Can Digital Watercolour Match the Charm of Real Watercolour?

The apps used are Procreate, Sketches Pro, Concepts and Adobe Fresco.
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#adobefresco #sketchespro #procreateapp

[@hattorihanzo8385]

The most expensive digital instruments cannot give you the same experience as painting with the cheapest brush on copy paper. The humble act of applying paint on paper destroys my depression irrespective of how bad or good others think my art is.

[@jdub3853]

very well said.

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

I think doctors should prescribe patients take up watercoloring rather than meds. I can vouch that during COVID, painting has saved my sanity.

[@danrazART]

Even the quick real watercolour painting looks better than all of them! Nothing beats the real thing!

[@ArtBrain]

I think the "real watercolor" rooster is offended that you'd even consider the thought. You can see it in his face. Definitely not! ;-). The others are fun, but definitely not as good.

[@damienkearns3654]

Serves as a good alternative if traveling and don't want the mess but there's no alternative to the real thing.

[@wesleymccoy4072]

Just wanted to note something for concepts. Yes , some brushes don’t blend well but you also also have to change the opacity. Yours was at 100% when you had the second brush. You can also make a better water brush in concepts, for anyone that want to try it out. Concepts is definitely my favorite drawing app right now.

[@mrs.quills7061]

I completely understood your issue with the blending. That’s something I struggled with for a while until I found custom brushes online or simply played with the settings of the brushes already in the program. I use Clip Studio and it was a matter of going into the backend and telling the brush to blend with the layer below it or new color on the existing layer. I don’t really know why a lot of software doesn’t make the brushes naturally blend right out of the box or why their blending tools are more or less just this weird softening blur thing. I’ve also used Procreate and I think it has some great brushes that blend well. But I think it comes down to the prep beforehand and setting up things to your liking. I really liked this video, it shows both the challenges of traditional and digital mediums. It’s why it drives me mad when people insist one is easier than the other. Yes, I can zoom on the canvas and undo things, but you can lose that human touch and the control of natural blending. I spent months playing around with brushes and blending. Personally, I think oil brushes work the best for digital work. Not that watercolor can’t be done (I’ve seen beautiful work with custom brushes), but I feel because it’s a smooth surface (drawing tablet/screen) oil just feels more natural to me. Sure I can change the line opacity and add a textured background, but it’s not really the same because I’m using water to control most of it IRL.

[@pyromei]

I love watercolours on paper, but I also do a lot of digital art! Actually, the Max Pack Watercolour brushes are so fantastically good at emulating the feeling of watercolour, with the added benefit of being able to erase because it's digital. Definitely something that's worth a shot if anyone's interesting in watercolouring digitally, it's definitely been a great way to bridge between my digital and traditional art :D

[@skylimitr3270]

You should do a review for drawing apps digitally

[@duck7033]

Love the painting! It's gorgeous ❤ a very interesting video too!

[@purity2706]

This was really a helpful video and I wish you'd do some more of these. Thanks, Teoh!!

[@cayb2481]

I love your videos, you really inspire me to draw more!!

[@flavio8430]

The main reason I started studying watercolor was that I was 100% frustrated with all the software that emulate watercolor. I tested (and keep testing) a lot of apps and I must say none of them get closer to the experience of painting with real watercolors on real watercolor paper. Maybe this is one of the most difficult techniques to emulate.

[@danrazART]

Try rebelle 3 on Windows computer

[@carbon89]

First time I heard of this. Play around with demo a bit, that app is amazing.

[@shahnawazsaiyad6804]

Awesome.. The are both of really make fun.. 😍 Watercolor and digital.. 👌Great work sir

[@icannotstandmyself2548]

Such an amazing video keep it up! 😁😁

[@yardenkeidar4792]

Teoh, please give Fresco another shot!:) you can add clear water to your wet wash and create beautiful and soft transitions very easly (just hold your finger on the round button, bottom left) , plus you can choose how opaque your paint is! it mimics real watercolor like no other app i've tried :)

[@laisabel4765]

Finally! The video I was looking for!!

[@katsmith8263]

Thank you for this video!! 👍👍

[@GRAFHC]

Excellent video!

