Android owners rejoice, for you too can now illustrate with Illustrator
Available on: iOS / Android
New to Android as of 2016, Adobe’s app is for scribbling vector-based masterpieces on your tablet or smartphone. You get several configurable pen tips, layers, merge options, shape stencils, stylus support and 64x zoom for making your retinas sting with the sharp detail of your artwork. And even though the app’s been around on iOS for a while now, Adobe’s not stood still, recently adding layer blend modes and saving to PDF.
2. Adobe Photoshop Sketch
The arty bits of Photoshop carved off and presented on your touchscreen
Available on: iOS / Android
A touch of deja vu about this entry, in that it’s another long-time iOS app that finally made its way to Android in 2016. Like Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch has plenty of tools for creating artwork on your mobile device. And although we’re very much in natural media territory here, you nonetheless get shapes and curves when more precision is needed. Naturally, there’s Creative Cloud integration, but the app’s a decent download even if you’re not fully immersed in Adobe’s world.
3. Animatic
More Roobarb and Custard than precision fare, but Animatic is nonetheless huge fun
Available on: iOS / Android
You’d have to be a bit mad to try and create a professional animation on your smartphone – so how about a sketch? With Animatic, you can build a simple animation frame by frame. When you’re done, the final result can be exported to GIF or a movie. And the original artwork remains editable at any time. Neatly, the app also provides some examples, showing off what it can do.
4. ArtBoard Creative Drawing
The house that an Android drawing application built
Available on: Android
ArtBoard isn’t that unusual in what it offers: a canvas on which to scribble; plenty of configurable and responsive brushes; and multiple layers with blending modes. What is unusual is that it’s Android-only (for now, at least) and also free. Export is a bit limited (flat JPEG or PNG only), but for Android artists on a tight budget (i.e. no budget), this is a great app to get acquainted with.
5. Assembly
We are the robots! Do-do-do-dooo! (OK, just one robot, but we *could* copy/paste.)
Available on: iOS
Coming across like a grown-up take on felt pieces you played with as a kid, Assembly’s all about design and artwork through shapes. If you’re a massive grump, you’ll reason this is child-like and reductive. Otherwise, Assembly proves a fun way of making quick mock-ups and even final artwork – assuming your bent is broadly geometric in nature. Big updates this past year added a text tool and major enhancements to grouped objects. See? Professional!
6. Concepts
We could quite literally play with this colour selector all day
Available on: iOS
This illustration app’s actually been around for a few years now, but makes our list due to receiving a staggering 12 updates over the past 12 months. Just the most recent in December added multi-page PDF import (such as for floor-plans) and big improvements to the layers panel. These join the slew of existing precision CADish sketching tools, adjustment options, powerful transforms, and varied export settings. Armed with a Pencil, iPad Pro and Concepts, a mobile illustrator might well be unbeatable.
7. Create
This snap-happy product will suit many of you to a T! No? Suit yourselves.
Available on: iOS
The oddball of this selection, Create is an app designed to help you quickly sketch out graphics and mock-ups, primarily by slapping down text and shapes. Although there’s a modicum of freeform doodling allowed, Create’s happier when you’re working with geometric blocks, which will intelligently align and snap. You can also import vector and bitmaps, creating a crazed collage before you start paring things back to a level of minimal elegance your device’s creators would be content with.
