So, in my europe localisation thread (shameless plug) there was an argument about whether colors 3d or art academy was better. For my 2 cents, Colors 3d is better, because its cheaper and has easier sharing abilities. Adios!!!

One is a retail title, whose main point is learning & perfecting your art skills.

The other is a "3DSWare" title, for those confident with their abilities, and ease of sharing.

AA probably offers a lot more overall, but is much more expensive. It honestly depends on what you're looking for, & I find it hard to decide which one is "better".

I have both new art academy & colors 3d but to be honest I like new art academy just a smidge better. I do like colors 3d I just didn't like the atmosphere on there with people posting perverted drawing's/painting's all the time that was the only turn off for me. Besides from that colors 3d in it's self is actually a very cool app when it comes to drawing etc.

Happy Gaming! (^_^)

@RR529 Art academy can be bought as 3dsware so that is where the debate is.

I kinda stopped using Colors 3D when I got Art Academy.

True art academy comes in dsiware & the game that's retail also comes as downloadable as well.

Happy Gaming! (^_^)

Just because it can be downloaded, doesn't change the fact that it's a retail title that's much more expensive (with more content), thus my point still stands.

AA - more content, deep lessons

C!3D - less expensive, better sharing options.

I have both and like the different features available in each. Like the poster above, I'd say it depends on personal preference and expectations. It's like comparing Photoshop and Painter, they have some features in common but are different species. A few comparison points:

• NAA: generally, tools are tailored to simulating the look of traditional media
  C3D: generally, brushes are more geared towards a smooth, CG look
  Opinion: it's probably possible to get the different "look" in each, just requires a bit of effort.
• NAA: a nice selection of media so even with 3 tips, it's easier to achieve different textures/effects
  C3D: brush tips are limited, the homebrew version had a slight (nice) tapering effect not in the 3DSWare version. Faster brush strokes
  Opinion: the iOS version of C3D uses the accelerometer to adjust brush size and iirc has different brush tips, so I don't know what happened in the 3DS version. Aside from the faster strokes, a bit disappointed with its brushes. NAA's strokes are slower possibly due to the lighting calculations, etc. in some tools like thick paint plus the canvas texture. I like NAA's graphite pencils.
• NAA: colour mixing a bit limited, but has its appeal if you like the UI, some room on the palette to keep colour swatches within a session
  C3D: colour wheel and colour picker, so it's easier to retrieve a previously used colour
  Opinion: depends on how you paint. Some people stick to a set of swatches, while some simply must have the colour picker.
• NAA: no undo and "drying" (once you set canvas to dry, the previous marks in a different media cannot be erased, you'd have to cover it up with another tool)
  C3D: multiple undo and layers that you can flip to and re-work, also used for 3D picture effect
  Opinion: C3D is much, much better here. NAA tries to simulate painting in traditional media, where layers work differently. IRL you can re-work pencil marks, so it's either a memory limitation or a nuisance, or both.
• NAA: includes a sizeable set of lessons (to be extended with DLC), ability to create and share lessons
  C3D: possible to make tutorials via painting replay, an interface for browsing other people's galleries and commenting on pictures
  Opinion: NAA has a more procedural take on creating tutorials, but I like C3D's idea of an online hub as it's easy to share a link with a friend (even if it's sometimes overrun with trolls and flamebaits)

That said, I tend to use NAA a little more when doodling, but both are good apps in their own ways.

@Shiromikio Nice comments! How do you deal with graphite pencils on NAA? For someone used to traditional media it's really frustrating that the graphite shade and thickness is so limited! Do you have some work to show?

These can not be compared. New Art Academy is an ACADEMY for drawing. To teach drawing.
Colors 3.D. is for advanced drawing and making art.

I've been wondering if I should get an art app, but if I were I'd go with Art Academy, but I'm just wondering how much I'd use it

I think AA edges out Colours! 3D in realism. AA makes me feel like I'm actually sketching something. I don't really care for '3D art' but Colours! 3D makes it easier for other ppl to see your art.

@Lilifish: Thanks. Agreed, it's missing some of the darker pencils. In the sample below, I used black and white coloured pencils to get the darkest and lightest shade. It's a clunky fix, but with some blending you could probably get away with it. The drawback is being sure you don't need to make any changes to the graphite, or save a backup session? (If you spot a problem early on then it's not as much trouble to revert and fix).

