me, which allowed me to expand my interests.

My first few days of exploring the available tools of the trade were quite overwhelming. There were so many options, that I didn’t know where to start. But, as I’ve done in my career over the years, I jumped right in, did my research, got inspired, and started testing, learning, and applying different techniques.

I leveraged my love for photography to determine how to get started. My love for landscapes, anything with water and lots of colors became my inspiration. Practicing the techniques helped me learn how to use the available tools and find the common functions across some of the software, like brush strokes and color palettes.

I realized that digital painting was going to require an investment in time and a commitment to learning how to use a digital paintbrush – especially with no formal training. So, I was off and running - practicing brush strokes, and sketching techniques with a high degree of enthusiasm. I was pleasantly surprised by how soothing the process of learning these new techniques was. The challenge made way for exploration, adventure, and unlimited creative possibilities. It felt right, especially during some of the most uncertain times in my lifetime - the pandemic.

The next phase was exploring which tools were right for me and would support my new interest. I then focused on acquiring a comprehensive understanding of how steep the learning curve would be. I fired up my iPad and was off and running to YouTube to get more inspiration, see what the experts were saying, and which tools and software solutions they were using.

I stumbled on several applications that became my launching pad for digital drawing & painting, along with learning the art of sketching. Adobe Fresco had recently released its application for the iPad, which seemed like the perfect first step. As I delved into the application the look and feel were very familiar, since I had used Adobe products throughout my career. It felt like a natural fit.

After using Adobe Fresco for a while, I started exploring other software options that had more features and were a little more advanced. I did wide-ranging research for user-friendly software and painting tools and stumbled upon Procreate and inspirational videos that were geared toward the novice digital painting enthusiast. Unselfish artists who were willing to share their knowledge, experience, techniques, and skills helped me learn and inspired me to keep going. This gave me great comfort and optimism, which reinforced my confidence. I saw that my new venture of digital painting and drawing was not going to be a momentary interest, but a companion to my hobby - photography.

I assembled my first gallery, which showcased some of my practice work. My objective was to use my first collection of drawings to motivate, encourage, and challenge me over time, and it did, in a surprising and gratifying way.

I really enjoy digital painting and find it soothing and relaxing. It has helped me to sharpen my skills in website and logo design, and creative work in general. Digital painting offered me the opportunity to explore designs without creative limitations, boundaries, or time constraints. I could work on a single project for extended periods of time - feeling I can step away, come back, and push myself to the creative edge - so to speak. There is so much joy in digital painting - it is gratifying to the mind, body, and soul. I get lost in a piece of work, knowing that the more time I invest, the more creativity there is to explore.