With these tools, you can unleash your creativity no matter your skill level.
1. Procreate
An application for artists and illustrators, created with all their professional needs in mind. At the same time, in Procreate, you can create not only the most complex images, but also simple sketches.
There are over 120 different brushes to choose from, a gigantic resolution (up to 16K × 4K) and an exclusive layer rendering engine optimized specifically for 64-bit iOS devices. There are over 30 customizable parameters for each brush, and the history stores a whopping 250 steps for undoing and redoing operations. 64-bit color, autosave, cinematic effects and more. This is truly a tool for the most demanding!
Procreate
Savage Interactive Pty Ltd
Price: Free
Download
2. Tayasui Sketches
A powerful yet simple application that has everything you need for creative projects of any complexity: layers, a brush editor, a color eyedropper, export of individual layers and backups. You can draw with 20 realistic tools with easy control and access. The interface adjusts to the current mode and does not interfere at all during operation.
The app is available for free, but with a basic set of tools. The rest are offered to be purchased as needed.
Tayasui sketches
Tayasui.com
Price: Free
Download
Tayasui sketches
Tayasui
Price: Free
Download
3. Sketchbook
The mobile version of Autodesk SketchBook is almost as good as the desktop one. It is a smart drawing and sketching tool that boasts a sophisticated processing engine for smoother strokes and natural image creation . For advanced users, there is a layer editor with 16 blending modes, pressure sensitivity, symmetry and proportional transformation tools.
In addition, Autodesk has taken care of the storage of content: for organizing sketches, there is a built-in gallery, albums, and even integration with Dropbox. Not all functions are available in the free version; you will have to pay extra for the Pro features.
Sketchbook®
Sketchbook, Inc
Price: Free
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Sketchbook
Sketchbook
Price: Free
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4. ArtRage
A functional cross-platform program that runs on computers and tablets with iOS and Android. The interface and tools of ArtRage accurately convey the user experience of real drawing, allowing you to immerse yourself in the creative process.
Pencil, pastel, oil, watercolor – you can work in any of these techniques and combine them with each other. There are tons of canvas presets and paper settings to choose from, rich export options, and useful extras like recording your drawing process.
ArtRage Vitae Mobile Painting
Ambient Design Ltd.
Price: Free
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5. Linea Sketch
A solid program with a very laconic and user-friendly interface, which, unlike its competitors, is not overloaded with unnecessary functions and will appeal to everyone who appreciates simplicity.
There are not many tools in Linea Sketch, but they all work very predictably and accurately, perfectly following the Apple Pencil. Other advantages include a convenient choice of colors and interaction with palettes, a lot of canvas textures, grid templates, as well as recording the drawing process and easy export to various formats, including through a companion desktop application.
Linea Sketch
The iconfactory
Price: Free
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6. Adobe Fresco
A powerful program from Adobe that will appeal to all adherents of traditional painting. Fresco combines a huge number of vector and raster tools, making it possible to work in any style.
Choose from over 50 Photoshop brushes , custom brushes from Adobe Capture and other libraries, convenient selection and masking functions, as well as time-lapse recording of the creative process and simplified file export.
In the free version, you can use basic tools. To access advanced features and exclusive content, you must subscribe.
Adobe Fresco -painting + graphics
Adobe Inc.
Price: Free
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7. MediBang Paint
Cross-platform comic and manga drawing program with many fans around the world and a huge number of tutorials for all occasions.
MediBang offers a specialized set of tools, as well as thousands of brushes, fonts, backgrounds and other content to bring any creative ideas to life. There is a built-in cloud for storing works and the ability to open them in MediBang on a computer and other devices.
MediBang Paint for iPad
MediBang inc.
Price: Free
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MediBang Paint – pocket art
MediBang Inc.
Price: Free
Download
8. Infinite Painter
A powerful painting tool with a minimalistic interface and an emphasis on working with brushes. There are over 160 natural types in Infinite Painter. The program allows you to create your own and customize them flexibly by changing more than 100 parameters.
You can assign individual finger touch functions in addition to the stylus, combine brushes into sets, use symmetry patterns, and easily draw straight lines and shapes by automatically detecting and adjusting objects.
Infinite painter
Sean brakefield
Price: Free
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Infinite painter
Infinite Studio LLC
Price: Free
Download
This material was first published in June 2012. In October 2021, we updated the text.
