To date, Paper is the only drawing app I’ve used. The reason being Paper’s elegant simplicity. I’m learning how to draw and a complicated drawing program with a bunch of “bells and whistles" would be a hinderance. Paper has just five drawing tools, an eraser and a nifty color mixer. There are no options for any of the tools other than chaining color.
When you combine Paper with a pressure sensitive stylus, like the Pogo Connect, you have an incredibly easy to use drawing tool. While you’re aware that you’re drawing on a pice of glass, the program doesn’t get in the way. This is good not only for the beginner but also for the accomplished artist!
For me, the main difference between drawing on an iPad and traditional media is one of feedback. When drawing on an iPad, you don't get the vibration or sound of the pencil or marker scraping along the paper. Instead, you have a consistent smooth glide. For me, this consistency of feel is an advantage an iPad has over physical media. It’s been been fun to watch what happens when I’ve handed the combination of Paper and a Pogo Connect to an accomplished artist. In short – in short – “they go nuts.” They have to draw something – even the most technology challenged artists master the simple interface in about a minutes.
Pogo Connect
Another advantage is the portability of the iPad. Here’s a drawing toolbox and sketch book in one small, easy to carry package. No multiple boxes, no materials being used up or drying out.
I’ve invested about 12 hours in drawing practice and I can already see a large difference in my ability to draw. Though at this rate, it’ll take me 100 or more hours to work my way though “Drawing Textbook” by Bruce McIntyre. However, at the end of that time I expect to have a solid drawing foundation.
Video Review of Paper by 53
Art Examples Draw on an iPad Using Paper and a Pogo Connect
By Geraldine Kiefer – Associate Professor of Art, Shenandoah University
Drawn in about 20 minutes.
By Nicole Espinola
Graduate of Pennsylvania Academy of Art and Design
Pogo Connect – Pressure Sensitive Bluetooth Stylus
iPads have a touch-graphical interface and many collaborative programs are a shared whiteboard. These facts point to drawing becoming an important way to use an iPad to communicate. When it comes to drawing on an iPad, a stylus is much better than your finger. A stylus is more precise, helps preserve the oil resistant coating on your iPad and keeps you from getting your iPad’s screen greasy. All real-life drawing tools respond to pressure, so a pressure sensitive stylus comes even closer to a lifelike drawing experience. The Pogo Connect along with compatible software does a good job of simulating a real world drawing experience. Not all programs can make use of this extra information, but more and more do. However, there isn’t a standard for supporting pressure sensitive stylus. So… this means you need to consider the software and the stylus together. Do you pick the stylus first and see what software it supports or do you pick the software and look for a stylus? The Pogo Connect has it’s quirks. It’s not perfectly reliable, however, the few times it’s gotten funky have been resolved by turning the bluetooth off and on at the iPad. Also my first Pogo Connect had a hardware failure when the magnet inside the stylus broke. To Ten One’s credit they replaced it, no questions asked and I had a new one, with improved firmware, in two days. The Pogo Connect costs $80 and different tips cost $10 each. For me, the Pogo Connect has been a worthwhile investment in learning to drawing on the iPad.
