When considering what art classes to offer the community, we try to offer familiar favorites while also introducing new concepts. Speaking to the latter, we decided to put forward a class series in an entirely new art medium—digital!

Parker Taylor is a local artist with a deep knowledge of Procreate. Parker has designed logos, art, and merchandise for both personal endeavors and through commission from several organizations and businesses, including the City of Pikeville, Pikeville Pride, and even an entire clothing line for local, small business Appcycled. We approached Parker and asked if she would be interested in leading some Procreate classes with Pike County Community Arts and she immediately agreed.

We decided to break the classes up into two styles—a basic 101 style class and a more intermediate 102 class. The 101 class walked participants through the basic components of Procreate, building familiarity with the interface, tools, and actions that can be taken in the app. Students were also asked to put their new knowledge to use by drawing a rabbit at the end of class. It was incredible to see how creative people got with such a small prompt! The 102 class will offer an opportunity to draw along with Parker for more hands-on instruction, allowing everyone to leave class with a completed digital drawing of their own.

This series also allowed us to get more “techy” than usual. We connected a laptop to a projector which ran an informational PowerPoint, which is not uncommon, but we also connected an iPad to a large screen TV which allowed those in class to view Parker’s iPad in real time as she moved through the Procreate app and showed people exactly where and how it functions.

Overall, this has been a very exciting new offering in Pike County. We’ve been asked to offer it as a Zoom class as well, and other Extension Offices have also asked for more information, being inspired to offer similar classes in their own counties.