[@leaparicio]

Fresco might have the closest effect to how real watercolor runs but it’s difficult to control. I have had much better success with Sketches Pro, especially when I sketch sports events live. I’ve done it with real watercolors as well, but the convenience of not having to deal with spills or waiting for washes to dry is great. Also, you can actually paint inside museums...

[@jeffreypostma6832]

The original is very nice. In procreate, it really requires the right brush to get the right effect, and to archieve this look it sometimes means you have to work differentl´y to archieve the same look as analog. But the line art is so much nicer in the original than its digital versions, so that makes a big difference as well. Would be interesting if you scanned the original line art and did the WC in the apps. Perhaps youz would get closer then?

[@angeleatan2662]

This was a real interesting comparison! I don't have those applications, only clip studio paint but I think that traditional watercolour has more satisfaction factor. The whole process from choosing your paints, sketching, picming your paintbrushes, mixing your own colours, collecting palettes, trial and error and also watching the pigments blend together just provides more satisfaction for me! It's real different and both digital and traditional serve differ purposes I believe!! Thanks for sharing your insights Teoh! :)

[@mrs.quills7061]

I agree, I think oil brushes seem more suitable for digital. Although, I’ve found some amazing watercolor brushes for clip that blend like the real thing. It’s crazy what people make and share for free. I think if there was a transparent water blender or something that mimicked water that would be great.

[@LynnetteLiLX]

Absolutely love this painting!!!

[@gunther744]

I also think that the actual painting has a vitality and vibrancy that the digital versions do not have. From my point of view, the biggest difference is that painting with real watercolor is also a practice of meditation and spirituality, while digital painting is only technical action.

[@gosiaplummer4794]

Thanks Teoh ! Very useful review! I am thinking about using iPad for value studies and quic sketches......

[@tinglestingles]

I've never used an app to create art. I'm old school and actually like the ritual of creating art by brush, paint and paper. Reminds me of actually going fishing or playing on a fishing app. I'm thinking whatever the artist is happier using. I prefer getting my hands dirty. On another note, I think I would get far fewer discussions with people if I was sketching on an app on the outside - using an easel, paints and paper in the street could be seen as performance art by an audience. A lot of the public are interested in art even if they only painted at school. There must be something primeval about the act of painting buried deep in our brains? One benefit perhaps of an app is sketching in bad weather, easy to start, easy to pack away quickly.

[@ochagirls]

When you're doing the sketches pro I thought the chicken blinked. Maybe I'm just tired😂

[@AlexYorim]

I have discovered that you could get a deep green by setting the blue/cyan layer to Multiply and placing it over the yellow layer. And on Autodesk Sketchbook, the Marker brushes could get you a green by drawing blue/cyan over yellow.

[@caydend]

Just a quick tip you can actually change the size and opacity of brushes in sketches pro by taping and holding on the brush.

[@Lyric_bigmacmeal]

Love your videos so so so much

[@Mochicchino]

I feel like, as much as procreate is good, apple is really not worth the value. My suggestion is you do a review on Win compatible drawing programs! :) Thank you for the always amazing content! ♥

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

Like which ones exactly are you suggesting are better than Procreate?

[@Mochicchino]

@@AlphaGeekgirl I never said anything about "better" tho! :)

[@vincsenzo]

You should check Realistic Paint Studio

[@annettefournier9655]

Thanks Teoh. I like the Adobe for a digital painting. Still prefer real water and paint on paper first.😊👍

[@Zogtee]

Interesting. How does Photoshop (desktop) do with watercolour?

[@howdytherestranger2139]

With all those different apps, our art app folders look very similar lol you can’t have just one art app

[@NeKa..]

@Teoh Yi Chie This was very interesting since I am always looking to see a closest digital watercolour... Adobe fresco is one of the worst really... tayasui sketches pro is not the best but very nice indeed... Procreate is all about brushes, and after trying perhaps almost every watercolour brush under the sun, I love some handful of brushes from lettieblue... macpack watercolor is not bad either, but I keep going back to lettieblue’s brushes simply because I love the edges and blending in some, as I paint (without having to change over to smudge).... also, what do you think about rebelle 3, as it’s by far my favourite digital watercolour app (but only for pc/Mac)? Thanks

[@teohyc]

I've not tried rebelle so I can't say much.

