Monday

Art Apps Showcase

Our art apps showcase opens with these fifteen entries, and will expand over time.  If you have a favorite art-related app that should be listed here then let us know! The list inclues some of the top drawing and painting apps for creating iPhone and iPad art, and some amazing generative/interactive apps that may be considered art in their own right.  Some were originally designed for iPhone, others were adapted for iPhone from other software.

Of course we can expect a flood of new iPad art apps in the coming months–in fact it’s already well under way. SketchBook Pro for iPad and Brushes for iPad, appeared last week with expanded “big screen” feature sets and higher download prices than previous mobile versions.

These are just the apps, but ArtCulture will be featuring a new iPad art gallery soon. Want to see yours included? Send it to us at ipadart [at] artculture.com.

Drawing and Painting Apps for Artists

SketchBook Pro for iPad and SketchBook Mobile

Autodesk Inc.

Many iPhone painters who started out with the popular Brushes app have come to prefer SketchBook Mobile for its easier-to-use interface and pencil tool (which Brushes lacks). Now with the advent of the iPad, the just-released SketchBook Pro for iPad stands poised to become the top ranking artists’ app bar none. (Autodesk reports 10,000 downloads in the first five days.) The new iPad version of SketchBook Pro comes loaded with more brushes and tool options, and new “big screen” features for easy tool selection, drawing and editing. Draw with finger-controlled brushes or use the optional Pogo stylus.

Brushes

Brushes Mobile Painting

Both Brushes and SketchBook Pro for iPad were released on April 1. While SketchBook Pro has drawn mostly rave reviews, the initial reaction to the Brushes iPad app has been a bit mixed. A number of users have been disappointed by its lack of a photo import feature, present in other apps including SketchBook Pro and Layers. Still, Brushes remains the best known art app out there thanks to publicity generated by Jorge Colombo’s New Yorker covers and David Hockney’s thumb-painted iPhone art. For finger painting purists it’s the one, and the larger iPad screen will make it a lot easier to use.

Colors!

Colors! app

Colors! is another art app contender. While it lacks the “professional” aura of SketchBook Pro and the “serious artist” credentials of Brushes, Colors is a likable app that’s a little easier to use and a little less expensive than its main competition.  Download paintings from the gallery and then watch how they were created, step by step. Continue…