Affordable Digital Drawing for beginners: TOP 5 FREE DRAWING APPS
Updated: May 12, 2023
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You want to draw digitally but don’t know where to start. Well, first you need a digital device such as a PC, laptop, tablet, or even a decent phone will do. Next, you search for apps and software that allow you to draw. You’ve already heard of Photoshop right, if not, where have you been living?
The thing about Photoshop or all Adobe programs is that they do come with a hefty price tag. Yes, they are the “Kings and Queens” of digital design, digital art, and so on. But not everyone can afford them, and they need a powerful device to run on.
When I first started with digital art, I tried Photoshop, but my computer wasn’t strong enough to handle it and it kept shutting down on me and also the price was a bit too much for my budget at the time. Therefore, I had to look for alternatives.
Nowadays there are several FREE drawing apps and software which you can download and use for free, and they are almost as good as Adobe suite if not some are even better. I wonder for how long are they going to stay for free?
The question remains where do I begin?
Let’s start with some free apps you can use on your phone or tablet.
Medibang
Is a drawing and painting app that does the job it is supposed to do. Aims more towards comic and manga creators. It has a cloud service where you can save your art to and a nice library where you can use their background collections for free. It also has a nice brush collection, and the overall experience is good.
Sketchbook
It was a paid app, but it became a free one. It is available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iPad. It has lots of cool features you can use. It is very touch-friendly; the interface is also minimalistic and makes your drawing experience that much pleasurable. It has great perspective tools that allow you to easily edit your drawings as you go. You do need to create an account if you want to use it fully for free.
MyPaint
It is an open-source app that started on Linux but then transferred to Windows and Mac. It has an installation curve, it has a few more steps you need to do when installing. The app is in its alpha stages which means it’s created more for developers and not so much for consumers.
But it has its bonuses and one of them is an infinite canvas. When you start drawing you don’t need to make a canvas size. It also has a scratch pad that allows you to test the colors and brushes separately before you use them on your art.
IbisPaint X
It is available only on android and IOS. It’s not completely free, if you want to unlock all the features you need to watch an add and it unlocks them for a period of time. It has a large library of backgrounds you can use for comics or manga, a nice number of tools you can use. The stabilizer is also very good.
Krita
As an app, it is a bit bulky, because the canvas area is a bit small or hidden from all other panels. But other than that, the app is amazing. It allows you to draw, paint, transform, create panels, create patterns, it has a huge number of brushes you can use. You can also do simple vectors in it and animation. I use Krita on my PC all the time, for illustrations, pattern designs, mandalas, animations, and so on. It is my go-to program and I love it.
These are just 5 FREE apps you can use on your portable digital devices and make great art. If you browse through the app store, I’m sure you could find much more. But I believe that these are the best of the best.
