Digital Art - Process and Evolution

Lately I have been maniacal about doodles and using Procreate for digital art. I would have shied away from the idea of digital art a while ago, not able to square it as being a genuine form of art given the lack of raw materials. However, it seems the possibilities with digital art are indeed endless.

I have always liked the idea of doing comic strips, or holding a style of sketching in comic form/doodles. With such endless possibilities however, where do you start? I suppose the results have simply been natural and much like doodling, if you don't think about it too hard you will find your style.

Digital art is certainly cleaner, no risk of paint splatter when wearing a white jumper (which always ends up being the case when I go to paint for some reason!), no risk of graphite smearing down the back of my hand, smudging into clothes, furniture, the cat, or indeed on the piece of paper being worked on and thus causing over shading - or complete ruin. Oh the horror!

As I currently work on a ten page comic, I know I need to keep a consistency with the style and returning characters. At times it can be overwhelming with the vast amount of options to hand, the breadth of pen/pencil/paint brush etc styles, colours and effects. In the first instance I may draw something that eventually becomes unrecognisable by the end - perhaps I should save each draft as I go along to view the progress.

Often it may also lead to a matter of less is more, reducing the noise on the page, tidying up anything that looks aesthetically off, or out of place.

In my head I always imagine the best artists to be ones who can sketch something out to perfection on the first try and in an instant. Sure there may be those that can do that, but I am still an amateur. Much like when I do any piece of art, I get anxious at the immediate result not being perfect, or how I visualised it being. I never seem to learn that my process is very much a matter of ... well, a process.