Apple highlights artist celebrating Juneteenth through iPad Pro
Apple is celebrating Juneteenth with a new video press releaseAjuan Maance, comic creator and illustrator, is featured. In celebration of the upcoming holiday, Mance is revisiting drawings she’s previously created with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, titled “The Ancestors’ Juneteenth.”
Juneteenth is the day when legally all of America saw Black people the way they’d always seen themselves: as human beings with the right to be free. My hope is that by bringing together Black people from all over history and placing them in the present, it will be a symbol for unity that shows that, no matter how scattered we are, and despite our divided past experiences of Civil War, freedom, and war, we are one community.
Ajuan Mance
Reimagine historical Black figures using iPad Pro
Mance creates historical Black characters in modern-day settings in the series of Juneteenth creations for iPad Pro. Her work reflects on the history of Black people from 1800s to now. As a work of fiction, Mance reimagines what the historical figures would be like now; who their friends would be, or even what books they’d read.
My goal is to make them feel human. These are highly respected people that I respect. But, I think we should also understand them and feel them as people who have walked before us. The earth is the same way as we are. This creates an intimacy with our history that I find empowering and inspiring.
Mance’s process of creating these stunning images utilizes Adobe Scan, Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Fresco. Prior to the iPad Pro, Mance would use a lighttable and analog tools to create her Juneteenth portraits.
She says that the iPad and Apple Pencil make drawing, manipulation, and adding color and effects easy at the micro level. The closer you look, the more you will see.
Mance started using iPad Pro and Apple Pencil when she was teaching a college-level course in digital art. This has not only improved her workflow, but also the workflow of her students. She explained that the iPad made art more accessible to artists with different skill sets. No matter what program they’re working with, the iPad “[puts] the production of art into the hands of everyone.”
Source: 9to5mac
