Three Art Apps: Doodling Together, Painting With, and Abra
Artribune reviews three art-focused mobile apps. Doodling Together, a collaborative drawing app, charges a download fee and subscription, then sells user doodles as posters without compensating contributors, drawing criticism. Painting With, by the band Animal Collective, allows real-time collaborative drawing to their unreleased track "Lying in the Grass," with special effects unlocked via album purchase. Abra, a poetic tool from a grant by Columbia College Chicago's Center for Book and Paper Arts, blends book, new media, and reader interaction; a limited edition of ten manuscript copies frames the iPad, and a book by 1913 Press will show text permutations with illustrations by Zach Kleyn.
Key facts
- Doodling Together charges a download fee and monthly subscription, then sells user doodles as posters without paying contributors.
- Animal Collective released Painting With app alongside their February album, enabling real-time collaborative drawing to the track 'Lying in the Grass'.
- Painting With allows custom brushes and social sharing; album purchase unlocks special effects like strobe filters.
- Abra was developed by Amaranth Borsuk, Kate Durbin, and Ian Hatcher through an Expanded Artists' Books Grant from Columbia College Chicago's Center for Book and Paper Arts.
- Abra combines a book, new media, and multiple readers; a limited edition of ten manuscript copies frames the iPad.
- 1913 Press will publish a book showing text permutations from Abra, with illustrations by Zach Kleyn.
- Doodling Together is free to download but costs €1.99/month, €5.99/quarter, or €23.99/year.
- Painting With and Abra are free on iOS; Doodling Together is on iOS and Android.
Entities
Artists
- Amaranth Borsuk
- Kate Durbin
- Ian Hatcher
- Zach Kleyn
- Animal Collective
Institutions
- Artribune
- Columbia College Chicago
- Center for Book and Paper Arts
- 1913 Press
- Apple Store
- PlayStore
Locations
- Chicago
- United States