What Apps Are We Using This Month? with Deborah McMillion
Welcome to TheAppWhisperer’s section, “What apps are we using this month” series, where we discover which apps you are particularly enjoying. Kicking us off today is none other than Award Winning Mobile Artist, Deborah McMillion.
Hello, I am Deborah McMillion, and I live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
At the beginning of the Internet, I joined a university-hosted discussion group on Gaslight-era detective/ghost stories. I met authors, scholars, librarians and small press publishers. We were a tight-knit group connecting with people who shared our passions. Just like the Flickr group for app arts, like artists found each other. I just wanted to say thanks to Joanne Carter and many members of this TheApp Whisperer community for continuing that all-important Connection.
I also had one of the first online portfolio galleries. I got a “Quality “ badge for my website from Yahoo. Of course, at that time, there was ONLY Yahoo. I’ve seen so many apps come and go, from raspberries to short-sighted gamers for killing Stamp My Face. Why? Why TileDeck? No! Not Phoster! And I have Formulas but not Stackables.
What was the thinking there? None of my work is just one app now. And because I work in layers, when I add blending modes, not even layers are one app. I do keep the collapsed and blended layers separate.
Because my work is so detailed (horreur vacuui) I like the back background simple with textures like fresco, and Adobe, so I take photos of walls. Solid blue skies can lead to madness relentlessly day after day. So I give cloud boosts (Formulas distressedFX) or my Monsoon Season clouds. I keep Photowizard for the plaster FX. It adds a 3D-based relief texture of those clouds, skies and desert, or add water beads to a figure using Repix, flowing scarves with Flowpaper. Or make it all look more illustrated with ToonCamera.
Tooncamera because it can make my old photos sharper w/o making them artificial. Finally, I like the accessory tier of apps used on finished images, like making your own comic books with Halftone2, PopDots Stripdesign, Mixerpiece and Bamboo books.
To read our other interviews in this series, please go here.
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.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
