One of my favorite lesser-well-known blogs to read is RefreshingApps, a site devoted to discovery and review of Adobe Air programs.  The culture of Adobe Air app creators is somewhat different than what you see in the wilds of the web or for any other platform, so what ends up getting reviewed is generally more artsy than your average app, probably somewhat less utilitarian than average, but always intriguing and sometimes thought provoking.

The most recent review subject is no exception – it’s an App called “livebrush.” James at RA described it as an “organic drawing application,” built around a design community that “encourages the creation of organic art together.”

It’s an apt description, because to take it at it’s face value would undersell what this lightweight app is capable of.  It produces vector-based art, but what Photoshop is to filter effects, Livebrush is to brushstyles.

The ability to create, almost completely effortlessly, something that looks like a work of art (or at least a piece of modern art that took some degree of talent) is pretty stunning.

To really get a feel for what I’m talking about, it’s best to watch James’ short screencast of the app (embedded below).

What James created while just tooling around with the program interface resembled something I’m sure I saw recently at a museum exhibit.

It reminds me of the revolution in music that was created back in the late ‘80s up though the mid ‘90s when tools like Screamtracker made their way into teenage hands like mine. Communities emerged around the creation of musical works of art as an outgrowth of the pre-existing hacker and warez trafficking culture because the toolset appealed to the common denominator of that culture – making music with code.

What emerged back then was a world of underground conferences and “DEMOS” of their musical coding ability traded over dial-up BBSs.

This tool appeals to the lightweight graphic designer.  If you have a passing familiarity at all with MSPaint, you’ll have a pretty good handle on how to operate this program, and be able to put together something you can use as a webpage background or PowerPoint backdrop.

I don’t often do app reviews here, but just playing around with this one impressed me enough to want to share it with the world.  You should go check it out.  There’s a free “lite” version, or a $10 full version available from the site.