Beautiful
This app is a work of art.
If you dont draw/paint, or are just a doodler, this app will make you feel like a genuis. Much more so than any of the countless proceedural drawing apps out there. Its amazingly responsive, brilliant at staying out of your way, and incredibly intuitive to use. You will love this app.
If you do fancy yourself as an aspiring artist you will not be disappointed with this one either. I have found nothing that even comes close to the level of intimacy that this app achieves. Not once did it get between what was in my head and what was showing up on the screen. The interface is so amazingly transparent as to be invisible. Its like a direct line from your creativity to the canvas. But as beautiful as the interface is, its the brush that really steals the show. Its amazingly responsive, expressive, and wonderfuly fluid. In short, its perfect. By far the most expressive digital brush Ive ever used. Its absolutely sublime. I know I sound like Im gushing, but it really is that good! It may come off as a toy, but make no mistake, you can make some serious art with this app.
I almost feel guilty complaining about this app, but it wouldnt be an honest review if I didnt address its shortcomings. First off, know before you buy that this is a one trick pony. Its got one brush with 3 levels of opacity and 2 levels of erase, a size slider, and only one step of undo. And the color palette exists of only one color - black (but a full range of values is quite achievable). There is NO import. If you want to save a canvas to work on later while you jot down a quick idea, youre out of luck. Once you delete the current canvas you can no longer work on it. (Make sure you save a copy of it before you erase the screen.) Also, theres no zoom.
So there you have it; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Make no mistake though - despite its shortcomings, its still a pure joy to use. I have a lot of high-end art apps on my iPad and iPhone, but this is the first one I turn to - even if its just for a quick warm-up. Its just so much fun to use, that I cant resist. They really did hit it out of the park with this one. Get it... You wont be disappointed!
For the devs, heres the inevitable wish list:
- a middle level of erase
- an import (or at least a save/load) feature so I can work on more than one painting at a time
- please dont change the brush - its absolutely perfect!
Letter 19 about
Zen Brush, v1.14