WHY MY ART STUDIO RUNS ON AN IPAD, KEYBOARDS, AND A DRUM MACHINE
It’s Christmas Day, a time to reflect, count our blessings, and embrace the joy—or sometimes the disappointment—of unwrapping gifts.
For some, the holiday is magical; for others, the excitement dims when a present doesn’t meet expectations.
As I vividly recall, my first Christmas gift was a little train set with rails. My parents assembled it, placed the train track in a circle around me, and then turned it on. Watching the train whiz around drove me crazy. At maybe three years old, I couldn’t track the train’s motion, so every time it passed, I thought it was a new one.
If you Google my name today, the first result is "Thomas & Friends," the toy train maker. It’s funny how the universe works.
Why start with a story about gifts?
Growing up in the '90s, in remote parts of Africa far from stores, you learned to treasure whatever your Christmas gifts. Repairs weren’t an option, and returns were unheard of. Whatever you received had to last until the next Christmas, no matter what.
Humans are natural collectors. We gather and hold onto things, often without reason. As George Carlin said, "A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff."
For me, this instinct turned into a genuine love for gadgets. I’d push buttons to see what would happen. A sound would emerge, and I’d think, “Can I make this mine? Master it? Create something uniquely my own?” That playful curiosity became the foundation of my artistic journey.
If you’re curious about the tools I use in my studio and while on the move, this article is for you.
Here’s a look at the essential gear that fuels my creativity and how I use it.
IPAD PRO M1
Although Steve Jobs introduced the iPad in 2010, three years earlier he stated,
"Who wants a stylus? You have to get them and put them away, and you lose them. Yuck! Nobody wants a stylus.”
I rarely disagreed with the guy, but he was out of his mind this time.
2014, after a logo design job I did for an overseas client, I could finally buy my first iPad - the iPad Air 2. A cousin brought it on an international flight. I started painting on it with my fingers—damn, Steve!
It was possible to craft masterpieces of art, but it required extreme concentration and dexterity. On a positive note, it was great for music; I'd plug a 49-key keyboard into it, and I could play.
Despite my efforts to take care of that tablet, it broke after a hard fall from a shelf in my apartment. The screen shattered into pieces. It still worked, but I wasn’t brave enough to risk cutting my fingers while drawing.
Yuck! Nobody wants a stylus. - Steve Jobs
I went years without an iPad until 2018 when I returned to France to fully pursue my art career. The Apple Pencil's flat edge allowed it to attach magnetically to the side of compatible iPads. I visited the Apple Store in Lille to try it out and paint something.
As I worked, a young girl paused, captivated, her father soon joining her. When I finished, he leaned closer and asked how I had done it. He wanted to know if I had any advice for his daughter, who dreamed of becoming an artist, too. That brief exchange made me think, reminding me of the power of digital art. I came from a traditional art background, but those kids were born in this digitalized tech era.
That iPad stayed on my radar. This time, I didn’t need to rely on logo design work—selling a painting would easily cover the investment, and make me far more productive and mobile.
I only upgraded to the M1 iPad Pro when I settled in New York in 2022, keeping the old one as a reference screen monitor while I was painting.
The Silicon iPad Pro is powerful and meets most of my needs. I can paint, sketch, write, edit videos, and capture musical ideas.
Over my career, I’ve had three iPads—I’m no slave to Apple marketing. Given how much content I produce, I opted for 1TB of storage. Currently, it’s half full, with additional storage managed via iCloud and an external hard drive.
On a side note, painting and sketching on the glass felt unnatural, so I applied a screen protector.
While the iPad excels in so many areas, sometimes I wish for a larger screen, a more robust battery, and the flexibility of MacOS. It’s baffling that such a powerful device remains constrained by its operating system. Not being able to run my favorite art and music software is frustrating and feels like a missed opportunity.
As I write this story, whispers about a folding iPad with a display nearing 20 inches have surfaced, hinting at a possible launch in 2028. It’s a promising idea, but for now, I’ll continue adapting to its limits.
