I’m always on the lookout for fun artistic apps for my iPhone.  Sure the small size of the screen isn’t as optimal for sketching like the larger iPad is but I still like to crank out the occasional sketch here and there when I’m inspired to do so. There are a lot of sketch apps out there on the iPhone but some of them can be quite complicated, especially for the casual artist.

Yesterday I discovered LiveSketch by Yan Rabovik. LiveSketch is a sketching app, but broken down to its simplest functions while adding a bit of uniqueness. LiveSketch consists of only 1 drawing tool that uses speed to determine the thickness of your strokes. Unlike other sketch apps however, the thicker strokes yield a unique look that basically fleshes out your pencil strokes to look more sketch like. It basically auto-shades certain areas of your sketch.  It’s hard to explain unless you see it for yourself but I can tell you that the result looks very good.

LiveSketch has just one drawing tool, a pencil. You can pick different colors for your pencil but I find that they default black works the best. You can choose different colors for your “paper” as well and LiveSketch even includes a few different kinds of paper to use. Finished sketches can be exported to your camera roll or emailed but the dev suggests taking a screenshot using the lock button+home button trick to yield a higher quality PNG file.

Below you’ll see a video of famous Japanese artist, Yoshitoshi ABe using the iPad version of LiveSketch. Obviously the larger surface area of the iPad makes for a fantastic sketch pad, but the result on the iPhone can look just as good, you just have less space to work on.

LiveSketch does have its faults however. There is no zoom function so trying to draw minute details in your sketch can prove to be quite difficult sometimes. Also, the auto-shade function can prove quite intrusive sometimes if you are working on a small area and don’t really want it to auto-shade. Those are the two areas I’d like to see improved upon in future builds. Basically an ability to zoom in and out and the ability to temporarily disable the auto-shade. Even with those two faults though, LiveSketch is one of my favorite sketch apps to use and the finished result of each sketch looks amazing.

LiveSketch is available now in the App Store for free and works with all iOS devices 3.0 and higher.

Description

Express yourself with impressive sketches like a pencil on a real paper. See unbelievable video in which a famous Japanese artist Yoshitoshi ABe sketches with an iPad version LiveSketch HD: http://bit.ly/livesketch-hd

Tips:
– Draw faster to make a thin line.
– Draw slower to make a thick line.
– Tap the screen to hide/show toolbar.
– Use eraser to correct possible mistakes.
– To save sketch as PNG (in a better quality) press and keep pressed the HOME button on your device and then press the upper LOCK button.

[via App Store]