Iszy has been busy. Early last month he completed a personal project, to create one colour sketch each day for 30 days using only the iPad. We think Iszy's done a stellar job with every painting, especially given the restrictions he placed upon himself. Head on over to Into The Isyverse for plenty more iPad related blog posts.

We'll be keeping a close eye on Iszy's work. He's currently using Sketchbook Pro and Brushes.

Yesterday we highlighted the new high resolution canvas options in both ArtRage and SketchBook Pro (4 and 3 megapixels, respectively), if you missed that article it might be helpful to read it first and come back here to follow the discussion.

Because of the performance hit when painting with these new multi megapixel canvas options the doodler might find the standard resolution a more pleasant painting experience. However, if you plan on keeping your artwork and presenting it at the highest possible quality then surely the extra detail is worth the slowdown.

Preservation in print

If you were to present your ArtRage painting in print, at 1024 x 1024 you could just about get away with an image size that was no bigger that 12cm square. Go for the high resolution canvas and you can print up to 24cm square. That's enough data to allow your painting to be printed in a glossy magazine without the reader noticing the pixels. Certainly at that resolution large inkjet photo prints will surely shine.

Retention on a Retina class display

Most iPad artists might only ever display their paintings on the iPad screen, but that doesn't mean you should forego the megapixel canvas option. The next iPad is almost certainly going to come equipped with a Retina class display, that's 2048 x 1536 pixels. Any paintings created using the standard canvas options will look soft and perhaps even dull on a Retina class display, whereas multi megapixel paintings will fulfill the full potential of such a display.

Unleash the GPU

Of course, Procreate fans might just be able to have their cake and eat it. By enlisting the mindblowing power of the SGX graphics processor Procreate can run at speeds that ArtRage and SketchBook Pro can only dream of. The Procreate high resolution update can't come soon enough.

Painting Credit: Shaun Mullen. A fellow Brit and one of the best iPad artists we know!

App Store Links: ArtRage, SketchBook Pro, Procreate

Recent updates to both ArtRage and SketchBook Pro have finally pushed through the multi megapixel canvas barrier. SketchBook Pro struck first on May 13 with an optional high resolution canvas of 2048 x 1536, but then ArtRage hit back on May 27 with an unprecedented 2048 x 2048 canvas. That's a whopping 4 million pixels!

Both multi megapixel canvas options are limited to iPad 2 users and both have a performance hit. We haven't done any exhaustive testing to see just how much of a performance hit is present on each app, but it might be enough to make some of you think twice.

That in our opinion would be a shame. Head back here tomorrow when we'll explain why these new multi megapixel canvas options are so important and why we think you should consider using them.

Many thanks to reader Bill Pham for the heads-up regarding the SketchBook Pro update. Much appreciated Bill.

App Store Links: ArtRage, SketchBook Pro

AutoDesk are currently in the planned stage of a public exhibition to showcase 'the diversity of art and creativity of SketchBook users'. They are looking for all types of artwork and illustrations from across the entire range of SketchBook products, including SketchBook Pro and SketchBook Express for the iPad.

We are certain that many of our readers, and those that kindly share they artwork in the iPad Creative Flickr group, would love the chance to see their creations displayed in a public exhibition hosted by AutoDesk. To be considered you'll need to follow the instructions here, but don't forget that you only have until Thursday, 24th March (5PM PST) to get your entries emailed to AutoDesk.

Be sure to let us know if you get accepted!

An artist going by the YouTube user name of 'asuka111digiemo' has uploaded this beautiful painting video. The artist uses Sketchbook Pro and Brushes to great effect. We especially enjoyed watching the layering of shadows and highlights. Thanks for sharing!

If you use Autodesk's Sketchbook Mobile on your iPhone or Sketchbook Pro on your iPad you will be seeing a lot of this image in future. Drawn by Spanish artist Luis Peso using Sketchbook Pro on his iPad, "Progress" is going to be the new splash screen on the more than 2 million downloaded copies of Sketchbook Mobile.

Luis entered the SketchBook Hero competition we told you about a few months ago and his image was selected as winner over a whole host of other artists images from many different countries.

You can see a lot more of Luis' work on his Flickr stream and he is also an active member of our iPad Creative Flickr group. Be sure to check out the link to see more examples of stunning artwork created on the iPad.

If you don't already have a copy, Sketchbook Pro for iPad is on sale now for $2.99 (£1.79) and the iPhone version is only $0.99 (59p). The video below, released around the time of the iPad launch, shows Sketchbook Pro in action.

