O, The Oprah Magazine and Autodesk Spark Creativity with Sketchbook O App for iPad
January 14, 2011

O, The Oprah Magazine and Autodesk Spark Creativity with Sketchbook O App for iPad

San Rafael, Calif. and New York O, The Oprah Magazine has collaborated with Autodesk, Inc. to release the SketchBook O App for iPad, an innovative painting and drawing app created specifically for O readers. Based on one of Oprah Winfrey’s favorite apps, SketchBook O for iPad is a free app that launches in conjunction with the magazine’s February “Creativity” issue.
SketchBook O is at the heart of the magazine’s first Creativity Challenge. Writer and filmmaker Miranda July developed five fanciful “prompts” for the issue, designed to spark imagination. All of the exercises are designed to be documented, with the option to send completed works to oprah.com for an opportunity to be shared in a Creativity gallery. For the assignment, “Draw Their Hair,” readers are invited to use SketchBook O to create a digital drawing on an iPad. Users can export the drawings to their photo library or send them directly to oprah.com/creativity. The assignment is elegant in its simplicity: think of the people who affected you in the past year, whether they enraged you, made you feel lustful, brought out your tenderness, etc., use the app to draw their hair, and caption the result with the feeling elicited by the person.

"This is a truly innovative way for O, The Oprah Magazine readers to share their creative passion through the iPad," said Samir Hanna, vice president of the Autodesk Consumer Products Group. “Digital painting and drawing is within everyone’s reach, and we’re excited to help unlock the artistic potential of O Magazine readers.”

“SketchBook’s easy-to-use apps make everyone feel like Leonardo DaVinci – all it takes is a little imagination and the right inspiration,” said Michelle Shih, O’s director of digital editions and lifestyle. “We worked with Autodesk to develop SketchBook O and launched the Creativity Challenge to encourage our readers to tap into their inner artists. The results are sure to be unique and evocative.”

The SketchBook O App and ‘Send it to O’ feature will be live for the duration of the Creativity Challenge, from January 12 to March 11, 2011. Individuals can also use the app to create a variety of their own sketches and save them to a personal photo library that will live on beyond the Creativity Challenge, and users may choose to update their app to Autodesk SketchBook Pro Express for iPad after March 11. The SketchBook O app is free, although free products are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that accompanies download of the software.

SketchBook O is available from the App store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/