Local YOUNG Artrepreneur Invents Art App

Manga mania has hit North America, and PaigeeDraw provides budding artists with instructional tools and supplies to create their own art and comics. Through iPhone and iPad applications, PaigeeDraw teaches users how to hand draw characters in the form of manga – a very popular form of Japanese comic-book art.

PaigeeDraw is the brainchild of Paige Rohrick, a 16-year-old artist and entrepreneur from Port Moody, B.C., Canada. Like many teenage girls, Paige became interested in manga and anime and wanted to learn how to draw her own characters. She became frustrated with the instructional resources available and decided to teach herself how to draw by collecting hundreds of comics and studying other artists. As Paige honed her skills, she received numerous requests from her friends and schoolmates to teach them how to draw, and the idea behind PaigeeDraw was born.

Paige put her artistic talents to use and created an interactive step-by-step manga tutorial that breaks characters down into as many as 27 different steps – each with instruction, tips and tricks from Paige.

PaigeeDraw makes it easy for anyone to start drawing by providing a one-stop shop for manga. Within the applications, PaigeeDraw provides links to the art supplies required, which are available in the PaigeeDraw online store. Many of the art supplies required for manga are only available at specialty art stores and can be difficult to find, so PaigeeDraw takes the guesswork and legwork out of getting started. PaigeeDraw teaches users how to hand draw, so expensive software isn’t required, and an iPhone and iPad application enables users to practice anytime, anywhere.

The PaigeeDraw applications are available for download in the iTunes application store. They launched in late-December and were immediately selected as iTunes’ #1 and #2 “New & Noteworthy” education applications, and have already received thousands of downloads.

Three versions are currently available: PaigeeDraw Free, PaigeeDraw Pro ($1.99) and PaigeeDraw Christmas ($0.99). PaigeeDraw Valentine’s Day, as well as international language versions, PaigeeDraw Korea and PaigeeDraw Japan are currently being developed.

About Manga

Manga are a form of Japanese style comics and cartoons. Often mistaken for “anime,” Manga are illustrated novels that are read backwards and include many different styles such as action, romance, comedy, etc.