Written by: Mitch De Guzman
Drawing on paper with a traditional pen or pencil is a pleasurable experience. However, there is no shortcut to undoing your mistakes, as command+Z does. As a consequence, you end up wasting a lot of materials such as paper, paint, and so on. Fortunately, technology is on your side. With the best drawing apps ready to go on a mobile device and the aid of fiber internet, artists and creators can quickly move thru changes and iterations to create their stunning work.
Whether you’re an accomplished artist or are just getting started, drawing on a digital device can be a lot of fun. This article will examine the features of some of the best drawing apps for Android and PC users. You’ll know which drawing app is best for you by the time you’ve finished reading. So let’s begin.
Drawing Apps and Digital Art: What Are They?
Before we dive in, let’s first cover some fundamentals.
Digital art, otherwise called new media art, is a creative visual work using software, computers, or other electronic devices. It includes animations, photographs, illustrations, videos, digital paintings, etc. Alternatively, a drawing app is an art program that allows you to draw and create on your device. And there are numerous art apps that can help you create digital drawings, ranging from simple to complex, for aspiring digital artists and professional designers.
The Best Drawing Apps for Android
Most Android drawing tools have both a free and a paid version. Only if you want to use their advanced tools do you have to pay. Here are some of the best drawing apps for Android that you should check out.
Toonpaint
It’s a free Android drawing app that lets you quickly sketch out cartoon characters in various poses. You can choose from several different scenes to draw your character or design your own set. Additionally, you can record yourself while drawing with Toonpaint and upload the video to social media sites.
Sketchbook
Autodesk’s Sketchbook is an artist’s favorite because of its many features that allow you to create stunning digital masterpieces, such as different brushes, pens, blending options, and layers. It’s also available for free on Android devices. And if you want to share your artwork with others, Sketchbook also lets you do so. You can share your work on social media and even sell it.
Ibis Paint
Using Ibis Paint is a fun way to express your creativity. The app includes over a hundred different brushes, including dip and felt tip pens, actual paintbrushes, and other playful accessories. Alternatively, you can record your drawing so that you can look back and see how you got there. Additional features include multiple layers and even specific drawing styles like manga.
MediBang Paint
MediBang includes all the features of good drawing apps as well as a fashionable design. Its main selling point is its cross-platform compatibility, which allows you to share your creations or collaborate with others across platforms. On top of that, it also includes many tools for free drawing and comics. MediBang is available for mobile devices, Mac, and Windows, and it allows you to start your work in one location and move it to another.
Clip Studio Paint
Clip Studio Paint has many features that appeal to all artists. It combines the natural feeling of drawing with an infinite number of customizable brushes and 3D models. It’s effortless to make your art come to life as it has a massive library of materials you can use. Furthermore, Clip Studio Paint is not device-specific; you can store everything in the cloud for easy access. You can even record time-lapse videos if you want to showcase your drawing process on TikTok. Alternatively, you can use the free version on your mobile device for an hour per day for three months, or you can try it out for three months.
Adobe Photoshop Sketch
Adobe Photoshop Sketch is a drawing app with valuable tools such as pencils, fountain pens, markers, erasers, acrylics, ink brushes, pastels, splash colors, and gradient tools. Everything you need to create outstanding works of art is right on your smartphone or tablet.
Another cool feature of this popular drawing app is saving projects as multi-layer files that you can open directly in Photoshop or Illustrator. However, you need a creative cloud subscription to use this digital drawing app.
Adobe Illustrator Draw
Adobe Illustrator Draw is another of Adobe’s drawing apps. It includes layers, customizable brushes, five pen tips, and up to x64 zooming for finer details. You can also export it to your device for sharing or to your desktop for use with other Adobe products. Although Adobe Illustrator is primarily used for design, you can create animations of your designs by exporting layer data as frames. It can also communicate with Photoshop Sketch, allowing you to import and export projects. Both apps are free to download, but upgrading to a creative cloud subscription unlocks additional features.
Note: These two Adobe drawing apps for iOS and Android are no longer available. Adobe Fresco is now the home of these formerly standalone digital drawing applications.
Adobe Fresco
Fresco’s streamlined approach allows designers and illustrators to get their ideas across without being impeded by other tools. Simplicity is its goal, as it easily translates to Photoshop for additional work with more robust tools. What makes it different are the live brushes that bleed across the screen, the gorgeous vector graphics, and the 3D-looking blending effects. This art app is a detailed digital drawing and painting app ideal for beginners.
DotPict
This one-of-a-kind drawing app allows you to create pixel art. It provides a grid to zoom in and move around to create miniature scenes or people by simply filling in the pixel boxes. After that, you can zoom out to see your entire creation. The app also includes auto-saving, undo and redo, and the ability to export your work when finished. Aside from that, it’s not overly feature-rich, and it stays out of your way while you draw. If you like making pixel art, this is the one for you.
Paper Color (formerly Paper Draw)
Paper Color is a drawing app that mimics real life. It includes the essentials, such as various custom brushes, and allows you to draw however you please. What sets it apart is its tracing feature. You can import a photo, make it translucent, and then follow the photograph’s trail. As a result, it is an excellent way to draw and learn. It’s a lot of fun to play with, especially if you’re a beginner. Furthermore, it’s free to download, but you can get more features by making in-app purchases.
Concepts
Concepts is a fantastic vector-drawing app. Its diverse set of tools caters to a more advanced user, tho. Its free version includes five-layer support, an infinite canvas, vector brush tools, and Bluetooth-active stylus support. You can use an Apple pencil or an Adonit stylus. More advanced features and tools, such as CAD-style tools, import and export options, transformation tools, and an object library, are available in the app’s paid version. You can also customize everything in the app, including your canvas, tools, gestures, presets, and so on.
