Procreate

Altered Ego: Daily Notes App Drawing

| Patricia

“There’s a mysterious alter ego in everyone. Some call it hallucination, some call it art.” Bhavik Sarkhedi, Author and Branding Expert

This Daily Drawing is part of a recent series of posts showing work that was created in the Apple Notes App (essentially a writing app) using just the basic drawing tools within the text-based app. The basic art is sometimes resized and enhanced in Procreate 5  on my 12.9” iPad Pro. Over the past year or so I have experimented with simple drawings made with these rudimentary drawing tools iPad Pro using a second-generation Apple Pencil as my sketching pencil, ink pen and paint brush. 

Altered Ego Notes Drawing June 18, 2025

I often write a paragraph or two story idea reflecting my daily Notes app sketch. Here is an excerpt from the Altered Ego work-in-progress story:

“She woke up feeling fuzzy-headed, one foot still in the sleep world and the other planted firmly on the floor beside her bed, feeling something heavy and oppressive commanding her thoughts. Thoughts that were still back in the realm of the sleeping, not quite connecting with the waking world.”


This exercise has been an effort to show that all the bells and whistles contained in dedicated paint applications are not always needed to create interesting art. If you try the experiment of sketching in the Notes app with its in-app drawing tools, please post a link to your work in the comment section.

All artwork and creative writing is Copyright ©️ of Patricia White. No use of this content or concept may be used without the express permission of the artist/author.

Notes App Drawing – World of Many Suns

| Patricia

“If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the mighty one.” ~ from the Bhagavad Gita, a quote made famous by J. Robert Oppenheimer in reference to the atomic bomb.


What would happen if the earth was thrown into a system with multiple suns? Would it survive? Could it adapt? If life was sustained, how would it be different?

This Daily Drawing is part of a recent series of posts showing work that was created in the Apple Notes App (essentially a writing app) using just the basic drawing tools within the text-based app. The basic art is sometimes resized and enhanced in Procreate 5 on my 12.9” iPad Pro. 

Over the past year or so I have experimented with simple drawings made with these rudimentary drawing tools iPad Pro using a second-generation Apple Pencil as my sketching pencil, ink pen and paint brush. This exercise has been an effort to show that all the bells and whistles contained in dedicated paint applications are not always needed to create something interesting where there was nothing before.

If you try the experiment of sketching in the Notes app with its in-app drawing tools, please post a link to your work in the comment section.



All artwork and creative writing is Copyright ©️ of Patricia White. No use of this content or concept may be used without the express permission of the artist/author.

Analogue collage Digitally-Enhanced

| Patricia

“The word ‘collage’ comes from the French word “coller” which means to stick together or to glue.”

What is collage art in simple words?

Collage is an art-making technique where pieces of paper, pictures, and other things are arranged and stuck down onto a surface. It often includes magazine and newspaper clippings (though I generally like to use only content I have created), photographs, ribbons, paint, bits of colored or handmade papers, portions of other artwork or texts, and other found items.

I have always loved creating collage art. Enjoying the extra dimension of layers of added paper or other materials.

This small piece was created some months ago. I started by ripping pieces from a landscape texture sheet in one of my sketchbooks, shaping as I tore, to use as the broad areas of the apple shape. Then I added paint splatters and a light was in the background. The black ink lines were added in Procreate 5 on my 12.9” iPad Pro.

I am currently working on publishing a book of my Apple artwork. I have 25-30 Apple art works at present.

Do you incorporate collage into your art? If so, please post a link to your work in the comment section.

All artwork and creative writing is Copyright ©️ of Patricia White. No use of this content or concept may be used without the express permission of the artist/author.

notes app drawing: SightLines

| Patricia

“Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” ~ Jonathan Swift

Another of my daily scribbles using the simple drawing tools offered in the Apple Notes app. Edited in Procreate on my 12.9” iPad Pro. I dubbed this drawing “Sightlines“ to represent the volumes of information that we are taking in and processing every day. This is a particularly virulent time in history, politically, environmentally and technologically. Trying to keep up with the latest news while dealing with the vagaries of life can be overwhelming. We artists and writers generally internalize the environment around us and these events can appear in our work—often unconsciously. How do current events affect your work?

