Digital art: AI, symmetry, disco energy

In this digital image I depicted the Earth in the bottom right, with an exaggerated version of the moon stamped with AI. Like, AI taking over the Earth. 

AI versus Earth, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026

 

Using the 6-fold rotational symmetry tool, I created this swirling fan-shape. Making a circle with smudge paint and pattern stamps on top of the symmetry tool made for some interesting circular patterns. 

Disco neon energy, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026

 

The initial sketch was not too interesting, so I transformed it on a tilted angle and surrounded with purple haze. 

Tilted purple haze, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026

Also using the transform tool, followed by the rotational symmetry tool and stamps, here is a vicious looking fan tearing apart its surroundings. Its what I imagine the inside of a broken computer printer to look like. 

Busted printer, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026

 

Finally, another rotational symmetry piece, this time using the glow tool on a black background. I made a short video of this one, since I discovered that the Sketchbook app can record as you draw. Perhaps I will try to edit and post a video of the drawing being produced, its kind of neat to see. 

Lights up my brain, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000, 2026 

Digital art: Forms and figures

Another work using circular gradient fills, it turns out that if you apply gradient fill on top of another gradient fill, you get these bizarre shapes that look like birdies used in badminton. Strategic placement created a dynamic composition. 

Radio tube meld, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000

In this one I took a photo of a Vincent Van Gogh print I have hanging on the wall, then embellished the glass reflection with textural brushes and transparencies. 

Vincent reflections, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000

 

It was raining hard one day which inspired this textural work using a variety of brush tools. The under-drawing was circular, the over-drawing was on a diagonal to create visual kinetic energy. Splatter tool completed the wet look.  

Rainy day texture, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000

Using pop art composition, like Picasso or Warhol, I made a quick set of squiggles with an agitating colour scheme. It doesn't take much to convey the impression of a face with emotion. 

Worried person, Sketchbook, digital 800 x 1000 

Digital cold dip

I did a painting in 2020 called trapped under the ice, it was a very hot day and the blue colour made us feel cooler somehow. In this digital version made on Sketchbook app, I recreated the effect with concentric blue rings done in spray paint. Stamping the crack features with varying sizes created depth, and some spatter brush added an ice effect. 

Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

To make this image, I drew out the background alien with soft spray paint, used spatter brush for stars, then took a picture of my cellphone with my other cellphone. Importing the image, trimming, and over-drawing the glow fingers, completed the artwork. Luckily, the fingertips glowed where they touched the screen. 

Non-selfie, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

In this case, many different brushes were used to make a swirling effect, along with cyan bubbles. Its looking down the laundry drain. 

Laundry drain, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

This is the path that the alien took to get to work. I started with a faux-sunset with spray paint, applied stars with spatter brush, then drew over neon lines until they looked good.  

Night light show, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Finally another swirl in monochrome blue. I first applied a texture grid, warped it with the transform tool, then applies a simple swirl with a marker tool, and added spatters with stamp tool, varying the size and colour saturation. Staring at this makes me feel a little cooler! 

Warped swirl in blue, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000 

Digital heat wave

Its getting hot out here, and summer has just got underway. These digital sketches made on Sketchbook app were all of a warm colour scheme. In this one I applied a dark red (maroon) background and used the mesh tools to establish an interesting pattern, followed by consecutive stamps. Zooming in, you can see a lot of texture like inside a brain. 

Hormonal brain receptors, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Another dimension, inter-galatic planetary, according to the Beasty Boys. Varying the sharpness of the lines created extra depth. Each brush has a different hardness and softness, the markers being sharp, and the spray paint tool being soft. 

Interplanetary growth, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting with a digital painting, I smeared it, then drew a yellow outline. Trimming the edges and applying a coloured mesh completed the effect, then I made a warping effect with a transformation tool. 

Glow mask mesh, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

This one uses glow stamps and glow meshes on a blue background. Each lint ball is a tight spiral, which gets whiter at the center. Additional stamps gave the lint effect. 

Microscpic lint balls, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

This one was completed with the 'watercolour pencil' tool, which gives a braided-rug like texture. Processing it in Image J, I applied sharpening transformation to give an edgier appearance. 

Sharper swipe, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Digital giggles and thrills

Initially a colour digital artwork done on Sketchbook app, I changed it to greyscale on Image J. Image J is a free image processing program, developed at the National Institute of Health for scientists. I use it at work for image processing. I also use it at home to format my watercolour scans, and save digital images as jpeg. 

Cellular confusion (grayscale), Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting out as three interconnected loops, I gradually turned this one into a surrealist piece. In elementary school, my friends would draw a random squiggle on a piece of paper and I would turn it into a cool drawing. 

Magenta flower smoky sky, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Science inspires art, this one looks like it could have been taken by a confocal (laser scanning) microscope. I learned to use such a microscope back at Western University. 

Microscopic examination, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting with near-black coloured swirls, I over-layed neon swirls. The neon tool reacts in an interesting manner to its background. Its quite a pleasing effect. 

Neon swirl on swirl, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Not so pleasing, this one is agitating, like anger artwork. shocking yellow threads evoke a monster, with contrasting red and green patterns. Most of the composition was accomplished with stamping, then I drew over dozens of squiggles. 

Yellow lint monster, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Finally for this batch, I kept over-laying patterns and stamps until it looked like a mish-mash of arts and crafts. Then I used the mesh tool to write my initials PJD and year 26. 

Arts and crafts PJD, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000 

Digital swirls and neon whirls

More digital artwork done on Sketchbook app, I can really crank these out! I started this one with an interesting monochrome composition, like an old 19th century diagram, then over-layed modern neon colours. 

