Saturday, July 30, 2016

Drawing Spider-man on the iPad Pro in Procreate


So here is my latest drawing of Spidey on the iPad Pro using the program Procreate.  I must say I am really enjoying this tablet.  And Procreate is making the drawing process feel very natural as well.  With some of the best perspective tools I have seen and even a handy "Quickline" feature that I have not seen anywhere else.  Not that keeps the same brush effect anyways.  So this drawing was created with the new setup and I am pretty happy with it.  It still isn't as finished of a piece as I would do on my Cintiq but it allows me to create on the move and still get to a close enough rendering where I can touch it up on my desktop if I have to.  But really I don't think I would need to.   I like the rough
pencil look I get on this program.  Looks more like drawing on paper in my opinion.

You can see a quick demonstration of the perspective tools of Procreate along with the Quick line feature here - https://youtu.be/gkKI4FHtVr8

More on the way real soon and be sure to let me know what characters you would like to see in future drawings!

For more of my Digital Content please visit my Gumroad at -

To Support my Art and my Videos please visit my Patreon page at -

Thanks for stopping by!

Robert A. Marzullo
Ram Studios Comics

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Custom Photoshop CC Brushes for Digital Painting - 50 Pack of Textures and Effects



Here is my new brush set for  Photoshop CC.  It is now available on my Gumroad page here - 


This set includes line art brushes, background textures, skin and noise brushes, scratches, rock textures, 2 new hair brushes, stars, sparkles, abstract effects, and much more.  You can see all the brushes in a demonstration here - 


When you purchase a set from my Gumroad you also get updates for free on this particular brush pack.  So any modifications I make or any new brush creations along the way will be included as an update to this brush set.  You are also welcome to comment on the video link and tell me what brush creation you might like to see in the future and I will take that into consideration as well.

This brush set should be a nice well rounded set for any beginner to intermediate digital painter.  This is the set that I use for all my Photoshop CC paintings so you can view my work and know what you can expect to be able to do.  Or better! :)

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Painting!!

Robert A. Marzullo
Ram Studios Comics

Follow me on My Gumroad for Update on New Brushes and Video Tutorials -


Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Drawing Comics on the iPad Pro by Robert A. Marzullo


Here is one of my first sketches on the iPad Pro and I must say I am hooked!  Right out of the box this sucker performs really well.  I immediately jumped on Procreate because I had used it a few times in the past on my iPad Air but felt it was still a bit too rough with the plain stylus or my finger.  But the new iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil makes all the difference in the world.  I truly see myself switching this this device for at least 50% of my work flow.  Let me explain why.  To start I want to first say that I was saving up to get a Cintiq Companion 2 because I am huge Wacom fan which you probably already know if you watch my Youtube channel.  I love their devices BUT after reading tons of reviews I was a bit skeptical on buying the Companion. ( Which you should never buy a companion. You should fall in love with someone and have a meaning relationship.....oh, sorry.  That is a different type of Companion. lol )  Anyways, I am sure they are still amazing devices that will run full sized applications like Photoshop, Zbrush, Manga Studio, etc but I really just wanted portability and speed which the iPad Pro delivers all the way!  

The other amazing thing about the iPad Pro is the long battery life.  I can draw all day on that device without charging.  You get a full 10 hours of battery life with a full charge and the Apple Pencil charges really fast!  If you plug it into the iPad Pro for 15 seconds it gives you an immediate 30 minutes of use.  How cool is that!?!  It also runs flawless with no lag.  None that I can find anyways and I work with pretty large files when I draw or paint.  The other nice feature is that it is so quick to jump in and start working.  No boot up times and no wait.  That is huge when you are multi tasking like I am.  And very important when you are drawing comics and what to quickly sketch an idea down so you don't lose it.

Now most professional artist will say, "That all sounds great but I need a full working system to do what I do."  And for the most part you are probably correct.  But think of it like this, if you have to lug around a full computer to do every aspect of your work then you may need to trim some fat.  Drawing and painting should be a fluid process.  You don't want all this other stuff in the way of your creativity and that is what the portable devices are all about.  Not to mention, Procreate does an amazing job at being as powerful as Photoshop in a lot of ways.  It even saves out your work in a time lapse video, so for someone like me who likes to share his work on Youtube almost daily that is a HUGE plus!

Another thing that they got right is the Apple pencil's feel.  It handles like a real pencil.  One of the things that I never fully enjoyed about the Wacom devices was the larger stylus.  They just feel too bulky for a natural drawing experience.  The Apple Pencil feels just about right.

So can I see myself drawing my comics on this device.  Yep!  The inking is even awesome on this device. ( That will be in an upcoming video so be sure to stop by the channel. )
I am already drawing panels from my comic on this beast and then transferring them over to my desktop to compile them in Manga Studio 5.

In closing - Will this tablet replace my Cintiq and desktop, probably not.  Does it add a huge dynamic and functionality to my work flow. Damn straight skippy!  If you are like me and you draw for 12 hours a day then you would love the idea of taking some of that show on the road.  And this device is perfect for that! ;)



This was my very first sketch on the iPad Pro with Procreate.  Just under 2 hours.

You can use my affiliate link here to check out the iPad Pro on Amazon -

For Video Tutorials and My Custom Brushes please visit -



Saturday, July 2, 2016

How to Digitally Paint in Manga Studio 5 - Lesson 3 is Now Available on my Gumroad


Link to Lesson - https://gum.co/RwSWo


Lesson 3 of 5 - Creating a Fantasy Art Style Tree

This is a step by step process that where I demonstrate my techniques in painting with Manga Studio 5 EX - Clip Studio Paint Pro and narrate the entire process. This 3rd lesson is entirely in real time at 2 Hours and 51 Minutes. I am using a Wacom Tablet to create this artwork.

3.1 In this lesson we will be going straight to paint without drawing any line work.  This is different from the rest of this course but it is an important study when trying to improve your digital painting skills.  I will show you how to create a silhouette of our project and then apply effects to the concept. We will purposely make changes to the study throughout the lesson to show you that painting this way can be fun and lead to new ideas.  That you don't necessarily have to draw everything out but you can if you prefer. 

3.2 This lesson will also cover how to create custom brushes inside of Manga Studio 5 and why they can be huge time savers for certain aspects of your digital paint work.  We will use them to enhance our painting and add texture to areas that need it.  You will get copies of all the brushes created in this lesson as well.
This Lesson Includes -
 1.  The Real Time Video File with Audio Commentary at 2 Hours and 51 Minutes.

2.  The PSD Layered Artwork to Study From.  ( Manga Studio Supports PSD's as well )

3.  The Custom Brushes Used to Make this Lesson and a Few Extras! ;)

It is my pleasure to teach you this lesson and I hope you will watch the other lessons from this course as they all teach specific topics for Digitally Painting in Manga Studio 5 / Clip Studio Paint Pro.  Thank you for watching and good luck with your Art!