5 Must-have Apps for Artists

Being an artist can be frustrating and rewarding, frustrating because creating art is difficult and rewarding because when you are finally done you forget how much trouble a piece brought you and you can admire the work.

In this article, I will share with you the 5 apps that are a must-have for artists. Some of which will save you time as an artist, while some are just fun apps to take the pressure off you.

1) Adobe Apps

The Adobe app suite has a few different apps which an artist will find useful, especially those who specialise in digital art. Photographers will love Lightroom and all the photo editing options that it gives, meanwhile digital artists will love Photoshop and Illustrator. Visual artists may want to check out the Premier Clip app. (Sign up for an InDesign class to learn more about layouting text publications).

For some amazing art, you can combine a few of the programs to make something unique and out of this world.

The Adobe app suite used to be expensive in the past with Photoshop costing $1000+ however, things are cheaper these days and you can get a creative cloud subscription for a few bucks a month, which includes many of the apps listed above.

2) LayerPaint

Layer Paint is a great photoshop alternative and even opens up PSD files. It can work on mobile phones but some of the functionality is difficult as screen size can be limiting.

If you were to use LayerPaint I would at least recommend downloading it on a tablet device as I found it’s much easier to use.

LayerPaint can be found on the Play store and has several paid versions from $2.99 to $6.99. If you are looking for a cost-effective version of Photoshop and art is more of a hobby than a career, I would recommend LayerPaint.

3) Art in a Sec

Art in a Sec is a web-based app that allows artists to create original artwork with the use of artificial intelligence. The AI allows you to upload an original photo and then create a piece of art in your favourite style. For example, you could take a photo of yourself and turn it into a piece of art in the style of a Van Gogh.

If you like the result of the work you can then have it printed out onto a canvas in various different sizes.

For me Art in a sec is a fun app that takes the pressure out of creating art, it can even provide you with inspiration for your next piece of work.

4) Procreate

At this time of writing, Procreate is in its 4th version and the 4th version is the best yet.

In my opinion, Procreate is the best painting and drawing app available for artists on the app store.

The user interface is simple to learn and use which makes navigating the different tools very efficient. You can adjust brushes, colours, brush sizes and much more with a few touches to the screen, which lets you concentrate on your actual art while minimising the distractions.

There are over 136 brushes available as standard and each of these brushes can be customised to your liking. The only downside to the Procreate app is there isn’t a free version which you can use to test. With that said, you can download the app for less than 10 bucks in the US and 10 pounds in the UK.

5) Art Rage

This is a cheap app that allows you to do amazing things.

It’s easy to use and in capable hands, the end result can often be amazing.

If you want to sit down and start painting right away ArtRage is the app for you. It’s available for Windows and macOS and while it’s quite similar to other apps on the market it is set apart by the customisable options which make this app geared more towards professional artists. With that said as a hobbyist, you can have a lot of fun with this app (if you can get past the $79 fee).

The UI is minimalistic once again, so you can concentrate on the most important aspect which is painting. If you like to create realistic art, you will be happy to know that ArtRage has the ability to import image media and stick it to the side of the screen for reference.

Overall ArtRage is a great painting app that can provide you with hours of practice and fun, it has a gentle learning curve and at $79 it won’t break the bank either.

Conclusion

There are many art apps on the market in 2019 which could have made this list, but after careful consideration, these are the top 5 apps every artist should consider owning in their career.

Do you know of an app which isn’t listed? Please let me know in the comments section below.