Eye to eye beams, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Using successive layers of textural drawings and varying the focus helped create this festive abstract. Cherries and mint. 

Loop d loop red and green, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting with a dark green background, like a slate chalk board, I drew neon lines in a rough grid shape. It was fun to do this one, like playing a video arcade game. 

Neon maze on slate, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

I think I wrote PJD26 in a highly stylized manner, then created a soft pastel effect with stamping and spray paint effects. 

Plant words, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

One of the stamp tools looks like a spinal column. Juxtaposing primary colours and placing dot and grid stamps completed the effect. 

Spinal meltdown, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

With a dark blue-green (cyan) background, this one used the neon brush set to white. I also applied white glow-stamps to give a sparkle, and dragged some neon blue patterns across horizontally and vertically. Perhaps I can make a few of these for computer screensaver format. 

White neon on slate, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

 

Digital hippy dippy trippy

I made these digital sketches awhile ago on my cellphone using the Sketchbook app, but with all the location painting lately I have not had the chance to post them. In this digital sketch, I created an eerie eye with absinthe-green accents and some hippy dippy s**t going on. 

Eye awareness universe, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

It took a matter of seconds to make this one, I applied a yellow-chartreuse squiggle then used gradient-fill to populate the negative space. I was like, is that it? enough said. 

Deco echo lime, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

More complex, this one looks like those 'dioramas' we used to make in elementary school. Those were shoe boxes with cardboard cutouts to make a scene. Most of this was done with stamping tools, using grey-scale. 

Starry night thorns, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

A Jackson Pollock-inspired design, these are the most fun to do. After making the tastefully coloured squiggles, I applied some paint splatter stamps to complete the effect. 

Noodle doodle green, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Finally for this lot, a PJD26 circuit breaker. I tried to remember what colour were the old circuit boards my Dad used to work on. I recall the green board with different colour resistors, and yellow channels criss crossing. 

PJD circuit breaker, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Digital Thursday: kinetic energy

I've got a folder full of digital sketches I can share from time to time. Its fun to make these because as a painter, its very difficult to produce neon-effects on a dark background. After stamping a group of neon-green rectangles onto a black background I was stumped for awhile, then came about the textural grid. Surprisingly, the grid took on a glow of its own, and I finished with reflective elements. 

Neon interior structure, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

 

After making a group of purple pastel brush strokes I left this one for awhile. Trying a few things, I drew lines over top using the 'multiply' function where colours turn "tye-dye" hippy when they overlap. The shapes were drawn not stamped. By draw, I mean with my finger on a cell-phone screen.  

Scintillation exposure, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

 

The idea here was to stamp every textural feature in the app! Varying from white to black gave a volume feeling, and I spray painted areas for a complete explosion/smoke image. It would be cool to animate this one, but I am not sure how. 

Snap explosion, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

 

Watching the 'Great Baking Show' and we see them making mirror glazes and dragging a toothpick across to create that rippled-effect on cakes. I went for that in the background using smear tools, then overlapped squiggly lines with an eye-pleasing yellow red and green combo. 

Mirror glaze, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Whatever was in the background I didn't like, so I smeared it out, then drew my initials with a highlighter pen, actually the neon tool. Some brushes do not completely cover the background, so they look transparent. Most tools have that as a feature you can adjust, its called 'opacity'. 

Highlighter smear PJD, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000 

Digital slices, selfie dimensions

Using Sketchbook app, here is a citrus-themed digital piece, using all the colours I can only make digitally. With real paint, it is not possible to create such vibrant cyan, magenta, and chartreuse colours, although the yellow is possible. 

Citrus slices, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

 

Waiting for a meeting, I took a picture of my computer and made some fantastic overlays. Its how I feel sometimes staring at my computer in the office. 

Cpmputer surprises, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000
 

Taking a selfie, then applying semi-transparent paint splatters, I created a twilight zone effect with starts and celestial details. 

Selfie paint splatters, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000
 

Here is a picture of my left hand, over-painted with neon tools and a magnetic-field all around. Its like magic, when you make digital art, electricity emanates from finger tips. 

Electric neon hand, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000
 

I started with a colourful background, then made concentric rectangles, followed by square stamp overlays. Varying the size of the stamps created a sense of dimensional depth. 

Boxes dimensions, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Digital rainy day art

With plenty of rainy days I got some digital art completed on my cellphone using the Sketchbook app. In this one I used extensive stamping tools to create spheres and splatters in the background. It all lacked contrast so I overlaid a dark purple brush, creating variety by pausing and going back over... resulting in that 'banding' effect like a DNA test.  

DNA test, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting with a simple red line, I overlaid a stamp... you can draw stamps like a brush for a chain of patterns like legs on a red millipede. Filling in the background with a mustardy yellow, then stamping more red lines and a subtle texture you can see by zooming in, and the whole thing looks like a fossil. 

Fossilized red millipede, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting with a perspective tool to make various lines, I stamped over a texture mesh, spray painted the corners, then used a paint brush tool over top. The paint brush tools will smear colours like wet oil paint. It took a few tries to get the overlay looking good. Using the back arrow undoes the last actions. 

Minty swirl textures, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Done in the midst of a rain storm, this work uses the neon brush tool but set with pastel colours. It made white lines surrounded by pastel glow effect. Normally I apply neon on a dark background, this was my first try doing it on a white background. A few other stamps gave variety and a stormy effect. 

Pastel neon rain, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

The background was done with a texture stamp brush, but I now forgot how to do the effect. It came out looking a little out of focus which was cool. Over top, I used the font tool to stamp my initials in various colours and 26. You can do a lot with fonts, including type, size, angle, rotation and even perspective. 

PJD29 shag rug, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000