What Apps Are We Using This Month? with Cynthia DiDonato
Welcome to TheAppWhisperer’s new section, “what apps are we using this month” series, where we discover which apps you are particularly enjoying. Kicking us off today is non-other than Award Winning Mobile Photographer, Cynthia DiDonato.
I am Cynthia DiDonato from North Providence, R.I. I am a retired English teacher, who also is certified to teach art. In the 90’s I fell in love with technology’s ability to enhance education. I spent the next 20 years as a technology and education consultant training teachers from k-12 as well as graduate students in reading programs at local colleges.
Once I retired I was able to fully concentrate on my analog art. In 2014 I fell in love with digital art. In 2021 I was invited to join the Techspressionist movement. I attend their online salons twice a month. Presently, I am fully retired, and I teach online Procreate workshops.
This month I have been using Procreate, iColorama, DECIM8, FotoDa, Snapseed and Slow Shutter. I use an iPhone 6 SE (3rd Gen) and an iPad Pro to create my images.
My favorite go to apps are Procreate and iColorama. Both of these apps provide me with numerous creative avenues.
Procreate’s ability to allow me to paint digitally and create original brushes inspires me. Add to that I can insert photos of my analog art to recreate them by either blending them with other images or digital paint. I’m over the moon with Warp in the Transform tool
iColorama provides me with an incredible number of filters, brushes and digital painting opportunities. Blending and mixing in this app surpasses Procreate. The Effects and Form menus are two of my favorites.
The first piece is called “Division”. It began as an analog mixed media painting that I imported into Procreate as a digital photo. Next I brought the image into iColorama where I transformed it using several filters, then Masked the top two thirds of the image and then used the Form menu to finalize it.
The second piece is called “Seizure II” which is from my Slow Shutter series. Here I began mixing two Slow Shutter photos of the road taken as my husband was driving along the highway. I used Blend in iColorama then Raise.
The third piece is called “Red Moons” and is from my Red series. I began with creating an image in Procreate entirely with digital paint. I moved to iColorama to use an eraser and a circular brush while in the Artist menu. Lastly I imported the image into DECIM8 where I was able to use some Randomize Effects to arrive at the final image you see.
The fourth image is called “Danseuses” and is part of my 2 dimensional sculptural series. This was completely created in Procreate. I began with an iPhone photo of a woman’s dress at an art opening. I imported the photo into Procreate. Using Warp in the Transform Tool, I was able to create a pleasing image.
To read other interviews in this series, please go here.
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Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
