Welcome to my desk! These are the gadgets I love and use everyday, and if you are new to the Digital Painting world they may become your favorites too! As always I have included loads of photos so feel free to pin your favorites to Pinterest. Words that are underlined are links to the products I love.
Have a question? Leave a comment!
First up are the brush stylus’s that you see me use every day! They are available at theatmospheria.com and require no battery or Bluetooth! Simply open your favorite app and start painting. They do work with Paperlike matte screen protectors, but please be aware thicker plastic/glass screen protectors will most likely not let the brush work.
Next up in the main character, my iPad Pro 12.9” with 512GB of memory. Don’t let the price scare you! It is well worth the investment. However if you are just starting out with a tighter budget look into refurbished models or online marketplaces such as Ebay or FB. Make sure you get lots of photos and pay electronically with something like PayPal incase you get your merch and something goes wrong.
The keyboard you see above is the Magic Keyboard, I sometimes us it as an easel when painting. Your iPad hooks to it easily as it is magnetic and the keyboard comes in handy for other office work.
I always recommend memory size over screen size! Procreate is a huge program and once you start saving canvases and videos it can fill up quickly. I started out with a 10.5” six years ago with 256GB of memory. I still have it and use it as my backup. I highly recommend you stay AWAY from iPad airs! Their capabilities, even the new ones, are very limited and hardly any of my digital work that is sold can be opened on it unless I size it down incredibly small.
Meet your new favorite phone holder! This beauty is by shopcanvas.co and is a staple for creators! The team behind the lamp is a husband wife duo and have become great friends of mine. I used to use the Akron mount but was never able to film directly overhead for videos. It has also come in handy for selfies and photos including flat lays! They just released a magnetic phone mount as well as a Bluetooth button for incognito selfies.
I have the new iPhone 13 Pro Max and she is a heavy one weighing in at 1/2 a pound, the lamp can easily handle the weight of my phone with one exception. If the arm is fully extended there is a problem of balancing, but that is not fault to the lamp itself! Simply tuck your pieces in closer or raise the arm vertical rather than horizontal.
Use code ATMOSPHERIA10 at checkout if you decide to invest in one! I have used over a dozen different phone holders over the years and now own two of these instead.
Welcome to Paperlike! As you can see form the second photo, the iPad on the left has the original screen with no cover, while the one on the right has a matte screen protector from Paperlike. As you may have thought from the previous paragraph, how in the world do I film directly overhead without a glare and reflection?! This is the secret! I have had my protector on for a year, eight hours a day and 7 days a week constantly drawing and painting and still love it. It is a bit of an investment, but it does come with 2 protectors. I am barely replacing mine now and will continue to stick with Paperlike. You can find them linked here or even on Amazon.
A word of caution! Follow all the instructions and watch their video before attempting to put yours on. The tiniest speck of dust will put a dimple in the protector which is a big pain in the butt. I would also stay away from cheaper knock offs.
Paper texture! This is my most asked about product, how in the world do I get such cool looking texture and depth in my digital paintings?! The secret is a technique I call Texture Stacking! Digital paper is put OVER your painting and set at a blend mode in Procreate ie Linear Burn or Color Burn to give you the cool texture effect you are missing from digital work. You can also dim your paper layer depending on th mood you are setting or even adjust the color.
You can buy it HERE and see a video on how it all works HERE.
Last but not least is Replica Surfaces! I have numerous designs from Replica, but my favorites are Linen and anything wood including their new Walnut surface. These too are a bit of an investment but make editing and photography a breeze! They are easy to clean and store, although I would recommend keeping the sleeve they come in as the design is printed in HD and can start to wear a little if you drag things across them.
Alternates to these could be anything honestly, I shop my home constantly and have used ottoman towns, table tops, linen fabric, anything to draw the eye and give you a pretty set up. Remember to use natural light but not DIRECT light as that will show as glare and reflections on you iPad screen. Also I have noticed the darker the painting on my screen the more you see reflections!
Thanks for visiting, if you have a question leave me a comment here or on one of my platforms:
Happy Creating!
1 comment
I just purchased a shopcanvas lamp just today and ALSO have the 13 pro max, so I am sooo happy you mentioned that little too. I might have thought something was wrong with the lamp!!
I cannot wait until your angled brush is released, I have all the other gens and love them!!
Thank you for always putting up amazing content, literally every where. 😬