3 Apps, 3 Artists

Hilene Quiroz
App 1: PicsArt
Main Functions:

● With this app, you can edit photographs in various ways

● You can add premade filters and effects as well as adjust
them in order for them to look how you want
● They also offer a variety of tools like being able to shape
crop, change the perspective of a photo, or enhance it
● You can add text, draw, or cut out things
● The cut out tool has automatic features which include
being able to automatically cut out a person, face, clothes,
the sky, or a head. It also lets you outline objects so that
you can make more specific and detailed cut-outs.

How App Can Be Used in Classroom:

● This app can be used as an introduction to photo editing

apps like Photoshop
● It can be easier for students to maneuver before going
into Photoshop which includes a lot more tools that can
sometimes be confusing
● I think that the cut out tool on this app could especially
serve as practice for future use.
App 2: KaleidaCam

Main Functions:
● This app is a camera with a kaleidoscope effect
● It includes 3 different styles of kaleidoscopes and a fourth
option of a mirrored effect
● You can either take a photo using the app, or add an existing
photograph and add the kaleidoscope effect by moving the
photo around
● It also has a slide bar which helps to adjust the zoom of the
camera
How It Can Be Used In Classroom:
● This app can be used to teach students how objects combined
together can form different shapes
● The many different styles allow for students to be able to
choose from one and explore as to how different backgrounds
can be achieved and manipulated.
App 3: InShot
Main Functions:

● This app allows people to edit/create videos

● Although you can also edit photos and make collages, the
amount of tools are limited so the video aspect of it is better
● When editing a video on here, you can choose what size frame
for your video to be
● You can also add music and from there choose actual music,
effects, or decide to do a voiceover
● Other tools include: text, filters, adding pictures, precut, splitting
the video, deleting a segment, adjusting the volume, adjusting
speed, duplicating a section, cropping the video, rotating it,
flipping it, freezing a frame, and reversing a section of the video.

How App Can Be Used In Classroom:

● This app can be used to help students edit videos

● It can be used to make stop motion videos
● Students could also record their progress of making an artwork.
For example, create a timelapse of them making something
 Artist 1: Anna McNaught
● Anna McNaught is a digital artist born in Pennsylvania who creates photo edits
which look dreamlike and all of them create an environment that feels like a fantasy
● She sometimes uses apps like PicsArt to edit her photographs but the majority of
the time, she works with Photoshop

Assignment:

● Create a surreal edited photograph using the tools on PicsArt. Make the image
inspired by a scene or event you might have seen in a dream. Either in a dream
you had while sleeping, or something you’ve pictured in your mind while
daydreaming.

Questions:

● What aspects make Anna McNaught’s photos look dreamy?

● Which colors are mostly used? In what ways do colors affect the ways in which
backgrounds feel or look?
● If different colors were used, would the photograph no longer feel dreamy?
● How has technology affected the way in which we perceive things?

Anna McNaught, Untitled, 2019

 Artist 2: Karen Hochman Brown
● Karen Hockman Brown is a digital artist from Los Angeles who creates kaleidoscope
like art.
● She takes photographs and imports them into a modular graphics-synthesizer program
where she then edits them to create her desired style.
● The use of her repeating shapes and her movement that occurs, causes a form of
energy which transpires in her work.

Assignment:

● Go outside and explore ways in which nature can create different shapes/patterns with
each other. Try and find existing patterns in nature. Take a photo of what you see using
KaleidaCam.

Questions:

● How do shapes and colors work together to create different energies or feelings?
● Have patterns in nature inspired patterns made by man or technology? If so, how?
● In what ways does nature inspire you?
● What colors/patterns are you most drawn to when you look at nature? Why?
Karen Hochman Brown, Fiesta Rosa
Artist 3: Tomosteen
● Tomosteen is a Japanese animation artist who creates stop
motion videos.
● His videos are him sharing recipes of a meal made completely
out of Legos.
● He manipulates the Legos in specific ways in each frame he
takes so that they appear as if they are being cut, spilt, mixed, or
poured, just like real food.
Tomosteen, Lego Chocolate Cake, 2020
Assignment:

● Create your own stop motion animation of a food that reminds you of your childhood
or a food that makes you feel good. Use InShot to put all the frames together and
edit them. Make sure to include sound effects.

Questions:

● How has technology changed the way in which we share things, like recipes?
● Do you think this video would be as interesting if it wasn’t made out of Legos?
● Does the inclusion of sound add to the video? Do you think certain sounds could
sometimes be distracting?
● How does the food Toomosteen creates make you feel? Tomosteen, Lego Triple
● Does seeing food made out of Legos still make it look appetizing? Or does the idea Layer Cheesecake, 2020
of it being plastic make it less appetizing?
References
https://picsart.com/blog/post/use-picsart-like-digital-artist-anna-mcnaught

https://www.hochmanbrown.com/category/kaleidoscope-art/

https://annamcnaught.com/photo-editing

https://www.hochmanbrown.com/author/specialkbreak/

https://mymodernmet.com/stop-motion-animation-lego-tomosteen/