With the advance of mobile technology, the app market is now teeming with all kinds of learn to draw apps. I know it can be overwhelming to sift through the options there hence the importance of curated collections like this one. Over the years, I have reviewed, experienced, and recommended a wide variety of learn to draw apps and in this post I share with some of my favourite of all time.
Whether you are a budding artist looking to hone your skills, a parent seeking creative outlets for your children, or someone exploring art as a hobby, these apps provide the tools and guidance necessary to embark on your artistic journey. From engaging drawing exercises and step-by-step tutorials to interactive features that bring your creations to life, learn to draw apps cater to a wide spectrum of users.
Related: Best Chrome Drawing Apps
Learn to Draw Apps
Here are our top picks for learn to draw apps:
1. Simply Draw (iPad )
Simply Draw is a transformative app designed to make the art of drawing accessible and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of skill level. With its personalized learning path, users can focus on what they’re truly interested in drawing. The app features easy-to-follow video tutorials led by professional artists and teachers, allowing users to learn at their own pace and convenience.
Simply Draw offers a dynamic and interactive learning experience, where users can receive feedback on their work, gain new drawing skills, and discover helpful tips and tricks for even the most complex drawings. With new sessions added every week, Simply Draw is an evolving platform that encourages users to explore their creativity and continuously improve their drawing abilities.
2. ArtWorkout (iPhone/iPad/ Mac )
ArtWorkout stands is another powerful learn to draw app that offers interesting features. The app is designed to teach drawing techniques, measure and evaluate your progress, making it a unique blend of education and interactive fun. With support for tools like the Apple Pencil and offering over 500 lessons, ArtWorkout caters to a wide audience, from kids to adults and from beginners to pros.
The app encompasses a range of courses, including Doodling, Sketching, Drawing, Painting, and Handwriting, ensuring there’s something for everyone. Unlike typical line-tracing apps, ArtWorkout challenges users with skill trainers that provide immediate feedback, pushing you to improve and refine your strokes.
3. Kids Drawing Games (iPhone/iPad)
Drawing Academy is a drawing app designed by Bini Games, specifically tailored for children between 3 to 5 years old. Recognizing the crucial role of drawing in the development of a child’s right side of the brain, this app offers a multi-faceted learning experience. It engages children visually, physically, and emotionally, ensuring a comprehensive development.
The app isn’t just about drawing; it introduces kids to the vibrant world of colors through a color-by-number section, promoting concentration and attention span. With over 150 step-by-step drawing tutorials and a variety of tools like pencils, crayons, stickers, and paints, Drawing Academy ensures that every child’s creative potential is nurtured. The app’s unique tracing and free-drawing mechanics are designed to refine children’s motor skills, preparing them for writing.
4. Let’s Learn How to Draw (iPhone/iPad )
Let’s Learn How to Draw! is an interactive and engaging app that makes drawing accessible and fun for everyone. Whether you’re a beginner eager to learn or an artist seeking a new canvas, this app is perfect. It simplifies the drawing process by breaking down every artwork into manageable parts, with animated strokes guiding you through each line.
For those finding it challenging, there’s an Assist Mode that corrects your strokes, ensuring a beautiful outcome every time. The app isn’t just about structured learning; it also offers a scratchpad for you to freely mix paints and doodle to your heart’s content. With modules featuring monsters, trains, dogs, and dinosaurs, each containing five lessons of gradually increasing difficulty, Let’s Learn How to Draw! ensures a fun and fulfilling drawing journey for users of all ages.
5. How to Draw Anime Easy (iPhone/iPad/ Mac )
How to Draw Anime Easy is the ultimate resource for fans of anime and manga looking to learn the art of drawing their favorite characters. This app offers a wealth of original tutorials tailored to the distinctive style of anime and manga, with their unique features like enlarged eyes and heads, simplified facial expressions, and intricately detailed backgrounds.
Whether you’re new to drawing or looking to refine your skills, this app provides step-by-step guides and a plethora of tips and advice to help you master the art of drawing anime and manga. Welcome to a world where drawing manga isn’t just a skill, but a passionate journey into the heart of anime artistry.
6. Drawing with Carl (iPhone/iPad )
Drawing with Carl is among the top-rated drawing apps designed for kids. This app makes drawing an enjoyable and easy endeavor. Kids can unleash their creativity by drawing over imported pictures and playing with talking stickers that add a fun, interactive element to their creations. The app comes packed with a suite of powerful and user-friendly tools, allowing for the creation of unique artwork with Talking Carl and his monster friends.
