Apps We Love – Art

We are focusing on Artist clients in the niche practices area of this month’s magazine, and so we decided to go down the path of art creation and appreciation apps as a corollary to those articles. I like to think of Venus Paradise coloring sets as the first art app – but we’ve come a long way since those boxes of numbered colored pencils. In fact, if you search for “draw” or “paint” in your phone apps, you’ll spend the rest of the day looking at all of the options – there are hundreds. For this article, we surveyed members of the CPA Practice Advisor community to find out what their favorite apps were in the art genre. We’re not restricting these results to drawing and painting, and we’re looking beyond art creation to art appreciation as well. So get out your right brain, and enjoy!

Doug Sleeter, founder of Sleeter Group and Sleeter Consulting, and currently wielder of wood carving tools, recommends Craftsy – “A great app for finding art projects for all ages, and for taking courses to build your skills.” He also is a fan of Pinterest. “Find great ideas for the home, yard, or anything in life. Find a great web page, just pin it and visit all your pins later when you want to pursue the idea. Organize pins into topic areas, and share ideas with friends. Very addictive.” And for those who prefer pursuing the literary arts, Sleeter suggests you visit Goodreads, “A great app for sharing book reviews with friends.”

Melisa Galasso, director at Cherry Bekaert, and Becker CPA instructor, recommends Canva. “Canva is great for designing Facebook posts or any social media post. It is also great for brochures and other documents that need to look great but aren’t difficult to make.” Jennifer Warawa, executive vice president, partners, accountants, and alliances at Sage, seconds the nomination for Canva. “I love this app as it allows me to quickly create ‘in the moment’ custom graphics ready for all the main social media platforms, which contribute to social engagement and drives increased ‘sharability.’