So I got to thinkin’ as my husband and older two went off to watch the latest Harry Potter movie in 3-D…What am I waiting for? Artrage is only the price of a movie ticket (or less) at 6.99. (PLEASE see the NEWS below!!!!!!) And Maddie and I would have so much fun! And we did!

And we continue to! To say that a nine year old is much more able to figure out technology than her forty-something year old mom, is an understatement. But I’m happy to report to you that I did very well figuring things out as this is quite a user friendly app, very intuitive, (even for me), and even has a user guide that is very helpful AND accessible both on and offline! What is so amazing about Artrage is it’s loaded with every drawing/painting media you could possibly imagine! I will certainly not cover it all here in one post. I’ll just dive in with what I tried, a few fails, a few successes. It’s so fun!

So I tried to take a screen picture while I was painting something so you could see it in action. Just do a cartwheel as you look at the above image.;-) You have this wonderfully visual left-hand column for you to pick which art media you want to work with. It will collapse when you tap the corner image. You can then choose the “gears” icon to change the settings for your paint or brush or marker or pastel, or airbrush, etc. Oh, and BEFORE all this you choose the surface on which you want to paint!! Choose papers and canvases of ALL kinds, choose the grain, the texture, even the color of your support. Choose from an incredible palette of colors WITH EASE!! Much easier than Auryn Ink. WOW! Amazing.

There are two features that are absolutely brilliant! One is the ability to upload a photograph from your iPad photo gallery, and it will appear as a little photo pinned to your painting surface. You can see my photo in the first bear drawing. You can make it larger, smaller, twirl it around, place it anywhere you’d like while you work on your painting! then get rid of it when you’re finished.

The other feature I’m not a huge fan of, as far as tracing goes, but I do see some benefits for beginners, perhaps, as well as non-artists who just want to get the feel of drawing over top of a photo. This feature allows you to upload an image from your iPad photo gallery and it will appear very pale grey on your surface. This allows you to trace and paint over top of your image. I tried it here with this orchid, grew bored of it, abandoned the painting, but felt it might be helpful for you to see. I would definitely recommend you using YOUR OWN PHOTO if you use this feature. But why not learn to really draw? (I know some of you will take issue with me here, but it’s one of my convictions…do not trace…learn to DRAW!!)

BUT, here is a totally valid and helpful use for the tracing thing: I was at the art gallery on the Calvin College campus, and made a little sketch in Draw Free. I wanted to color it later, so I uploaded it into Artrage, then went on my merry way with color. Very cool, eh?

So you can see, way up there, I used pastel in the bear drawing (a favorite sculpture from the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park). The palette knife is the all-around blender and worked beautifully here with the pastels.

The watercolor orchid did not turn out as vibrant as I had wanted. It isn’t as “watercolor-like” as Auryn Ink. But you can still have fun with it.

The second painting from the top is an “oil” painting which I began in the wrong orientation and I haven’t been able to figure out how to switch it. Oh well.

And here’s another “oil” of my oldest daughter who is quite the photographer. She was having a heyday taking pics throughout the wonderful gardens and sculpture park.

I’m still working out a few kinks:
1. I do not think the top and bottom bars disappear at any time. This is frustrating, since it leaves your painting UNpainted in odd places at the top and bottom (you can see this on the above “oils”. So it left some UNpainted areas, or unfinished with blobs of paint left and not blended in (top painting).
2. I’m trying to remember to designate whether I want my paper/canvas oriented to be portrait or landscape FIRST! I kinda wish there was a way to change this mid-painting or even after you’re finished. Maybe there is a way and I just haven’t figured it out yet.

BUT my clever little nine year old suggested how I can remedy #1:
Simply make the painting surface a smidge smaller (by using your two fingers to zoom or diminish an image) and thereby keep the top and bottom bar off the page. Brilliant! It worked like a charm in the bear drawing!! Where would I be without her young mind?

So I know you’re just itching to have a go! Please do! And show us all at Everyday Matters what you come up with! The possibilities are truly ENDLESS with Artrage! Wonderful for drawing! Wonderful for painting! Fun to just play with or to create masterpieces!!! Speaking of masterpieces…you must, must, must check out the YouTube video of David Kassan creating a portrait in his studio, on an iPad, using Artrage, and a Nomad Brush (ooh, golly gee! I want one of those things!!)

You will be amazed!

*****NEWS!!! Someone from Ambient Design left me a comment yesterday…..

Nice detailed post. ArtRage for iPad is on sale for $0.99 during Comic-con thru July 27

EVEN MORE AMAZING!!!