We browse the web in search of music to stream, friends to talk to, ideas... Many of these things are available to us via apps.

However, apps are much more than entertainment. They have become an invaluable addition to the toolset of artists around the globe. 

Here’s the best part: the apps on this list are more than affordable, so it won’t be one of those things where you have to pay tons of money to see what it is all about. Whether you are earning money or not with your art, here are three apps that you should check out.

Google Arts and Culture

What’s better than an app you might use in your life? A free app! That’s right, Google Arts and Culture is a free app that lets you see what famous model from the centuries past you are most like. Now, you may not be too excited about handing Google your image and that’s okay. However, the features don’t end there. The main thing about it is that you can explore different locations, periods, certain artists, and so on. You can play with art, project works onto the walls of your bedroom, and learn about Kandinsky or zoom into some masterpieces. It’s a great app for getting started and learning about art, but also for those that want to not take it too seriously.

ArtFlow

Don’t you hate it when you have an idea and no medium to convey it through? Enter ArtFlow, an app that is an answer to your sketching needs on the go. It is a digital sketchbook with 80 brushes and multiple effects. The app is free with a few extra features for premium users. The app can support up to 50 layers, so make sure you have a mobile device that can deal with that, as well as images up to 6144×6144 pixels. It works well with a stylus if you are not comfortable with using your hands. The nifty feature is the palm protection that prevents you from accidentally panning and zooming, which is a problem for many apps that try to do the same thing.

Just a Line

Do you remember those old music videos where subjects would interact with drawn lines and imaginary barriers? Well, now you can too! You can make a doodle in the middle of nowhere and record yourself going through it and around it. You could collaborate with other people half a world away on a mutual project that is completely based on the spur of the moment. The app relies on AR, or augmented reality, and is still in its experimental phase. However, we see no reason for the app not prospering and getting a following really soon!