Best Apps for Homeschool: Part 1 of 4
This is an art blog, after all, so let’s start with my favorite art app. Procreate is probably no secret to you especially if you have an artsy teen with an iPad and Apple Pencil. If you haven’t heard of it, I highly recommend it. Your artsy homeschool teen will love this app. Adult artists love this app as well. I know several professional surface pattern designers who use Procreate in their business to create designs for fabric, wallpaper, journal covers, and more. I share that to let you know this is not just a kid-friendly app. Procreate is a pretty powerful art tool for any digital artist.
The designs above are a few that I have created in Procreate. The first one is a commissioned piece. The second is a cloud study with me just getting a feel of the paintbrushes. It was one of my first digital paintings. You can see that you can achieve a look very close to actual paintings. You can click on the images to view them larger.
The third image is of word art. Some artists strictly use Procreate for word art. Just like with calligraphy, this takes a lot of practice, but the writing brushes in Procreate do make it a lot easier. Since Procreate requires an Apple Pencil or comparable stylus, writing and drawing feels pretty natural as opposed to using a computer and mouse to achieve the same outcome. To make the surface of the iPad feel more like paper as you draw or write, you can purchase screen covers that are meant for that.
The last image exemplifies what you can create with Procreate’s symmetry feature. You can choose to use different types of symmetry when creating designs. In this case, I used the radial symmetry. This is a fun way to make snowflakes, mandalas, or any other symmetrical design.
There are too many features to discuss them all, but I’ll share a few that make it well worth the $12.99.
Much like Photoshop, Procreate uses layers to keep different elements separated for easy editing. It allows you to change the opacity of the layers, add filters, hide layers, mask, and dedicate a layer as the reference layer.
It also comes with a ton of brushes and allows you to create your own brushes or edit the provided brushes. There are brushes to replicate several real-life tools such as charcoal, pencil, calligraphy brushes, paint brushes, airbrushes, textures, and more.
Procreate makes it easy to import images and export your art in several different formats making it easy to share or bring into applications on your computer.
If your teen also has a YouTube channel, they will probably also like the feature that allows you to record sessions in Procreate. It is fun to see your drawing come to life in a sort of instant replay.
If your teen doesn’t have an iPad and stylus, Procreate has come out with a pocket edition for iPhones. If they are more into animation, they have recently added Procreate Dreams. Unfortunately, these apps are only for Apple right now.
Stay tuned the rest of the month for more of my favorite apps to use in homeschool. If you are not on my email list, be sure to join so you don’t miss any future tips, free lessons, or news. You will also receive access to a free sample of my art course “Pathway to Improving Your Art: for Homeschool Teens.”
