Hello there!
Yes, we haven’t done this in a while… but our inbox and chat are swamped with questions on the subject, so this article was very much needed.
it’s a simple list of art apps, but we know you love those :D
Enough with the intro, here it is, a list of twelve art apps you may want to check out.
ArtRage is an art program for beginners and professionals. With its minimal interface, it’s easy to keep the essential tools at hand without stealing space from the canvas. Panels can be moved around and tools can be customised. We all know how important it is for digital artists to be able to modify brushes!
Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; essential tools from professional apps available; available for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac
Cons: it may get sluggish with big files and when using big brushes, but performances also depend on the running machine; limited selection of editing tools if compared to Photoshop - ArtRage is more of a painting program rather than an editing one.
Paid
ArtRage Lite is a different version at a cheaper price, mostly for beginners, but also for professionals if they need the essential.
Now free, Sketchbook is the famous app created by Autodesk for various platforms.
Pros: clean, friendly interface; easy to use; professional features
Cons: lack of official tutorials; doesn’t offer as many tools as other apps (it’s down to the essential); paid subscription in Adobe style for multiple licenses
Free and paid
Black Ink is a powerful little program few actually know, but there’s a reason: this isn’t your classing drawing app. What’s cool about it is the vast selection of special brushes, completely non-realistic, and definitely able to boost your creativity.
Pros: vast selection of customisable brushes; excellent performance
Cons: not very easy to use; non-intuitive interface
Paid
This is probably the most complete software for painting, drawing and animation. It was originally known as Manga Studio, but with its updates and addition of features, it became Clip Studio Paint.
This doesn’t say much about the quality of the features themselves considering the affordable price (if you haven’t used the app yet, that is), but among graphic apps, this one is the top seller.
Pros: professional features for illustrators; layout tools for comic/manga artists; 3D reference models; customisable tools; various sales with special prices
Cons: the interface may not appear intuitive at first; the program may lag (again, performance also depends on the running machine)
Paid
GIMP is the famous open source image editor originally created for GNU/Linux and available for OS X and Windows.
Best known as Photoshop’s main competition, this is a manipulation program for both beginners and professionals who love design.
It offers many professional features, making the program a powerful tool.
Pros: professional editing tools; supports different formats; supported by different platforms; active community
Cons: in spite of the simple design, many options are hidden and it takes time to discover all the features; slow startup
Free
Krita is an open source painting app created by artists for artists.
Pros: easy to use; intuitive interface; great brush workflow; brush stabilizer; customisable brushes; general good performance; very enthusiastic, although small, community
Cons: it may be slow or even crash depending on the running computer and the app’s version; very few editing tools compared to Photoshop
Free
MediBang Paint is a free and light app for drawing and painting, perfect for manga and comic creation.
Pros: vast selection of brushes; cloud sharing; friendly, minimal interface (non-desktop app); also available for iPad, iPhone and Android
Cons: requires an account to use all features; non-intuitive interface (desktop version)
Free
Mischief is a sketching app with essential tools, useful for brainstorming and ideation.
Pros: infinite drawing canvas; friendly interface; easy to use; cheap pro version
Cons: few updates; offers only the essential (but that’s the point); no editing/adjustment tools
Free and paid
Corel’s jewel, Painter is the most famous software that offers digital tools able to give a traditional feel to brushes and canvas.
Pros: different selection of media; many professional features; PS-friendly
Cons: certain brushes may work slow; not easy to use at first; the software may crash (this is the most common report); pricey
Paid
Paintstorm Studio is a professional software for digital painting. It’s focused on the use of brushes and blending, which makes the software a little gem in the digital painting field.
Pros: good brush workflow; brush stabilizer; “close gap” feature; customisable interface and tools; professional features; affordable price
Cons: non-intuitive interface (desktop version)
Paid
Procreate is the powerful drawing app for iOS.
With the very sensitive Apple Pencil, Procreate is so easy to use that many artists chose the iPad over the most famous graphic tablets.
Pros: friendly interface; makes it easy to organise files; excellent brush workflow; customisable brushes; video recording; affordable price
Cons: hidden features; only available for iPad
Paid
SAI is a simple app for artists who want to focus on painting and drawing.
It’s well known for its good pressure support and its essential tools for manga artists, but SAI can be used by any kind of artist who wants to paint.
Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; light software; customisable brushes; tons of (non-official) tutorials
Cons: limited selection of tools, even basic ones; limited canvas sizes and uses; it might crash from intensive work, especially with big canvases and brushes; supports only RGB colour mode; lack of support
Paid
We hope you’ll find this list useful.
