Thanks to a robust marketplace, there’s a wide variety of drawing apps to meet your specific needs.
Each of these apps has the potential to become the preferred daily drawing app on your iPad.
Smoothest Lines: Paper
Free version is a step up from Apple Notes.
The iPad Pro supports the all-new Apple Pencil, a stylus created the Apple way.Image © Apple, Inc.
Free trial for the Pro version.
It lacks support for layers.
Subscription required for Pro version.
The free version of Paper by WeTransfer offers fewer tools than many drawing apps.
However, the tools it has are well-designed and draw exactly as you might expect.
Each tool offers three sizes of tips.
The blend mode lets you smear a drawing with your fingertips.
Paper by WeTransfer works well with Apple Pencil and also works on an iPhone.
The Drawing App You Already Have: Notes
Free app on every iPad.
Easy to change stroke weight.
A limited set of pens.
No infinite canvas feature.
Better for sketching than complicated art.
The Apple Notes app is installed on every iPad.
As a result, it’s often the first one people open when they want to sketch.
Notes has a good selection tool and a search feature that finds handwritten phrases.
Notes is available as a free download from the App Store if you removed it from your iPad.
Apple Notes works on an iPhone, too.
Most Realistic Art Tools: Art Set 4
The free app is packed with features.
Clever interface is simple to use but robust.
More fun than professional.
So many options can be intimidating.
The hyper-real drawing tools include oil paint, watercolors, oil pastel, pencil marker, crayon and others.
Try out 3D Painta thick paint layer you’re able to etch back intoand custom color blending.
The app even keeps track of where the canvas is “wet” or “dry.”
All in the free app.
Looking for metallic colors?
Art Tools 4 has them.
No need to be overwhelmed by all the choices.
An in app user guide comes with an instructional video.
A pro version with more features than most people will ever need is available via in-app purchase.
Paint and Draw Like a Pro: Procreate
A responsive drawing and painting system.
Thousands of importable brushes.
Not a technical drawing tool with dimensioning.
No free version or free trial.
With a large set of brushes and pens, Procreate may have the throw in of tool you need.
If not, you might create brushes.
Procreate supports multiple layers, and you might view a time-lapse replay of your work.
Procreate is a paid download at the App Store.
Powerful Digital Painting: Adobe Fresco
An intuitive interface with easy-to-use tools.
The basic app is free.
Designed for use with Apple Pencil.
Can’t change the canvas or background texture.
Only 2GB of storage with the free version.
A premium subscription is $10 a month.
Adobe Fresco is a free drawing and painting app designed for Apple Pencil, iPhone and iPad.
This app is friendly for beginners and professional enough for artists.
Anyone who is familiar with other Adobe software will have no trouble using Fresco.
Fresco is easy to use compared to Photoshop or Illustrator.
Adobe Fresco is a free download at the App Store.
Draw With Five Layers: Linea Sketch
Excellent balance of capability and complexity.
Exports as Photoshop file or PNG.
Erase with your finger.
Fewer pen and tip options than others.
A subscription is required.
Doesn’t have vector graphic capability.
Linea Sketch strikes a nice balance.
Linea Sketch also gives you access to five layers on which to draw or import photos.
Linea Sketch is free to download.
It offers monthly and yearly subscriptions as in-app purchases.
Linea Sketch supports Apple Pencil.
Fast and Free Drawing: SketchBook
A full-featured, multi-platform drawing app.
The formerly paid app is free now.
One-, two-, and three-point perspective guides.
You must sign in to use the app.
A bit of a learning curve for new users.
Previously a paid app, SketchBook became a free download from the App Store in April 2018.
The app supports the second generation of Apple Pencil.
Pens, Watercolors, and More: Tayasui Sketches
Drawing tools and controls are easy to select.
Zen mode hides most controls, promotes focus.
In-app purchases for coloring books, stylus pressure, layers.
Zooming in and out is glitchy.
Tayasui Sketches gives you access to a variety of pens and brushes in the free version of the app.
Tayasui Sketches is a free app with in-app purchases for the Pro version.
The app supports Apple Pencil and works on iPhone, with versions available for macOS and Android tablets.
Purchase Only the Power You Need: Concepts
Pro-grade measurement drawing tools.
A variety of payment options.
Free with in-app purchases.
Circular menu, customizations learning curve.
It lacks advanced typographic features.
Free week trial for subscription features.
The Conceptsvector graphicssketching app seeks to serve everyone from the casual drawer to the product design professional.
Concepts is a free download at the App Store, and the sketching capability is free.
The free version includes access to 16 brushes and five layers.
A paid-for subscription to Everything+ brings more brushes, objects, and sharing capabilities.
Concepts is also available for Windows.
Pro-Grade Vector and Raster Art: Affinity Designer
Impressive combo of vector and pixel drawing tools.
On-screen explanations of each feature.
It takes time to learn and perfect the controls.
Can’t export files in AI format.
It doesn’t have a perspective grid.
It’s expensive for an app.
This capability means you might create images that you might resize without losing resolution.
Affinity Designer is a paid app available from the App Store.
Versions of Affinity Designer are available to purchase separately for macOS and Windows.
The Pro upgrade delivers a capable vector app.
There’s a free trial of the paid Pro version.
Browsing the shapes and stickers takes a lot of time.
The Pro version requires a subscription.
In Assembly, you build an image from shapes.
Choose from hundreds of built-in shapes and stickers or purchase additional packs.
Quickly rotate, resize, or align each element.
Select one or more shapes to move forward or behind others.
An upgrade to Assembly Pro allows point editing.
Assembly works on the iPhone, as well.
Draw Lo-Res Art and Animations: Pixaki 4
Create pixel art without old computer.
Layers plus pixels plus animation equals fun.
It’s high price may only appeal to pixel artists and animators.
Import photos to use as reference layers as you draw a pixel-based image.
When you’re finished, export your image as aGIF.
Create Your Own Comic Book: Comic Draw
A combination of script, pages, and lettering.
Lots of export options.
It has a simple interface.
There aren’t any pre-made panels.
It’s usable without an Apple Pencil, but barely.
It doesn’t have gradients.
you might then print or export your work, or share it to the Comic Connect iPad app.
A free trial of Comic Draw is available at the App Store.
A one-time fee unlocks it after the trial.
A version of the app is available for educators to use in a school setting.