The mirror painting feature adds a new dimension to creativity, while the pattern paint bucket brings magical effects to the drawings. With the ability to share drawings on Facebook, email, or save them to the photo album, kids can easily showcase their artistic prowess.
7. ShadowDraw (iPad)
ShadowDraw is revolutionizing the way beginners approach drawing, making it easy and enjoyable to learn the basics and gradually improve. Leveraging drawings crafted by art professionals, the app guides users through the exact steps taken by experienced artists, allowing for a hands-on learning experience.
With your Apple Pencil, you can follow along with the pencil strokes of the pros, quickly gaining the ability to create realistic drawings from scratch. ShadowDraw emphasizes daily practice, encouraging users to hone their skills regularly before diving into their unique creations.
With hundreds of step-by-step guides and a thoughtful learning structure, users can watch their lines converge to form complete, intricate drawings. The app caters to various learning styles, offering an “Art Teacher Mode” for guided learning and a “Sketch My Way” for those who wish to explore with their own colors and tools.
8. Sketchar: Learn to Draw (Android)
Sketchar is a powerful app designed for individuals passionate about improving their drawing skills. This app uniquely combines AR and AI technologies to enhance the learning experience and make it more entertaining. With over 550 drawing lessons, including beginner sets and specific topics like portraits or anime, Sketchar caters to a wide range of interests and skill levels.
The personalized AI-driven plan accelerates your creative growth, while the powerful drawing toolset enables you to create remarkable art swiftly. The app also fosters a community spirit with contests, allowing users to collaborate with peers. The innovative use of augmented reality for drawing allows users to project virtual sketches onto surfaces, aiding in the creation of large-scale artworks.
9. TAYASUI Sketches (iPhone/iPad & Android)
TAYASUI Sketches distinguishes itself as a drawing application by offering realistic and beautifully designed tools on the Android platform. Designed to mimic the vivid and natural strokes of brushes on paper, the app adapts to the user’s pressure, angle, and width, creating a genuinely immersive drawing experience.
With over 20 ultra-realistic tools, layers, photo import capabilities, and advanced sharing and export functions, TAYASUI Sketches caters to both amateur and professional artists. The watercolor wet brush is incredibly realistic, and the Brushes Editor allows for custom creations.
10. Learn Drawing (Android)
The Learn Drawing app is an all-encompassing solution for anyone looking to embrace the art of drawing. The app offers specialized tutorials for illustrating festive scenes, such as snowmen, gingerbread houses, and families around the Christmas tree. It’s an ideal platform for beginners and seasoned artists alike, offering a range of tutorials from basic sketching techniques to advanced drawing lessons.
The step-by-step approach and interactive exercises ensure that users can easily grasp concepts and bring their imaginative ideas to life. Whether you’re interested in cartoon drawing, figure drawing, or pencil sketching, the Learn Drawing app offers a treasure trove of knowledge.
Besides teaching the fundamentals of drawing, the app also delves into advanced painting techniques, helping users master light, shadow, and composition to create captivating artworks.
11. WeDraw (Android)
WeDraw emerges as a user-friendly and versatile drawing app, tailored for individuals keen on learning to draw but may lack prior experience. With its straightforward, step-by-step approach, users are guided through the process of creating various artworks, ranging from beloved anime and cartoon characters to intricate drawings of animals and vehicles.
The app’s simplicity lies in its pick-and-sketch method, requiring just a paper and pencil to begin. Additionally, WeDraw caters to the convenience of its users by allowing the download of drawings for offline use, making it a handy tool for aspiring artists anytime, anywhere. Whether you’re a novice with no drawing background or someone looking to practice and improve, WeDraw offers a structured and enjoyable path to mastering the art of drawing.
Final thoughts
The drawings apps I shared with you above will surely put the world of digital art at your fingertips. Each app offers a unique blend of features, tutorials, and interactive tools designed to cater to different preferences, skill levels, and learning styles. Whether you’re starting your drawing journey with Drawing with Carl, seeking structured lessons with ShadowDraw, exploring advanced techniques with Sketchar, enjoying the realistic tools of TAYASUI Sketches, or embracing the festive spirit with the Learn Drawing app, there’s something for everyone.