The Best Drawing Apps for PCs
Some of the drawing apps mentioned above have both a desktop version and a pro version, such as MediBang Paint, Sketchbook by Autodesk, Ibis Paint, and Clip Studio Paint. Hence, we’ll look at some other great drawing apps that haven’t been mentioned yet and are compatible with different operating systems. However, unlike Android apps, most PC art apps require a subscription or a one-time fee.
Krita
Krita is a fantastic, free drawing app for any illustration. It’s perfect for comics and manga. In addition to the standard brushes, fills, and pens, it also has panel templates, halftone filters, and perspective tools. Each brush is entirely customizable, and you can save them for later use. Additionally, it allows you to pick a new tool and color in seconds using its selection wheel, which is far more convenient than combing thru menus and settings.
Artweaver
This free drawing app lets you create stunningly realistic digital drawings using your mouse, a stylus, or touchscreen PC. In addition to standard brushes like Conte and airbrushes, Artweaver includes a plethora of drawing features, allowing you to create very complex images with minimal effort. It’s also layer-based, so you can create your masterpiece while still being able to change it.
Microsoft Fresh Paint
Fresh Paint is a Microsoft art app designed to simulate the sensation of putting a brush or pen on paper. As the name suggests, it imitates real-world drawing. In effect, your work behaves like it’s still wet, so when you dip your virtual brush into the color palette or water to change colors, it makes a splat. Additionally, Fresh Paint can mimic watercolors, gouache, and other materials.
Procreate
Procreate is a fantastic drawing app that’s jam-packed with helpful features. It’s a lot of fun to use. Ipad users can use as many layers, masks, blending modes, and over 130 customizable brushes as they want. On the other hand, the typography tools add a whole new level of creative functionality.
Black Ink
If you’re looking for something extraordinary for your strokes, then Black Ink may be the answer. Instead of replicating traditional physical art tools, it takes a digital approach. It employs a control system that provides a slew of brush creation and customization options. You’ll be able to create any type of brush imaginable using a simple node-based language, which you can then save and share with the community.
Paintstorm Studio
Paintstorm Studio is a fantastic drawing program that is simple to use and is capable of producing impressive results. It’s ideal for creating eye-catching artwork with a good brush selection and customization options (including spacing jitter, texture, angle, and more). It also supports post-stroke correction, which is especially useful when doing linework. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use, and the default color scheme is stunning.
Rebelle 4
It’s one of the best digital art apps for producing realistic-looking watercolors or oils with thick impasto effects. It has over 170 brush presets intended to mimic how paint behaves in the real world. This impressive natural media painting app’s latest edition includes a slew of valuable enhancements, such as new stabilization and texture features, natural RYB color mixing, layer groups, and color management.
Corel Painter 2022
For digital painting, Corel Painter 2022 is an excellent choice. This art app is perfect for beginners because each brush is alphabetized and organized into groups that are easy to remember. However, the filter search is the app’s best feature. Furthermore, its most recent version includes new stamp-type brush customization, allowing you to fine-tune the dab effects of your favorite brushes. As with many digital painting effects, Corel makes your work look as natural and un-digital as possible.
Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo is the best option if you don’t want to commit to a monthly subscription. You’ll only have to pay a one-time fee, and you’ll be good to go. It’s pretty much on par with Photoshop in terms of power and performance, even if it lacks some of Adobe’s most advanced features. With full PSD support, it is, without a doubt, one of the best options for Photoshop. Project migration will be a breeze. It also has enough power to handle images with super-high-resolution files. Affinity Photo for the iPad is also available for iPad users.
Inspire Pro
Inspire Pro is a great way to get started with digital drawing. Its straightforward design makes it simple to use while still providing many useful creation tools. Due to its quick rendering times, this app is a reliable alternative to some of the best drawing apps available on the App Store. In addition, this drawing app focuses on the fundamentals of drawing and painting and is not as feature-rich as the other art apps. However, it is simple to learn and has many blending options and pre-loaded high-quality brushes with high-rendering brush strokes. However, a one-time fee is associated with this service, and it is only available on iOS devices.
Conclusion
Numerous drawing apps are available that may better suit your needs than those on this list. However, the majority of users prefer Adobe Illustrator. There is no substitute for industry-standard vector editing software, especially if you want to be a professional graphic designer. In addition, it can be bought as a separate app or as part of the Creative Cloud suite, which also includes Photoshop, Animation, and Lightroom. In any case, look for an entirely free app rather than one supported by advertisements. Even if the free version provides limited access, most users will forego the advanced features.
Conquer the Digital Art World
There’s no denying that the digital art world is thriving. More and more people are discovering their creative sides, and with the right tools, they can create incredible works of art. If you want to get in on the action, make sure you have the best drawing apps at your disposal. And if you want to ensure that your internet connection is up to par, you should upgrade to fiber internet.
Streamtech is the Philippines’ newest wave of fiber internet, so you can be confident that you’re getting the best connection possible. With our fiber internet connection, you’ll have plenty of bandwidth to push new creative boundaries and achieve stunning results. You’ll never have to worry about lagging graphics or choppy video playback again with fiber internet.
So, whether you’re a beginner looking to get started or a seasoned pro looking to take your art to the next level, we’ve got you covered. You’ll be able to conquer the digital art world and create masterpiece after masterpiece with our fiber internet connection and the best drawing apps.
So, what are you holding out for? Apply now and let your passion lead the way. Look us up on Facebook for more updates.
