Tag: apps

The Best iPad Art Apps for Digital Artists

the best ipad art apps
~ Julie ~ Leave a comment

Today, the iPad has become an essential tool for artists looking to create stunning digital artwork on the go. With a plethora of art apps available, it can be challenging to find the best one for your needs. In this post, we’ll explore the best iPad art apps for digital artists, covering their features, costs (in USD, current price at the time of writing), and providing links to download them from the App Store.

1. Procreate

Procreate is often hailed as the gold standard for digital art apps on the iPad. With its powerful, intuitive interface, Procreate is ideal for everything from sketches to fully polished illustrations and even seamless patterns. It offers a wide range of brushes, layering capabilities, and various tools for precise editing and creation.

Features:

  • Extensive brush library
  • Layering system with blending modes
  • High-resolution canvases up to 16k by 4k on supported devices
  • Animation assist for creating animations
  • Time-lapse recording to capture your process

Cost: $12.99 (one-time purchase)

Download Procreate from the App Store

2. Adobe Fresco

Adobe Fresco is designed for artists who love working with both raster and vector graphics. It combines the power of Photoshop brushes with the scalability of vector drawing. Adobe Fresco’s live brushes mimic real-world media, making it a fantastic tool for artists who want a natural drawing experience.

Features:

  • Raster and vector brushes
  • Live brushes that emulate watercolor and oil paint
  • Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Layer and masking capabilities
  • Time-lapse recording

Cost: Free with limited features; premium features available for $9.99/month or included with Adobe Creative Cloud subscription

Download Adobe Fresco from the App Store

ipad art apps

3. Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer is a professional-grade app for vector and raster design. It’s suitable for a variety of projects, from graphic design and branding to concept art and UI/UX design. Affinity Designer is known for its robust performance and precision tools.

Features:

  • Vector and raster workspaces
  • Advanced typography tools
  • Unlimited artboards
  • Non-destructive effects and adjustments
  • Real-time performance and zoom

Cost: $18.49 (one-time purchase)

Download Affinity Designer from the App Store

4. Clip Studio Paint

Clip Studio Paint is a favorite among comic and manga artists, offering a comprehensive set of tools for illustration, animation, and comic creation. It has a steep learning curve but is incredibly powerful once mastered.

Features:

  • Vector and raster layers
  • Specialized tools for comic creation, including speech bubbles and panel layouts
  • 3D models for reference
  • Animation tools
  • Customizable brushes and pens

Cost: Free for the first 3 months, then $4.89/month or $28.90/year for PRO version

Download Clip Studio Paint from the App Store

a digital artist drawing on a tablet

5. Autodesk SketchBook

Autodesk SketchBook is a versatile and user-friendly drawing app that caters to both beginners and professionals. It offers a wide range of brushes, a clean interface, and powerful tools for creating detailed artwork.

Features:

  • Over 190 customizable brushes
  • Advanced layering system
  • Perspective guides and rulers
  • Predictive stroke for smooth lines
  • Time-lapse recording

Cost: Free

Download Autodesk SketchBook from the App Store

6. ArtRage

ArtRage is designed to mimic traditional art tools, providing a natural painting experience with oil paints, watercolors, and more. It’s perfect for artists who want their digital work to have a traditional look and feel.

Features:

  • Realistic paint blending and texture
  • Natural media tools like oil paint, watercolor, and pastels
  • Layer support with blend modes
  • Tracing and reference image support
  • Customizable brushes

Cost: $2.99 (one-time purchase)

Download ArtRage from the App Store

ipad art apps to draw mandalas

7. Inspire Pro

Inspire Pro is a digital painting app that emphasizes speed and realism, offering a fluid painting experience with a variety of high-quality brushes. It’s particularly known for its responsive and natural painting tools.

Features:

  • Over 150 brushes, including oil paint, airbrushes, and more
  • Dual-texture brush technology for realistic strokes
  • Blending and smudging tools
  • High-resolution canvases
  • Time-lapse recording

Cost: $19.99 (one-time purchase)

Download Inspire Pro from the App Store

8. Tayasui Sketches

Tayasui Sketches offers a beautiful and simple interface with a focus on providing a natural drawing experience. It’s perfect for quick sketches, detailed illustrations, and everything in between.

Features:

  • Realistic brushes and tools
  • Layer support
  • Import and export to various formats
  • Cloud sync for keeping your artwork backed up
  • Customizable brush settings

Cost: Free with in-app purchases for Pro features

Download Tayasui Sketches from the App Store

Conclusion

Choosing the best iPad art apps depends on your specific needs and preferences. Whether you’re looking for powerful professional tools, a natural drawing experience, or versatile features, there’s an app out there for you. The apps listed in this post are some of the best options available, each offering unique features and capabilities. Explore these apps and find the one that best suits your artistic workflow.

By leveraging these powerful tools, you can take your digital art to new heights and create stunning, professional-quality artwork right from your iPad!

