Mixed reality educational art app Pencil – Learn to Draw received its full release with more lessons, a campaign mode, and more.
Originally launched in early access last September, Pencil – Learn to Draw from developer Lead Head teaches you how to draw by combining real pencil and paper drawings with a digital overlay with guided lessons or a free-draw mode. Guided by a companion called Leo, each level tries to help you learn a new technique, while subjects range from more straightforward cartoons to advanced anatomy.
Yesterday’s full release notably introduces a campaign mode called the ‘Academy,’ which includes over 50 step-by-step lessons and a progression system to further motivate you, bringing the total number of lessons to 83.
Other changes include updated visuals, new tutorials, and a new ‘Gallery Mode’ for capturing your drawings at the end of each lesson. Pencil now also supports an “experimental” digital drawing feature, which supports either the back of your controller or an MX Ink stylus.
We went hands-on with the early access version last year. Calling it a “killer combination of lessons and progressive outlines,” we were impressed at how successfully Pencil uses mixed reality as a drawing aid.
We’re headed for a future where physical objects — even “dumb” ones, like a regular No. 2 pencil — can be brought into digital play, and where mixed reality can elevate (not just digitize) familiar activities. Pencil is an early look at what that future might be like. So for VR and MR enthusiasts: Pencil will stretch your imagination, and you may even pick up a new skill or hobby along the way.
Pencil – Learn to Draw is out now on Quest 3 and 3S for $12.99.
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