A client asked me to create a digital portrait of her to use on social media and the website I was creating for her. Years ago I “drew” in Adobe Illustrator using the mouse. I would click for each point and click and drag if I wanted a curve. The limitation with this drawing method was that the illustrations lacked style and a hand drawn look.

Last year I purchased a new iPad. I didn’t get a Pro and an Apple Pencil, because we had just gotten a Wacom drawing tablet and I didn’t think I’d be drawing on the iPad. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found out I could draw on it! I guess I wanted to after all.

I made the discovery when I noticed a squiggly line in the notes app and tried writing with my finger. From there I purchased an inexpensive stylus pen. I ordered the one that had the “finest point” I could find. I then discovered – through a podcast – that Adobe Illustrator has an app for the iPad – Adobe Draw. I could draw in layers! And I could send the layered file to Illustrator on the desktop for further refinement!

I’m still getting used to using a stylus. I want to lean on the iPad like a sketchbook for more control and precision. For the digital portrait I did several rough drawings for the client using a few photos as reference. She picked one illustration and I refined it and showed it to her again. She requested some minor edits, which I made. At this stage I refined the illustrations in Illustrator on my desktop and created two color variations. She was very happy with the final result – which makes me so proud. I decided to try my own portrait. No one should have to study their own picture so closely! I may have left some wrinkles off. 🙂

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