Best apps for artists

As 21st century artists, we’re lucky that we can access a host of helpful tools all on one device and as a coloured pencil artist, I’ve come to find that the apps below are so helpful. Here are my top 3 best apps for pencil portrait artists, and those that use other mediums too!

Unsplash/Resplash

Choosing a reference photo can be tricky and you might be tempted to draw from any old picture on the internet, (which you definitely shouldn’t do if you are hoping to make prints of your artwork!) but this can be made much easier by using the Resplash app.

If you use the copyright free image library website Unsplash, you’ll realise that Resplash is a device-friendly version of that, so you can scroll through all of the fantastic images and save them in collections for later. There’s plenty of categories to begin your search in, whether you’re looking for a landscape or wildlife reference. Once you’re ready to download and start drawing, you can simply save to your device’s gallery and get started.

Check out their Unsplash/Resplash apps for Apple and Android devices: UNSPLASH

RESPLASH

Arty

This app helps artists to make the most of their reference photos (particularly if you are a commission artist) by designing colour pickers, filters, grids and more into one app. The colour pickers in particular are a brilliant feature, as they not only show you the colour in more detail, but actually match it as closely as possible to Caran D’Ache, Faber Castell and Prismacolour coloured pencils so that you never have to worry about picking the wrong colour again!

With the filters, you can take a look at how your art reference would look in a certain style, like pointillism or sketch. This is perfect if you are experimenting with different art styles. A super helpful grid feature makes life easier when you want to make sure that your drawing is accurate and in proportional, as long as you have marked up the same amount of grid squares on your own paper.

The app is only available on IOS currently, and you can download it here.

Picsart

Picsart is famous for it’s huge library of stickers and filters that can allow you to make a reference photo completely unique. You can really unleash your creativity to make any your images your own, and in turn your art will stand out amongst the crowd.

Some other helpful parts of the app are the ability to search through what other people have created, offering inspiration and a chance to try out stickers and filters others have used.

Unleash your creativity in this awesome app. PICSART FOR APPLE PICSART FOR ANDROID

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