by Mike Riley, iPhone Life Magazine

VISUAL DESIGN ON THE iPAD

PROFESSIONAL-LEVEL APPS FOR THE SERIOUS ARTIST AND DESIGNER

By Mike Riley

THE WORK OF IPAD SCREEN ARTISTS IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING; IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT SUCH IMAGERY WAS CREATED WITH A FINGER, AN IPAD, AND A FEW APPS.

We all have some experience using our fingers as a drawing tool. Our first introduction may have been finger paints, poster boards or even drawing on wet sand. As we hone and refine our talent, we extend our skills with pencils, makers and brushes. Reverting back to finger drawing can be uncomfortable at first, but our early instincts quickly resurface, and even the most stubborn of us end up embracing the iPad ‘s touch interphase.

iPad art apps usually fall into two categories: amateur and professional. Let’s take a look at the best professional-level, visual design apps on the iPad.

ArtRage

$6.99, app2.me/3292

iPhone Life Magazine Editor's Choice
 

Based on the desktop version of the same name, ArtRage for iPad is a high-end drawing program that simulates all essential drawing surfaces and mediums. These include traditional painting tools like oil and watercolor brushes, and paint rollers and airbrushes that you can apply to simulated canvases with varying textures and drawing properties. You can also select sketching and inking tools like pencil, chalk, crayon, ink and felt pen types. Each tool simulates effects in the visual style and properties you would expect from real-world counterparts. Colors are available via a standard color range palette or via a more organic paint tube and palette mixer. You can use your finger on the screen to smear in just the right amount of paint blob for each color. ArtRage also features unique tracing tools that let you import photos and match the paints and inks to the photo’s color palette. Multi-Touch gestures give you the ability to effortlessly scale and rotate images, making it easy to work on highly detailed areas. Speaking of Multi-Touch, ArtRage makes extensive use of touch within its user interface. Like other serious art programs, all ArtRage tool palettes are off-screen to give more space to the drawing surface. It takes a little effort to get oriented to the collapsible ‘pods’ that can pop on and off the screen. Fortunately, palettes can be tacked to the screen for permanent access. This can be especially useful if you’re frequently selecting colors and drawing tools, and it can help you get better acquainted with the location and function of various palette items.

ArtRage files can be sized up to 1400 by 1400 pixels. They are compatible with the desktop version of the program and can be transferred via iTunes, Photo Library export or sent via email attachment directly from within the application. After overcoming the orientation jitters, I found ArtRage to be one of the most polished and professionally optimized iPad drawing programs designed for serious artists looking for a best-of-breed tool.
 

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