Hi there - I hope things are well for you!

I'll be honest, I've been putting off writing this newsletter. I tend to do that with things that I find hard. I've not been sure what to say, and it's been a feeling I've had for a few months now. I don't like the idea of sending newsletters that don't provide anything of interest or value but I now have a plan to address this.

New Newsletter Format

I am planning to rebrand the Brush Ninja newsletter. It will still cover Brush Ninja news, but it's also going to have a focus on creative technology.

Hello there,

Hope you're doing well! As I mentioned in last month's email, I've been thinking about what I want to do with Brush Ninja this year, and I've got some exciting plans for the next few months.

First off, I'll be taking care of the usual bug fixes and improvements—keeping things running smoothly is always a top priority.

I'm also planning to do a bit of work on my art app, Paint Ninja, adding a couple of new features. More news will come as I make some progress!

Hi - welcome back to Brush Ninja!

My son is now back at school and things are starting to settle down again, so I want to start thinking about Brush Ninja once more. I had a great summer break - travelling, seeing family, and going on lots of day trips with my son and wife.

In that time I also started thinking about another project that has been on my mind for years. A system for making simple videogames in a web browser, and I even started working on it. Brush Ninja is still the priority for me, but this will be my side project for the time being.

So back to the little ninja app.

Hi there - welcome to another edition of the Brush Ninja newsletter!

Today is election day in the UK. It's all a bit nervous and I'm struggling to focus. I hope we, as a country, make the right choice today!

Whatever happens I'm going to keep trying my hardest to make the best creative websites I can.

This last month has been one of mostly bug fixes and small improvements. My wife is still finding errors with the app, and I'm fixing them as fast as I can. Also I now have a Chromebook to test on, I know a lot of schools use these but I've not used one before so it's been really interesting using Brush Ninja on it.

Hi, welcome to a new month of creative fun.

I spent the last week on holiday, it was the half term break last week in the UK and we have 6(ish) more weeks before the summer holidays.

Every month I try to think about what I have done and I can never remember anything, so I check the changelog and realise that actually I worked on a lot more than I realised.

As I mentioned last month my wife is now helping with the social media (Facebook and Instagram) and because of this she's finding all sorts of bugs with the apps. I don't intentionally leave these problems in but having a second pair of eyes definitely helps me to find and fix them.

May the 4th be with you!

If you follow Brush Ninja on Instagram then you may have noticed I like to make animations for things like Star Wars Day, and Mario Day, and Pokemon Day. I'm a geek through and through, but also it's something to have fun with. I made Brush Ninja so that I could make animations, and I enjoy making animations about the things I enjoy.

Anyway - I also worked on a few other things last month.

Hey There - happy Easter to everyone who celebrates, and if you don't then I hope you had a great month!

Here in the UK the weather has been poor over the last week but it's the Easter holidays so my son is home from school and we've spent the last few days doing Easter trails. 9 of them so far, and probably more to come. My son is very full of chocolate!

Last month was busy as ever with all sorts of updates and changes made, plus, I was on my first ed-tech podcast!

Classroom Dynamics Podcast

Hi there

I nearly forgot this months newsletter. I was too busy making a little meditation app. I often find things like this that I want to do but can't and end up making my own version. Too many apps are overly complicated.

In this case I'm making a simple meditation app. I feel it might help with reducing stress, but all the apps on the phone app stores seem to be paid (at least after 5 minutes of searching), so I'm making a very simple one I can stick on a website.

I basically just want a timer, but I'm adding a cute little blobby character that breathes in time to the meditation. I'll let you know when it's ready.

Hey there - happy February

We're only a month into 2024 and already there's a half term holiday approaching. We are heading off for a week away to get some rest and see some sights.

I will be taking my laptop though - so will still be noodling away on my projects while I'm there. I tend to do these things in the evening when my son is in bed, it gives me some uninterrupted time - I can't work during the day if he's at home because he is incredibly inquisitive - and we generally end up doing something totally unrelated. I love it, but it's not great when you're trying to focus.

Anyway - this last month I have mostly been working on a whole new website, and the new Brush Ninja Drawing App.

Hey there,

Happy New Year! Welcome to another month (year) of creative fun.

To kick off the new year, I've rolled out a fresh release for the Brush Ninja animation editor and introduced a new app in the drawing department.

Animation Editor

Hey Brush Ninja enthusiasts!

Wishing you all joy and creativity this holiday season! 🌟 This is the last newsletter of the year, and I've got some exciting updates to share:

New App in the Works

I am excited to announce a brand-new project - a bitmap drawing and editing app! You will be able to draw and paint with a variety of brushes, and save your images to edit later. Think of it as a fusion of the iPad's Procreate app and the nostalgic charm of Microsoft Paint, but with more freedom and right in your web browser. Currently, it's in Beta, accessible exclusively through a link included in this newsletter.

