apps
News,  What Apps Are We Using This Month?

What Apps Are We Using This Month? with Rita Colantonio

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 is non-other than Award Winning Mobile Photographer, Rita Colantonio.

Rita Colantonio is represented exclusively by TheAppWhisperer Gallery

My name is Rita Colantonio. I refer to myself as a digital artist and iPhoneographer. I live on Cape Cod in New England, USA. I’m a retired public school art teacher. I am now approaching mid 70’s and I’m about to celebrate my 50th wedding annniversary. My husband and I just returned from a vacation in Belize so much of my art recently has been focused on imagery from that trip. My camera of choice is the iPhone 14 Pro Max and I edit on the iPad Pro. I frequently pre-edit my photographs in the native editing app before I go to the iPad.

My art has been a mix of photography, some of it edited in Hipstamatic, IColorama or Snapseed, and collages or composites. My collage work is primarily created in Procreate, but very often refined either in IColorama or Snapseed. Blending textures in my work is done in procreate or IColorama. I occasionally use distressedfx app for texture. My collages usually consist of photographs, painted in procreate, and snippets of textures, text and parts of images on my camera roll. Procreate allows me to add lines and brushstrokes as well, including brushes that I have made. I sometimes use Metabrush app for painting. This past month I have also used DECIM8 for abstracting an image. As a rule I always use LightBrush for dodging/burning, sharpening (intensify tool) and subtle blurring. It allows me to focus on specific areas of the image. I use Snapseed for vignettes and frames.

 

Following are several images I created inspired by my trip to Belize and the apps I used to create them. 

 

apps
Palm ©Rita Colantonio – This was a macro photograph which I edited in IColorama app.

 

apps
‘Waiting by the window’ ©Rita Colantonio – A street image in Placencia. Blended background texture was from an old boat. IColorama and Snapseed.

 

‘The writing on the wall’ ©Rita Colantonio – This is a composite created from a photograph of a half painted wall. The man was part of a street photo and the graffiti was shot in a different location. The image was composited in procreate and the figure was painted. The toning and water filter were done in IColorama. Final edits in Snapseed including frame
©Rita Colantonio – I posed for this shot and had my husband take the photo. I used Hipstamatic app and Snapseed for frame and vignette

 

‘Floating Hibiscius’ ©Rita Colantonio – This was an iPhone shot of hibiscus flowers arranged in a pool of water. In IColorama I started with water and painterly filters, then in distressedfx app I added the texture. I added the butterfly in Procreate and touched up color and dodging in LightBrush app.

 

‘The banana bread lady’ ©Rita Colantonio – This was a fun collage I created completely in Procreate. The woman was part of a street photo in Placencia. Here she is making change. The porch and truck were parts of other Belize photos. Other colors and graphics, including text, were designed by me. The bananas are clip art.

 

‘Palm leaf abstract’ ©Rita Colantonio – This image started as a macro photograph of palm leaves. In IColorama I used the flat tool and edges to get the tones and abstract quality.
‘Looking for shade’ ©Rita Colantonio – The searing heat in Sein Bight, Belize called for extreme measures. We saw many walking with umbrellas to protect from the sun. This image was edited in IColorama and procreate. The texture applied resembles the pealing street. This was an old stackable texture I still have. I also used a subtle smoke texture from IColorama to imply heat. Color an nd lighting adjustments were made in IColorama.

 

‘Come on in’ ©Rita Colantonio – This is a street image in Placencia. This place is all about color. I used Metabrush app to paint this photograph and IColorama for edges and water filter.

 

 

.I would say that Procreate app is my highest recommendation. For the type of editing I do this app meets all my requirements and more. Even though I use other apps, I could actually do everything I need to do in this one app. Thank you Joanne Carter for inviting me to share my images and techniques!

Please support us

TheAppWhisperer has always had a dual mission: to promote the most talented mobile artists of the day and to support ambitious, inquisitive viewers the world over. As the years pass TheAppWhisperer has gained readers and viewers and found new venues for that exchange.

All this work thrives with the support of our community.

Please consider donating to TheAppWhisperer as this New Year commences because your support helps protect our independence and we can keep delivering the promotion of mobile artists that’s open for everyone around the world. Every contribution, however big or small, is so valuable for our future.

click here to help us

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]