7 Best Digital Watercolor Painting Software in 2024
Obtain liquid paintings using handpicked watercolor solutions ?
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Key notes
- Translucent look, wet media, and delicate details - nothing is too much for the best digital watercolor painting software.
- If you're looking for more options to explore your creative universe, this is the place to be.Â
- See the guide below to ensure your transition from traditional watercolor painting to the digital environment seamlessly.
A consecrated expression of our spiritual and artistic inclinations, painting has been around for a long time. Like everything else, it is changing through evolution and through technological advancements.
Of course, painting is versatile enough to keep up with the constant remodeling imposed by digitalization and thus, it found its way from the traditional setup to the digital one effortlessly.
Watercolor painting makes no exception and continues to enchant art consumers thanks to digital watercolor painting software that is capable to provide a hyperrealistic experience, emulating canvas texture, dense oils, and subtle watercolors alike.
So you can dive in and start exploring watercolor painting digitally, having realistic looks and more importantly, the aesthetic of your art.
More so, if you need extra control and precision in your watercolor techniques, digital tools can surely help in that matter.
Check out our top picks for the best software to simulate watercolor painting and go for the one that thicks all your books.
What is the best program for digital painting?
Adobe Photoshop – First pick by digital artists
If you think that Adobe Photoshop only serves for editing photos, you are in for a huge surprise. The very best graphic design software is a natural choice for digital painting allowing you to obtain the effect you want through professional brushes.
Custom paintbrushes to reflect your style and original vision or preset Photoshop brushes will enable you to experiment with everything from watercolor to splatter effects.
Using the complete tools of this program it’s likely to create any artwork, either you need ink wash effects or a paintbrush to just add color.
So not only you will handcraft creative paintings but you’re in more control regarding the linework or shades you may use. More so, depending on the needs you can choose pencils, ink, or charcoal brushes to define the final paint.
Simply said, an entire creative universe is at your fingertips with Photoshop, so just pick from thousands of brushes and confidently draw your ideas.
Let’s quickly go through its key features:
- Create a unique toolkit with custom Photoshop brushes that can create any effect you want
- Sync your customized brushes with Creative Cloud libraries to paint on mobile or desktop
- Object Selection tool (create fast and precise selections by drawing a simple rectangle)
- Modern presets (easier, more intuitive, and better organized)
- Tips and tricks plus quick start tutorials
Adobe Photoshop
Create professional-looking digital watercolor paintings with this powerful software!Painter – Trustworhy liquid paintings
In the second position is Painter by Corel, a professional digital art software service and world-class painting or photo-arts tools.
First of all, you can create genuine watercolor paintings, sketches, or photo-art drawings with tools that will make unparalleled artwork in minutes.
Furthermore, use extremely realistic artist-based brushes, textures, or blending colors to give life to your paintings. You can therefore paint your blank canvas and choose customized brushes for precise details.
You really can’t miss the chance to try out all the brush types and color your canvas in your own way. So choose from thick paint, watercolor, pastel, or liquefy to see what matches the best with your concept.
Other memorable benefits include fine art tools or concept art to quickly develop your painting skills and become a full-time artist.
In addition, the painting composition tools offer features like brushes controls to modify size, shape, or angle, canvas controls, color mixing, or composition tools (divine proportion, layout grid, perspective guides, mirror painting)
With all being said, it only remains to give it a try and enter the world of your imagination from the inside out. Painter software will clearly help in creating every art you can imagine.
Painter
Handcraft singular artworks that will blow your mind using this proficient painting software.Clip Studio Paint – Stylish brushes for every artist
The next solution is Clip Studio Paint and it’s an artist’s software for drawing and painting concept arts, illustrations, animation, and more to go.
To start, it’s important to state the fact that you can use the program for any drawings you prefer, focusing on details or colors made with lots of brushes.
This particular software is specially designed for creators who need to reveal their emotions in their painting, with natural feel brushes or detail-oriented tools.
It’s likely to capture all the details you need using the brush engine and highlight the visual art the way you want viewers to perceive it. You can choose from a multitude of brushes and colors that suits your painting format.
If you strongly desire to stand out with your drawings, make your voice heard by creating astonishing stories that linger in people’s minds. Using Clip Studio assets you can choose from 1000 new materials every month.
Therefore, with plenty of tools and creativity features your painting method will improve, and regardless of theme it will impress every audience.
Clip Studio Paint
Design your best artworks using powerful tools that give life to your visual stories.Corel PHOTO-PAINT – Vector illustration tools
Corel PHOTO-PAINT comes with CorelDRAW Graphics Suite: an all-in-one photo editing and graphic design suite.
