Testing Photo Apps Part 1

I like to draw on my phone using the ibisPaint X app. I mainly like this app because it is free to use and it comes with a lot of easy to understand the effects that I can add to my drawings to make them look cooler. This blogpost is to not look into the effects but to instead look through the pile of apps I have downloaded and never looked through to see if there are any cool effects there that I can use in my art.


Bazaart:

This app has a ton of filters but some of the cooler ones are restricted to the only premium so that is a downside. Also, you cannot layer filters so I would have to complicate the whole process by saving the image and adding the second filter on.


There are also a set number of shape things you can add to the photos and the colors of the shapes can be changed by using the fill option which comes with a set number of colors.



There is also a draw option where I can add my own things but this is basically what they have in notes which is a big no on my part due to how restricting it is. I also noticed when drawing that you can only zoom so much into the canvas and cannot even rotate it which adds more restrictions on what I can do.


There is also an adjust option that does the basic stuff when it comes to photo editing. I found that these don’t work well on the shapes.


Overall, despite the restrictions, I like this app because it was fairly easy to use and it has things that I look at and want to try using in my art. For example the shapes and the cutouts. I also liked how it had structure to it so it was very difficult to mess up on the piece. Unfortunately, they have added a watermark to my work which for simple things like this would not be too problematic but for more complex pieces would be a real pain.



 *After all the time I spent on Bazaart I have decided to limit this blogpost to four apps to keep my sanity intact*


VHS Cam:

This app basically let me film stuff with a glitchy look to it meaning it is basically useless to me and I can free up space on my phone.


VSCO:


The first downside to this is that I have to create an account. Now that I have an account I basically have to choose a photo preset and since my photo is pretty basic I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they are different but not showing up because of it. Some of these are also locked because they also have a trial membership thing going on.


After you choose a filter, you have the basic setup when it comes to editing photos like exposure and that stuff. One thing I did find that was cool was this split tone thing which basically let me change the colors of the dark background to one color and the highlights to another even though it is kind of subtle. After going through this especially after Bazaart, I am a little disappointed in the VSCO girls for liking this app so much because I can basically do all of that in Bazaart and more which is why I do not feel the need to keep VSCO.




Bling:
One thing that I have been dying to figure out how to create it that low quality shines in photos in my art. This camera is supposed to do that for me without putting effort into it.


It is such a simple concept but unlike the VHS cam, I cannot actually recreate this myself which is why I really like this camera. This camera comes with four different sparkle effects and has a slider that can add more sparkles or reduce the number of sparkles present. From what it looks like, it will add sparkles on places that are white or lighter so I can use this to my advantage when adding this to my photos especially since it went overboard on the photo I have been using.


Work Log:
Monday: No School
Tuesday: Worked on Character
Wednesday: Took break on character and modeled mouths
Thursday: Continued working on mouths
Friday: Returned to Character and rendered photos