A Fantastic Succulent Reimagined in Three Ways

Hello, brilliant creators!

As a creative individual, I believe that art is an ever-evolving process. We continuously learn, grow, and adapt, often reimagining and revisiting our work through different lenses. Recently, I embarked on a creative revisit of my own, reimagining a series of three succulent illustrations I had initially created in Adobe Illustrator. The journey, which led me to reinterpret the pieces in Procreate, was enlightening and rewarding.

The Original

The original series featured three different succulents, each with its unique color palette and composition. These illustrations were created in Adobe Illustrator, a vector-based drawing program that allowed for crisp lines and precise shapes. The succulents were stylized yet detailed, each petal and leaf meticulously crafted.

The Revisit

Transitioning from Illustrator to Procreate, a raster-based program on the iPad, I endeavored to maintain the same color palette and the essence of the original illustrations yet also simplify them. It was an opportunity to experiment with different styles and brushes and to distill each succulent into its simplest form.

Reflections on the Process

This creative revisit proved to be an exercise in simplification and experimentation. Breaking down the illustrations into their simplest forms was an enjoyable task allowing me to focus on revealing the fundamental shapes and structures that constitute a succulent.

Simultaneously, experimenting with different brushes in Procreate allowed me to explore varied styles, each bringing a new perspective to the same subject. Every tool, every style, every stroke brings something new to the table, offering a unique lens through which to view the world.

Whether you’re an artist looking to broaden your horizons or someone seeking a fresh perspective, I invite you to embark on a creative revisit of your own. You might be surprised at what you discover.

A Technical Look

It’s time to get into the nitty-gritty of the brushes I used.

I embraced my new style in the first version, using the Basketville brush for the outline and the “Round” brush for coloring. This approach offered a fresh perspective on succulents, introducing a new layer of texture and depth.

In the second version, I used the 6B Pencil brush for outlining and the Round brush for coloring. The pencil brush lent a more hand-drawn feel to the succulents, highlighting the simplicity of their forms. Each iteration further simplifies the previous one, focusing on the succulents’ basic shapes and structures.

In the final version, I focused on simple shapes, again using the 6B Pencil for outlining. This time, however, I experimented with a new brush for coloring – the Jagged brush. The goal was to emulate a hand-colored look, adding an organic, tactile quality to the illustrations.

The revisit was on a 3000 x 3000px canvas at 300 dpi. I made 567 strokes, and it took 124 minutes to create. While that seems like a lot, I experimented with different styles and drew while watching TV.

Enjoy a timelapse of the piece. I didn’t edit it, so you can see every hesitation, misstep, and experiment along the way.

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