Review: TouchART for iPhone

Most drawing apps in the App Store consist of you simply taking your finger and drawing whatever it is that you want. You can change the colors maybe and just doodle. Recently though, I came across a drawing app called “TouchART” in the App Store that was a complete departure from this type of drawing.

TouchART by EMH Soft

TouchART is not just your typical drawing/doodling application. TouchART takes an existing photo that you have and allows you to add some very abstract and interesting effects to the photo. When you are done with your drawing, your photo looks like a true piece of art. It looks completely different from the original photo but not so different that you cannot recognize what it is.

To draw your art, TouchART supports four kinds of brush types:

  • Pencil Dessin Brush (top row, second image)
  • Spray Brush (top row, third image)
  • Mosaic Brush (second row, first image)
  • Oil Paint Brush (second row, second image)

You can use all four brush types for one painting or just one brush at a time per painting. After you choose your photo and your brush, you simply use your finger to paint. What is really neat here however is when you paint, you do not get to choose what color you want. The app itself uses the colors from the photo that you are painting over. I found this to be very unique and innovative and it works really well, so long as you paint slowly and accurately.

TouchART provides a simple navigation bar to do your work. Along the bottom of the app, there are six buttons. From left to right you have a load image button, save image, enable/disable scroll, change brush type, and two buttons to change the brush size.

touchart1

For those wondering what the scroll button is for, the enable/disable scroll button allows you to pin your photo to the screen so that it does not move with your finger gestures. This is beneficial if your photo is very large or you just want to work on one area.

Personally, I am not very artistic but I found myself enjoying TouchART. The app is very simple and clean and just requires time and patience to make your masterpiece. The idea behind TouchART is very innovative and unique and therefore risky, but overall I give TouchART a 4/5.

For those that want to check out TouchART, it is available in the App Store for $0.99. Also, here are some tips for the app from the developer that worked well for me:

  • Tip 1: Use larger brush first and then use smaller brushes to create details.
  • Tip 2: Use “Push Pin” button to enable/disable image scroll when you load a big image.
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