Fresh Paint

I decided to look around the Microsoft app store to see if I could find something useful to try. I was feeling like I wanted to draw, so I decided to look for something in the art department of applications. Then I found an application that caught my eye called Fresh Paint. So what is Fresh Paint? Fresh Paint (and I know I am saying that a lot) is a Windows 8 based application that allows people to use their computer as a canvas board. So in other words, you can use your computer to draw, paint, or even just come up with new ideas that you want to put down on paper. So let’s dive right into this artistic application and see what it has to offer.

One of the things you’ll notice right off the bat is the textured paper for the work area. You have a variety of textures you can choose from including just a plain white background. This is a unique touch, because even in professional art based applications like Corel painter, you have an option to used texture based paper to give your painting a more realistic feel. As for the tools, they are pretty standard. You have your brushes, markers or crayons, pencils, and water color brushes. Let’s start with the pencils, seeing as most pieces begin with a sketch. I wasn’t too disappointed with the pencil tool in this application actually. It felt like a pencil, and it worked like one to. Also, if you included a texture based paper it actually looks like pencil on paper. You do have an option for a shadier pencil which just increases the opacity when you go over the line over and over again. But I like to stick with the normal pencil for what I do.

The brushes are a bit odd to me, but one of you might find them useful or interesting. Maybe because I am not used to painting with this application but hey, it’s still awesome. There are two types of paint brushes in this application, water color and standard. I personally like the water color based brush, because it allows for a smoother looking paint while being able to shade easier. The standard brush is like dabbing the brush in paint and then starts painting on the board. So it’s odd, but useful. I forgot to mention you also have a smudge tool that helps you shade with the pencil.

There was an option to edit photos or paint over top of them, but I didn’t really care much for it. As biased as it may sound, the way I think of It is just editing a photo to make it look more like a painted picture gives you a false sense of success. But in a way, it is a good way to learn some concepts as well as some editing techniques. This application is free to use and is worth a shot. So give fresh paint a try and start creating.