The app I am reviewing is called Adobe Fresco. I came across this app when my Illustration teacher suggested that I try digital art to get out of my comfort zone. Almost all of my peers were creating beautiful works on their iPads,-no mess and much neater- so I wanted to try it too. Many people recommended me to use Procreate, but I did not want to spend money on something I only wanted to experiment with. Adobe Fresco caught my eye in the app store, for the sole reason of keeping me from reaching in my wallet. After experimenting with the app, I would say it is pretty user friendly. It gives many options and a custom choice to select the size of your digital canvas. I learned that this is a very important first step in digital art if an artist is doing a commission and needs to blow up the image to the correct size. I also experimented with the many tools on the side bar that mimicked flat brushes, pens, markers, and many other traditional tools. It also had the option for non-traditional designs, patterns, and brushes that can only be done digitally. There is a ruler to make straight lines and multiple layers for the different steps of progress. This was really interesting, because I could simply hide a layer and the lines made in that layer would disappear, so I could more easily view the more finished piece. Digital art is also faster than traditional art, because I could simply press the back button and my mistake would be gone or press the bucket icon and fill in an entire color with one click. My main issues involved my background as a traditional artist and the layers, however. Being a traditional artist, I feel like I have more control with a brush in my hand than a pencil on a sensitive screen. You also have to play around with the app a lot, watch Youtube videos, or the videos under “Learn” and “Discover”- which provide a huge range of tutorials to help beginner digital artists- to get the best out of this app. For example, before watching videos on how to make digital art, I didn’t even know about layers. They make the process so much easier by beginning with sketching, then line drawing, then color, and finally details. However-I’m not sure if it’s because of how sensitive the iPad is to touch or not- but the layers would switch randomly. They were quite tricky to figure out. There is just so much experimentation and looking around that is required for the app. A beginner could certainly use it, but it would take at least a month to get used to the millions of features. Other than that, it is a great app but requires a lot of trial and error- which was what I did when creating this artwork of a handicapped woman skydiving and living her life to the fullest- to get to know the hundreds of options. I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5. Overall, when it comes to the classroom, I would stay away from this app unless I am specifically teaching a digital art class. There are so many features that it would take a while for students to get used to it. The only way I could foresee myself using Adobe Fresco in the classroom is if I wanted the kids to get out of their comfort zone and learn how to use a more modern alternative tool. As an artist, it is important to be able to handle and manipulate more than one kind of medium. As we are in more modern times, this could also apply to digital art. I did feel a confidence boost to finally trying something I have been keeping my eyes on for a while, so who is to say this would not happen to one of my students in the future. A potential problem I see is that if a student becomes frustrated with the many options and can not quite grasp how to make digital art, that he/she would check out. For that reason, if there is a simpler digital art app that is free, I would try that first.
Pros
Zoom in and out to work on closer details
Faster than traditional art
One click of a button can erase a mistake or neatly fill in an entire color
Can make some patterns/designs that traditional art can not
Cleaner
Many options
Cons
Takes a lot of figuring out and getting used to
Layers would switch randomly at times
Less control for someone who does more traditional artwork