Digital artist Kyle Lambert has become an advocate for finger painting with the iPad. At his Macworld Expo presentation on Thursday, January 27 at 10:30am, Lambert will talk about his art and demonstrate how he utilizes the Mac, iPad and iPhone in his work.

What is it about making art with the iPad that appeals to you?

For a long time I had wanted a digital sketchbook that was portable and powerful enough to sketch and paint away from the studio. Once I got used to painting with my finger instead of a brush or stylus, the iPad met these needs perfectly. I think that Apple's multi-touch technology has introduced a new way of creating art that is fun and incredibly direct, which artists like myself are naturally curious to experiment with. What excites me about the iPad also is the affordability of both the device and the digital painting applications--this will hopefully get a lot more people interested in digital artwork.

Does the Mac platform still offer any benefits to an artist that the PC world doesn’t?

The teams at Apple do an incredible job of making everything powerful, polished and easy to use. Having said that though, there are no “Art Features” that make a Mac better because in most cases the applications are cross-platform. But in my opinion Mac OS X is much better suited to creative types. The main disadvantage of the Mac is that once you use one, you then want everyone else to use one too.
 

Do you still make analog art? Do you/would you enjoy going back to non-digital mediums?

Not as much as I used to, but I am always open to use the appropriate medium to suite the project I am working on. Working digitally gives you such a massive set of tools and options but nothing can simulate the feel and quality of working with real paint.  But I have certainly found that my experience with no-digital mediums has helped give my digital work a more natural quality.

You're primarily using Photoshop, rather than a "drawing" program? Why?

I have been using Photoshop for about ten years, so I feel very comfortable working with it. Although other packages have better "drawing" specific features, I have always felt that overall Photoshop offers the most powerful creative tool set.

How do you like Photoshop's (CS5) new brush engine?

The new brush engine is pretty exciting because it gives you much more realistic and natural brush strokes.  I'm really looking forward to having a good play with it on future paintings.
 

What are your future goals for your work?

I am always looking for interesting ideas to push my work in different directions. I am keen to produce more story related artwork and continue to experiment with 3D modelling and animation. My long term goal is to get a job in the art department of a studio working on animated films.

 
You can see more of Kyle’s work at  http://www.kylelambert.co.uk/gallery/