digital art – Art of Caitlin Gadd

This year, the only real goal I’m setting for myself in terms of work is to learn to follow through with self-initiated projects and actually adhere to deadlines I set for myself.

I work much better under a little pressure and some constraints, but I have a hard time sticking to those I set for myself. I’ve had so many projects go unfinished and so many ideas I never ended up starting.

This year I’d really like to tackle one project every month and actually finish it in a reasonable amount of time. Of course, If I get really busy with commissions and client work, I will allow myself to set my own projects aside as I still have bills to pay. But instead of starting something and then getting bored and doodling random stuff, I want to actually have more substantial and practical work to add to my portfolio.

And what better way to start on this new goal, than to make a calendar for myself to keep track of said projects and deadlines?? I thought of this idea rather late, so of course it wouldn’t be finished before the new year, but I could at least get the first page done before January.

My specs for this project were fairly simple:

-Basic, clean calendar layout made for standard 8.5×11” paper

-Not too ink-intensive to print, but still some nice artwork to look at

-Animals with the aqua, pink and yellow combo I’ve been really into lately worked in (I settled on a list of Endangered animals to narrow down my choices)

Endangered Animals 2020 Printable Calendar Pages, blank and dated

Endangered Animals 2020 Printable Calendar January Page

I’ve successfully finished my first project for the new year! Now I can use this calendar for scheduling out all of my client work, commissions, and self-initiated projects~

I’ve gone ahead and made a printable version to add to my Etsy shop if you’d like your own! I’ve also included a blank version where you can fill in the months and days yourself, so it can be used whenever without wasting half a calendar (I’m totally guilty of waiting until March or April to finally replace my old calendars).

Now, on to the next project. Thanks for reading!

Initially, I began as a digital artist, It’s been nearly a year and a half since I’ve actually painted something in Photoshop. Just got back into it recently, and boy did I miss it. I’m pleased to find that my traditional painting style now translates pretty well back into digital illustrations, too! 🙂

Old tablet rant…

The whole reason I initially stopped painting digitally was (I think properly explained in a previous post), in short, because my computer didn’t work with my fancy drawing tablet. So, I decided to work on traditional art instead, and loved it more.

I’ve since gotten rid of my fancy Cintiq because I felt guilty for letting it sit there collecting dust. Of course 3 months after that happens, my old Intuos tablet I’ve had for a good 7 years, decides to hate me. I spend almost 2 hours every time I hook it up, messing with the drivers. Plus the cord has been chewed up a bit and falls out of the tablet in the middle of working.

I think those days of shoving it in my bag and running around campus during college did the thing no favors whatsoever.

…end rant

I’ve got a new drawing tablet now, though, so I’m really looking forward to adding digital paintings and commissions to my portfolio. It’s the Wacom Intuos medium with Bluetooth, and I love it! (It’s even minty green) I would definitely recommend this tablet to anyone looking to start out with digital art.

Programs I Use for Digital Painting:

I am often asked what programs I use to paint with, so here are a few favorites:

Adobe Photoshop: I learned to use this in college and while it can have a pretty steep learning curve, it has so many great features. Personally, this is my go-to.
Paint Tool SAI: I’m not sure if this program is still available, but I love it and I have been using it for about 10 years now. It’s very simple, inexpensive and worth every penny. The blending brushes it has are amazing, and you can make such crisp line work with it. (Not available for Mac unfortunately)
Fire Alpaca: Similar to SAI, but I personally get a little confused with the layout. It does offer crisp lines and still has a simple enough layout that makes getting started pretty easy. It’s free and is also available for Mac, which makes it a good replacement for SAI.
Krita: An awesome Photoshop replacement. A lot of cool features and brush settings, though definitely has a learning curve to get used to. Also, I found it super difficult to set my eyedropper tool to a different hotkey which is, oddly, a deal-breaker for me. This program is amazing and is also free.