Atelier: Draw, Sketch, Paint Review

Free and simple to use, Atelier is immediately a pretty handy sketching app. It lacks some of the finer features that would truly make it stand out (although some of those are purchasable via an in-app purchase), but as a quick solution it does the job.

The app is predictably quick to load. For the budding artist it really won't take long to get drawing. The free version of Atelier offers some basic brushes such as an air type, as well as more conventional brushes along wit the ability to erase and blend. Layering is perhaps the most powerful option here, allowing users to blend together images, as well as adjust the opacity or duplicate. It's very handy for the more experienced sketcher. Up to seven canvases can also be used so one can switch between different projects easily enough.

For those who want to pay up, $4.99 buys unlimited canvases at any one time, a new brush, and the option to upload images to a user gallery that depicts the brightest of the bunch. It's quite inspiring checking out what's possible and certainly interesting.

Such power is pretty good for a free app. While there's no way to import an image from one's camera roll and more brushes would have been welcomed, it's still quite a sturdy introduction with appropriate sharing options completing the package.

Atelier isn't the app to beat all drawing apps by any means, but what it offers is robust and steady. Where it falters is in terms of the $4.99 in-app purchase. It's pretty expensive for what it offers. One brush seems kind of paltry, but then again it's not an essential purchase to make. As it stands, the free version of Atelier is a speedy solution and quite convenient.