Zen Brush App Review for the iPhone and iPad

Zen Brush sketch on old paper.

Recently I received PenGo's BrushPen and I was very excited about using it with Zen Brush based on the images that I found in iTunes, but was disappointed in the apps' capabilities. Zen Brush is a monochromatic painting app that helps recreate the look of Chinese and Japanese silkscreen painting. While looking for a good painting program I read some side reviews about the program saying it was one of the best painting programs around.

Zen Brush does create marks that look a lot like silkscreen painting and as a water-colorist I love the look of the marks on the app, but the lack of brushes is disappointing to say the least. Zen Brush allows you to adjust the color of the app between gray and black or light brown and dark brown depending on the paper you have selected for your background. The look of the brush strokes reminding me a lot of ink brush sketching for my beginning drawing classes in college.

I love the look and the feel of the app as well as the effects some of the different papers bring to the table, but the lack of brushes keeps me from being able to recommend this app to artists that enjoy ink wash or watercolor. If they could just give the user a few more options in brushes, being able to adjust the opacity and make a few changes this app would be right up there with some of the best.

Zen Brush has lots of backgrounds to choose from.

Pros and Cons for Zen Brush for the iPad...

Pros

• Makes amazing ink washes with a very wide (and I mean wide) range of papers ranging from old Japanese papers, colored papers, metallic papers, framed works and of course some that are kind of far out there like seasonal papers for different times of the year.

Cons

• Color limitations to monochromatic only which is okay if you go in realizing that the app is based on silk-screen painting from the orient.
• The lack of brush options. If this is fixed I would give it as many stars as possible.

I am hesitant to recommend this app because if you are like me and you love ink wash or watercolor you will be so excited about what this app can do and equally disappointed in what it can't.

I give Zen Brush...

1 out of 5 stars