Yesterday my parents told us that they had a surprise for us and that we should try to guess what it was until after lunch. My brother asked random questions from his excitement( he loves surprises) like:

“A hamster?”

“No.” My mom said.

“A dog?”

“No.”

“A bunny?”

“No.”

“Is it food?”

“Nope.”

“I give up.”

Through the time period of our question and answer trial, my assumptions were a bit more… Vivid in my own way:

“Sooooooo amma, is this so called surprise my binder dividers?” I have been torturing my parents to get me binder dividers because I need them for my math binder in seventh grade and school starts more or less in forty eight to seventy two hours. (The twenty second of August to be exact) I am quite desperate at the moment. Okay enough about my mind’s current torment. Back to the post.

“No Kanmani, appa said he will get them before schools starts. And the surprise is for everyone and you and Madhavan have to share it.”

“Okay…. So is this a material that will need my undivided attention?”

“Well, when your using it you have to just be a little careful.”

“Is this object of sorts biotic or abiotic?”

“Uh……”

“Living or non-living?” I defined the previous words.

“Non-living.”

“Will this be a crucial tool to my existence?”

“Erm……. Depends on how you use it and what you use it for, so I guess not that crucial but I guess crucial to your soul? I honestly don’t even know the answer to that question..”

“Oh here’s a follow up question, related to the previous question.”

“Okay.”

“Is this as important as oxygen, water, vitamins and minerals, and sleep?”

“I…. Uh… Um…. I…. Don’t…. Know.”

“I admit, I am having some trouble piecing this together.” I conceded with a shrug of my shoulders. Then my mom told my brother and i to go on upstairs for the surprise. She followed suite with my little sister clinging onto her hip. I clambered up the stairs, my attention fully on the book in my hand. My brother hopped on each step, two at a time and scrambled into the main bedroom where my dad was seated, he looked as excited as me when I found out when we were going to have a little baby sister months before Thulasi’s birth. And trust me, I was a whole other level of charged.

I flopped onto the bed as my father went into his computer storage closet. My mom sat beside me “Hey, maybe it’s the IPad Pro anf the Apple pencil that I’ve been wanting since Apple Camp started.” I snorted at my own joke. But my mom just grinned like she was insane. My dad came in with a huge Ebay box.

“Okay ready for the surprise?”

“YUP!” My brother said.

“Whatever.” I said with a wave of my hand, From past experiences, I wouldn’t have been surprised if his gift was another cardboard box with a paper inside saying “SIKE!”

“Okay, get ready.” He said before pulling out…… A used roll of clear tape.

I laughed hysterically along with my mom and sister with my brothers look of shock as my dad kept a poker face.

“Okay, okay, for real this time.” And then lo and behold….. a pack of paperclips.

“Okay, for real this time.” He said with a crazy grin that was equivalent to my mothers.

“I’m out. Peace.” I said about to crawl out of the bed. But my mother grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down. Man, that woman is strong…..

“Okay, here it is.” My dad said. And he pulled out two white boxes, one with the IPad Pro. The other smaller, thinner box with a picture of the Apple Pencil.

“OH MY GODS!” I screamed. (I bet you people heard me in Berlin. ) I nearly kicked my brother in the face. My brother wasn’t nearly as happy as I. His face was literally. Eh, another iPad with another fancy stylus, been there done that. These were tools that professional artists and writers used for their work. I felt like a hypocrite just touching and opening the boxes. I don’t deserve to have my hands on such competent technology that’s let alone, designed for competent people, who have competent jobs and hobbies, and are competent people who live competent lives! I’m ranting aren’t I. Yeah, sorry. Anyway, my parents let us touch it and my dad put on the protect glass covering, and a new black, rubber case on the IPad with a little loop that you could put the pencil in. My dad explained that the IPad Pro had something called “True Tone” that was first introduced through the IPad Pro. True tone adapts to the light in the area or room that you are in. Unlike previous pieces of technology where it would stay a bright titanium white. I was bewildered with this new thought brought to life by an incredible company. I asked my dad if this had split screen like in the Mac books and Apple desktop computers. When he said yes I got really riled up. I mean look how advanced technology has become! My dad demonstrated the iPad split screen to me this morning. So basically I can( draw or doodle)and write at the same time!

With all this, I thought back to when my dad and I were in the Apple store. Apple Camp session had ended for that day and my dad and I were just playing with the IPad Pro’s and using the Apple Pencils. I was coloring in a coloring app, my dad doing the same. As I shaded in a peacock with teal, with a watercolor medium on the pencil, I told my dad in a hushed tone. “I kinda wish we could get these, I mean they are such awesome tools. Well, I guess maybe if I had my own career and own bank account or something, I can buy one. But that’ll be in what ten years? Eh, a soul can dream. My dad had a thoughtful look on his face as we walked out of the pristine store. And now, nearly a month later, I was holding it in my own hands sketching and drawing. Moments before my dad let my brother use one of the coloring apps for a little bit after he set the IPad up and got a a drawing and coloring app. I was happy he got Pro Create because I heard that it was an incredible app for artists with digital art. I sat there on my bed, the IPad in my lap.

I was mindlessly twirling the Apple Pencil in my fingers like I would a normal pencil while I thought of what to draw. I started just playing around with the options in the Pro Create app. Playing with the color wheel, looking through the endless amount of colors, playing with each medium, using each pencil surface. I loved the different types of sketching tools you could use, like and HB pencil, a typical number two pencil, a gel pen, a marker, a water brush, an air brush, oil paintbrush, watercolor brush. So many things to use! There are so many options and even now as I’m still playing with it, I find at least sixteen other options and mediums I didn’t know was even on. I tapped on the HB pencil option in the little dashboard and started sketching out a cartoony, not very good, deformed looking eye. I realized that even as my palm rested on the screen, every time I lifted it or fidgeted, it didn’t leave a mark on the canvas like it would usually do in another drawing/painting app. I mindlessly drew random parts of the body, scribbles, hair, excetera. But then as I continued the eye, ideas started crowding my head like birds in a cage waiting to be freed. I drew for three or four hours before stopping. After i finished my dad showed me this amazing feature where the app basically just films every, single, freaking, thing that you draw on the canvas. I love that feature and it’s just awesome to see everything come together on the screen.

Since it was my first time doing a full on sketch on a screen with a stylus. pencil like tool. The drawing looks terrible( well to me at least) and doesn’t look nearly as good as what I would’ve done regularly in a sketch book. But like I said, don’t judge me, it’s my first time using a digital surface for drawing and I’m still pretty stupid with these mediums and drawings. i mean the first sketches I did looked like something a child would’ve done. In there sleep! But I’m starting to get a bit better.

• Below I have added the drawing( sorry it’s kinda blurry looking cause I zoomed it up to fit the post) and I have also added the video the app filmed with what I had drawn.