This wonderful app allows you to apply brushstrokes to images that simulate watercolors, and more. You can paint, color, and draw whatever your imagination produces using patterns, textures, color palettes, and effects filters to transform your ideas into stunning visuals.
Plus, this comprehensive solution can do much more than painting or editing, namely, can create explosive vector graphic images ready to be published on the market.
You should thus explore the extensive features and use professional edits or effects to paint exactly what’s in your mind.
Hence, draw your most imaginative paintings using vector feathering or an inner shadow tool whenever you need to express your heart and soul thoughts.
Let’s quickly go through its key features:
- AI-based effects (to replicate techniques from popular art movements)
- Non-destructive effects and special effects
- Remove unwanted areas and imperfections
- Sharpen, blend and blur
- Correct color and tone (use adjustment filters for greater control)
Corel Photo-Paint
Easily create astonishing digital watercolor paintings with this incredible software todayArtRage 6 – Artist’s studio tool
Combining traditional effects and digital tools, ArtRage is the perfect software for digital painting. You can smear paint, blend colors, and easily recreate natural gradients or use delicate watercolor strokes that react to the canvas texture.
It even has an integrated Watercolor tool to render a variety of watercolor styles using a soft-bristled brush on wet or dry paper thus creating subtle, blended color washes.
This artist studio offers realistic digital tools created to paint on canvas directly, using expressive oils or a sketchpad with lots of pencils. More exactly, it provides complete painting instruments that are almost real.
You can also use this tool on the go and sketch your ideas on the mobile version of the software. ArtRage Vitae can be used on both Android and iOS platforms.
Plus, the program grants users of all experiences to use it, from beginners to pros, giving them the opportunity to grow their skills quickly.
All in all, the tool has specific toolsets for beginners that need to develop painting skills and it’s supported on both Windows and Mac OS.
Let’s quickly go through its key features:
- Paint with depth (add volume to your custom brush strokes)
- Complementary colors (automatically display a variety of types of compliment)
- Customize your canvas (lighting intensity and angle adjustments)
- Gloss and Impasto (thicker paint strokes and adjust the level of gloss in the Oil Brush tool)
- Realistic Painting Tools (oils, watercolor, and palette knives)
⇒ Get ArtRage 6
Rebelle by Escape Motions – Oil & Watercolors artistry
Rebelle is a powerful digital painting software that emulates realistic watercolor, acrylic as well as wet and dry media artwork.
Realistic techniques like color blending, wet diffusion, and drying combined with creative tools create a unique watercolor simulation that effortlessly reproduces the real look.
More on that, it’s likely to create inspiring art pieces using these program traits of unbelievable oils, watercolors or brushes.
And no matter of professional level, any passionate user can create artworks with Rebelle, exercising painting skills while having a really good time.
Let’s quickly go through its key features:
- Watercolor Visual Settings (authentic painting experience with paper texture influencing the behavior of watercolors)
- Blow Tool (experiment with the flow of the paint by blowing drips in different directions on the canvas)
- Realistic Brushes (State-of-the-art watercolor simulation
- Wet tools: Watercolors, Acrylics & Ink Pen
- Unique color mixing and color filters
⇒ Get Rebelle 3
Aquarella Watercolor by JixiPix Software – Bright watercolor solution
Luminous watercolors with blended colors are what Aquarella does best. This professional artistic software will combine liquid pools of color with brushstrokes that emulate the dried paint along the edges to recreate the delicate details found in traditional watercolor painting.
Aquarella offers two different watercolor styles to take your artwork to a whole new level: Aqua Color for a classic watercolor look using the original colors from your photo and Two Tone which combines two light colors to create a delicate translucent painting.
More so, with this tool, you’ll benefit from luminous images combined with liquid colors and watercolor effects to give your painting more value.
Therefore, it’s beneficial to try out such a painting program due to its practical services, and beautiful effects like combining watercolors or blooms to always paint creatively.
Let’s quickly go through its key features:
- Thousands of watercolor styles (combinations of watercolor settings, washes, and blooms)
- Control over color detail, strength, and edge wetness
- 7 watercolor papers
- 63 artistic papers washed with color
- Numerous presets to get you started
Reproducing delicate, translucent paintings executed in watercolors is no longer an impossible job in the digital environment.
By using dedicated watercolor painting software, you can now capture the very soul of those stunning effects produced by wet colors on textured paper with little or no effort at all.
Stay in touch with all the technological advancements of the industry thanks to our Graphics Software page. Leave no secret unrevealed when it comes to the best design tools – explore our Graphic & Design Hub.
What will be your tool of choice? Share your favorite watercolor painting app with us in the comments section below.
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