How to use this Page

In my previous post, “Painting by App Part I,” I talked about using Brushes and Sketchbook Pro and showed samples of my work made with these apps.

The next two apps I tried were Procreate and Artrage, this time with a stylus called a Sensu Brush. The Sensu brush was a gift (thanks, in-laws!) and I have to say, drawing on the iPad is a way better experience with it. Finger painting on a device is totally fun and may suit your needs, but if you want more control, definitely get a quality stylus.

The stylus itself isn’t magical, but it’s much more like drawing with a pen, and, in the case of the Sensu, with a brush. The Sensu has a rubberish tip on one side and a brush on the other. As far as I can tell the bristles themselves don’t really seem different from those on a regular watercolor brush, but I haven’t done an iPad comparison. Have you?

The Christmas tree image above was made using Procreate. What I love about Procreate is the ability to change not only colors, tools, and stroke width but also the paint load and tons of variations of brush stroke. Changing the “load” and brush type means you can control how much color you want on your brush and the shape your brush makes, plus the amount of water that’s mixed with your paint. These items are key to making your digital image look  painterly.

The following three images were made using Artrage, which is my favorite art app so far. Here’s why:

1) Artrage not only lets you paint with virtual oils or acrylics, it lets you squirt them out on the screen and mix them with your brush (or other tools). This feature alone makes the pricetag ($6.99) worth it.

2) You can upload a reference photo and pin it in the corner of your screen while you’re painting. So cool.

3) You can zoom in and out of your painting so you can work on detail areas or see the big picture quickly.

4) You can choose from among many paper and canvas options in any color you like.

5) Another favorite feature! You can change the drying time to your paint. This doesn’t sound like much, but it allows you to either mix colors on the canvas or, in the case of oils, pretend several days have passed and it’s “dry” enough to paint on top of your underpainting. Sweet.

6) You can add “water” or “solvent” (depending on your paint type) to thin it down. Like the drying time, this feature allows you to control how your current paint color will interact with the colors you’ve already painted.

7) There’s a wide variety of choices of how your brush carries the paint. I’m personally a fan of the dry brush options.

One wish for Artrage, and it’s a small one, is that you could use the edge of the palette knife for scraping off color (currently I can only figure how to use the flat of the knife for mixing).

The images below were done at Cedar Cliff Lake in North Carolina. The first is an earlier version of the second image. The last is somewhat unfinished but I figured I’d go ahead and share.

All of the apps I tried have their strong points, and in the end, you have to decide what you really want out of an art app. Is it a quick sketching tool for you, or are you interested in creating more intricate pieces? Do you want to approximate watercolors, pen and ink, or oils? You can make beautiful images with all of them, but for more painterly effects, I would go for Procreate or Artrage, and Artrage is definitely the choice for anyone wanting an acrylic or oil paint look.

I’d also like to try Auryn Ink, a watercolor app, but recent reviews of it (regarding compatbility with the new iPad) were pretty poor, so I’m hoping they’ll update soon.

Thanks for hanging with me through this lengthy and fairly technical post. Back to regularish programming soon!

p.s. On an unrelated note, I just heard an interview with Lindi Ortega and was totally mesmerized by her music. Try this tune here. She’s kind of a modern Johnny Cash/ Dolly Parton mashup though maybe more on the rockabilly side than strict country. She’s playing at the Evening Muse tonight in Charlotte. Wish I could go! Let me know if you do.

In my previous post, “Painting by App Part I,” I talked about using Brushes and Sketchbook Pro and showed samples of my work made with these apps.

The next two apps I tried were Procreate and Artrage, this time with a stylus called a Sensu Brush. The Sensu brush was a gift (thanks, in-laws!) and I have to say, drawing on the iPad is a way better experience with it. Finger painting on a device is totally fun and may suit your needs, but if you want more control, definitely get a quality stylus.

The stylus itself isn’t magical, but it’s much more like drawing with a pen, and, in the case of the Sensu, with a brush. The Sensu has a rubberish tip on one side and a brush on the other. As far as I can tell the bristles themselves don’t really seem different from those on a regular watercolor brush, but I haven’t done an iPad comparison. Have you?

