Value Study vs Muddy Waters

In art, value (or tone) refers to how light or dark a colour is. If you're learning to paint or draw, doing value studies is one of the best ways to improve. These small, loose sketches in greyscale help you understand where shadows fall and highlights appear—essential for capturing depth and form. Value Study is a simple, focused tool designed to help you see values more clearly in your reference images. Instead of just converting a photo to black and white, this app lets you break down tones step by step. Start with just black and white to map out the biggest shapes, then gradually add more values to refine your understanding. You can also highlight all areas of an image that share the same value, making it easier to see subtle shifts in tone. This is especially useful in complex references, like portraits, where different parts of the image might have the same level of shadow but look completely different in colour. Value Study isn’t here to replace traditional studies—it’s here to enhance them. Whether you're sketching, painting, or working digitally, this tool makes it easier to focus on the fundamentals of light, shadow, and form. Try it for free with all features enabled on sample images from Unsplash before deciding to unlock the full app with a low-cost yearly or lifetime purchase. All Value Study Pro upgrades count as lifetime purchase. Either option will unlock Value Study across iPhone, iPad and Mac. Annual: Auto-renews yearly. Lifetime: One-time payment, no fees. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Muddy Waters helps you mix watercolor paints using real pigment behaviour, not digital approximations. Many artists reach a point where color mixing becomes frustrating. You add more paint, adjust ratios, and still end up with muddy results. This app is designed to give you a clearer path forward. Using scientific colour values and high end math, Muddy Waters focuses on how watercolor actually behaves, helping you make better mixing decisions using YOUR paints before committing pigment to paper. Key features • Mix colors using your own palette, not generic examples • Explore how pigments combine, including non-linear behaviour • Generate gradients to understand transitions between colors • Match colors from images and find the closest achievable mix • Identify the closest matching pigment in the library • Save favourites for the next time you go shopping for art supplies Images and barcodes are processed on your device. No photos are uploaded or stored externally. No personal data collected. Designed for real painting decisions Watercolour mixing is not predictable or linear. Lighting, dilution, paper colour, and pigment behaviour all affect the result. This app helps you navigate those variables so you can start with the right base colours. Use your own paints Build your palette from the pigments you actually own. The app works with your materials, not an idealised set from a book or tutorial. Simple and focused No accounts, no distractions. The app is designed to support your painting process without getting in the way. Keep exploring Nothing replaces hands-on experimentation, but with better guidance you can avoid common mixing mistakes and make more confident choices. Muddy Waters is free to use with an 8-slot palette. Two optional upgrades unlock more: Premium (one-time purchase) — unlocks palettes to hold any number of paints, in-app camera capture, and Backup & Restore so your palettes, favourites and Shopping List stay safe across devices. Pro (monthly subscription) — adds the Palette Adviser (tells you which paints to swap for a stronger palette), the Light & Shadow engine, Paint Check (compare any paint against everything you already own before you buy), and unlimited palettes.