Admittedly I haven't sat down much with the apps, to have something to show for it, but here's a little test. The 1st picture was done today in NAA, the 2nd was done 2-3 months ago in C3D (took maybe twice as long but the details are different). The 3rd one is much older, done in AA and re-touched slightly on a computer.

@Shiromikio Thank you so much for uploading!! Very nice works!
When I saw this, this, and this on Nintendo website I thought graphite pencil on AA would be great! But looking at them now I'm not sure what's graphite and what's not.
It's really nice to see how the same person uses the two softwares! I was sad that C3D wasn't coming to Japan eShop, but maybe in the end I would stick to only 1 of these 2 anyway...

@Lilifish: Thanks. Thanks also for the links, I haven't seen 2 of the pictures before (they're not on the North American website).

Final notes on the test:
For CG illustration/manga-inspired painting, C3D will probably be the easier choice, since it has layers (e.g. to keep line and colouring separate), a plain round brush and round airbrush tip. In NAA I spent more time than I should tidying the edges because the paint either goes impasto (normally cool for an oil paint effect, but when you zoom out the paint buildup looks like there's unfilled white on the edges, when it's the paint edge reflection) or very diluted (losing colour brightness) without another level of water to adjust. Did that make any sense? lol Maybe my next mini test will be to try getting the paint to be consistently more like liquid acrylics.

If I went for, say a still life study, the tables might be turned the other way, even if only because it's easy to get some texture going by setting a canvas texture, and you can soften the harder effects like when using pastel. It's limited, but it's something. Some digital artists apply textures (e.g. filters, photos) to their paintings to add visual interest among other reasons, so without that, you'd have to reproduce the texture you want by hand, so more effort.

About the missing pencils, my guess is they tried to balance between overwhelming beginners with too many tools and still offering a variety of tools to play around with.

Then there's the little, irrelevant things about each. I like the terrific graphics to NAA's interface, it reminds me of those kits with pencils, paints, everything the budding artist needs to get started. They're usually of poor quality (unless it's gift set of artist quality media, major price difference) but look so nice in their cases. I like being able to name and add a comment to a piece in C3D, so that months later I can go back to it and remember why I did it.

@Shiromikio Thanks again (and sorry for my late reply...)
I always take a look at all the website versions, because they do have different things. The Japanese one has lots of examples!
I understand your point and agree, NAA is not for a clean flat look work... But I like how it's easy to get the oil paint effect, since I can't stand the oil painting smell without getting dizzy, haha!
I wish C3D was in the Japanese eShop, so I could try making some quick sketches like this (it's the old version of Colors!).

I've got both. Colors3d for drawing in 3d and Art Academy for the lessons.
Best way for me to draw is on real paper.
Art Academy shows me how to do it right, very educational.
colors lets me draw in 3d, I love my 3ds and love messing around with the 3d effekt (great invention)

they compliment to each other.

@Shiromikio
great work!

@Lilifish: agreed, if you need the oil painting effect, it gives a nice impasto and you can see the artist's brushstrokes. Yeah, there's little content on the NA website, would've liked to see more samples at least, like the JP gallery.

There's also an app called Inchworm Animation (DSiWare) that's focused on animation but has flat round brushes so one could probably paint in it too. Not sure if you've ever looked into it (if it is in the JP eShop)?

@AceGrey: Thanks!

Yeah, Inchworm is surprisingly good for drawing (You can do pixel art in it, too: it's the only one that has the option). I don't think it's out in Japan either, though.
@Shiromikio Great paintings! Your Yukio is adorable.

I like New Art Academy because of the many textures you can achieve in it. It's much more intuitive and fun to use than Colors!3D. The tools are definitely better. Easier to control, too. When somebody starts in digital art, there is always a gap between what they can do on paper and what they achieve on-screen. The gap is smaller with NAA.

On the other hand, it's easier to paint something detailed in Colors (better zoom, layers, ability to use very fine tips). IMO the gallery is too flawed right now to be considered a real plus. There's an update coming soon, which should change that. Apparently we'll know more about it next week, I can't wait! I like the 3D, but it's very limited (which I understand, since the software has to be simple enough to be used by anyone).
I like to sketch in NAA and paint my drawings in Colors, using the reference feature.

What I love about both of them is how involved the developers are with the community.

It's still a retail title. You'll be able to buy every Nintendo title digitally from now on, but that doesn't make them 3DSWare.

No Inchworm Animation for Japan D:
Which is a pity, because I would love to have something for pixel art and animation too... T_T