If you think there are other apps that should have made this list, don’t hesitate to let us know!
Thank you and peace out,
G&M
Buy us a coffee ❤
Other articles:
10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists
6 inspiring Art Podcasts for digital artists
7 amazing Photoshop extensions and tools for digital artists
Just a little wip of our beloved Doctor and my apprentice. (I’m stuggling with my old tablet though x_x ) Ad Astra Per Aspera: To the stars through difficulties.
Cat NO likey!
@sedireadieu @countlxcio 0:)
he’s coming back for you
Dear Finn, I’m afraid I’m terribly late but I still wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday. I hope you will accept this bottle in order to party properly. Wish you all the best,
Lysandre Samaël D’Haucourt.
P. S: I truly didn’t want to risk any trauma by showing up with blond hair but I didn’t have a wig... Sorry I guess? ;) @drdevorakwrites thank you for your posts and this flamboying boy , continue being awesome! :)
This is amazing ! Go see @iranoutofsnarkycomments and give them all your love!
I’m an art student trying to keep up my skills and improve over the summer before classes begin and I’d love to draw your Arcana apprentice (a bust and/or a full body) for practice (free of charge)! I want to work on bodies/hands/poses! Below are some pictures of work I’ve done! Message or reblog please (messaging works better though)!
The apprentice with a strong artistic inclination and a tenacious hate for injustice. ♦️ Favourite food : Vol-au-vent ♦️ Favourite drink : Irish Cream ♦️ Favourite flower : Cornflower
Mademoiselle D’Haucourt Soeurette (by her brother) Lys
Alistair Millenis D’Haucourt (brother) Pierre Balthazar D’Haucourt (father) Anne - Marie D’Haucourt (Mother)
Julian Devorak. When Lysandre Samaël isn’t practising magic nor creating art, she daydreams about the fugitive doctor. Since he came into her life, things became terribly exciting and she would die for him. Of course, she’s ready to investigate day and night to prove his innocence to all people of Vesuvia.
Positive :
♦️ She’s determined in everything she does, concentrating on every task with all of her being. She desires to help people more than anything
♦️ She’s a very fast learner and has a great capacity of adaptation. Even if being at the palace makes her ill at ease, she still blends in perfectly. However, she keeps in mind
♦️ She can see through many trickeries and lies. Her instincts often guide her and protect her and the ones she loves as well. Negative:
♦️ She’s incapable of accepting herself as she is (because of her childhood) and very often forgets herself in favour of helping others. However, while she concentrates on people’s problems, her own troubles continue to haunt her.
♦️In a moment of utter desperation, she would sacrifice herself without even thinking about it. In order to save Julian or her brother, she would be ready to destroy her own life.
♦️ She always hides her worries and pains behind a kind smile. She’s always plagued by depressiveness and old demons like self-harm are still lingering in the very back of her mind.
Birthday:
August, 29th
Zodiac sign:
Virgo
Personnality:
INFJ
Gender: Female Height: 5′4 (164 cm) Hair colour: Honey blond Eye colour: Grayish blue
Early Life: She has been raised in a noble family who reproached her to be a woman as she wasn’t a proper heir to carry their name. Because of that, her father forced her to follow both male and female education in order to overcome this "shame”. She grew up with her big brother Alistair, whom she loves dearly. Among the humiliations and negative comments, he became her strength. Very soon, she proved to have a great creativity and a certain talent for music. For a brief moment in time, she enjoyed lapses of carefree happiness with Alistair and a dog that was gifted to her. However, it didn't last long as she showed offensive magic abilities while trying to defend herself from her uncle. She became an outcast once again and her life changed for the worst. That's when she met Asra the magician who offered her to travel alongside with him in order to master her powers. She left with a heavy heart, thinking about her brother dear and how life would be empty without him. Vesuvia: She traveled with Asra during quite some time before arriving in the city of Vesuvia. There, it took her a lot of courage to start her apprenticeship among an unknown city full of people. Even if the magician was very friendly and patient with her, she was still missing some aspects of her former life.However, she adapted quickly as and when she learned more. Asra and her had become great friends by this time and she had catch a glimpse of a bright future for both of them. And then, the red plague struck... After the Red Plague: She doesn't remember much of her time with Asra in Vesuvia. Since her memory loss, life took a boring turn. She despises the moments when the magician leaves her behind in order to travel alone. Somewhere within herself, something is telling her it hadn't always been like this. Sometimes she has a fleeting thought of them travelling together. But it vanishes as fast as it came. However, she remembers well her young years of life, her brother and their home but nothing more. Now she sits quietly in the deafening silence of the little shop, helping Asra when he's here, doing her own job when he's away. She can't say she's happy but she's not utterly miserable either. She's just empty... But just when she was ready to let evrything go to waste, Julian Devorak showed up and Lysandre recovered a liking to living. He brought joy back into her daily routine, and stole her heart. She dedicates all of her efforts into proving his innocence and can't imagine a life without him. He is her guiding light in the dark horizon. Oc by me Official Background is from the arcana game (not mine!)