The Christmas tree image above was made using Procreate. What I love about Procreate is the ability to change not only colors, tools, and stroke width but also the paint load and tons of variations of brush stroke. Changing the “load” and brush type means you can control how much color you want on your brush and the shape your brush makes, plus the amount of water that’s mixed with your paint. These items are key to making your digital image look  painterly.

The following three images were made using Artrage, which is my favorite art app so far. Here’s why:

1) Artrage not only lets you paint with virtual oils or acrylics, it lets you squirt them out on the screen and mix them with your brush (or other tools). This feature alone makes the pricetag ($6.99) worth it.

2) You can upload a reference photo and pin it in the corner of your screen while you’re painting. So cool.

3) You can zoom in and out of your painting so you can work on detail areas or see the big picture quickly.

4) You can choose from among many paper and canvas options in any color you like.

5) Another favorite feature! You can change the drying time to your paint. This doesn’t sound like much, but it allows you to either mix colors on the canvas or, in the case of oils, pretend several days have passed and it’s “dry” enough to paint on top of your underpainting. Sweet.

6) You can add “water” or “solvent” (depending on your paint type) to thin it down. Like the drying time, this feature allows you to control how your current paint color will interact with the colors you’ve already painted.

7) There’s a wide variety of choices of how your brush carries the paint. I’m personally a fan of the dry brush options.

One wish for Artrage, and it’s a small one, is that you could use the edge of the palette knife for scraping off color (currently I can only figure how to use the flat of the knife for mixing).

The images below were done at Cedar Cliff Lake in North Carolina. The first is an earlier version of the second image. The last is somewhat unfinished but I figured I’d go ahead and share.

All of the apps I tried have their strong points, and in the end, you have to decide what you really want out of an art app. Is it a quick sketching tool for you, or are you interested in creating more intricate pieces? Do you want to approximate watercolors, pen and ink, or oils? You can make beautiful images with all of them, but for more painterly effects, I would go for Procreate or Artrage, and Artrage is definitely the choice for anyone wanting an acrylic or oil paint look.

I’d also like to try Auryn Ink, a watercolor app, but recent reviews of it (regarding compatbility with the new iPad) were pretty poor, so I’m hoping they’ll update soon.

Thanks for hanging with me through this lengthy and fairly technical post. Back to regularish programming soon!

p.s. On an unrelated note, I just heard an interview with Lindi Ortega and was totally mesmerized by her music. Try this tune here. She’s kind of a modern Johnny Cash/ Dolly Parton mashup though maybe more on the rockabilly side than strict country. She’s playing at the Evening Muse tonight in Charlotte. Wish I could go! Let me know if you do.

Ever since seeing David Hockney’s iPad art at the Louisiana Museum outside Copenhagen, I’d been wanting to try it myself.

Now that I have an iPad, I read this article about painting/ drawing apps and jumped right in. The good thing is many of the apps are free or have a free trial version, so it’s a low-risk leap.

Here’s my first stab at it:

Yes, my feet are gorgeous! I know, I know. You don’t have to tell me. I drew this with my fingers using Brushes (the same app David Hockney uses). Brushes is wonderfully simple and great for quick impressions.The picture is nothing special, but on the iPad itself, my kids love being able to watch the video of how it came together. I couldn’t get that feature to transfer here, but if you know how to do it, give me a shout.

Here’s a funny article about trying to become David Hockney via Brushes. You can guess how that turned out.

Below are a couple of sketches made using the free trial version of Sketchbook Pro. These are also done with my fingers, both in Florida where the hubs and I had a nice relaxing week to ourselves in early December.

Sketchbook Pro lets you to easily change brush size and tool choice (i.e. brush, airbrush, pencil). And with both programs, it’s easy to get just the color you want with the stroke of a finger. Sketchbook Pro lets you make colors more or less transparent, which makes for some cool effects. It takes a bit of getting used to, though, that the paint is so consistent. In other words, your “paint” doesn’t really blend with other colors, and it never runs out.

The “paint” is most like watercolor, though unlike watercolor, you can undo your strokes as often as you like. You could easily get carried away with self-correction. I tried not to but used ”undo” as an excuse to take risks I wouldn’t have taken with real watercolors. I think that’s one of the greatest strengths of all of the art apps I’ve tried—the ability to try new things with no risk, and to make a picture quickly without getting out and putting away all of your materials.

