Digital art cool colours

Last month I started using an Android app called Sketchbook, by Sketchbook Inc. Its a very powerful app for making art, with a wide range of tools available in the free version. A premium version apparently has even more goodies but I am still just scratching the surface of what the free app does. The neat thing is that you can make colours not possible with real paint, for example the bright magenta (pink) dots, and the cyan lines are only possible on a computer screen. 

Large initials in cyan, 800 x 1000 digital Sketchbook app

I make each image 800 x 1000 to fit perfectly on social media (Instagram and Facebook), same with my watercolour paintings which are 8 x 10 " or 6 x 7.5" which works out to the same aspect ratio. This sketch is like a hail storm behind a window with bars. 

Ice window bars, 800 x 1000 digital Sketchbook app

I accidentally rotated this one and it looked even better this way. To start, I changed the background into cyan, then draw over the other elements using a variety of brushes. I use a lot of the chalk pastel brush, it gives a great crumbly texture. 

Leaves and eyes, 800 x 1000 digital Sketchbook app

Thee is also a synthetic acrylic and oil paint brush... each brush stroke runs out of 'paint' and blends with the other colours in a realistic way. Since you use your finger to make these digital sketches, it feels a lot like finger-painting in early elementary school which I remember well. It was back in Lachine as a young child, a friend of ours, the Toddles drove us there, and there were tables set up in long rows and I was placed at a station with paper and finger paints... I recall using pale blue, and the paper had a smooth texture and off white colour, it was probably craft paper. 

Paint over symbols, 800 x 1000 digital Sketchbook app

I did this one today, after realizing that I could scroll down and find like another three-dozen paint tools including texture-washes and splatter effects. A few finger swipes and I had this graffiti-inspired psychedelic creation. Having a good knowledge of colour theory helps a lot to navigate all the possibilities. I also have extensive practice as a doodler, and have created doodle paintings, although none this year. An example from 2024 can be found here. 

Symbol texture splashes, 800 x 1000 digital Sketchbook app