Sometimes all you need to start creating is a blank canvas and a little inspiration. Drawing apps make it easy to sketch, doodle, color, trace, or experiment with digital art wherever you are.
From ultra-simple sketchbooks and pixel art to guided lessons, kids' drawing activities, and augmented-reality tracing, these 10 apps offer plenty of ways to draw, learn, experiment, and spark your creativity.
Quick Comparison
1. Simple Drawing - Sketchbook
Simple Drawing - Sketchbook strips drawing down to the basics. There are no complicated tools to learn—just a simple canvas for freehand sketches, doodles, notes, and quick ideas.
It is especially appealing when you want to start drawing immediately without being distracted by a huge collection of advanced features.
Best for: Fast, uncomplicated sketches and doodles.
2. Draw Happy Life - drawing apps
Draw Happy Life takes a more playful approach to drawing. Instead of simply opening a blank canvas, you solve drawing-based situations by figuring out what needs to be added to help the characters.
That makes it feel more like a casual puzzle game than a traditional drawing app.
Best for: Creative drawing puzzles and casual gameplay.
3. Pixel Brush: Pixel Art Drawing
If tiny pixels are your thing, Pixel Brush gives you a dedicated space for creating 8-bit and 16-bit artwork.
You can work with custom palettes, layers, animation, and canvases up to 1024×1024. The app also supports importing and exporting Aseprite files, making it useful for more serious pixel-art projects.
Best for: Pixel artists and anyone learning 8-bit or 16-bit art.
4. Doodle Art: Magic Drawing App
Doodle Art is made for colorful, glowing creations. Choose from different brushes, neon colors, patterns, stickers, and spirograph designs to build eye-catching doodle artwork.
You can also add text, backgrounds, animation, and even turn finished creations into wallpapers.
Best for: Colorful doodles, neon art, and creative patterns.
5. Kids Coloring & Kids Drawing
Kids Coloring & Kids Drawing is designed around simple creative play for children. Its collection features animal pictures that kids can color, decorate, and draw on using brushes, crayons, pencils, and other tools.
The app includes more than 60 animal images and supports free drawing, zooming, undo and redo, and saving finished artwork.
Best for: Young artists who enjoy animal coloring and free drawing.
6. Colorfit: Drawing & Coloring
Colorfit combines coloring and free creation with a strong relaxation angle. Its library includes more than 1,000 pages featuring mandalas, animals, flowers, ocean scenes, and more.
You can also import your own pictures and use different brushes, palettes, and custom colors to create something from scratch.
Best for: Coloring, mandalas, and relaxing creative sessions.
7. Drawing Desk: Learn to Draw
Drawing Desk is the most learning-focused option here. It offers 1,000+ step-by-step drawing lessons covering anime, manga, kawaii, caricatures, doodles, art therapy, and more.
It also includes professional-style tools, layers, shapes, symmetry, gradients, textures, and AI-powered creative tools for users who want to go beyond basic sketching.
Best for: Learning digital drawing and developing drawing skills.
8. Painting and drawing for Girls
Painting and drawing for Girls offers a large collection of more than 400 coloring pages, ranging from easy designs to more detailed artwork.
Alongside unlimited colors, it includes gradients, text, icons, free drawing, and the ability to create your own mandala.
Best for: Relaxing coloring and creative drawing.
9. Paint Drawing Guide App
Paint Drawing Guide App takes a different route. Rather than being a traditional drawing canvas, it provides a step-by-step guide for learning how to use Procreate Pocket.
Its tutorials cover areas such as brushes, layers, and digital drawing workflows, making it more useful for people who want guidance before diving deeper into digital art.
Best for: Beginners looking for guided digital-art instruction.
10. AR Drawing: Paint & Sketch
AR Drawing: Paint & Sketch brings augmented reality into the drawing process. You can use your camera to place a reference image over paper and trace it while creating your own sketch.
Its themes include anime, chibi, flowers, animals, food, vehicles, nature, and beginner-friendly designs. You can also adjust stroke thickness, use a built-in flashlight, and record the drawing process.
Best for: Learning to sketch through AR tracing.
Which Drawing App Should You Choose?
- For quick sketches: Simple Drawing - Sketchbook keeps the experience clean and uncomplicated.
- For drawing puzzles: Draw Happy Life turns creativity into casual gameplay.
- For pixel art: Pixel Brush is built specifically for 8-bit and 16-bit artwork.
- For colorful doodles: Doodle Art adds neon, glow, patterns, stickers, and spirograph designs.
- For kids: Kids Coloring & Kids Drawing offers simple animal-themed coloring and drawing.
- For relaxing coloring: Colorfit combines coloring pages with free drawing.
- For learning: Drawing Desk provides 1,000+ step-by-step drawing lessons.
- For coloring variety: Painting and drawing for Girls offers 400+ pages and free drawing.
- For guided digital art: Paint Drawing Guide App provides Procreate Pocket tutorials.
- For tracing: AR Drawing uses augmented reality to help you sketch from references.
Final Thoughts
The best drawing app depends on how you like to create. Some are deliberately simple, while others turn drawing into a game, teach you step by step, specialize in pixel art, or use AR to make tracing easier.
Whether you're a complete beginner, a casual doodler, a parent looking for a creative app for kids, or someone ready to explore digital illustration, there's plenty here to try.
Pick a canvas, choose your style, and start drawing something that is completely your own.