Using your finger to draw is a little clunky. These three were all done before I got my Sensu Brush/ Stylus, and now that I have it, I’ll probably skip finger drawing.

I enjoyed both of these apps, but I found myself wanting more features and more detail. I decided it was time to try the apps with pricetags. More about app art to come.

If you make art on your mobile device, what do you do with the images? David Hockney prefers to let his iPad work live only in the digital world, but I think it could be reproduced a number of ways. What do you think? Have you tried producing a “real” version of your digital images? I’d love to hear how it’s gone.

iPad Kids App Review by Renny Fong

Write On by Bacciz Apps

online link to Write On Preview: 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/write-on/id436149870?mt=8

Bacciz site: http://bacciz.com/index.php

YouTube demo of the Write On app:

If you’re looking for a pre-schooler friendly app that will get your child into the writing spirit, then you’ve got a winner with Write On.  Bacciz recognizes the importance of learning the proper strokes in forming letters.  This will make for fewer frustrations down the line for you and your children when they start writing prolifically later on.  The app does a fantastic job of modeling how each letter is formed and allowing for your child to practice his or her writing in a very enjoyable setting.  Write On gives your child a wonderful head start in learning their letters, sounds, and animals.  Both you and your child will start pre-school with more confidence, knowing that they’ve already mastered the alphabet.

Learning Block Letters

Write On Homescreen

The homescreen has the whole alphabet displayed with inviting wide-eyed animals next to their corresponding letters.  Kids LOVE animals, and these animals are very appealing to the eyes.  Tapping on the speaker icon will play a wonderful rendition of the alphabet song, which your child will be sure to play and sing along to again and again and again.  The letters are highlighted as the song is sung, so your child can learn each letter in no time.  Tapping each individual letter will take your child to the handwriting page introducing that letter, its beginning sound, and an animal that begins with that letter.  (A new 99 cent add-on allows you to add 70+ more animals to the app.)  A short animation is played when you tap on the animals.  If you tap on the letters (upper-case and lower-case), it will announce the letter, the sound, and will also demonstrate how to write it.  Your child can trace the letters in blue, green, red, or yellow.  If you have a stylus, it will give your child an even better feel of writing the letters and words.  The eraser serves as an undo button.  There is even an option to learn the cursive letters!  Young children appreciate the “sophisticated” letters, too.

0 Comments on iPad Kids App Review: Write On as of 1/1/1900

iPad Kids App Review by Renny Fong

FlyingBooks Reader by Flyingbooks LTD

online link to FlyingBooks Reader Preview:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eebooreader/id466277060?ls=1&mt=8

FlyingBooks site:  http://www.flyingbooks.co/

My YouTube demo of the FlyingBooks app:

FlyingBooks Reader is a terrific interactive e-book reader for kids with many cool additional features (and more to come in the very near future). It allows you to create different personal profiles so one e-book can be read aloud and recorded by many different narrators. So, if you’re away on a trip, or if the grandparents are not in town, your child can still feel that bond of reading with loved ones. Better yet, if you’re on a road trip and you have the iPad in your hands, you can listen to recordings of your child reading to you! Another feature your child will love is the ability to create your own books with the photos from your iPad Camera Roll or you can take live shots with your iPad camera and put them right into a book. You can also add text and record your voice(s), too. Cool, right?

FlyingBooks e-store

Create Your Own Books!

Record your own narration!

In terms of book choices, the FlyingBooks store currently offers over 40 books, which are labeled with recommended age levels. More and more books are being added, as they are getting a great response from talented and passionate writers from all over the world. Currently, the book narrations can be heard in English, German, French, and Spanish. Another great feature is that you can see a short trailer of each book when you tap on it. You could also download a demo of the book, which lets you preview and listen to a few pages, so you and your child can decide if the story is a right fit for you. Each book costs $2.99. There are some discounted bundles available, too. In the coming weeks, mini puzzles will be offered for each book to encourage active learning, along with coloring pages. There will also be an auto-play option on the read-to-me feature to make it easier for the little ones.

