Another intriguing direction for the Wii U here, with Art Academy: Atelier offering a good basic toolkit for learning to paint and draw. It does so through rather charming lessons that communicate the fundamentals of visual art in a laid-back, step-by-step format. Each stage features detailed explanations and animations that do an admirable job of explaining concepts such as the rule of thirds or colour theory.
The Wii U gamepad, it has to be said, is slightly awkward for accurate drawing, but with practice it is possible to create good-looking work. However, finished pieces can create large files that will eat up storage space, so it may be worth investing in SD cards for back-up.
The package includes tools and an inbuilt community-sharing feature and its relatively low price provides value as a jack-of-all-trades package.
But it comes up unfavourably against more specialist competition. It’s undoubtedly a great place, then, for a young beginner to start, but experienced artists are likely to find it less rewarding.
