Sketching with SketchBook Pro on the iPad

One of the first apps I purchased for my iPad is called SketchBook Pro. SketchBook Pro for iPad provides a deep and realistic toolset— from pencils to paintbrushes, and more. Although I was primarily interested in converting my iPad into a digital sketchpad, mainly for black & white concept sketches when designing logos, websites, etc., it can also be used for painting. Some of the paintings I’ve seen are really amazing.

Here is an unretouched pencil sketch I drew of a wooden, hand-carved object using SketchBook for iPad. Can you tell the difference between a "real" pencil sketch and this one?

While purchasing my iPad at the Apple Store, I also bought a Pogo Sketch Stylus.

Thankfully, I’m no longer tethered to my computer, as I was with my Wacom tablet, and the experience feels more “real”— like I’m holding a real sketchpad and pencil.

For some reason, I never really got used to drawing on my Wacom tablet and seeing the art appear in a different location (on my computer screen, rather than directly under my fingers).

By the way, one thing I find a bit cumbersome with SketchBook Pro is handwriting. When I sketch, I like to include small notes and callouts. But with SketchBook Pro, the letters tend to get rounded off… however, I think this has more to do with the stylus than it does with SketchBook Pro, since the drawing process works just fine.

Another app I purchased for my iPad is OmniGraffle, which does allow you to include text notes (using fonts rather than handwriting), however, the drawing tools aren’t nearly as sophisticated. Still, I find OmniGraffle for iPad to be indispensable for creating wireframes. I’ll write about this, in a future post.

Tommy Oddo is a web designer and digital artist who lives in Austin, Texas. Entrepreneurs, marketers, and in-house teams hire him to make their websites and digital products more engaging and easier to use. Follow him on: Linkedin, Quora, Twitter, and Facebook. Subscribe to future articles via RSS and/or Email.