As tablets have advanced, many artists such as you or me are turning to the best Android tablets and phones out at that place equally their weapon of choice for making digital artworks. Central to that is, of course, a bang-up app to express yourself through. With so many out at that place though, how do you cull the right ane? Well, hopefully, I tin can narrow down the choices a bit for you lot and share what I call back are some of the best drawing apps bachelor for your Android device.

The criteria

These are some important features and factors to look out for when you are choosing a drawing app:

  • force per unit area responsiveness
  • a broad range of brushes and tools
  • being able to customize brushes or create your own
  • being able to work with multiple layers
  • layer blending modes such as multiply, overlay, color dodge, burn etc.
  • touch gestures and/or keyboard shortcuts
  • bonus: congenital-in timelapse recording is a plus

The cost of an app is often going to be a deciding factor likewise, especially if you are a beginner just getting started. Thankfully, each app hither is either completely costless, partially free, or information technology gives you a decent trial flow of the full version, so you can test for yourself what works all-time for you.

In case y'all are wondering, these apps were all tested on the Samsung Milky way Tab S6 Light. Released in the middle of 2020, it still holds up every bit a very competent little tablet for digital art today, and is great value for money.

With all that out of the way, permit's dive into the apps.

Sketchbook

Originally developed by Autodesk, Sketchbook has go quite a popular choice for many. It's been my go-to drawing app on my phone for a while because of its clean, uncluttered, and easy-to-navigate interface. If this was your preferred app on your computer, you'll be right at dwelling house using it on your mobile device too.

Pros:

  • great pressure responsiveness
  • huge array of brushes that can exist customized
  • like shooting fish in a barrel-to-notice timelapse capture feature
  • symmetry and perspective tools
  • reasonable maximum layer count (10 layers for 6000 x 4500px canvases)

Cons:

  • finger gestures didn't really work beyond pinch to zoom and rotate
  • DPI (dots per inch) is fixed (unremarkably 72 DPI)

Price: 100% gratuitous.

Screenshots of the Sketchbook app and tools on Android

Space Painter

If you are looking for something that gives a like drawing experience and feature packet as the iPad painting powerhouse Procreate, so this is one you definitely want to cheque out. It has a great selection of textured brushes that emulate traditional media, so if y'all are more of a painter, then I highly recommend Infinite Painter equally 1 of the best cartoon apps for Android.

Pros:

  • a wide range of brushes
  • advanced brush engine for customizing and creating brushes
  • pressure and tilt sensitivity
  • lasso fill up tool
  • touch gestures
  • includes timelapse capture
  • brushes can interact realistically with an added paper texture

Cons:

  • Lack of keyboard shortcuts (only really non needed for this app)

Price: $ten, but there'southward a 7-day free full-access trial.

Screenshots of brushes and settings in the Infinite Painter app.

Clip Studio Pigment

Clip Studio Pigment is packed with features and has speedily become a popular alternative to Adobe's Photoshop on PC. It has a really fair price for such an advanced piece of software, and is a keen option for comic creators and even animators as well.

On tablets y'all'll be getting the total package too.

Pros:

  • comic layout and panel tools
  • slap-up pressure and tilt recognition
  • huge online asset library
  • perspective tools
  • multiple layers and blend modes
  • touch on gestures and keyboard support
  • cross-platform deject storage
  • animation capabilities

Cons:

  • very busy interface that might exist intimidating for newbies (but plenty of official tutorials to guide yous, and an agile customs adding more of their ain)

Price: $1/thousand for telephone, $5/yard for tablet version, or i 60 minutes gratis each day.

You lot tin can get a 6-month costless full-feature trial from the Milky way Store though.

Screenshots of tools and brushes for Clip Studio Paint on Android.

MediBang

MediBang is another popular free choice, particularly with new comic artists. Like Prune Studio Paint, it as well has a large asset library to pull from. You lot tin back upwardly your work on the deject and access it on your computer afterward as well. The mobile version is a piddling different from the desktop release. Information technology'due south better adapted for small screens just still packed with tools.

Pros:

  • touch gestures include double-tap to disengage
  • large online asset library
  • comic panel and layout tools
  • practiced pressure recognition
  • can work on canvases at 300 DPI

Cons:

  • no timelapse recording feature hither
  • no keyboard back up
  • pressure sensitivity non active by default subsequently installing

Toll: Gratuitous with ads. Starting at $3/m you proceeds additional features, increased cloud storage, and an ad-free experience.

Various brushes and settings for the MediBang cartoon and painting app.

Krita

Free, open-source, and rich in features, Krita is a well-loved digital art app. Designed primarily for computers, it has now been ported over to Android, as is, in its entirety for tablet users. As such, it's ameliorate suited to working with a keyboard connected, allowing yous to activate and switch between tools with keyboard shortcuts rather than touch on gestures.

