Easel Share

An online platform for art educators and students to learn and create... art!

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Inspiration

The inspiration came from various sources that just clicked thanks to a video I saw that one of my friends sent me. It was a video of two sisters taking turns drawing on the same notebooks. At the same time, I've been wanting to build a web app that would help fellow peers with their grad school search, and recently I've been trying to make more computer graphics related project. Then the idea just hit me and I got to work :)

What it does

So, right now I have a very rough prototype set up. Currently, it's set from the perspective of the student user, who has their own profile along with an avatar, and their own little easel space. The website is dynamic, and the easel page is functional! The student is allowed to draw using four different colors and thicknesses. Plus there is an option for erasing and for starting over.

Target demographic

Art educators and their students, but also anyone who wants to make art. I did initially have only kids in mind, but I think that anyone who wants to make art is a type of demographic in of itself. Also for users who aren't part of a classroom, I'll be designating learning materials for them specifically, and that can be open to anyone of course.

Technologies used

  • Node.JS
  • Express.JS
  • JavaScript
  • EJS Templating
  • HTML5 and CSS3
  • VSCode
  • Figma
  • Illustrator

Challenges

  • Figuring out the project scope and sticking to it.
  • Setting up the drawing function for the easel page.

Accomplishments

  • The easel page is a working prototype!
  • The website is presentable :)

What I learned

I learned more about the canvas api, and got more accustomed to using Express.

What's next for Easel Share

There is a lot left to do!

  • Optimize the easel page... a lot...
  • Set up a database in order to add multiple users and have organized.
  • Research and possibly implement a framework like React or Angular.
  • Create a login and sign up page for the user.
  • Design and work more on creating the educator side of things.
  • Come up with art content for users who don't belong to a classroom, in order to promote more equity in art.
  • Create a login, signup and profile for educators.
  • Create and populate the Art Shows page.
  • Add general learning materials!
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