Using the iPad as an Art Tool 101

(The following is from my comment on a LinkedIn forum where the person asked for advice in purchasing art apps for the iPad.)

First, any recommendations are strictly biased, based upon the preferences of the individual. That said, I have tried and owned six different tablets in the past three years (four Android and two iPads) and I definitely prefer the iPad for several important reasons. I have also owned another dozen tablets dating back around fifteen years and the iPad is the best so far for the type of art and art touch-up I do.

Regarding art apps for the iPad, there are multitudes. Since the prices are so cheap (sometimes free) I have tried around sixty, counting photo retouch apps. I categorize these drawing apps three ways: excellent; fairly good overall; and pretty worthless. In the excellent category there are around ten that I enjoy and recommend, but the one which I use about 90% of the time is ‘ArtStudio’. It normally sells for $4.99 but occasionally is on sale for $2.99… compare that to the cost of purchasing Photoshop!! It is not only a good overall art app but also includes many of Photoshop’s best features. It is quite intuitive (important trait) and once you become accustomed to it’s interface is exceptionally fast and bug-free. If the specific job doesn’t require extremely high resolution (such as billboard size) which only a traditional computer can give, I use ArtStudio as a Photoshop replacement as well as a drawing/painting app!

I have also purchased and used numerous stylus pens and once again, I have my favorite. It is actually a brush instead of a ball and is manufactured by Sensu. It sells somewhere around $40 I believe. If you prefer the ball tip, it also has one attached at the opposite end than where the brush is. Since I normally use brush and ink with traditional cartoon art, this Sensu brush hits as close to home as anything offered for tablet computing.

I hope this helps a bit… I always enjoy passing on what I’ve learned from my hundreds of waisted hours and hundreds of waisted dollars in trying out the fun technical stuff which is out there as resources for artists to expand their creative endeavors with!