[@carles_carbonell]

This is not like real pastel vs digital pastel; as dry media, you can obtain very similar results simulating pastels. Real watercolor is very hard to simulate in digital. Not only for fluid simulation, also due to the different shapes you can obtain with a single real brush. The most "near to real watercolor" software is Rebelle 3. I don't like Tayasui watercolors. They very nice to paint. But, when you dry the result is different compared to what you see just before you dry. On iPad (and computers) there's a new software: Realistic Studio Paint. Despite that name, really it contains a handful of digital brushes. However, those brushes are extremely good for simulating watercolors (and oils and other traditional media). Also, the color engine it's very good; for example a light shade of orange will be yellowish, a Phthalo blue will shade to cian. Thee UI is also very nice. It's a pitty you can't change the canvas size, and it's very small.

[@Niseryusei]

Double tap on the brush in tayasui to change the size and opacity of it

[@Kumal94]

Nice! I once try to get the effect by overlaying textures of watercolor paper or something like that, to accomplish it... but I failed, haha

[@SharonNolfi]

Traditional watercolor can't be duplicated by digital tools. It's more fun, too!

[@didok80]

Great comparison! You should try Infinite Painter too :)

[@shawnhalo1558]

It's amazing what you can do nowadays.

[@nourinouri7176]

This video made me wanna draw this cute rooster chicken 🐔..so cute .😍.

[@luigilomedico485]

Hey love your videos, could you do a tech review for artists designers with the dell XPS 13 2in1? If not could you tell me what do you think about it?

[@edzejandehaan9265]

Real paint on real paper! I personally need the "restriction" of the real world. I mean if you mix to many colors you get mud, if you overwork an area, your paper will pill, or it will not look good, you have to watch your paint/water ratio etc etc etc. Digitally all this does not matter, do what you like, you can always go back. Paradoxally that is not positive for me, I need the possibility/danger of "screwing it up completely", to carefully plan and execute a sketch or painting. Does that make any sense...?

[@vaughnigami2588]

Yes! I totally agree. The excitement of trying to control watercolor and not mess it up. Like wet-in-wet washes. It's the reason I chose watercolor over acrylics. There's also just not really much skill in doing a digital drawing, because like you said, you can always go back.

[@aylinbegum5744]

Hi Teoh ! I just want to say that digital painting is not able to reproduce the granulating effects of the Primatek one Pigment from Daniel Smith. Digital painting for sketchers is useful when they cannot carry all the supplies for watercolors, so they can sketch in any circomtance.

[@haloiniastrid]

I think there's some other brushes that act just like watercolor in procreate, many artists create their own brushes and there are many that looks and feels just like real watercolor, never tried them tho!

[@aylinbegum5744]

yes I also seen that but I did not know the name of the softwares. I am not sure that procreate is the best to customize brushes to imitate watercolors because of what I saw with procreate, it was more like air brush as said Teoh.

[@asian2go96]

The reason your colors didn't blend at all when you were in procreate was because you didn't have the brush set to "multiply" in the blending mode. You actually can make some real looking watercolor paintings in procreate if you know what you are doing and have the right brush set.

[@skylimitr3270]

Love it 😍 FIRST!

[@ajwalker4416]

Seems Sketches Pro is only available for iOS. There used to be an Android version when it was still called Tayasui Sketches but since the name change, it's disappeared from the Android Play Store. Sad since that really did look like the best app for digital watercolor.

[@LeftyPencil]

No luck sideloading it from an archive site? Edit: got it from apkpure, used my finger to scribble and it made a pressures line! though you needed a dedicated pen device for that! thanks :D limited export but I'm gonna like around

[@ajwalker4416]

@@LeftyPencil I found it still on the Google Play Store under the old name of the app. Search for the iOS name and it won't appear but if you look for it under the old name he mentions, it pops up.

[@fenton_cornucopia]

I've just bought a Samsung Galaxy tab S8 which comes with an S Pen Pro. I want to learn to urban sketch digitally, to replace my pen and watercolour while travelling, so your video was very useful, thanks. Just a question though (and sorry if you mentioned it in the video and I missed it) but do you use a matt screen protector?

[@teohyc]

For Samsung tablets, matte screen protector is not needed. Just get a flip cover case will do

[@fenton_cornucopia]

@@teohyc I find the glass a bit slippery for drawing after only ever having sketched on paper. I'd like to try one for the extra friction but have heard they can wear down the nib. Thanks for your input anyway. Your reviews and guides are so useful. Keep up the good work!

