The first Star Trek television series aired in 1966 and showed us a future where humanity had learned to live together in relative peace. A time where money no longer mattered and technology improved every aspect of life. Star Trek, and its subsequent spinoffs series and movies, predicted wireless communications, digital writing and reading pads, virtual assistants, and encounters with beings from other planets. While we’re still waiting on that first contact with aliens, we’ve already been graced with smartphones, tablets, and Siri.
Apple released the first iPhone on June 29, 2007 and the world has been changed ever since. Three generations of iPhones later and Apple launched the first iPad. This revolutionary device gave us the first real glimpse of Star Trek as reality. It allowed us to read books, write documents, watch movies, play games, and create art – all with the touch of a finger. Since then, the iPad has become a tool found in the home, office, local hospital, public school, and art studios around the world.
When Apple introduced the iPad Pro, it took the idea of the iPad and bumped it up to the next level. It comes in two sizes, 12.9” and 9.7”, and has a vivid Retina display. These are high resolution screens with built-in light sensors that make reading more natural and comfortable. Beneath the screen is the A9X chip that gives the iPad Pro the power it needs to accomplish tasks that only a workstation or PC was able to handle. The cameras on the front (8 and 12 megapixels) and back (FaceTime HD) give users the ability to shoot beautiful photos and video (including shooting and editing in 4k) and capture the world around them. Despite all that’s going on under the hood, the iPad Pro still remains extremely portable with the larger model only weighing a pound and a half. I literally use my iPad Pro the entire time I’m awake. I take it with me to work and use it all day for things like taking notes, planning projects, and listening to music. When I get home from work, I’m still hooked, browsing the internet, social media, reading or watching movies.
It’s not just the iPad Pro itself but the accessories that have been introduced alongside it that have made this device a must for all creative people. First off, is the Smart Keyboard. It’s a full size keyboard that also acts as a protective cover. The keyboard connects to the iPad via the Smart Connector on the side and uses this connection to power the keyboard. No more having to charge each part separately. There’s also no need to do any sort of special connecting – just attach the keyboard and start typing. The other must-have accessory is the Apple Pencil. This is so much more than a stylus. Using a blue tooth connection, the Apple Pencil combines pressure and tilt to vary line weight, create subtle shading, and a whole host of other effects. It’s truly like using a regular pen or pencil. The responsiveness and lack of lag allows you to create as you would in non-digital form but with an ease that you’ll only find on the iPad Pro.
The iPad Pro is truly a content creation machine. Combined with the over 2 million apps available in the App Store, the freedom you have is unlimited. People are already finding new ways to use the iPad and its accessories, making it possible to revolutionize workflow across industries. Apple has already given us the iPhone and the iPad, perhaps the Apple Holodeck is next?
Antoine Deman aka. YEP!, Pop Culture Artist, France
Antoine Deman, also known as YEP!, is an illustrator, graphic designer, and character designer from Lille, France. He previously worked in a communication agency specializing in packaging for almost 9 years.
“What inspires me is the cinema, TV series, musical and pop culture in general. My style is vector and I draw exclusively on the computer and my iPad. Since I discovered Adobe Draw on the iPad, not a day goes by without me drawing something.”
Nico Racicot, Illustrator, Canada
Nico Racicot is an actor and illustrator from Toronto/Montreal, Canada and works under the name, Lez Autres. His fashion-forward drawings are inspired by androgyny, gender norms and social injustice.
“I use Adobe Illustrator Draw when sketching on my iPad because I love the simplicity of the program. The iPad Pro has allowed me to experiment and make bolder choices. My art constantly evolves as I discover a new brush stroke or apply fresh colour techniques. iPad Pro allows me to create very precise and detailed textures. By zooming in on the screen and adjusting the paint brush I can create really cool textures just like you see on the catwalk!“
Jon Kudelka, Satirical Cartoonist, Australia
Jon Kudelka is a satirical cartoonist from South Hobart, Australia. His work appears regularly in print via The Australian and The Hobart Mercury. He has won multiple awards for his work including the Walkley Award for Best Cartoon, the ACA Stanley Award for Best Political Cartoonist, and the National Museum of Australia Cartoonist of the Year Award.
“My style is quite stripped back for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I feel a looser style of drawing enables me to say things that are a bit further off-base than a more realistic look and secondly, most of my cartoons these days go on the front page of the paper, which is necessarily a small space and a lot of detail doesn’t work.To make a looser style work, you really need a digital interface that works pretty closely to pen and paper and Procreate with the iPad gets very close to that.
The iPad pro has really freed me up from my studio. The killer feature for me is the sheer portability of the iPad and the way you can use it just like a sketchpad. I love the freedom of being able to find a quiet corner wherever I am and be able to take a piece of work all the way through to being print-ready and then emailing it off for publication.”
Fred Giovannitti, Inventor/Tattoo Artist, USA
Hailing from Delaware USA, Fred Giovannitti is a tattoo artist and inventor/philanthropist. He is an internationally known artist and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience developing trend-setting marketing strategies and ground-breaking ideas.
“My art is inspired on a daily basis by the love I share for my family. Especially my children and their ability to remind how the world looks through a child’s eyes. Since using the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil, my collaborations have resulted in much brighter and more expressive outcomes. I feel that is mostly due to the infinite range of simulated artistic mediums such as brushes, paints, pencils and canvases offered by drawing apps such as Procreate, which I use regularly. When it comes to tattooing, I am now able to quickly put together a visual example overlaid on a picture that I just snapped of the body part that the tattoo is intended to go on. My favourite feature of the iPad Pro/Apple Pencil is the lack of lag from stylus to application, the tilt sensors and the palm rejection.”
James JJ Acuna, Architect, Hong Kong
James (JJ) Acuna is an architect/interior designer based in Hong Kong and Manila. He’s been featured in Dwell Asia, Magazine, New York Magazine, Monocle24, The Urbaniste, Vanity Fair Italia, and MR Porter the Journal.
“All cities inspire me. Textures of old and new and the intersection of heritage cultures and contemporary styles are fascinating to me. iPad Pro is one more tool I use to allow me to live a completely mobile existence. In Asia I can be based in Hong Kong but do work in Thailand, Philippines, China, Vietnam, etc. My favourite part about the iPad Pro is the screen size of the larger version and the pencil. I really am able to mark up drawings via Good Notes to my Technical teams in Manila and am able to display work via the Sketchup and Autocad viewers for iOS. It’s fabulous.”
Written by Kevin Joseph
I’m more of a designer than artist, I’ve used a few XP-Pen drawing tablets, including Artist monitors .
I’ve been looking for portable device that works well for sketching and illustration as well as media consumption and fun.
iPad Pro combined with the pencil looks quite promising so far.
You’ll love it!