The chronic arthritis in my shoulders complicates the making of traditional analog art. On days when it is particularly problematic, I often draw on my iPad Pro in apps such as Procreate, Adobe Fresco and other dedicated painting apps. Lately, however, I have been enjoying the simplicity of the Apple Notes app drawing tools as a vehicle for creativity. I generally use the Apple Pencil for navigating around the tablet to cause less stress on my hands. In this drawing I primarily used the Notes app pencil and crayon tools. If you are dealing with arthritis or another challenge, what are some ways that you continue to be able do your creative work? Would love to hear from you in the comments.

All artwork and creative writing is copyright ©️ of Patricia White. No use of this content or concept may be used without the express permission of the artist/author.

Paint Like CÉZANNE

| Patricia

Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one’s sensations.”
– Paul Cezanne

Over the past months I have been reacquainting myself with many of the master artists of the past. Most of them came from traditional roots and many were ridiculed when they broke with tradition to explore other ways of looking at and depicting a subject. They are also the artists we revere the most all these generations later.

This is my quick study, working title ‘Paint Like Cézanne’

All artwork and creative writing is Copyright ©️ of Patricia White. No use of this content or concept may be used without the express permission of the artist/author.

‘I’m Still Here’—an illustration in recognition of International Women’s Day 2023

| Patricia

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” ~ Madeleine Albright

March 8, 2023: – ‘I’M STILL HERE’, an illustration. A woman, seemingly cobbled together from disparate parts, to become a whole person, seems appropriate to recognize INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, a global day to celebrate women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements.

While there is some way to go, today marks a time to raise awareness of the progress made toward achieving true gender equality and the work still to be done.

The beginnings of International Women’s Day can be traced back to the early twentieth century. Emerging from the labour movements in Europe and North America, reflecting a call for women’s equal participation in society. International Women’s Day first took place on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, when over a million women and men attended public events to show their support.

Other countries began to celebrate this day, with the United Nations recognizing 1975 as International Women’s Year; celebrating March 8 as International Women’s Day—a day of unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy, and action and is celebrated in many countries worldwide. https:// www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day

Artwork Copyright ©️ Patricia White 2022

Paint Like CÉZANNE

| Patricia

“Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one’s sensations.”
– Paul Cezanne

Over the past months I have been reacquainting myself with many of the master artists of the past. Most of them came from traditional roots and many were ridiculed when they broke with tradition to explore other ways of looking at and depicting a subject. They are also the artists we revere the most all these generations later.

This is my quick study, working title ‘Paint Like Cézanne’

All artwork and creative writing is Copyright ©️ of Patricia White. No use of this content or concept may be used without the express permission of the artist/author.

All artwork and creative writing is Copyright ©️ of Patricia White. No use of this content or concept may be used without the express permission of the artist/author.

October 12, 2021 Daily Practice

| Patricia

“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” ~Pablo Picasso

AUTUMN’S COMING WIP

I’ve been in file-backup-hell all week. Changing web providers and spent hours this week cleaning up a slew of email accounts. Wreaking havoc with my hand and arm pain so scribbled on my iPad today.

Not wild about it as a whole but there are parts that I had fun exploring. was trying for a bright coloured autumn’ish’ landscape with a large bank of clouds dominating the piece.

It feels unfinished but the DAILY DRAWING mantra is to just get something down on paper or tablet :

”DO NOT OBSESS”.

Artwork Copyright Patricia White 2021.

Origins

| Patricia

DRIVEN to ABSTRACTION: I invite my FB friends (who I recognize generally seem to enjoy my more realistic figurative art) to COMMENT on one of my recent abstract pieces. I like to throw these expressionist pieces into the mix every once in a while to ‘DISTURB the CONTINUUM’. This piece (working title ‘ORIGINS’) was an effort to recognize black history month by noting the DIVERSITY that makes up the HUMAN race. This iteration EVOLVED from a more figurative early sketch into this abstracted piece that ELIMINATES distracting DETAIL in favour of more contained shapes that MELD into, and become PART of, each other. Subtle desaturated colour indicates differences in skin colour that, while important, shifts the focus to our common humanity. The shaded space where the eyes are located create an interesting dynamic that is not easy to define. Some depths we have not plumbed? Or do not wish to see? I enjoy making ART that challenges the viewer to THINK beyond the canvas. P. S. Late in 2020 I started using my iPad Pro as a virtual sketch pad to be used as a concept tool to create traditional paint and paper or canvas works.

Artwork Copyright Patricia White 2021.