[@johndripper]

bro can u do a review of lg v60 drawing experience pls thanks

[@rayeng4127]

Have u tried artrage?

[@Maystro_eg]

Have you tried ( Realistic Paint ) app , try it , real tools real feels

[@aurakh2444]

Can the colors be printed accurately?

[@balutpenoy2009]

Sketches Pro has an opacity and size toolbar similar to Procreate. I think you need to unhide it.

[@toxotis70]

There are many realistic water color brushes from procreate in the net...you have to search a while.

[@cisp360]

Currently, the only app that I can get as close to real watercolor is Expresii. You MUST try it, Teoh. But no matter what app you use, you have to understand that you need to work with the app the way it is designed to work. In other words, you cannot expect to apply paints like the real thing on your monitor.

[@benjamina6915]

Have you tried Escape Motions Rebelle 3? It does a very good job too.

[@cisp360]

@@benjamina6915 I have used Rebelle since version 2. I own rebelle 3 and all of their paper textures. But I rarely use rebelle anymore. When I bought Expresii, if I want watercolor, it would be either the real thing or Expresii. I am worried that Expresii will make my real watercolor skill rusty :)). This just to tell you how good Expresii is. You can have 15000x15000 document in expresii. You can see every paper fiber in Expresii. And it is so fast.

[@benjamina6915]

@@cisp360 Rebelle isn't fast that's for sure. Sounds good.

[@toxotis70]

and the newer adobe fresco just came out!

[@OperationDecoded]

If you use tools that are not designed to emulate watercolors properly you can't expect good results. That's like using a fineliner and complaining it doesn't look like water colors. Try Rebelle 3, all I'm saying. That thing can do water colors like none of these can.

[@BinaryDood]

Can you try the official TvPaint App for the Android? I would like to see someone test it out. The APK is on their website---

[@chedoodles]

this is real interesting! but nothing neats the real watercolor magic

[@65sunnyday]

Before watching the video, I would say - NO!!! After watching the video - I stand with my original opinion!

[@robogat_the_real]

Definitely digital has to be considered a technique in itself. Nothing to share with real watercolour. That said, I think digital is an open frontier toward new and different forma of art but, please, do not compare it with traditional technique, at least until the next software evolution.

[@davidmonteiro6822]

Rebelle4

[@melissabridge5687]

I prefer the real watercolor.

[@mariaturner371]

I enjoyed watching this video. As for me I would love to continue practicing doing digital watercolor art. I think both are so fun to use and do when it comes to doing art. This video reminded me of another video that I really enjoyed and I would highly check out this video and try out the watercolor brush set that this person made. It would make it a lot easier to do digital watercolor in procreate. You might enjoy it and maybe you can post another video of doing digital watercolor art. Here is the video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX6tkqB9fZljY80

[@andypandy3736]

i dont rate procreate for natural media like oils or water colour the best app on the ipad for this is Art Set 4 by LOFOPI fantastic effects like the real media.....for everything else procreate is good

[@zerocalvin]

digital watercolor cant be compare with the real thing as it doesnt recreate all the aspect of watercolor like how the paint move on paper, perfect color blending, granulation and color separation.. to recreate all those aspect require it to be done by the painter manually which is a lot more work.. so at that point might as well just paint with real watercolor and take a photo or even scan your work afterward.

[@WMARUoriginal]

I really like the watercolor brushes on Clip Studio. Hope you can do a follow up with that one.

[@sesevesp831]

sorry for my english, I think that in few years the digital tecnology will surpass traditional.

[@bivitabrata3188]

I don't think in the term of art like this, technology would surpass any traditional one. The goal is to mimic traditional art, not to surpass it. If I'd like to call it "surpassing" traditional painting, is how digital painting already did since the beginning of its birth, which is creating perfect sweep of paint without blotches, consistent colors no matter how you reapply it randomly.

[@peter2065]

You don't use the blend tool at the top of the menu. I think you don't know enough about Procreate because you can really create work with watercolor properties.

[@teohyc]

Most of my Procreate work is opaque

[@cathychats]

No, even Adobe Fresco doesnt look like the real watercolor and Fresco offers the best watercolor flow at the moment if I'm correct

[@Testudio]

In my opinion, Sketches Pro and Concepts were better