On My Radar- Eight Apps for a Desert Island with WiFi by Amy Ecenbarger from the United States

This was perhaps the most difficult item to choose. My reading material tends to be quite eclectic (somewhat like my art and my taste in music), so it’s hard to pinpoint a favorite. However, after much thought, I chose And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. (or almost any book by this author) Not only did the story and characters linger in my heart, but the novel opened up a whole new world and culture for me. A culture filled with life, love and family- the very same world we all cherish.

This one was easy- I would never take a trip without my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil! I can take photos, create artworks, keep up with friends and family, have at my fingertips the knowledge of the universe, view and be inspired by art from all over the world, and let’s not forget the shopping! It’s absolutely a necessity.

Virtually every one of my images starts out in Snapseed. I use it to tune up and sharpen my images, crop to size and add a curves adjustment. Sometimes I’ll bring an image back in to Snapseed after other editing and add a bit of HDR or a glow adjustment. This is an amazing, free app.

I can’t imagine my creative life without iColorama! This app provides me with an almost unlimited toolbox for creating digital art. It’s the app that makes me feel like an artist, with freedom to explore and experiment to my heart’s content.

Both of these apps, from the same developer as iColorama,  produce images with beautiful, artistic brushstrokes. The Metabrush experience is one of sheer joy in painting. The iCPainter app gives me an image with wonderful, defined brushstrokes with a single click.

While many apps have a tool for removing unwanted pixels, I haven’t found one that works as well as ReTouch. The app is very easy to use, has a variety of settings, and gives excellent results.

This is my go-to app when creating a composite image where I need to use multiple layers and experiment with layer order and blending modes. It offers several masking tools and has a very useful and easy to use drop shadow feature.

I absolutely love this app for adding texture and tone to an image. I have also used this app to create my own digital textures. The app even has some graphic elements such as birds and trees to create further interest.

I use Alien Sky whenever I feel an image needs a moon, or stars, or any other celestial element. Each element is added on its own layer and can be edited or deleted in order to suit the needs of the image.

Whenever I’m feeling stuck… when I can’t seem to get going and nothing I create feels exciting… I tend to find a new app to learn. Something about diving into- and returning to- the learning process is usually the antidote. Right now, I’m learning how to use Art Studio Pro. In many ways it’s similar to Photoshop, and I’m excited about using adjustment layers and clipping masks again.

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