Happy creating!

julie signing off

Easy Pattern Design in Procreate – Ogee and Argyle Pattern Tutorial

pattern design in Procreate - ogee and argyle
~ Julie ~ Leave a comment
pattern design in Procreate - ogee and argyle

I recently created this fun and easy pattern design tutorial in which I teach you how to make an ogee and an argyle pattern with the Procreate app for Apple iPad.

In this tutorial I take you step by step through the process of making these 2 easy seamless pattern designs, an ogee and argyle pattern, right on your iPad in Procreate. Watch the video below!

Check out my other digital art tutorials over on my Youtube channel.

In this video I take you through the following steps:

  • Creating an argyle pattern using simple shapes and lines
  • Creating an ogee pattern using symmetry tools
  • Testing both patterns to ensure they repeat seamlessly using the snapping and magnetics tool

You can make all sorts of variations of these patterns to use for backgrounds, print on demand products or anything else you can think of.

Pink Argyle Pattern Socks in my Redbubble store

I hope you’ve enjoyed this easy and fun Procreate pattern design tutorial. You might also like my other tutorial on how to create seamless patterns in Procreate, which you can see here.

I’ve also got a video for Procreate newbies which includes several tips and tricks to help you get started with the app.

I’ve been kind of obsessed with creating designs and patterns in Procreate over the past year. So I’ll likely be creating more tutorials and videos on this topic in the near future.

Let me know in the comments below if this is something you’re interested in, or if there’s something else you’d like me to cover!


Thanks for stopping by, have a great rest of your day.

Cheers,

julie signing off

Top Tools and Resources for your Print on Demand Business

top tools for print on demand
~ Julie ~ 2 Comments
top tools for print on demand

If you want to start a print on demand business then you’ve come to the right place! I’ve created this list of the top tools for your print on demand business.

I’ve personally been selling my art through print on demand websites for over 8 years and have tried many different tools and approaches. In this post you’ll get all of the top tools and resources I’ve found for getting started with print on demand and scaling your business.

To get started selling your art online you’ll need to create some designs and optimize your artwork for print. Then, you’ll need to decide on a platform and upload your art or list your products there while using targeted key words to help them get found. Finally, you’ll need to market those products to your customers and continue learning to grow your business.

So let’s get into the top tools for your print on demand business!

Table of Contents

design to product

* Please note, some links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase using the links below I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. I appreciate your support and it helps me create more content for you to enjoy!

Creating your Designs

First, you’ll need to create some designs or digitize your existing artwork so you can upload them to print on demand websites. Keep in mind the type of products you will be selling. A design for a t-shirt will much different than one for fabric for example.

Below are a few different (free and paid) design tools and resources for creating your designs for print on demand.

Websites to Sell Your Art

The next thing you’ll need to do is decide on one or more print on demand websites to sell your designs through. Below is a list of sites I’ve personally used and sold my art through.

  • Redbubble – Good for beginners
  • Zazzle – More advanced with customization options
  • TeePublic – Super simple upload process
  • Society6 – Tedious upload process but worth the effort
  • Amazon Merch on Demand – You must apply and wait to be accepted but worth it
  • Spoonflower – Sample purchase requirement in order to list for sale
  • Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) – No application process
  • Printful – Via your own website or Etsy

Apps to Upload your Designs Faster

If you have a lot of designs ready to upload these are a few apps that you can use to speed up the process.

bulk print on demand flying upload
Preview of Flying Upload software dashboard and connected websites

Keyword and Niche Research

In order for people to find your products you’ll need to make sure you’re including key words that people are searching for! Include them in your title, tags and description. Here are some tools and resources to help you with this.

Marketing your Products

Marketing helps drive sales and raise awareness about your designs and the products you offer. You can do this in a variety of ways including through social media, Pinterest, blogging and more. Below are some excellent tools and resources to help you with your marketing efforts.

design mockups
Mockups like this can help drive sales

Business Tools and Resources

As your business grows you’ll need to implement good business practices like keeping track of finances, doing your taxes, building a website, email list and general organization.

I’ve recently created an all in one Art Business Toolkit to help you get your business started and organized!

Further Education

In order to grow your business you’ll need to continue learning and honing your skills in both design, marketing and overall business skills. There are many excellent resources out there, here are a few of my favourites!

Conclusion

There are so many resources and tools out there to help you grow your print on demand business. What was your favourite resource? Did I leave something out? Feel free to leave links below so we can all benefit.


Cheers,

julie signing off

Free Festive Virtual Backgrounds for Your Zoom Holiday Party

christmas backgrounds free teams meeting
~ Julie ~ 2 Comments
festive zoom meeting backgrounds

Brighten up your virtual Holiday parties with these free festive Zoom meeting backgrounds!

Many Christmas parties are going virtual this year, which is better than nothing and can even be fun! Safely spread some holiday cheer by adding one of these custom festive background to your Zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings.

If you don’t know how to add a custom background here are some links with instructions.

