“Just as humans need oxygen to survive, they also need art and poetry,” the writer, poet and politician Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) once said. With this in mind, UNESCO launched the first World Art Day in 2019, which has been celebrated on April 15 every year since then. Just in time for this occasion, we present five of the best illustration, painting and design programs for mobile devices.
“Illustrator Draw” was Adobe’s mobile app for digital drawings, vector graphics and sketches. It was available for all platforms until summer 2021, when Adobe switched to “Fresco”. Since then, Android users have been left in the dark because Adobe only makes “Fresco” available for the iPhone, iPad, Microsoft Surface Pro and Creative Cloud. The creative application comes with all the usual tools such as drawing tools, layer management, vector drawings, integration in Adobe’s Creative Cloud and intuitive operation. The professional functions enable creative and high-quality drawings on mobile devices, but they cost a fee for the full range of functions, which can vary greatly depending on the user’s requirements.
If you compare “Canva” to Adobe’s Creative Cloud, it’s not nearly as complex and doesn’t offer as many features either. But not everyone is looking for what Adobe CC has to offer – some people prefer a simpler, more intuitive option that can be learned and used in seconds, and that’s exactly what Canva is. Advanced users may wish for more functionality and flexibility at one point or another, but there’s no denying the quality of results that can be achieved with Canva – available for Android and iOS, the app is capable of producing professional-looking designs to create. The Pro version of “Canva” with full functionality currently costs 11.99 euros per month or 107.99 euros per year.
The vector graphics app “Infinite Design” (Android) was completely revised in 2016 and has become a real alternative to Adobe’s “Illustrator Draw” by 2021. Since Adobe stopped supporting Android, “Infinite Design” has been one of the top alternatives on devices with Google’s operating system. As the name suggests, “Infinite Design” offers an infinite canvas (to pan, zoom or rotate); infinite levels; infinite path editing; and infinite undo and redo operations along the entire history.
“Infinite Design” also offers countless layer options, a transformation tool for moving, scaling, rotating, mirroring, distorting and skewing, as well as automatic shape recognition and grids for reference or snapping. Users currently pay a one-off fee of EUR 6.49 for the entire range of functions instead of the usual full price of EUR 8.49. If you want to concentrate purely on drawing and painting, take a look at the sister app “Infinite Painter” (Android/iOS).
“Procreate” is a digital illustration and painting app specially developed for artists, illustrators and creative people and is only available on Apple devices such as the iPad and the iPhone. Since its first release in 2011, “Procreate” has become one of the most well-known and popular apps for digital drawing and painting on mobile devices. The application offers a full range of features and tools that artists can use to create digital artworks in an intuitive way. This includes brushes in different styles and textures, support for layers, selection and masking functions, and a variety of effects and filters. “Procreate” also supports the use of pressure sensitivity, if the device is equipped accordingly, which allows creating realistic strokes.
“Sketchbook” is a professional digital drawing and painting app for artists, illustrators and designers. Developers Autodesk provides an intuitive user interface that can be customized and combined with the extensive pro tools, layering functions and image editing options allows creative freedom and control. “Sketchbook” is available on all popular platforms like Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. The diverse export options make it easy for artists to use the created works in different formats and environments. “Sketchbook” is a comprehensive solution for demanding digital artists and designers – and since April 2021 it’s also completely free.
