I’ve been meaning to write a quick catch-up article since January, just after my new book launched.

Squirrelled away in my attic for two years writing my new book Digital Collage with Procreate, it’s taken me a few months to catch up with everything that I’ve let slide in my life (oh – you know the little – but very important things, like getting new glasses, getting exercise, seeing friends and family, paying attention to the house repairs – this 200 old year house needs a lot of tlc)…and now it is May already! – so here it is…a brief summary of the book writing process.

The process

If you’ve written a book before, you’ll know it’s a pretty intense process that requires the strictest of discipline and dedication in order to get work done. There must be a structure, goals to work towards so he initial stages started with a mind-map of everything I wanted to include which formulates the structure and, in theory, gives me parameters to work within (ha! ha!). 

After a few months of turning up to my computer every day around 8am (preceded by a 10 min walk to work around the block), I handed in the first draft of Chapter 1 to the editor to check everything was tickety-boo and I was on the right track – which I was. This set me free to write in confidence the rest of the chapters, checking in with the publisher every few weeks and several months later, I handed in most of the chapters (with double the amount of pages originally discussed). During these months of writing the book, I’d also written hundreds of emails between contributors, editors and contacts, collected, created and edited a ton of images to illustrate the pages and tested tutorials. At this point I had a couple of week’s breather to catch up with my life and then on to the edits, locating missing or finding new images and chasing contributors for images and articles. 

This process was immediately followed by several rounds of proof reading (which I would print out on my home printer to give my eyes a rest from the screen), rigorous tutorial testing and difficult decision-making regarding the cover and design of the book.

In between all of this I was writing my regular articles for Mobiography magazine and hosting workshops (one in a tent in the middle of Dorset for three days with my fabulous supportive partner) and any free time spent walking the seafront, buying food and trips to see our son in Cardiff. (About 3.5 hours drive).  It’s been a ton of hard work but I have enjoyed the process very much!

Once the book was published and ready to pre-order, the promotion stage kicked in and it’s hard to know where to stop as every day seems another opportunity to share the joy of creating with Procreate with another artist, whether they were just starting out in Procreate or had been working with it for a while – Big chunks of my days were spent answering messages about the book and responding to wonderful feedback as well as commenting and reposting the fantastic works that were being created (and are still being created) from the step-by-step projects – this is one of my favourite parts of the process. I also really enjoyed thinking of new ways to share the book’s exercises and projects and spent many week’s creating little videos and insta stories.

I couldn’t be happier! – The response to the book has been and still is amazing!! – I get messages and emails almost everyday from people sharing different aspects of the book they have enjoyed which is incredibly gratifying and rewarding. 

Stunning informative book, perfectly formatted for iPad and iPhone
“Jam packed with detailed “how to”, instructions and example projects to walk you through the concepts. Plenty of room to do your own work rather than always just using the instructors downloads.”
Leneola, US.

The Ultimate Guide to Procreate
“I ordered and received this wonderful book just a couple of weeks ago. Although I’ve been using Procreate for some time, I’ve discovered so much that I wasn’t aware of previously. It’s such a comprehensive guide and contains a full chapter on the essentials of using Procreate. Every single chapter is packed full of information and interesting projects. Huge thanks to Nicki Fitz-Gerald for creating such a detailed, colourful and instructive book on how to create mixed-media art on your iPad. Her book now has pride of place next to my comfy chair where I sit to create my own iPad art. I can honestly say that I’ve picked it up to read and consult every single day since it arrived.”
Peter W. UK

A fantastic digital collage teaching tool!
“I am so excited to have this book! I love learning and this book methodically led me into creating wonderful digital collage pieces! The instructions are clear and concise. The artwork in the book is beautiful! There are many exercises for practice and also a friendly group where you can post your finished pieces if you so desire.”
Nancy S. US

Order a copy of the book here.

Writing Digital Collage with Procreate has been both an exhilarating and exhausting experience but I couldn’t be more proud of the final book. My publishers at Rocky Nook were and still are a fantastic support and made the journey fell less lonely as did the many of you who contacted me with encouragement and ideas during the process and of course all of the contributors who allowed me to publish their wonderful work. Huge thanks to all of you who have purchased a copy (and sometimes copies). I am very grateful and pleased to share with you the amazing creative possibilities of this wonderful app, Procreate when mixed with a little imagination.

Enjoying the book? – please leave a review

If you are enjoying the book, please leave a review or star rating on Amazon or Goodreads (or both) – it all helps! It can just be a sentence or two, copied and pasted from the wonderful words you have already written to me in messages or from your comments in the Facebook Group.

Thank you those of you who have already posted your lovely feedback on the book and projects. I really appreciate it.

….and so it is May already and I have some wonderful news coming up soon in the next article including a Free lesson and a brand new class plus my journey into print and selling work.

Make sure you are signed up to my occasional email to be the first to hear about these and more digital artistry news coming in the next few weeks.

Thanks to all of you who continue to buy my classes, books and generally support my work. I am very grateful.

= Nicki = ♥️📱🎨