Best Drawing Apps for PC in 2024 [Free & Paid]

Adobe Photoshop is a top choice for digital painting on Windows PCs, widely favored by artists and designers.

Recent updates have enhanced its painting capabilities with advanced filters and tools powered by Adobe Sensei.

Photoshop excels in painting and design, offering a range of brushes, pencils, and pens, and is fully compatible with XP-Pen tablets.

Its Paint Symmetry feature is great for creating abstract art, and you can access or create thousands of custom brushes and patterns. It’s a versatile tool for all your creative needs.

Clip Studio Paint is a powerful drawing and painting tool that excels in creating detailed artwork.

It offers access to over 40,000 brushes from the Clip Studio Assets store, covering various mediums like watercolors, pens, and oil paints.

Its 3D drawing figures help with complex angles and anatomy, allowing you to customize poses and body types.

Additionally, Clip Studio Paint includes pro animation tools for adding movement to your illustrations and organizing them on a timeline. This makes it ideal for both static art and animated projects.

Corel Painter is a digital art software that closely mimics the experience of real painting.

It offers advanced tools for stylizing photos into paintings using AI, alongside brush controls for size, shape, and flow.

With Canvas control, you can easily pan, zoom, and rotate your work while applying textures and lighting.

Unique features such as Flow Maps and Patterns further enrich your creations, making it a robust tool for digital artists.

Paint.net is a simplified, user-friendly alternative to Photoshop, perfect for both photo editing and doodling. It features a tabbed interface for easy project management, letting you switch between images with just a click.

The live tab display helps prevent mix-ups. Paint.net works well on both older Windows systems and newer high-spec PCs.

Its layered capabilities allow for professional-quality artwork, making it versatile and accessible for a range of digital art projects.

⇒ Get Paint.net

Paint 3D updates the classic MS Paint with modern features. While MS Paint remains available, Paint 3D is now the go-to coloring app for Windows.

It offers new drawing tools and brushes, plus the ability to add and customize 3D objects and animals. Enhance your creations with various lighting effects and finishes like matte or polished metal.

The latest version includes a Tube brush for creating ribbons and dollops of volume, making it a fun and versatile app for both casual and serious painting.

⇒ Get Microsoft Paint 3D

Artweaver is versatile, suited for both serious paintings and fun for kids.

It offers a wide range of pens, from airbrushes to calligraphy pens, and includes various patterns. The layer-based system allows you to work on different stages of your artwork and make changes easily.

The enhanced brush editor provides full control over settings and a preview of brush strokes. Artweaver also supports the Windows Ink Pen interface, ensuring precise pen pressure for a great digital painting experience.

⇒ Get Artweaver

Microsoft Fresh Paint is a free Windows app that simulates the feel of real painting.

It offers a lifelike experience, with brushes that splatter and blend colors just like real life. The canvas takes time to dry, allowing for color smearing and blending.

You can also transform photos into paintings for a creative touch. Ideal for both experienced artists and beginners, Fresh Paint delivers an engaging and realistic painting experience.

⇒ Get Microsoft Fresh Paint

MyPaint is a standout painting app with unique features rooted in its Linux origins.

Ideal for artists willing to explore new tools, it offers a variety of brushes and layers for detailed artwork.

You can create sketches in a notepad and expand your options with additional brush packages from the community.

Developed by artist Martin Renold, MyPaint aims to provide an effective painting solution tailored to the needs of serious artists.

⇒ Get MyPaint

Sketchable is a versatile and free app that’s perfect for using your stylus to its full potential.

While the free version offers plenty of creative tools, in-app purchases unlock additional features like layer support for more advanced work.

Ideal for design students and professionals, it lets you create high-resolution journals with customizable sizes and covers, from standard screens to 4K.

You can fine-tune colors with precision, import and edit images, or create and share your artwork—all within one handy app.

⇒ Get Sketchable