5 awesome apps to channel your artistic side
Check out these free Android and iOS compatible apps and unleash your inner artistic potential
Mindfulness - the concept of focusing on your feelings and emotions in the present moment - is a bit of a 2015 buzzword. Whether it involves doodling, painting, or sketching, art is one of the most therapeutic ways to exercise that right hemisphere of your brain. It's pretty inconvenient to cart around a sketchpad, plus all the tools and messy equipment, so luckily, there are lots of fantastic apps to flex your creative muscles.
Sketchbook Pro
If you're going to have a go at digital art, why not follow the professionals? This intuitive painting and drawing app lets you doodle away to your heart's content using an impressive selection of preset brushes, including realistic pens, pencils and markers. Using your finger or a stylus, you can blend colours, import photos and revisit your designs with ease - no matter what your skill level is.
Available: iOS/Android - Free
Paperless - Draw, Paint and Sketch
A simple app for mindless doodling. If you're more likely to be producing fancier masterpieces with lots of layers and textures, consider one of the more comprehensive options. That said, Paperless still gives you the tools for drawing, painting, colouring, sketching and writing. Fast, accurate, and very easy to use, the app will have even the most reluctant artist practising their skills on the MTR.
Available: iOS/Android - HK$23
Bamboo Paper
If you don't keep a scrapbook, why not? There's absolutely no excuse not to save all your random imaginings, especially when there are sleek apps that allow you to keep your scribbles neatly organised. Bamboo Paper offers a natural drawing experience with different "paper" textures and six pens to choose from, as well as the option to enrich your journal with photos. Get yourself a little stylus and unleash your creativity on a blank page.
Available: iOS/Android - Free
PoseTool 3D
Remember those posable wooden mannequins that were supposed to help you learn how to draw the human body? Yeah, we never got to grips with them either. You'll definitely need a sketchpad of some sort to use with this app, which lets you manipulate weird, ghostly digital figures so you can draw them. With just a few taps and swipes, you can zoom in on tricky parts like hands, change views to see detailed muscle maps, and create every pose you can think of.
Available: iOS/Android - HK$53
Loop
Digitally animated films, like Minions or Inside Out, are getting ever cleverer, and being an animator or a cartoon illustrator may be some of the most fun jobs out there. Hone your skills with Loop, an addictive app that lets you create short, hand-drawn animations that you can share with friends or save in a gallery. You'll learn techniques like onion skinning and frame duplication as you trace over video frames and give life to your doodles.
Available: iOS - Free (Android users can have just as much fun with StickDraw or FlipaClip, both free)