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Equipped with the best free drawing software, you can sketch, ink, and paint without never-ending subscriptions stifling your creativity.
Why Choose Free Drawing Software?
Whatever your medium, your skill-level, or desktop platform, free drawing tools offer an accessible entry-point for beginners (and they’re an absolute blessing for artists working to tight budgets).
When it comes to choosing the best digital art and drawing software, it can sometimes feel like Adobe dominates the creative apps space. The industry standard Photoshop and Illustrator are often the go-to tools for designers.
But the premium graphic design software and its photo editing counterpart aren’t without their critics. Some users, particularly beginners, can find Adobe’s interface a bit daunting (though it won’t take long to master). Others take issue with the fact that most Adobe tools are locked behind a Creative Cloud subscription.
To help you find the tool that’s right for you, we’ve tested out the best free drawing software for PC, Mac, and Linux. Many offer exactly the same advanced features found in premium programs, including 3D modeling software. Others deliver simple, streamlined experiences for those new to the art. All of them let your imagination run wild.
We’ve also tested, reviewed, and rated the best Adobe Photoshop alternatives and the best free Adobe Illustrator alternatives.
Best Free Drawing Software
Krita
Krita is our top pick for the best free drawing software overall. It offers professional-quality tools and is created by a team of artists with the aim of making creative tools accessible to everyone.
You can use Krita for any kind of drawing and illustration, and even animation. But it’s particularly great for comics and manga. There are panel templates, halftone filters, and perspective tools in addition to the usual brushes, fills, and pens. Each brush is totally customizable, and you can save your bespoke brushes to use again later.
Right-clicking anywhere on the canvas in Krita will bring up a selection wheel that lets you pick a new tool and select a color in seconds – a system that’s much easier than trawling through menus and settings.
Krita was created by artists for artists, and it shows in the dozens of thoughtful little touches that make it easier to create great paintings. There are handy drawing aids for creating straight lines, vanishing points, and smooth shapes. You also get layers, masks, various transform tools, HDR support, and advanced selection functions.
Krita is an incredibly powerful drawing program, and it’s yours to download and use completely free.
Artweaver Free
Artweaver Free is our top pick for the best free drawing tool for beginners. It enables you to create beautifully realistic digital drawings by taking input – from your mouse, a stylus, or a touchscreen PC – and applying ultra-realistic brush effects.
In addition to familiar brushes such as conte brushes, calligraphy pens, and airbrushes, this free drawing software also gives you a huge range of patterns and pens, enabling you to produce very complex images with the minimum of effort. It’s layer-based too, so you can build up your masterpiece in layers without losing the ability to change anything.
Artweaver Free is designed for artists of all ages, but we’ve found it particularly useful for children. Kids love experimenting with all the different brushes, and with this top free drawing app, we love not having to clean up any mess afterwards.
Microsoft Paint 3D
Microsoft Paint 3D is our top pick for the best free drawing software for basic 3D modeling. It serves up a blank canvas to let you doodle to your heart’s content.
But don’t underestimate one of the best free drawing software tools just because it’s probably already on your desktop.
It may seem like a modern take on an old program. However, the real fun happens when you click the 3D Objects button. Here you can pick a model to import (current choices include people and animals), or better yet, draw your own shape and ‘inflate’ it to turn it into a three-dimensional model that can be rotated and viewed from different angles.
You can choose a finish for your shape (options include matte, gloss, dull metal, and polished metal), paint its surface, and apply lighting effects. There’s no way to control the thickness of the 3D effect, so your object will always resemble something created with Puff Paints, but as free drawing software it’s great fun for kids of all ages.
Multiple models can be positioned at different depths and combined to create a scene, and you can even bring doodles into the real world if you have access to a 3D printer.
Microsoft Fresh Paint
Fresh Paint is our top pick for the best free drawing app for painters. It is designed to replicate the feeling of putting brush or pen to paper.
The interface really goes to town with skeuomorphism, with a plastic palette of colors that splatter when you dip your virtual brush, showing which shade you’re currently using and making a pleasing splat. You can wash the bristles in a cup of water before picking a different color, or use one immediately after another to blend them together on the brush.
Fresh Paint can simulate watercolors, gouache, and all kinds of other material. As the name implies, you can interact with your work as though it’s not yet dry, smearing it and mixing colors together on the canvas.
Experienced artists will be able to achieve great results with tools that behave like their real-life counterparts, while kids and novices will make an equally realistic mess. It’s a grand example of one of the best free drawing software solutions that everyone can enjoy.
MyPaint
MyPaint is our top pick for the best open-source drawing software for professionals. It is highly customizable and designed for graphics tablets.
MyPaint works best when used with a graphics tablet, but you can also use it with any other input device, including touchscreens.
There’s the usual selection of customizable brushes, plus support for layers, and a handy scratchpad for creating sketches. You can also download and install additional brush packages created by other users – a perk of the source code being publicly available.
Conclusion
The best free drawing software offers a range of options for artists of all levels. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, there’s a tool out there that will suit your needs. From Krita’s professional-quality tools to Artweaver Free’s accessibility for beginners, there’s something for everyone. Don’t let subscription fees stifle your creativity – try out one of these free drawing software options today.
