Disney's Magic Artist Deluxe

$29.99, Win, Mac

Teaches: creativity, art

CTR Review

Want to turn your computer into a rocket-powered sketch pad? Get this program. After installing, you start the program to see a blank screen, surrounded with icons that are fairly easy to understand. The essentials are there, including thousands of colors and a fair collection of clip art. Weaknesses include the prevalent Disney theme (mouse ears everywhere, especially in the clip art), and some "confusingly simple," nonstandard menu options. Strengths are the powerful collection of drawing options, the ability to export/save/print work, and amazing tools like a glitter pen, tile tool, batik wax crayon and drizzle paint. The glitter pen is our favorite, as it paints with things like Jell-O cubes, buttons, and chocolate chip cookies. The "glitter" animates as it hits the screen. Balls of cookie dough sizzle and turn into cookies. Very fun! We also liked the background music option, and the ease with which we could undo what we had done. Thankfully, the playful features don't overshadow the creativity power that this drawing program offers.