ArtStudio, a terrific new drawing and painting app from Lucky Clan, is now available from the app store. While many app store drawing apps allow you to sketch a rudimentary drawing or add some effects to your photos, ArtStudio blows these away by providing a ton of tools to accomplish a wide variety of tasks, while maintaining a simple-to-use, unobtrusive interface. This is what PhotoShop Mobile wishes it had been.
ArtStudio Pros:
- Unique line smoothing algorithm
- 25 types of brush strokes
- Real-time settings preview
- 6 levels of undo/redo
- Support for up to 5 layers
- Has as much in its terrific tools and execution as it is in its intuitive interface
ArtStudio Cons:
- None as of this review
While we can all agree that few people really consider the iDevice to be the ideal platform for touching up photos or creating works of art given its diminutive size, Lucky Clan aims to prove the doubters wrong and it’s hard to argue with their impressive offering. Utilizing advanced mathematics, including a line smoothing algorithm developed specifically for this app, ArtStudio aims to provide basic functionality for time-wasting scribblers, as well as an arsenal of advanced options for the seasoned professional artist.
ArtStudio includes three drawing modes: free draw with and without smoothing, and line drawing mode. There are 25 types of brush strokes, such as pencil, eraser, paintbrush, smudge, fill, tube, airbrush, and more, each with up to 8 adjustable settings and real-time preview of any changes your make. There are 6 levels of undo/redo, unlimited zoom, multiple filters, support for up to 5 layers offering features like duplicate, reorder, merge, and transparency settings, customizable color swatches, export/import/save/e-mail for pictures, drawing tutorials, and much more. Chances are that whatever you’re looking for in a mobile drawing app, ArtStudio has it in spades. If you’re an artist on the go, or even someone who likes to dabble a bit, you owe it to yourself to give ArtStudio a shot.
The interface is super clean and very simple-to-use. Tapping in the left and right upper corners will undo and redo, respectively. A pinching motion activates zoom and you can pan by dragging two fingers. Tapping the bottom right corner brings up the toolbar. The first three icons in the toolbar are your brushes, your colors, and your layers. Tapping on these brings up your brush selections, your simple colors, and your active layers. Holding your finger on these brings up various brush-related parameters, an in-depth color palette, and layer support options, such as adding, deleting, merging, duplicating, and clearing, as well as visibility levels. The toolbar also contains icons for color/lighting effects, saving/importing/exporting, quick access to tutorials, and app specific options such as offset drawing, mode selection, and activating the shake menu, which brings up 100% zoom, clear layer, and undo options while drawing for even faster selection. The beauty of this app is as much in its terrific tools and execution as it is in its intuitive interface.
We’re clearly impressed by this app and feel that it holds its own against other popular apps like Brushes. The introduction of the iPad gives ArtStudio a platform upon which to shine brightly, though it’s just as slick and useful on the iPod or iPhone. Offering plenty more value than its $3.99 would indicate, you can’t go wrong with ArtStudio, a 5-Dimple masterpiece.
