Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15616 in Toys & Games
• Brand: VTech

Manufacturer's Description
V.Smile Art Studio plugs directly into the V.Smile TV Learning System to allow children to create their own masterpieces on the TV! Features 8 step-by-step drawing lessons, 2 mini games and drawing free play. Choose to draw with a pencil, fill in colour, shape drawing, stamp or animated image and choose from a vast library of backgrounds and 64 colours. Children can also animate elements of their drawings or create slide shows.

Includes 2-player mode. (V.Smile TV Learning System required).

Requires 4 x AA batteries.

Manufacturer's recommended age 3 - 7 years.

Customer Reviews

just too hard to use
This is a sweet looking product. With some horrible problems. I thought this would be great for the kids to do some art(thats easily erasable), but it is difficult for me to use never mind the kids.

Once i had managed to get my kids to press hard enough on the pen to actually allow them to select things i thought my problems were over. I was wrong they were just starting. Because you cant see what is on the tv on the console, we were just roaming around with the pen for ages till we found the item we wanted.

When we finally managed to pick it there was more of the same in store for us. By the time we actually began to play the kids were bored and wanted another game.

On a positive note, there are some really sweet drawing games but again these are difficult to manipulate.

The kids actually found the computer program paint a lot easier and more fun.

Good learning tool!!
Purchased for my three year-old daughter, is reasonably easy to use once you have learnt basic controls, and press and depress pen action.

My daughter loves drawing and this is a great way to draw without having to buy paper, paints, etc... and no longer have to worry about spilt paints or pen marks on the way.

A good addition to the vsmile family!

Okay but not fantastic
The V.Smile Art Studio is not a bad tool to add to the Vsmile console, but it's not great. One of the problems with the V.smile machine is that it not as clear as it could be on tofay's LCD and plasma screens. The graphics appear blurred due to low resolution. This affects the art studio, as it can be difficult to pinpoint things as the crosshair blends in too easily. I agree with other reviewers about the pen, it can become a distraction for younger children trying to draw on the screen and finding it is not working correctly as they aren't pressing down hard enough. Some of the lessons are hard for young children, as the accuracy that is required is difficult to achieve with blocky graphics and crude movement detection. For example, when asked to draw a circle, tracing the shape on-screen, it's difficult for a child to accurately follow the shape with the pen. They end up failing to stay within the required shape on-screen and it tells them they have done it wrong. hardly the inspiration they need to enjoy this program.

However on the plus side some aspects of the art studio are fun, such as the colour mixing and free draw, using stamps and the like.

In conclusion your child may feel uninspired by the product as it will often tell them they haven't drawn a shape right even though they have tried their best. You know if you gave them a pen and paper and asked them to draw the same shapes they wouldn't have the problem of a circle nearly coming out square due to poor resolution!

My daughter much prefers to use the PC now for having fun with art drawing programs. We use Tuxpaint which is 100 times better than the paint program supplied on windows. It is designed for children and has loads of features. And best of all it is completely free!!! Google for it and you'll find it.