Sketchbook Pro for iPad

Here's my take on the iPad app Sketchbook Pro. This is one of two apps I've already purchased for my art classes at Apex High School.  The other app, which I might give a review on later, is Layers.

Layers is a great starter program because it has some of the same features as Sketchbook Pro but with less options making it a little simpler to use. However, once you get a handle on using the tools and layer concept (which doesn't take long), you'll probably be looking for something with a little more umph. Enter Sketchbook Pro.

One of the nice features that many of these drawing apps come with is layers (layers as a tool not to be confused with Layers the App). Here you see a screen shot of the layers menu in Sketchbook Pro. You'll notice I have all the layers turned off (the little red X going through the eyeball icon) revealing only the sketch layer. I like to start out with a simple pencil sketch like this one. The beauty of layers is I can always turn it off later. 

For the second layer, I modeled in a lot of color using the airbrush tool. Although the app Layers has a really nice smudge tool, Sketchbook Pro allows me to adjust the opacity of the tool I'm using. This way I can spray colors on top of colors. 

Another really nice feature of Sketchbook Pro is all the different brushes it comes with. In the image above you can see the 8 little grey icons. These represent some of the different brushes available. I can swipe that menu and reveal more brushes. Plus I'm pretty sure I can add more brushes (though I haven't tried that yet). 

For the above layer you can see how I'm applying different brush types to another layer. All the different brushes add a lot of nice texture to the illustration.  Another cool feature is the ability to change the layer mode. It's on normal now but I could change it to Screen or Multiply.. etc.

Finally Sketchbook Pro comes with a bunch of goofy stamps... clouds, little people, bugs and butterflies.. a little corny and canned but they are fun to play with. Plus, I'm pretty sure, like custom brushes, that I can create my own stamps.  

There are a lot of other exciting options that I haven't mentioned.. like the transform tool that lets you rotate and resize your image. Or the symmetry tool that mirrors on the right everything you draw on the left. Want a butterfly with perfectly symmetrical wings??? Sketchbook pro also provides a full range of image sending options... email it, post to Twitter or Facebook, etc...

If your just looking for something fun and easy to use, I'd recommend you check out Art Set. If you are looking for something a little more grown up but still easy to use, give Layers a whirl. If you're looking for a big-boy (or girl) drawing app, Sketchbook Pro is detailed enough to do some serious damage.

Art Set on iPad

So I downloaded Art Set for my iPad.. it's not a "professional" drawing app.. it's more like a box of crayons.. and I love it!

It doesn't have layers ... Booo!!  And good!! Because to be honest, I rely too much on layers to make stuff look cool in other apps. Art Set is like a box of crayons and a piece of paper. Actually, some of these illustrations I wish I had created on paper....

Speaking of paper, Art Set has a bunch of different colored papers and textures. Another yay!

The only thing I wish Art Set had was the ability to post directly to Twitter and Facebook. It does allow you to save it to your photos and from there you can Tweet.. and email so you can FB. IDK, Sketchbook lets me post to Twitter and FB so I'm spoiled.

This is Zonkey Love Number 1. Art Set does let you make a copy of stuff so if you get to a good point and are afraid you'll mess up or just want to experiment, make a copy and have at it..

Tha'ts what I did for Zonkey Love #2 and i'm pretty happy with it. Now this is one I really wish I had made of paper. In fact, I might go get me some paper and try to recreate this in real life... 

Stay tuned!!

Secret... SSssshssss!

This guy lives in secret in the pond in your backyard. You never see him but he's there, mostly submerged and hidden among the weeds.

Both illustrations created on my Ipad using Sketchbook Pro.

Zonkey Says...

So this is the final piece I created for the Halle 2012 exhibit

it's titled Zonkey Says...

I went to the store and bought some spray paint...

And i bought some magnetic alphabet letters...

And some thin metal sheets and some tin snips...

and i cut out the metal and painted it white and glued it down to the frame and added the zonkey and the alphabet letters and...

then I took it to the show..

and people made the zonkey say stuff and it was fun.

iPad Wallpaper

This guy makes the best iPad wallpaper!

Go ahead, download him and make him your wallpaper.

You won't be disappointed!

Sketchbook Pro

Meanwhile... Sketchbook Pro has lots of different brushes and stamps and stuff. Plus, like Layers, it has layers.. plus you can change the mode of the layers to stuff like multiply and screen and whatnot. It's pretty cool.

This is the second illustration I created using sketchbook... just playing with the brushes and the stamps and stuff. I titled it Thinking :)

Meanwhile... Layers

So meanwhile, I'm trying to find a decent drawing program on the ipad. So far I've downloaded Layers, Sketchbook and 123D Sculpt, a 3D program. All i've messed with is Layers. 

what I like about layers is how simple it is. It has a brush, an eraser and a smudgy finger. That and of course, layers. I'll probably start my students off learning this program because of how simple and basic it is. 

First, I just wanted to sketch in layers, try out different brushes and stuff but without any real concern for the image. Then i wanted to take that first image and see if i could make it a little more 3dish. 

Now I need to move on and try sketchbook. it's got a lot more options. then onto the real 3D world 123D Sculpt. how very exciting, yes I know!

Don't Want to Jump The Shark

So this weekend I made some Critter Shelves, which is something I've wanted to do for a while now... even though I'm not real keen on having an exhibit // all this I explained in my last post.

I thought maybe it would be funny to give the critters some attitude so I gave them thought bubbles that said mean things. I thought it was sort of funny cause you have these sort of cute critters being sort of not cute.. but in honesty, I didn't really like them.. even though I thought they worked..

Then, an anonymous commenter wrote that I had jumped the shark! Ouch! I don't want to jump the shark! However, I had been thinking of another idea all along.. here it is...

I'm going to leave the thought bubble blank. Also, I'm going to make it out of some kind of white, metallic metal (or are all metallics metal?). 

Then, I'm going to get me some of them magnet letters like the ones above. I'll spray paint them all one solid color.. probably black... and leave then on the shelf.

Now, it will be up to the viewer to decide what the critter says. Like your critters mean? Write some thing mean. Like your critters nice? .. you get the idea.

Then these book shelves can sit in my studio forever cause I'm not having anymore shows... 

but that's that's another post.

Mean Bookshelves

Even though I pretty much decided I didn't want to show in galleries anymore.. oh, did I mention that? Well, I told myself the Block Gallery would be my last show... and for two reasons. 

First, I didn't have the best experience. Don't get me wrong, it's a great gallery and Hannah did so much to put on a great show. Still, it wasn't me.

Second, it wasn't me. I'm more a paint a bus, paint a billboard kind of guy. I like the public art. Especially the outdoor art.

With that said, I always thought I got a little bit ahead of myself with the larger bookshelves. The first bookshelf I created was for only one critter. It was simple and worked well. Also, I liked the idea of the written message but again, I felt the need to write as much as possible. 

So I thought, what if I made the smaller shelf with only one critter and only one message? But what would that message be? 

My critters have always been fun and happy so i thought it might be interesting to see another side of them. What if they told you what they really thought about you? A little critter honesty. 

These aren't even completed.. they are sort of prototypes but what do you think? 

Comments welcomed!