What is a good free sketching art program on the iPad?

My wife today went to an art exhibition and a woman was showing her how to
use "Procreate" to sketch drawings.

Searching for equivalent functionality to "Procreate", I entered
in an App Store search for free "sketch" "drawing" "watercolor"
programs.

I found so many that to select among them is a daunting task.

I've already downloaded and started testing the following:
http://i61.tinypic.com/w20j7a.jpg

Namely:
Sketch (various)
SketchUP lite
Sketch Pad
Zoodle Pad
Kaleidoscope
FS Paint
Geometry Pad
My Sketch Pad
Sketch Painter
Drawing Pad
Chalk Pad
MyBrushes Lite
DrawPad
tinker Paint
Paint Pad
iVisit 3D
Pen & Ink
etc.

Since the available selection of free drawing programs is so huge,
may I ask if you have a *favorite sketching program* on the iPad
that you already know to be free, usable, and functional?

 

My suggestion depends on what you or you wife are actually trying to
do. If you want the most capable app in this genre then step up and
spend $4.99 and buy ArtStudio, so you can do this sort of stuff:
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https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/artstudio-for-ipad-draw-paint/id364017607?mt=8
If you are just noodling around then stick with the free or "Lite" apps.

 

The world's most expensive Etch-A-Sketch.

 

nope. there are more expensive tablets than an ipad.

 

I disagree with the logic of spending money first, and asking
questions later.

The best logic is to try the freeware, at your liesure, and
when you find a good one, you're done.

Almost always (if not always), either a single well recommended
free program fits the bill, or, as fate may have it, a combination
of free programs does the desired tasks.

However, in the rare event there isn't freeware to do what you
need, after testing the freeware, you know /EXACTLY/ what is
missing - and - only then - would a smart person plunk down money.

Of course, nothing is free, so, it takes intelligence to follow
this logic. Otherwise, money supercedes intelligent thought.

 

Could be an error?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Etch-A-Sket...796573?pt=Classic_Toys_US&hash=item257857989d

 

Well, and even as one of the more parsimonious of the species, not sure
I agree with you there. Freeware can be very buggy and difficult to use
and configure.

Here I agree to a point, but how often does that happen? And apps are,
relatively, quite inexpensive.

Depends how much you value your time. As I get older/old, I'm far less
inclined to invest time into something that has an uncertain outcome.

I think a decision is informed largely by experience, needs, aptitude
with app-type things, the device in question, peer review, marketing,
and wealth. And other stuff.

 

All good points. Nothing is free. Not even these free apps I'm testing:
http://i62.tinypic.com/e1akqh.jpg

On the one hand, you can PAY for someone to make a good app, and if it
isn't actually good, you can complain and get your money back.

On the other hand, you can ASK which free apps are good, and, if
they're not good, you can try another free app.

One costs money; the other costs time and effort.
Either way, you're 'paying' for finding & using the best app.

It seems, as a general observation, that Apple users are much more
willing to pay for the advice, and to be told how to do something,
than are Linux/Android users.

As just one example, on my Android phones and Linux/Windows dual-boot
laptops, I can do *everything* I've ever needed to do (within reason),
and I haven't paid for a single app, ever, on Android/Linux, and the
only Apps I've ever paid for on Windows are TurboTax & MS Office.

Everything else I need is easily obtained with freeware; but, I agree,
freeware also has a cost (i.e., time & effort). That's why I asked.

Here's the freeware I'm currently testing out, on the iPad:
http://i62.tinypic.com/e1akqh.jpg

 

Can't say either way. As a mainly Apple user I do find there's a lot
less scope to fettle. So you have to do it Apple's way, or not at all.
iTunes is a maddening example.

Well, good luck with that little lot

Were you not persuaded by Mr Duck's suggestion, above?

 

IMHO, only a moron plunks down his money before knowing
what he can get for free.

It's like getting married for sex.
In the long term, you'll wish you hadn't committed yourself.

Better first to test out the free versions, ask your friends
what they use, and then, only after you know what you're
getting into, then plunk down your money.

By then, you'll know exactly what is out there, and what
you need to pay for (almost always, you can get all you want,
or need, for free).

It just takes effort (which is the cost of freeware).

 

I usually check free and *Lite" versions first. However, there are
always limitations and/or ads, and I inevitably find myself either
buying the in app upgrade or the premium or Pro version which usually
run in the very affordable $0.99 to $5.00 range, with some superb apps
running around $10.00, which if you can afford an iPad/iPhone in the
first place is not particularly exorbitant.

That is an entirely different issue. Are you trying to tell us
something about your current marital condition?

Then ask your friends. However, you asked here and I can tell you that
the best of the iPad drawing/art programs is by far ArtStudio which is
well worth the $4.99 asking price, unless you are just collecting apps
with no sincere intent to ever use them.
<
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/artstudio-for-ipad-draw-paint/id364017607?mt=8

Since you asked the question here, consider that some of us might have
already done all that research.

....and you still have the issue of having a free app which might fall
short of your needs and/or expectations, when $0.99-$4.99 could get you
exactly what you are looking for.

 

Is this how you decide who to marry?

How many of your friends have to sleep with your prospective spouse
before you know enough to decide whether to marry that person?

 

BTW: Here is just one more piece of evidence that ArtStudio @ $4.99 is
probably the best tool for the art minded iPad owner.
< >

 

I don;t think anyone is suggesting 'knowledge'.

Erm, not quite like that!

Peer and other reviews exist.

Each to own.

I'd agree you do stand a reasonable chance of getting what you want for
very little or no financial outlay. But some considerable time
investment, as well as the application of a decent amount of
skill/dexterity.

And I get more or less what I want, for very little time investment and
some cost. Maybe £50 a year, including apps. And I don't have to use
what little time or brain I have left