Meet Lisa Filion
Lisa – aka Pixel Princess - teaches two Procreate classes, Basics & Beyond (on-demand) and Mastering Media (starts Monday, Aug. 27)
What's your background?
I've lived in Ontario, Canada, my whole life, but I enjoy traveling and experiencing new places as much as possible. I have been a high school visual arts teacher for the past 12 years and I have been creating art for as long as I can remember.
When I was a kid, I spent most of my time drawing cartoons and making crafts. I am thankful for my amazing parents who always supported my passion for art by finding the materials I needed when I got an idea.
I have an honours degree in Visual Arts and English from the University of Western Ontario as well as a degree in Education. My educational background is mostly in traditional media, especially in drawing and painting.
What do you love about the Procreate drawing app?
I love drawing in Procreate because it allows me to use every single drawing and painting medium anywhere, at anytime, and without the mess. I love traditional painting, too. But because I work in a messy art room all day, it is sometimes hard to get motivated to pull out my paints when I get home from work everyday.
When I use Procreate, I can more easily create art whenever I want to, even if I'm away from my studio. I also love how simple and yet powerful the tools in Procreate are. I've really enjoyed experimenting with creating my own brushes and patterns.
Did you ever struggle to create with digital tools?
When I first started drawing digitally, I struggled with creating art that I was proud of. I often felt that it didn't have the same random quality as I had come to expect from traditional mediums. It felt too digital.
When I started experimenting with brushes and techniques in Procreate, I began to incorporate more traditional methods of drawing and painting while using digital tools. I felt that Procreate allowed me to create work with the details, textures and unexpected nature of traditional mediums.
That being said, I still have off days when I cannot seem to achieve what I set out to do. My best advice is to just keep drawing whether that means moving on to another subject or coming back to the one you struggled with at a later date.
Also, I'm working on embracing my mistakes. Everything we do is part of our learning experience. When I look back on all of the work I have created on Sktchy over the past few years, I can see my successes as well as my failures and everything in between – and that's ok :)
How would you describe your style?
My style can be a bit eclectic, but over the past year it has evolved into something that is hopefully unique and recognizable. I would describe my most recent work as "portraiture with an abstract twist" – whether that be expressive line-work, paint splatters, vibrant colours or a bold pattern.
Which Procreate piece are you most proud of?
I really love a portrait I created a while back of Amelie Mcgarrell from Sktchy. The portrait is on a simple white canvas and the clothing is suggested by only a few expressive lines. The skin tone contains so many colours and the hair is made up of paint splatters. Compositionally, I like that it is asymmetrical and of course Amelie is an amazing model, so the pose is really dynamic. This portrait stands out to me because I see it as a turning point in the evolution of my style as a digital artist.
What is your go-to stylus?
This one is simple: the Apple Pencil! It is by far the most amazing stylus that I have ever used. When paired with iPad Pro, it has palm rejection, pressure sensitivity and it is amazingly responsive with zero lag. It feels like I am using a real pencil when I create digital art!
Sign up for Portraits in Procreate: Basics & Beyond
Sign up for Portraits in Procreate: Mastering Media