Information technology's still in early on access beta, but so far information technology works exactly as I'd wait from the desktop version, and is also available for ChromeOS.

Pros:

  • plenty of features and tools
  • good castor engines
  • supports most file types including PSD
  • animation tools
  • unlimited undo
  • keyboard shortcut support

Cons:

  • non quite fully optimized for tablets nevertheless
  • limited affect gestures (zoom, rotate, and pan)
  • palm rejection isn't great

Price: 100% free.

Screenshots of the Krita interface and settings on Android

ArtFlow

ArtFlow is another keen app that doesn't immediately bombard y'all with features in a busy interface. For that reason, it'south one I'g inclined to recommend for beginners and hobbyists. Simply that doesn't necessarily mean it's lacking the tools more advanced users will enjoy.

Pros:

  • timelapse recording
  • multiple layers
  • layer alloy modes
  • uncluttered and straightforward interface
  • decent max sheet size at 300 DPI (thirteen layers at 6000 x 4500px)
  • keyboard shortcuts
  • can flip interface layout with left or right-handed mode
  • full version temporarily activated past watching an advertizement

Cons:

  • express layer count in the free version
  • limited touch gestures beyond pinch to zoom
  • did feel a few crashes while testing
  • no motorcar saving

Cost: Gratuitous, $6 i-off payment for the Pro version.

Screenshots of the ArtFlow app on Android

Concepts

There aren't many decent drawing apps that offering an infinite canvas. That'south what makes Concepts a great app for generating ideas and having them spread out over a unmarried page. Retrieve mind-mapping where Pinterest meets your actual sketchbook, so you can insert images, draw around them and brand notes. With its total Copic colour cycle, it feels like this was made with designers in listen.

Pros:

  • that infinite canvas
  • import images from your gallery or browser
  • full Copic color palettes
  • funky exploding colour wheel
  • vector drawing
  • cross-platform subscription
  • various buy options to suit your needs
  • customizable affect gestures

Cons:

  • limited layer count in free version
  • no layer blending modes
  • tin't customize brushes
  • no timelapse recording

Toll: Free, $five/m full-feature subscription, $16 1-off for the Essentials pack, various other one-off purchase options.

Screenshots of the Concepts app on Android.

Notable mention: Magma Studio

Practise you want to collaborate on drawings with your friends? Launched at Lightbox Expo in 2019, Magma Studio is a browser-based drawing app rather than a downloadable one. As such, you don't get the range of tools that y'all would with something like Clip Studio Paint, but Magma Studio has something else quite unique: the shared sheet. You lot can host a canvas and invite your friends from all over the earth to draw on it with you.

Pros:

  • shared canvass for up to xxx people
  • cracking for drawing jams when paired with Discord
  • access inactive drawings for upward to 30 days on the free version
  • browser-based so any device can access it
  • great force per unit area recognition
  • some touch gestures (pinch to zoom, rotate, pan, 2-finger undo)

Cons:

  • only the about basic brushes (round, foursquare, difficult, soft) on the free version

Price: Gratuitous. The $10/m Pro version gets you lot added features like textured brushes, larger sheet options, and unlimited cloud storage.

Screenshots of browser-based cartoon app, Magma Studio.

Draw online in Magma Studio.

Final recommendations:

Personal favorite: Infinite Painter

Infinite Painter gives me the closest user experience to Procreate on the iPad, and feels equally powerful. Its minimal interface makes it a great option for both phones and tablets.

Best for tablets: Prune Studio Pigment

Prune Studio Paint is packed with features and quite a loaded interface, so it's ameliorate suited for the larger screens on tablets and Chromebooks. Yous'll exist quite comfortable using this as a directly fingers-and pen app, but you tin likewise connect a keyboard and have at it just like yous would on a desktop computer.

Best for phones: ArtFlow

ArtFlow's interface is wonderfully minimal, giving y'all the option to completely hide all the toolbars and have the total screen area to focus on your drawing. A double-tap to undo gesture is all that's really missing here.

Ofttimes when people ask about finding a standalone device for digital art, it's the iPad with Procreate that gets recommended. There's a skillful reason for that, and I'm an enthusiastic Procreate user myself. Information technology's peachy and intuitive design has fabricated it attainable to beginners while notwithstanding having a ton of avant-garde features packed in for more skilled users. Information technology really isn't the merely pick at present though, and I'm quite excited past what'due south available for Android. Samsung's Milky way S-series tablets with the included S-Pen in detail have become potent competitors, and whether you are a hobbyist or a professional person, there are some bully apps available for you lot to produce high quality work.

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Nigh The Author

Ryan Allan (3 Articles Published)

Ryan is a practicing digital creative person bouncing betwixt his calculator, mobile devices, and the occasional mural. You can also observe this brush monkey penning most hardware, software, and fine art for video games over on DrawYourWeapon.com

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