WACOM CINTIQ 24'
Sometimes, before my ideas land on the canvas, they begin their life as digital concepts on my computer.
Wacom, a Japanese tech company established in 1983, is renowned for its graphics tablets and digital input devices. Headquartered in Kazo, Saitama, it has become a staple for professionals in the creative industry. It’s standard: from animation to design, every studio has a Wacom tablet running.
When comparing the Cintiq and the iPad for creative work, the choice largely depends on how and where I plan to use the device. For sedentary, studio-based work, nothing beats the Wacom. The biggest advantage is its large screen real estate, with sizes up to 27 inches and 4K resolution for precise, detailed work.
It also has unmatched color accuracy, making it ideal for color-sensitive projects. The Pro Pen offers 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition, providing a natural drawing experience.
However, Cintiq’s stationary design firmly roots it to the desk, making it far from portable. Combined with the fan noise, it’s best suited for a dedicated studio environment.
PROCREATE (IPAD)
A few years ago, users could utilize third-party styluses with the iPad, but these options often lacked the advanced features and performance associated with the Pencil.
Many third-party styluses were designed primarily for basic touch functions rather than precise drawing or writing. These styluses typically used rubber tips and did not support features like pressure sensitivity or palm rejection, which are essential for artists.
As I mentioned earlier, I was painting on a tablet with my fingers.
Procreate for iPad was first released in 2011; the app was developed by Savage Interactive, an Australian software company based in Tasmania, to create the best drawing app for the first iPad.
Its first version lacked several features compared to the current one. The painting engine in Procreate 1.0 used the Silica engine, while the current version uses a more advanced Metal painting engine. Layer masks, a crucial feature for non-destructive workflows, were introduced in Procreate 4 in 2017.
Animation tools, now a highlight of the app, were not included in the original release but have since evolved into Animation Assist. Modern Procreate also offers 3D painting capabilities, unavailable in its earliest versions.
Additionally, the app has grown to include hundreds of customizable brushes, advanced color tools, and a feature called Page Assist that enables the creation of multi-page digital sketchbooks.
The current version of Procreate benefits from significant performance optimizations, especially on newer iPad models, and supports a wide array of export options.
While Procreate has come a long way, It's not there yet.
For example, native vector support would allow artists to create scalable graphics without losing quality, similar to Adobe Illustrator. A more sophisticated gradient tool is another common request, as the current options can feel limited compared to other software like Photoshop.
Finally, expanded customization options for brushes and tools could further enhance the user experience, allowing me to tailor my workflow to my specific needs.
These potential enhancements could make Procreate an even more powerful tool for artists.
IPHONE 15 PRO MAX
Every year, a new iPhone hits the market, but many users, including myself, stick to their previous models. A few weeks ago, one of my clients showed me an incredible video with stunning colors and grading. He said it was shot on the iPhone 13.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is packed with amazing features, especially when it comes to recording video and managing creative projects. One standout feature is its ability to record in Log format, which captures a wider dynamic range. This is perfect because I want to have more control over my footage during editing, allowing for richer colors and better detail in both shadows and highlights.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Another notable feature is Apple ProRes recording, allowing me to save high-quality videos directly onto an external hard drive. This is a huge advantage when I am working on long projects or need to manage large files without cluttering my phone's storage.
Communication is seamless with the iPhone, thanks to iMessage. Staying in touch with clients, sharing updates, or sending video clips for feedback is effortless.
I like my iPhone but I miss the less rigid Android system.
I used to have a Samsung S21 Ultra, and I loved how easy it was to share media on social media, for example, without leaving a photo gallery app.
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS MASCHINE
Maschine is an innovative tool for music creation. It seamlessly integrates hardware and software, making the process of creating beats and tracks both intuitive and enjoyable.
The heart of Maschine is its hardware controller, which connects to my computer. There are tons of sounds in this thing. The 16 light-up pads make it effortless to play rhythms, trigger samples, and layer melodies.
