
Ultimately, as with any creation tool, engagement is heavily dependent on the task and students' intrinsic motivation. However, if they want to practice creating light base sketches and then layering on more opaque lines until they achieve their finished product, they'll need to upgrade. For instance, in either the free or paid version, students can adjust the opacity of brushes. pen and paper) particularly useful for learning arts and design processes and techniques. Still, teachers will have to upgrade for some of these features - like layering - that make an app (vs. It has an attractive and fairly intuitive design, lots of brushes and tools, quick access to color and opacity options, and some standout features like screen recording, folders, and layering, which have tons of value in classrooms. This is a popular illustration app for good reason. This happens when you click on unsupported brushes or tools, and a few moments after launching the app. It can be frustrating when using the free version to get pop-ups advertising the paid upgrade. This means that more advanced students will want to upgrade to the full version or find a different app that features the use of layers for free. Like other apps in this category, some of the more intriguing and useful features (e.g., layers) require an in-app purchase or upgrade to the Pro version.

One nice touch for classrooms is the screen recording feature, letting students and teachers capture their drawing process and then share on YouTube or elsewhere. Once a tool is selected, students can pick new colors and adjust the opacity and size of the current brush on the right. It has a full array of different brush types (pencil, ink, watercolor, airbrush, etc.) as well as an eraser, undo history, layering, and cut and paste features. It's super easy to use, with the column of brushes and tools on the left, and an open canvas in the middle. Students could create a folder for each semester or year and see their improvement over time. It's possible to create folders (represented as sketchbooks) for different illustrations and to group projects or styles together. Students can start with a blank canvas or upload a picture from the device's camera roll. Upon startup, users see a grid of previous drawings as well as a blank cell with a plus sign to create a new drawing. Tayasui Sketches is an illustration app for iOS and Android. It has an elegant, minimalist design yet isn't lacking for features. This latter option would allow students to see how their work evolves over time. Students could organize their work by assignment type, unit, or month/semester/year. To keep things organized as students create, teachers might want to have students use the folders feature. Once students are feeling comfortable with Tayasui Sketches, the possibilities are endless. Students can then review those videos and get a sense of what's possible.

Have them explore their assigned feature and then (using the built-in screen recording function) record a short video tutorial demonstrating that feature. Try dividing up the different brushes and tools among students or groups of students (e.g., one group is assigned the watercolor tool). To supplement built-in help, teachers can have students get each other up to speed.

Full documentation and tutorials on the Tayasui website are linked from the app. This will give students a quick initial idea of the app's capabilities. To help, there's some built-in instruction that, like the app itself, has a minimalist style, mostly showing illustrations of how to use various tools or gestures. But despite Tayasui Sketches' motto ("Stop thinking about the device, enjoy the sensation of drawing on paper"), drawing on a tablet (or phone) will require some adjustment (but also offer some benefit) for those used to paper. As more pro artists and designers transition to digital, it's useful to get students practice using digital drawing tools.