Hi there - I'm sending this on what is Bonfire Night in the UK.

Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, is a British tradition celebrated on November 5th. It commemorates the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. People mark the occasion with bonfires, fireworks, and the burning of effigies of Guy Fawkes. It's a time for gatherings, enjoying firework displays, and indulging in hotdogs and hot chocolate. It's very close to Halloween so the two often get combined with people dressing up for the fireworks displays.

Updated Website Design

As I mentioned last month, I spent some time this month improving the Brush Ninja website design. I have rejigged the site header and navigation to make apps easier to find, and shifted the animation maker to its own page. I tried to make it nice and easy to find from the homepage and once you're there it's all the same as it was before. A nice side effect is that the number of people trying my other apps has increased. Code Ninja in particular is a lot more popular than it was!

Hi there, welcome to a new issue of the Brush Ninja newsletter.

It's now been 1 year since I launched Brush Ninja members accounts. These premium accounts allow customers to get access to additional features in Brush Ninja apps. Over the year since I have added the premium members accounts I have also worked on new features to bring even more value to the accounts.

The two big features I have added are sound effects, and video export. These are both things I have thought about for ages and always assumed I wouldn't be able to add, but they are now there and working well.

The sound effects are selected from a list of sounds, many of which are available for free users to use as well. Paid members get access to more, and I plan to allow paid members to use there own songs in a future update too.

Hi, welcome back to a new educational year.

Now that the summer holidays are over, it's time for me to start focusing on Brush Ninja once again.

Over the past few weeks, I've mostly been spending time with my wife and son, so progress on Brush Ninja has been slow. However, I still have many things I want to work on.

What's Changed Recently?

Hello Brush Ninja community!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer break, filled with fun and memorable moments! As for me, I recently returned from a relaxing summer holiday with my family. We explored museums, wandered through castles, and enjoyed quality time together.

A Creative Journey with my 7-year-old

One of the highlights of the summer break is working on a video game project with my 7-year-old. He's decided he wants to work in video games when he is an adult, and since I worked at a games company for 11 years I thought we could attempt a small project together.

Hello Brush Ninja enthusiasts!

I hope this newsletter finds you well. It's been an incredibly productive month for me, as I've been working tirelessly to bring you some fantastic additions to Brush Ninja. So let's dive right in and explore what's been happening!

Stickers and Sound Effects in the GIF Editor!

This month I added some brand new stickers and sound effects for members to make their animations even more unique. The sound effects can of course be used with the new video export feature, to make your animations really come to life.

Welcome to this months Brush Ninja newsletter!

This month there have been two main new features. The animations glossary, and video export!

New Animation Terms Glossary

I am excited to announce the release of the new animation terms glossary! This comprehensive guide includes over 140 terms, from basic concepts like "frame" and "keyframe" to more advanced topics like "tweening" and "rendering." Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned animator, this glossary is a valuable resource for learning the language of animation.

Hi there!

As a child of the 80s, Star Wars is a film series that I was raised on. George Lucas is responsible for a lot of my love of science fiction, fantasy, and creative development. One of my goals when I went to university was to work for ILM - the special effects house started by George Lucas for the Star Wars movies.

For what it's worth, my other goals were to work for either Pixar or Nintendo.

Anyway, since it's Star Wars day, I have updated the images included in the Brush Ninja images tool to feature a lightsaber and two blades.

Hi there

This last month has been one of my most productive months for Brush Ninja ever. Not only have I put loads of new content on the Youtube channel, but I have got made more that is not yet available, and I have made a page where you can view all the videos on the Brush Ninja site itself.

And it's not just Brush Ninja, there's been loads of actual updates as well. Below are the highlights, you can see the full list on the changelog.

• Code Ninja improvements (a new button and more samples)
• Add a new background setting for Gif Maker that resets the animation background to the default (a common request).
• Add lots of new stickers to the Animated Gif Creator.
• Add new feature to Comic maker to allow multiple pages to be uploaded at once.
• Gif Maker Image Loader can now load, draw, and recolour svgs (Members only).

Hi there, hope you're well.

I have been super busy this last month. It's funny, I always feel like I haven't done anything but I was looking through the code changes I have made recently and there's been a LOT of updates.

The best place to see the changes is the Changelog but this is pretty high level and there's been many other changes that are too small to list.

Most of the improvements have been to the animated gif maker and hopefully contribute toward making the animation experience smoother and more enjoyable.