Disdain
Venia ad vitam aeternam
love squeeze!
~ why All Might is crying in a Chili’s ~
@sedireadieu Lysandre felt sorry for him as she watched him fight against his drunken state. However, his question sent her back to the starting point and the young woman had to force herself not to frown. Not Asra again... He was away and she didn’t need to remember it. She tried to play it off with a tense smile and a bit of sarcasm, hoping she would be convincing enough.
“You would like that wouldn’t you... No. To be honest, I’m here to have a little fun. What can I say, while the cat's away the mice will play...” She took a breath, leaning a bit on the table, her eyes searching his.
“And you dear Doctor? Are you here to have some fun?” She already knew the real answer. Why was he here? To torture himself... Reflect upon his presumed crimes and drown his sorrows in Salty bitters were his favourite activities. The young woman was fully aware that bringing this up wasn’t the best move but she needed to distract him for a bit. Even when being utterly wasted, he remained very observant. It was indeed impressive but also too dangerous for her current mood. Julian wasn’t a bad person, she was absolutely sure about it and she didn’t want to bring him down with her own silly vexations.
@lysandresamaeldhaucourt
Her first reflex was to shoot this nuisance a furious stare but, as her eyes set on him, recognition hit her. So when he wasn’t breaking in her shop, he was getting drunk… What an amazing schedule. A sigh escaped her lips as she eyed him disaprovingly.
“Julian… Are you really drunk enough to be unable to recognise me? I was going to tell you I was fine but now I’m offended…”
As much as she wanted to scold him for interrupting her brooding session, her lips curved in a small smile. With a vague movement of her hand, she gestured to a vacant chair near her own.
“You should sit before embarrassing yourself further.”
There was no aggressivity in her tone, only amusement. After all, seeing this supposed murderer tripping over himself wasn’t the most scary of things. Plus, even drunk, he was quite handsome… Not that she would admit it though. Blue eyes checked her drink and she groaned, realizing her glass was nearly empty. Tonight, she definitely needed more to let go of her bitterness towards Asra, to forget her duties towards the countess. Tonight, she wanted to have some fun no matter what.
To put it briefly: yes, yes he was that drunk. He had to narrow his eye to even be able to tell who it was, and surely enough, after his eye had adjusted to the familiar face it was as if the light had finally turned on in his currently vacant brain.
An embarrassed blush crept upon his pale complexion as he fell into the chair vis-a-vis her own, trying to brush the incident off with a smile - although, if one were to look at the way he was swaying, they could tell he was more than a bit tipsy.
“Well, if it isn’t my favourite lady!”, he exclaimed and reached to tap her on the shoulder in a friendly manner, although that was all the more giving him motion sickness so he stopped soon after, going back to resting his head in his hands as he was when he was sitting down at his own table.
“Oh, what d’you know…your glass is empty, I don’t have a glass…A fated encounter.”, a cheesy grin appeared on his lips as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. “A couple more over here, if you are so kind!”, he called out for the bartender to bring them another round. Although observing her through a drunken haze, he could still notice that she wasn’t feeling entirely like herself. “Somethin’ bad happen? You’re usually not one to come here. Oho, am I perhaps rubbing off on you?”
Lysandre Samaël: The apprentice with a strong artistic inclination and a tenacious hate for injustice. ♍ ♦️ Favourite food : Vol-au-vent ♦️ Favourite drink : Irish Cream ♦️ Favourite flower : Cornflower Mod Lys Alistair Millenis D'Haucourt: The apprentice's flirty big brother who would be ready to set the world aflame to protect her. ♌ ♦️ Favourite food : Duck breast fillet ♦️ Favourite drink : Cognac ♦️ Favourite flower : Honeysuckle Mod Raven /!\ tumblr under construction /!\ The background of the profile pictures come from the game The Arcana.
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