recommend a good app for iPad Pro for drawing by a beginner

Pavel M

Pavel M

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Pavel M
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I would like to combine drawings with photos. I have zero knowledge or experience or training with drawing or painting. I would like an app compatible with PS that would help me combine drawn/painted images with photos. I am looking for an app that is easy to use, but that would give me room to grow as I improve. I have a MacBook Pro (7 years old), that I hope to replace this year with the 16" model and iPad Pro (with Pencil 2) should arrive in 2-3 weeks. Thank you guys
 
You could do the drawing/painting bit in Brushes or Brushes Redux. I think David Hockney uses some version of this.
 
You can of course draw directly on the photos on the iPad without an extra app though only with basic Pencil ‘points’ AFAIK.
 
Photoshop for iPad I guess may do some of what you want.
 
Retune said:
You could do the drawing/painting bit in Brushes or Brushes Redux. I think David Hockney uses some version of this.
Click to expand...
Thank you @Retune. I just watched the video on this and it says that you can not export from this program (to say PS). Did I not understand?

@sphexx, thank you. It may be a good place to start learning how to draw a line and use a pencil, but would this use without an app give me a room to grow? I would be loath to have to learn multiple user interfaces. That is why I stick with PS on the photo side, even though Adobe is not my favourite company.
 
Pavel M said:
Thank you @Retune. I just watched the video on this and it says that you can not export from this program (to say PS). Did I not understand?
Click to expand...
Both Brushes Redux and Brushes 4 (an updated paid version) claim they can export for use in other apps. The latter mentions standard PNG and JPEG formats. So it ought to be possible to open the files easily in PS, but I don't have an iPad handy to test this. I do have Autodesk SketchBook on an Android device, which I see is also available for iOS with good reviews, and that can certainly save to PNG.
 
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Pavel M said:
I would like to combine drawings with photos. I have zero knowledge or experience or training with drawing or painting. I would like an app compatible with PS that would help me combine drawn/painted images with photos. I am looking for an app that is easy to use, but that would give me room to grow as I improve. I have a MacBook Pro (7 years old), that I hope to replace this year with the 16" model and iPad Pro (with Pencil 2) should arrive in 2-3 weeks. Thank you guys
Click to expand...
Well as you already have Photoshop why not use that. It seems to me that it will do everything that you want, need and require.
 
j crossley said:
Well as you already have Photoshop why not use that. It seems to me that it will do everything that you want, need and require.
Click to expand...
@j crossley , It may be true and photoshop does have some drawing tools and I tried to use them and found it awkward. It may well be because I have no training/experience as a painter but even the simple things that even I can do with a pencil on paper, I found it difficult to do with a mouse at hand. I am looking for something that would help novices like me. I am also hoping that a tablet with a pencil will be closer to a paper and a pencil.
 
I think Photoshop have an iPad version (stylus compatible). There is also Affinity Photo, which does not need a subscription and is a one-time purchase, £20. Does most of what Photoshop does I believe.
 
CavGez said:
I think Photoshop have an iPad version (stylus compatible). There is also Affinity Photo, which does not need a subscription and is a one-time purchase, £20. Does most of what Photoshop does I believe.
Click to expand...

@CavGez thank you. (I do not know why it is coming out bold and why I can not turn it off). I well look at both the photoshop version and the affinity version. Do you have experience with either? Somebody suggested Procreate. Do you or anybody have experience with it. It seems to be powerful and I seem to understand the list of commands/features it has. I think I would not be held back so much by the software as by my skills and imagination. It also offers help with colors. Even my best efforts based on colour theory (as I tried to learn it online) were a failure. It can also smooth the shapes and lines (no doubt I will need it).​

 
I find Inspire Pro useful. It is a painting/drawing app that has all of the usual tools - from pencils and charcoal to pens, brushes and air brushes. It has the ability to import various file formats which you can paint or draw on. It can export various file formats too. I sometimes use it to compliment Photoshop (PC version) because of it's ability to employ the Apple pencil (I don't have a graphics pad on the desktop PC).

No affiliation, just a satisfied user.
 
Pavel M said:
Thank you @Retune. I just watched the video on this and it says that you can not export from this program (to say PS). Did I not understand?
Click to expand...

As a bit of a follower of David Hockney, as far as I am aware he is still using Brushes, and it looks like you can export your drawings to the iPad/iPhone camera roll and access them as you would any photograph.

