George WebberArtist - Cartoonist - Illustrator

 Using the iPad for Art? Part 1 

When the iPad was first announced I like many other artist wondered if maybe this could be a light weight moble art studio or sketch pad.

The more I read about the iPad at that time the more I had doubts that it would or could, but it was a bit too soon to tell for sure.

Since then I seen several iPad add-on gadgets and many apps that made me interested in the iPad for other uses, but at the same time I still wanted to draw on the iPad.

So ever since I got my iPad I've been trying to find what Drawing Apps, Stylus and other gadgets work together well enough to say the iPad is a plausable mobile art studio or at least as a functional sketch pad.

So far I've been testing three brands of stylus, eight drawing apps, three photography apps and several iPad gadgets like the Apple USB port adapter and some others.

And I'll be writing about the Apps and gadgets as part of this on going series, but for now let's start with the Stylus.

The Pogo Sketch Stylus

Like most people it seems I tried the Pogo Sketch Stylus first.

 http://www.tenonedesign.com/sketch.php

The short version of my thoughts on the Pogo are as follows, if you want something small to just poke around your iPhone or iPad's screen, it's fine, but if your looking for an art tool ... maybe not so much.

At the same time I can't totally rule out the Pogo as an art tool as it largely depends on how you feel about the following items.

The first thing is the Pogo is skinny, much like a PDA stylus which for some people might be fine, but for larger hands it could be a problem.

Of course the Pogo has a pocket clip and a top knot with a hole for tethering,but while the body is metal, the clip is plastic and at $ 15.00 bucks feels too cheap. Sure I've seen it listed for as little as eight bucks and even then it just doesn't add up for me, it feels like paying ten bucks for a 49 cent Bic ball point pen.

The next thing is the little spongy tip has a "drag" feel to it when moving on the screen, some people like a little drag, some don't mind, others may not like it at all.

In my opinion it's not huge drag but it can be felt and I don't care for it when doing broad strokes, on smaller detail work it's not so bad. In fact sometimes the Pogo is just what you need to do detail work as the small tip is pretty easy to see around and place where you want it, but still not great.

The big issue I have with the Pogo is the sponge tip doesn't seem to hold up to the scrubbing motion that many artist may use, it really seems to get compressed or wear down. I noticed a change in the shape of the tip after about a week of some what heavy use.

Next up is the Dagi.

I don't own a Dagi yet, but I did try out my friend Doc Popular's for a little while.

The first thing I noticed is it really requires you to hold it in a certain position and seems like your forced to work a slower pace. It also seems to need a firmer touch to work.

It could be I wasn't really used to the unusual feel of the Dagi's harder plastic tip, however that nice little sight glass pinpoint might work well for smaller precision placement for detail work once getting used to it.

I'll have to get one to test it out more to make a final determination on it and that could be a trick in itself as they are only really sold in Asia and through eBay.

http://www.dagi.com.tw/front/bin/home.phtml

The final stylus we have is the Targus.

The Targus is the stylus I currently use and like quite a bit.

It's body is thick enough that it feels like a nice pen, although it is shorter than a standard pen, it's not too much shorter so it still fits the hand pretty well. It also has a nice weight and balance to it.

Anyway like the Pogo the Targus features a pocket clip and a top knot with a hole so it can be tethered somehow if you wish, the diffrence is it's all metal.

Now the most important part of any stylus is the tip and the Targus has a rounded soft rubber like material that with a light or heavy touch glides quickly and smoothly on the iPad. On most of the apps I've tried the Targus response is quick even using a soft touch which is nice.

If the Targus tip has a flaw it's that being soft you'll tend to "squish" it down on the screen harder than you need to, but even then it moves quickly and doesn't wear down like like the Pogo. After a little use you'll get the feel for the Targus and it'll perform nicely.

The Targus has a much more natural angle like a pen or brush when drawing with it.

It seems Box Wave makes a stylus that's pretty much a twin for the Targus so I'll assume the results would be the same with the Box Wave, except that the Box Wave cost more.

All told I have to say as art tools each of these stylus may have a use, but for a good all around general purpose tool the Targus gets my money first.

BestBuy has them but at $ 15.00 bucks they go out of stock fast.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Targus+-+Stylus+for+Apple%26%23174%3B+iPad%26%23153%3B/1151337.p?id=1218226504600&skuId=1151337

Try the Targus, I think you'll like it.

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