You guys ready to hear something crazy? I was one of those people that didn't have a smart phone until about 8 months ago. I couldn't believe why you would want to have internet on your phone, because I didn't want to be that connected to the world. Also, I can be super cheap on all things electronics so, to me, it was an unnecessary expense. Well, my old phone quit and, with Luke's work discount, it cost about $12 extra a month to get a "big-girl" phone. Well, Luke convinced me to do it and I love it. I do not buy in to the extras on the phone. I don't have music on there; I barely know how to text and if you ask me to search for something on there...well forget it. I know how to call people and I use a few free apps. I will never be one of those people (hmm... my husband) who buy apps... I just can't. I would rather spend my money on other things...BUT...over Christmas I was on Luke's phone and found something amazing. One of this Twitter people posted a picture of a photo using the Waterlogue app. It was love at first sight. I bought it; she who says that she doesn't ever buy apps. Yep, it's the one app that I have on my phone that I bought and the only thing that I've actually "installed" on my phone myself. Say what? Yep, pretty proud of myself. lol.
I imported a picture from our trip to Italy and then used the app make it a watercolor.
Pretty cool, right? I've been holding on to this post for awhile, because I wanted to show the completed travel gallery wall. BUT, life happens...or the vacuum happened. I broke two frames and they are being a pain in the rear to get back up there. So, I'm showing the artwork now and the wall later, k?
Anyways, back to the app. I LOVE landscape photos with lots of colors and how the app manipulates it. Personally, I'm not impressed with people and what the app does to the face. I also feel like it does poorly with high-contrast pictures. For example, we have a pretty cool picture of a castle in Scotland and I was curious to see how neat the watercolor would look. Not so much. It pretty much lost all visual appeal.
However, brighter vibrant pictures are amazing! I printed a small one (seen below) but for our next trip, I will definitely be printing something larger to stand on it's own. So, all in all $2.99 isn't a bad price, especially if you are going to print and use it as art.
Oh, and I did manage to get a Google Map up on the "Travel" page. I'm not super happy with it but, until I find a better option, it's there to stay. San Francisco is the first city that I wrote a review for and you can find that there as well.
*Edited : See comments for file size after export.
Linking up to:
Julia@Cuckoo4Design
I've only had my iPhone for a year now too. How did I ever manage without it 😉 ?
Love this app and the pictured turned out gorgeous.
Charlotte
Pretty! Pretty! Love all the color! How does this app compare to the watercolor filter in Photoshop?
Can't wait to see the finished gallery wall!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks girl! I wouldn't compare it to the filter in Photoshop. The app is seriously like a 5 second and your done thing while Photoshop is not. I'm not super creative in Photoshop, I like my post-processing go to routine, so for me the ease of doing it with one click on the phone is so worth it. =)
Suzanne
I've been hearing so many good things about this app! The framed piece looks great! Where did you have it printed? I want to do this, but I am wondering where to have it printed and how large I could go. What do you think?
Ashley Mayes
I had to pick a RX at Walgreens so I had them print it. It's just a 4x6 so that was ok. As far as a recommended printing lab, I love Mpix. They are affordable and the quality is great. As far as how large you could print, that would depend on how large of a file you had. I shot the Italy picture on my DSLR (dimensions 2592x3872) and then brought it over to my iPhone to edit in the app. I exported the file and then looked at the size. It exported out of the app at about half the size (dimensions 1371x2048). I would be comfortable printing that at an 8x10 and probably even an 11x14 depending on the picture. Hope this helps! I'm glad you asked about it, because it made me go back and actually take a look at the files. =)
Lucy
It looks beautiful ! 🙂
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Lucy! Super easy and cheap...
Donna
I have been using this app for a while and I absolutely love it! I use it with my iPad when I travel. I take photos with my camera and then load them to my iPad and play with the visuals in Waterloque. I am waiting for them to come out with an app for my desktop Mac...they said they were working on it!
Love your photo and artwork!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Donna! I love playing with the app... it gets so addicting.
peggy
Cant find the app in Google Play store. Can you send me a link, please
Dee Banta
Love, love, love.....is there a Droid app that is comparable?????
Ashley Mayes
I don't think so, but you can find watercolor actions for photoshop if you have that.
Jnb Photography
After reading this I was determined to find an app for Android for watercolor effects. I found one!
Arto Watercolor
Works really good for $.99
Ashley Mayes
So awesome! I've had so many people asking me about that... going to share now on my FB page. Thanks for letting me know!
Kati
I love the Waterlogue app! I love using it to make watercolor art.
Ashley Mayes
It's so easy and fun!