"When you’re finished with your masterpiece, you can save it in the Brushes gallery so you can easily work on it some more or show it to your friends with the Brushes built-in slideshow. You can export finished pictures to your iPhone’s Camera Roll or use the Brushes built-in Web server to view or download your creations over Wi-Fi with any Web browser on any computer."

iPhones - dummies

iPhones took the world by storm in 2007 and they haven't stopped wow-ing the pants off us yet. We've got handy articles to help you get the most out of this iconic smartphone.
www.dummies.com www.dummies.com

edit: to amend this it seems that Hockney stopped using the Brushes app, in 2016, after changes they made "ruined it". He now uses a custom written app (by a mathematician in Leeds) which apparently is more like the original Brushes, which he still calls Brushes, but it isn't the Brushes you can download. !
 
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myotis said:
As a bit of a follower of David Hockney, as far as I am aware he is still using Brushes, and it looks like you can export your drawings to the iPad/iPhone camera roll and access them as you would any photograph.

"When you’re finished with your masterpiece, you can save it in the Brushes gallery so you can easily work on it some more or show it to your friends with the Brushes built-in slideshow. You can export finished pictures to your iPhone’s Camera Roll or use the Brushes built-in Web server to view or download your creations over Wi-Fi with any Web browser on any computer."

iPhones - dummies

iPhones took the world by storm in 2007 and they haven't stopped wow-ing the pants off us yet. We've got handy articles to help you get the most out of this iconic smartphone.
www.dummies.com www.dummies.com

edit: to amend this it seems that Hockney stopped using the Brushes app, in 2016, after changes they made "ruined it". He now uses a custom written app (by a mathematician in Leeds) which apparently is more like the original Brushes, which he still calls Brushes, but it isn't the Brushes you can download. !
Click to expand...
I don’t know what he uses now but Hockney originally used his finger rather than a stylus. It’s enough to put anyone off, seeing what he can do! :(
 
myotis said:
As a bit of a follower of David Hockney, as far as I am aware he is still using Brushes, and it looks like you can export your drawings to the iPad/iPhone camera roll and access them as you would any photograph.

"When you’re finished with your masterpiece, you can save it in the Brushes gallery so you can easily work on it some more or show it to your friends with the Brushes built-in slideshow. You can export finished pictures to your iPhone’s Camera Roll or use the Brushes built-in Web server to view or download your creations over Wi-Fi with any Web browser on any computer."

iPhones - dummies

iPhones took the world by storm in 2007 and they haven't stopped wow-ing the pants off us yet. We've got handy articles to help you get the most out of this iconic smartphone.
www.dummies.com www.dummies.com

edit: to amend this it seems that Hockney stopped using the Brushes app, in 2016, after changes they made "ruined it". He now uses a custom written app (by a mathematician in Leeds) which apparently is more like the original Brushes, which he still calls Brushes, but it isn't the Brushes you can download. !
Click to expand...
Thank you, I have no ambitions to be Hockney, but I will definitely look at the app. The price is reasonable too. Thank you, Graham
 
sphexx said:
I don’t know what he uses now but Hockney originally used his finger rather than a stylus. It’s enough to put anyone off, seeing what he can do! :(
Click to expand...
An interview in 2021 has him still using "Brushes", but earlier interviews makes it fairly clear the "Brushes" he is using isn't the Brushes app. I'm pretty sure the last thing I watched about him on his latest exhibition showed him using a stylus.
 
Pavel M said:
Thank you, I have no ambitions to be Hockney, but I will definitely look at the app. The price is reasonable too. Thank you, Graham
Click to expand...
I suspect it probably doesn't make much difference. On the "Draftsmen" YouTube link I sent you at one time, they now and again discuss iPad (or Mac) paint programs, and it sounds very much like discussing raw processors, with different people preferring different programs.

I haven't re-watched this (and can't remember its content) but this is the episode where they are discussing the equipment for a DIY art school (part of a series). Which might be useful.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KILM-pxwy6w
 
myotis said:
An interview in 2021 has him still using "Brushes", but earlier interviews makes it fairly clear the "Brushes" he is using isn't the Brushes app. I'm pretty sure the last thing I watched about him on his latest exhibition showed him using a stylus.
Click to expand...
I believe I’ve seen an interview where he said he first did it using his finger on an iPhone before the iPad came out so it was a relatively tiny iPhone 4 or smaller. He mentions that he couldn’t see the line under his finger of course.

Edit to add: Here
View: https://youtu.be/bHH1oz3DFNs
 
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sphexx said:
I believe I’ve seen an interview where he said he first did it using his finger on an iPhone before the iPad came out so it was a relatively tiny iPhone 4 or smaller. He mentions that he couldn’t see the line under his finger of course.
Click to expand...
Yes, indeed I didn't mean to imply he hadn't used his finger, just that recently I'd seen him using a stylus.
 
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