It comes with software that allows me to dive deeply into my music-making process. I'd load up drum kits and instruments onto those pads and start layering beats and melodies to build a track.
Maschine combines the nostalgic charm of old-school drum machines with the efficiency and innovation of modern technology. I can sample sounds, chop them up, and rearrange them however I want. Plus, there are plenty of effects I can add to give my tracks some extra flair.
That's all I need when I am bored with painting or the oil on a canvas is drying. Maschine streamlines the process of capturing musical ideas swiftly and effectively.
GRAID HARD DRIVE
With all the work I produce, I can quickly run out of storage and space.
G-RAID is a reliable and high-performance storage solution, ideal for photography, videography, and other creative fields handling large files.
What sets G-RAID apart is its exceptional efficiency in managing digital media. I work with big painting video files so i can appreciate the performance. Available in various sizes, I chose the 24TB version.
The design is sleek. They’re made with durable aluminum, which looks good but also helps keep the drives cool during heavy use.
One major advantage of G-RAID drives is their fast file transfer speed. They are also fully compatible with Mac and Windows systems, ensuring hassle-free integration into any workflow. So far I didn't have any problems with this bad boy.
MACBOOK PRO M1 MAX
The MacBook Pro is the cornerstone of my creativity. When I got my first Macbook, it changed my whole creative process for the better.
This one has remarkable processing power and speed. Yes, the M4, which Apple released a few months ago, is faster. But I'm happy with the M1. It works, so why change it?
I like the screen and its vibrant colors and detail, like the Wacom Cintiq with calibration, the colors displayed are accurate and reliable, which is crucial for digital painting, photo editing, or video color grading tasks.
I plug my Maschine into it and I can start making music.
The latest MacOS software allows me to mirror the content of my iPhone, which is convenient. With SideCar I can also mirror the screen of the Mac to my iPad Pro and paint directly on the tablet while using the power of my laptop, running more capable software than Procreate. I'm talking about Corel Painter or Clip Studio Paint Pro, for example.
Please, no ugly stickers on the back of my Macbook, I am an artist, not a developer :)
Although I can use the Thunderbolt port to charge it, which is convenient, I wish the Macbook Pro had additional USB ports that would enhance connectivity by allowing multiple devices to be connected simultaneously without the need for a hub.
UAD APOLLO X4
When you paint music like I do, sound is important.
The Universal Audio Apollo x4 is an exceptional tool for any art studio, particularly for those merging visual art with music. One of the best things about it is the high-quality audio conversion. This means that any music or sounds I record will come out crystal clear, adding a professional touch to my creative projects.
It’s also really versatile when it comes to connecting different audio sources. I can easily plug in microphones, instruments, or other sound devices.
A standout feature of the Apollo is its ability to process audio in real-time. Like a mini mixing console, It keeps the creative flow going without interruptions.
It fits nicely on my desk without taking up too much space. This is perfect for an art studio where every inch counts.
Whether I am creating a beat or just looking for high-quality sound inspiration, this audio interface takes my artistic expression to the next level.
I wish it was less hot after long hours of work. There are also minor bugs sometimes that require restarting the computer, but I can live with that.
CONCLUSION
It’s a blessing to have access to exceptional creative tools like the one mentioned in this story.
I began with nothing more than a sheet of paper and a pencil, evolving while always remembering that true craftsmanship thrives in simple mediums.
Technology exists to enhance our ideas and help them take flight.
In a world saturated with AI, let’s not forget that pens, pencils, and brushes are divine extensions of human creativity.
An artist’s ability to quickly capture the constant flow of ideas is what stops the audience in its tracks, the process is more important than the art itself, of course, the latter has to be good.
I always keep my sketchbook close at hand, ready for action. The coordination between the mind and hand on paper is the ultimate form of technology.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comment section below.
Merry Christmas! 🎄✨
Do you like my storytelling and artistry and you would love to support?
Join my growing community and subscribe to my Patreon to see exclusive great art, read amazing stories, and more!