The FlyingBooks app is a FREE download, so I highly recommend you give it a try. Go ahead. Create a book. Download a demo. Record yourself. Record your child. Let the joy of reading begin!

Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! by Mo Willems and You

iPad Kids App Review by Renny Fong

online link to Pigeon Presents…
http://www.pigeonpresents.com/

online link to Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! Preview
http://www.pigeonpresents.com/book-info-pigeon-app.aspx

YouTube preview to the app.

At $6.99, Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! by Mo Willems, is one of the more expensive apps for kids out there, but if your child’s a fan (like mine) of Mo Willems and his books, then this app is worth every one of your 699 pennies.

This app was perfect for my five-year-old (recommended for ages 3-7), as he was able to draw the pigeon with guided help from Mo Willems, record himself by answering some questions, and listen to his words being incorporated into a quirky animated story again and again and again.  Kids love that.  Basically, the story is about the pigeon wanting to do something, while the audience keeps saying a resounding, “NO!”  This reminded me a lot of Sesame Street, and it turns out that Mo Willems worked there once upon a time.  The plotline is basically the same each time, but there are various points in the story where words are substituted, much like Mad Libs, so the content changes.

There are three levels of interactions with the story.  The first level (Egg) will play a random version of the story, with or without the text.  All the word substitutions allow for many different versions of the same storyline. The second level (Chick) allows you to choose a food, a number, a game, character, a stinky thing, and something you won’t allow the pigeon to do.  These choices also vary.  After recording your name, the story plays with the choices you made incorporated into the story.  The third level (Big Pigeon) allows you to personally record answers to questions (similar to level 2), and then plays the story incorporating the recorded clips.  In this level, you can choose to save up to six recorded stories at a time.

My son also loved that he could just draw a black and white drawing on his own and save it to the iPad.  The last saved drawing is also incorporated into the story.  How cool is that?  You and your child might also enjoy shaking the pigeon, as long as you like.

Here’s my son’ take on the app…

$6.99?  Worth it.

Renny Fong has been an educator for over 15 years, teaching pre-kindergarten through fifth grade; he currently teaches technology.  His wife and his five-year-old son are his biggest joy and inspiration.  He started his blog, TimeOutDad, in September 2009 and has been a contributor to Book Dads since 2010 and KidZui’s blog since May 2011.

iPad Kids App Review by Renny Fong

VivaKids’ ABC by 1KStudios 

online link to VivaKids.tv:

http://vivakids.tv/ipad-app-vivakids-abc 

online link to iTunes Preview:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vivakids-abc/id444653246?mt=8

YouTube preview to the app:

VivaKids’ ABC is one of the most creative and artistic made-for-kids apps that I’ve seen (and played with) on the iPad.  Toddlers and pre-kindergartners will be sure to love learning the alphabet through this incredibly “organic” app.  It combines art and design with mesmerizing music, stop-motion video, animation and photography.

Ulrike Kerber, the creative director of VivaKids.tv, developed this concept because she was dissatisfied with much of the “cheesy, flat and digital looking” media that young children are often exposed to.  She wanted children to learn in a fun, playful, and loving way.  This app provides the wit and charm for kids and adults, as it brings the alphabet to life with dazzling displays of imagination and creativity.  Even though the app is viewed on a two-dimensional surface, the animations and images pop out with have their vibrant color, shape, and texture.

As children swipe through the alphabet and touch a letter, they are able to view artistically captivating video clips associated with that letter and a corresponding word or words.  It has a Sesame Street style to it, presenting and teaching each letter in a very fun and creative way.  When children “click” on the palette icon, they are able to “paint,” trace, and fill in each letter with their fingers or a stylus (if you have one).

A few minutes of play, and it just boggled my mind how much time, thought, and creativity must have gone into the development of this app.  VivaKids’ ABC will be sure to bring out the artist in your little ones, and thoroughly impress the alphabet on their imaginative minds.

Renny Fong has been an educator for over 15 years, teaching pre-kindergarten through fifth grade; he currently teaches technology.  His wife and his five-year-old son are his biggest joy and inspiration.  He started his blog, TimeOutDad, in September 2009 and has been a contributor to Book Dads since 2010 and KidZui’s blog since May 2011.