Several programs help you create “touch” art with your finger on the Apple iPad

Christmas Day, on an iPad by Faye Hansen (all rights reserved)

I was blown away by the art created by my friend and photographer Faye Hansen (Fransen) when she sent me the touch painting after Christmas.

Unless you knew it was done on the iPad, there is little to indicate it was painted by her finger.

iPad art is one of the creative things you can do with the Apple iPad.  Artist apps go from complex programs like Art Studio, SketchBook Pro, Brushes, to simpler apps like Draw Free, Adobe Ideas, and Penultimate. 

Faye Hansen (@Fansen) used Art Studio ($2.99 on iTunes) for her work, some of which you can preview on her Flickr account.

“Some take quite a while,” said Hansen on Twitter. “and some are quick. Depends on the level of complexity and of course how hung up I am on perfection at any time.”

“Yes, they are usually faster than by hand,” Hansen added “because digitally I can erase mistakes or unsatisfactory elements. Whereas on a canvas, you would have to live with the error, throw it out, or hope you can morph it into something else.”

Draw Free

Draw Free sketch

I left Draw Free on my iPad and someone – no names – created this impressionistic sketch.

Draw Free use colored pencils for drawing and is obviously less precise than Art Studio but still interesting.

Line Drawing

Adobe Ideas with Layers is a line sketching program that allows quick sketches and a reasonable palette. You get a variable size pen or brush, colors and layers. There are opacity adjustments. You can start with a blank page or add layers to a photograph. Your finished work can be save or emailed.

SketchBook Pro for iPad and SketchBook Mobile from Adobe takes it to a higher level with brushes, more tools and a complex work space.

Penultimate is another sketchbook program that saves your work in notebooks.  Perhaps it’s more suited to taking business notes than exercising your John Lennon sketch talents, but at .99 what’s to lose?

For the more adventurous artist with $7.99 consider Inspire Pro which seems to have few limits for creating works of art.

Whatever your skill level or imagination, there is an artist app on iTunes for your iPad. Cool.