How to add a custom background to Microsoft Teams

How to add a custom background to Zoom

All images were created by me in Microsoft Paint 3D and Pixlr Editor.

Just right click and Save As the images below. They are all 1920x 1080 pixels which is the perfect size.

Free Festive Meeting Backgrounds

christmas tree fireplace festive zoom meeting backgrounds
happy holidays red green simple christmas teams holiday background
winter snowflakes zoom teams virtual background
pile of christmas presents festive zoom background
happy holidays festive meeting background

I also made some New Year themed background for your virtual New Years Eve parties!

happy new year virtual background
happy new year fireworks virtual background

Fun fact: I actually created these for my own office’s virtual Christmas party background, and then decided to do a whole series to share with all of you!

I’d love to know if you use any of these festive meeting backgrounds! Which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below.

Other freebies you might like:

Cheers,

Julie

How to Use TikTok for Artists

how to use tiktok for artists
~ Julie ~ 9 Comments
how to use tiktok for artists

By now you’ve probably heard of TikTok. It’s an app where you can make short videos along with music, filters and other effects to share with your followers and others using hashtags, similar to Instagram. I’ve been experimenting with growing a following on there so I wanted to share some tips for how artists can use TikTok to expand their audience.

You may think the app is only for teenagers, but now you can find Millennials and even Grandmas amassing huge followings on TikTok, and having a great time doing it.

How to use TikTok for Artists

Create an account and simply observe. Watch videos that come up on your “for you” page. At first there will be a lot of different subjects but as you “like” and interact, the algorithm will begin to show you more videos attuned to your interests.

As an artist, you will want to follow other artists to get inspiration for the kinds of videos you can make on TikTok. You can find them with hashtags or by connecting with people from your other social media channels.

Start experimenting. It takes time to learn how to use the different tools, filters, add music and so on. You can create videos and save them as a draft, then go back and decide which ones to post. Don’t be too concerned with perfection. People like to see “real” and “unfiltered” life on TikTok.

There are some great tutorials on Youtube for how to use the various tools.

Once you’ve figured out how to use the app, check the Discover page for trending hashtags. Many are tied to a particular song or video style. You can work these trends into your videos, like the “wipe it down challenge”. Don’t feel obligated to do this but it might give you some ideas for videos and help you get more views.

ALWAYS attach a song to your video. Use “Trending” songs where possible.

Add a couple of hashtags, but don’t go overboard. If you did a challenge or trend, make sure to include the hashtag for that trend, plus a couple of other relevant ones. 3-4 hashtags per video is enough.

@julieerindesigns

little intro plus my latest artwork! #tiktokartists #mandalaart #drawing #viralart #artistsoftiktok

♬ Good Thing – Zedd & Kehlani

Cross Share your TikTok Videos to Other Platforms

You can download your TikTok videos to your phone to share them other platforms. For example, Pinterest. You can add a link to your TikTok profile, or your website. I’ve seen a huge increase in my Pinterest stats since posting short drawing or painting clips I created in TikTok.

You can also share your videos to Instagram Stories directly from the app, and more recently Instagram Reels! My Instagram followers love to watch my process videos. Instagram Stories can also be shared to your Facebook Stories as well with one click.

@julieerindesigns

What do you think? #newart #arttok #summersend #sol #mandala

♬ Believe Me – Navos

TikTok Video Ideas for Artists

Below is a list of video ideas to get you started sharing your artwork on TikTok.

Want a step by step tutorial on how to make short videos of your art?

Then check out my Skillshare class! How to Make Short Videos of your art for Social Media.

Keep in mind, optimal video length is around 15-30 seconds long.

  • Process videos. Share how you create your art. This could be in real time or time lapse format (I usually create time lapse videos outside of the app , then edit in Tiktok after).
  • Close ups of yourself creating in real time, again sharing your process.
  • Finished artwork reveals. Start with your phone on the artwork and slowly pull out until it comes into focus. Or, place multiple art pieces on a table along to music. You can also stand holding one of your art pieces and slowly turn it around to reveal the piece (like my video above).
  • Real life, behind the scenes. Show yourself and your personality. People love to see who you are and connect with you personally. You could have your artwork in the background and use text on the screen to talk about something like your struggles as an artist, the inspiration behind your art, or even something totally unrelated to your art. It doesn’t have to be all art all the time.
  • An art spin on trending videos. As mentioned above, use the trends on the Discover page to inspire your own videos, and put an artsy spin on them.
  • Tutorials. Share your knowledge. Simple drawing or painting videos for beginners. Or a tutorial on how you started selling stickers, or something business related.
  • Duets and challenges. You can duet with other artists or people who create challenges to increase your audience or try something new!

I hope this has given you some ideas for how to use TikTok as an artist. Feel free to follow me on there for more inspiration, I’d love to connect with you! It really is a fun app and you can spend hours on it watching all kinds of videos.


Let me know what you think about TikTok in the comments below! Have you used it yet?

Cheers,

julie signing off

You may also be interested in: