First of all, I wanted to say that you don’t necessarily need an iPad to create digital art. There are some apps available for Android tablets, although they tend to offer fewer features. If you want access to the widest range of creative apps, an iPad is currently the best option.

The app you choose depends on what you want to achieve, and these are the options we will be focusing on in this blog (prices correct at the time of writing):

Procreate Dreams (one-time payment of $12.99 or £12.99 in the UK) is designed for 2D animation. This is the app I use to create my pattern-based visuals.

Procreate (one-time payment of $12.99 or £12.99 in the UK) is used for illustration, pattern design, and digital drawing and painting including realistic painting. Later on, if you want to expand its functionality, you can purchase additional brushes* from third-party creators.

Here are some examples of work created in Procreate:

Illustration by The Creative Bix: YouTube link

Realistic portrait drawing by Ashley Jessica Art: YouTube link

Pattern design by Jasmine Hnatkova: YouTube link

Affinity Designer (free) can be used for drawing, creating repeat patterns, and designing logos.

Example of drawing in Affinity Designer by New Layer: YouTube link

If you are interested in realistic drawing or illustration with lots of texture and detail, Procreate is generally the better choice. So what is Affinity Designer better at? That is difficult to explain without introducing vector graphics, which we will discuss in the next post.

There is also Affinity Photo (free), which I use to create patterns by processing shapes rather than drawing. However, patterns created using this method may not be suitable for commercial applications such as fabric or wallpaper design.

Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are also excellent options. However, as they are more expensive, we will not be covering them in this blog.

*A brush is a setting that controls how your Apple Pencil draws. Digital brushes can make lines look like: pencil, ink, paint, watercolour, texture (like grain, spray, or rough edges).