11 8 / 2010
DeviantArt Muro: An Awesome New HTML5 Drawing App
DeviantArt has a brand new drawing app called Muro, and no it isn’t a desktop app or even a Flash or Silverlight based one, it is written entirely using standard web technologies. This is a great showcase of the power of HTML5’s new canvas element to do both vector and pixel based image manipulations.
Muro has many of the features of professional desktop drawing applications such as Adobe Illustrator, including 21 different brushes, layers, Photoshop like filters, undo/redo and the ability to export your drawings as image files or save them directly to your DeviantArt account. Another cool feature is its ability to interface with a Wacom tablet that many artists use. It does this through a plugin that gives JavaScript access to data from the tablet. Chances are, if you have a Wacom tablet you already have this plugin installed, so you don’t need to worry about installing anything extra. Muro has a basic and a pro mode, both of which are free, however, if you want to get more brushes, you will have to pay a small fee.
Because Muro is a web application, it also works on the iPad. This gives you a more direct experience with your art since you are touching the screen exactly where you want something to appear. The cross platform nature of the web is what makes it a powerful computing platform.
It is exciting to see full-featured HTML5 applications get developed. Muro is a testament to the power of these new technologies not just as a platform for shiny technology demos, but for full-blown applications that compete with desktop and plugin based apps.
Very impressive work, and from a well known site to boot! Be sure to check out Muro and view some impressive examples of art created with the new tool, as well as dive in and start drawing yourself. It will be exciting to see the art created with this new tool!