You may have seen this already but we just wanted to make sure you hadn't missed this one from David Newman. As 'Silicon Valley's artist-in-residence', Newman has been using Macs since the early 80's and more recently the iPad to create some wonderful paintings and his latest subject, Steve Wozniak, is going to appeal to Apple geeks everywhere.

Woz himself, on his Facebook page, said it is the "Best photo or painting of me ever!" and he is now using it as his profile pic. Woz also explains in another post that Newman took a screenshot of his SketchBook Pro workflow every 3 minutes to create key frames for the video above.

It is fun how Newman deconstructs the picture at the end of the video too, reminding us of the steps he took to get there (and how he starts with Woz's name as the background).

We love seeing the creative process in action like this, showing how an artist layers up an image and creates light and shapes to construct their image. It is something that we could never appreciate fully from just looking at the final piece and we are grateful to all the artists who are sharing their creative processes for the rest of us to wonder at.

Newman's work is amongst the 4,700 plus images submitted to our iPad Creative Art and Design Flickr Group, check out the rest of the images too, there are some amazing pieces there.

Starr is a 3D artist and illustrator creating art for computer games and other digital media, he is currently working with InstantAction, a company that enables games distribution via a web browser.

He has a full portfolio of his paintings on his website (some may find a few of his images a little bit racy so be careful if you are at work), he is also on Flickr and a member of our iPad Creative Art & Design Flickr Group.

You can also find Starr on Twitter but it looks like he needs some followers so go and give him a follow there and check out the other links to see more of Starr's impressive artwork.

by sketchguy on flickr (click the picture to see a larger version)If you have used Autodesk's Sketchbook Mobile or Sketchbook Pro for iPad you will have seen J Shuster's Image every time you started the app.

Autodesk are looking for the next Sketchbook Hero to grace the start screens of millions of users, it could be you!

If you have the skills and have created an awesome image using any of the Sketchbook apps, the next SketchBook Hero could be you.

Check out the competition page for more details but be sure to read the rules and submission guidelines before entering the competition. Judges will be marking entries out of 100 points based on: 

• 30 points – Creativity and Originality 
• 30 points – Technical Expertise 
• 20 points – Composition and Design 
• 20 points – Reflection of the Autodesk Brand

Don't forget to check out the amazing drawings, paintings and illustrations by the many iPad artists in our iPad Creative Flickr group, some of which have been created in Sketchbook Pro (including the ones here).

by yon~nie on flickr (click the picture to see the original version on flickr)

This is iPad Creative. We believe with every fibre of our being that Apple's magical machine is without equal. We believe that the iPad will spark a revolution in the creative arts not seen since the popularisation of the Internet at the end of the last millennium. What makes us so sure? In short, you do.

The potential for computers to assist artists in creating and performing art has been strikingly obvious for many years, but until now that potential has been – to the largest extent – only realised by those with a natural affinity for technology, those that because of their upbringing, their social location, or perhaps their age, just don't care for computers. The iPad changes all of that.

Now everyone, geek and non-geek alike, have a blank digital canvas, one which they can touch and hold, one which thanks to the creativity of Apple's finest engineers and the thousands of talented app designers requires almost no learning, no maintenance and certainly no prior experience with Microsoft Windows. Sure the iPad is a superb computer for consuming content, but we think its most natural vocation is for creating art.

Over the coming months we will be nurturing as many iPad focused creative communities as we can. Today we make a start by highlighting the phenomenal talent of iPad graphic artists. Using apps like Layers, ArtStudio, Brushes and SketchBook Pro, skilled artists like Corliss Blakely, Kevin Bee, Mike Dia and Suzi, have already begun to put together an impressive body of work.

As a testament to their skill and with the hope of encouraging other iPad artists to share their work we have set up the iPad Creative Art and Design group on Flickr. It's open to all and we sincerely hope that it will become a showcase of fine iPad art and a place to share ideas and voice opinions. We will be featuring the work of artists kind enough to contribute to the group, and as the group expands we shall run competitions based on the content of the group.

It's early days for the iPad creative scene, but already there is a strong sense of an important shift in the relationship between people and computers. If these early examples are an indication, human creativity has a powerful new canvas to play with.

Many thanks to all those that have contributed to the iPad Creative Art and Design Flickr group – spread the word. We have included a permanent link to the Flickr group in the 'Social' section on the right. We would love to hear from all iPad artists, whether you are creating content or creating apps, we are certain that you must have many great suggestions for how iPad Creative can nurture the creativity of all iPad owners. Please feel free to leave a comment below or email us directly if you prefer. Remember, this is just a small taste of what we have in store, so please be sure to bookmark the site and subscribe to our RSS feed.