Handy Art Reference Tool vs Creature Art Teacher
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Handy Art Reference Tool
This app provides artists with rotatable 3D models of hands, heads, and feet for drawing reference. Customize poses and lighting to achieve realistic results for your artwork. Additional packs for animal skulls and foot rigs are available for purchase.
- Rotatable 3D limb models
- Customizable poses
- Adjustable 3-point lighting
- 3D head busts
- Animal skull reference pack
- Material editing
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"Thanks to this useful app, drawing realistic hands can become a whole lot easier" - ImagineFX "Pencillers, inkers, and colorists should all give this a look!" - Tony Moore, co-creator of The Walking Dead If you're an artist and ever wanted just quick and easy drawing reference for hands, heads, or even feet (IAP) without having to awkwardly pose your limbs in front of a mirror, this app is for you! HANDY® is an artist's reference tool, consisting of several rotatable 3D limbs with a variety of poses useful for drawing. You can also customize and edit your own poses for hands, feet, and skulls. Fully adjustable 3-point lighting means you can get easy lighting reference when using any of the 10+ included 3D head busts. Handy if you’re painting and need to know what shadows the head casts from a certain angle! Also available is the Animal Skulls pack. With over 10 different animal species, it's great for anatomical reference or creature design inspiration. [Foot rigs and Animal Skull pack require additional purchase] NEW in Handy v5: Edit the materials of models! Selectively turn off their textures, adjust their specularity, or tint them a certain color. Perfect for comic book artists, painters, or just casual sketchers! Featured in ImagineFX's Top 10 Must-Have Apps! Check out the video demo: https://www.youtube.com/@handyarttool Sign up for the HANDY newsletter for information about new upcoming updates! http://www.handyarttool.com/newsletter Follow HANDY on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/handyarttool.bsky.social
Creature Art Teacher
Access over 800 hours of art and animation training from industry professionals. Learn animation, character design, digital illustration, and more. Download lessons for offline viewing on your devices.
- Over 800 hours of art and animation lessons
- Offline viewing and downloads
- Resume playback
- Picture-in-Picture mode
- Dark Mode support
- Live stream support
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=== VOTED THE #1 Online Animation Course by ImagineFX Magazine and CreativeBloq.com === Over 800 Hours of Art & Animation Lessons. Including Many Free Lessons Now Supports: • RESUME PLAY: Continue watching where you left off! • Picture in Picture! • Dark Mode • Improved Interface • Free videos included with Sign Up! • FaceID/Touch ID Login • Login with Apple or Facebook • Live Stream Support This version of the app allows Existing & New customers of Creature Art Teacher to login and quickly view all their lessons. SUPPORTS OFFLINE VIEWING - That's right this app is the easiest way to get your lessons saved to your device to watch whenever & wherever you want. Even monthly streaming members can download for offline watching! OVER 800+ HOURS OF LESSONS - Learn From Aaron Blaise and other industry pro as they teach: - Animation - Character Design - Creature Design - Digital Illustration & Painting - Storytelling - Storyboarding - Animal Drawing - Traditional Art Mediums - Cartooning - Over a DOZEN New Lessons Added for Purchase in the App. - & Much More!! Works on iPhone, iPad & AppleTV ------------------- About Aaron Blaise: Aaron has over 35 years of professional art experience. He was hired by Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1989 and spent 21+ years helping create films such as: "Beauty & The Beast", "Pocahontas", "Mulan" and more. During his time at Disney, Aaron designed and animated numerous animal and human characters. In 2003 he was nominated for an Academy Award for co-directing the film "Brother Bear" You can follow Aaron and see more of his art on Instagram. You can also see videos of his work on YouTube or follow him on Facebook. ===== Support Options ===== Questions or Concerns? Please email us at support@creatureartteacher.com or visit: https://creatureartteacher.com/support/ Terms Of Service URL: https://creatureartteacher.com/terms-conditions/ Privacy Policy URL: https://creatureartteacher.com/privacy-policy/ Apple EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Creature Art Teacher at Free against Handy Art Reference Tool's $1.99. Creature Art Teacher also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months). Handy Art Reference Tool's advantage is ratings volume (1.2K vs 56) and chart position (#67 vs unranked). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Creature Art Teacher is free to download; Handy Art Reference Tool costs $1.99 up front. Handy Art Reference Tool sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Creature Art Teacher sells 36 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Handy Art Reference Tool against 4.7 for Creature Art Teacher. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Handy Art Reference Tool has 1.2K ratings behind it against 56, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Handy Art Reference Tool's written reviews are positive against 76% of Creature Art Teacher's.
Handy Art Reference Tool ships an update every 5 months, Creature Art Teacher every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Handy Art Reference Tool | Creature Art Teacher |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better | 4.7 (56 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.0% of reviews — better | 76.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.2K — better | 56 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #67 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 361 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Belief Engine | Nicholas Burch |
Customer experience
Handy Art Reference Tool
Creature Art Teacher
Bugs and requests
Handy Art Reference Tool
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on launch for some users
- Purchased content not unlocking
- Positioning and movement issues
Requested features
6 requests- Add full body models and poses
- Include more facial expressions and emotions
- Allow for custom hand and finger posing
- Implement ability to save custom poses
- Add more diverse skin tones and ethnicities
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improve lighting controls and options
Creature Art Teacher
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Handy Art Reference Tool
- Feet Models$1.99
- Animal Skull Pack$1.99
Creature Art Teacher
- How to Draw Bears$1.00
- Gesture Drawing Course$1.00
- Perspective Drawing Course$1.00
Show 33 moreShow fewer
- Charcoal Drawing Course$1.00
- Dynamic Lighting & The Figure$1.00
- Character Design Course$5.00
- Draw Wolves, Coyotes & Foxes$5.00
- Creating in Procreate$5.00
- How to Paint Light$5.00
- Digital Painting in Photoshop$5.00
- Advanced Animation Course$5.00
- Pen & Ink Drawing Tutorial$5.00
- How to Pitch Your Ideas!$5.00
- Let's Draw: Drawing Basics$5.00
- Creature Design Course$5.00
- How to Animate a 4 Leg Walk$10.00
- Complete Animation Course$10.00
- Watercolor Painting Course$10.00
- 4 Leg Animation Bundle$10.00
- Storyboarding Course$10.00
- Sculpting in ZBrush$10.00
- How to Draw Horses Course$15.00
- Animation on Paper Course$15.00
- Animate in Procreate Dreams$18.00
- Drawing Clear Expressions$20.00
- 1 Page Screenplay Brad Raymond$24.00
- 2DFX Animation Course$25.00
- The Art of the Storyboard$25.00
- Taking Control of Color!$25.00
- Animal Character Design Course$28.00
- How to Draw Human Anatomy$30.00
- How to Draw Birds of Prey$35.00
- Fundamentals of Animation$39.00
- How to Draw Big Cats$45.00
- Acting for Animation Course$55.00
- Animal Drawing Bundle$75.00
Questions
Is Handy Art Reference Tool free?
Is Creature Art Teacher free?
Which has better reviews, Handy Art Reference Tool or Creature Art Teacher?
Do Handy Art Reference Tool or Creature Art Teacher have ads?
Which is updated more often, Handy Art Reference Tool or Creature Art Teacher?
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