brushes

Graphics tools that can create photo mosaics aren't scarce, even when filtered down to freeware. Mosaizer Pro by APP Helmond does that. But this free tool earns a spot even in the most well-stocked graphics toolkit by taking photo mosaics -- pictures created out of many smaller pictures -- to new levels. With it, you can "paint with pictures," creating artistic images out of your own pictures using Mosaizer's tools and vast library of free images, patterns, and textures. You can also add your own objects and save your settings as projects you can return to. … Read more

Rumor Has It host Karyne Levy joins us as we discuss Androids Jelly Bean possibly launching in Q2, the pen-friendly LG Vu which will be on display at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Spain, and a couple of crazy Android implementations including Google's HUD Glasses and an Android Toothbrush.

NEWS:

-Android 5.0 ‘Jelly Bean’ launching in Q2? Eh, maybe

-Android 5.0 Jelly Bean is Android@Home

-LG Optimus Vu is official: 5 inches, pen-friendly

-BlackBerry OS 2.0 arrives, supports Android apps, sort of… Read more

Scrubbing your chompers probably doesn't top your list of favorite things to do. That means you rush through it without lavishing your teeth with the attention they truly deserve.

The Beam Brush is aiming to change your slacker ways. The manual brush hooks up with an Android app to track how long you are brushing, with the ideal time being 2 minutes per session. Simple charts show if you're reaching your goals. … Read more

The iPad is typically perceived as a device for consuming content--reading status updates on Facebook, listening to Lady Gaga, watching the latest episode of "Glee" or playing Angry Birds. But a new music video created entirely on the Apple tablet helps demonstrate the creative power of the device.

Animator Shawn Harris made an animated music video for pan-Asian girl band Blush using the iPad Brushes app to create colorful moving visuals for the band's debut single, "Undivided (feat. Snoop Dogg)."

In the video, watch two lips turn into the eyes of Snoop Dogg. Later, a strawberry covered in chocolate becomes Snoop Dogg's face. Stars form on the rapper's shades, which then turn into shooting stars in space. The seamless transformation between faces and abstractions makes the animation fun to watch.

The girls in the pop band are represented as shadows of pastel colors--pink, green, red, blue, and purple--but the unidentified bodies soon are filled in with a group portrait. It's not until the end of the video that the identities of the band members are revealed. The music video ends by zooming in on different colored eyes and ends with a big cheek that is, well, blushing.

… Read more

Major updates to high-end illustration and design tools can be hit or miss, but Corel Painter 12 slams this one way out of the park. The 12th iteration of the program contains significant improvements across the board, from intangible but visible performance gains to enhancements to older tools to a set of new tools that should have any professional artist drooling with desire.

The most impressive new tools bring a hefty dose of "reality" to Painter. The new Real Watercolor and Real Wet Oil paints do an amazing job of mimicking their real-world counterparts. Viscosity, blending, and drying … Read more

The great David Hockney has traded in his brushes for Brushes--as in the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app.

And he's not just doodling around casually with the painting application. The 73-year-old British painter, stage designer, and photographer has used it, along with other drawing apps, to create hundreds of vibrant landscapes, self-portraits, still lifes, and florals.

Now, more than 200 of his images of plants and cut flowers are on display through January 30 at the Foundation Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent in Paris.

For the exhibit, titled "Fleurs Fraiches," or "Fresh Flowers," iPads used … Read more

As we saw recently with all that amazing art painted from rear-window grime, true artists can create masterpieces using just about any tool.

In the first video below, David Kassan paints quite a detailed and subtly shaded portrait using only his fingers and an iPad. His model sat for three hours, but the time-lapsed video means you don't have to.

The Brooklyn-based artist used Steve Sprang's $4.99 Brushes app to portray his subject, as does U.K.-based Kyle Lambert, who created some pretty great-looking iPad finger paintings of Beyonce, a scene from "Toy Story 3,&… Read more

It's time for another Natali Del Conte Thursday episode of The 404 Podcast, but we're keeping the complaints to a minimum in deference to our guest co-host today; that is, after Wilson tells us about a 3D movie that tickled his gag reflex. Yes, we learn that Wilson officially honked after watching only three minutes of "African Adventure: Safari in Okavango" in 3D. He shares this experience with children and teenagers who might also be more susceptible to epileptic seizures and migraines as a result of watching 3D TV.

While we're on the topic of … Read more

TwistedBrush Open Studio offers to help you create digital works of art. With its elaborate paintbrush set, its simple controls, and a bevy of options, it improves on the usual painting programs.

The program's interface is a delight to navigate, with its instructional Help file and numerous but not overwhelming options. The program is organized much like the popular Paint program packaged with Windows. There's a fragmented color palette, a selection of brushes, various shape-making tools, and a large canvas to work with. Like Paint, it uses a click-and-drag method to create images. Where this program differentiated itself … Read more