Starting out in Digital Art can be a struggle for teenagers, especially if they are on a budget. Programs like Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint, Clip Studio Paint, Affinity Photo or even Procreate are powerful: but they cost money. Thankfully, we all have access to free/open-source Digital Art Software – but with so many free/open-source programs to choose from, it can be difficult to choose between them. To help you, we have put together a list of the Best Free Digital Art Software on the market.

Krita screen captureKRITA – Digital Painting Program

If you are a fan of Photoshop, you’ll like KRITA. With similar layouts, tools and interface, KRITA is an amazing professional digital painting program made and designed by artists. It works on all systems and is FREE!

https://krita.org/en/

Fire alpaca screen captureFireAlpaca – Digital Illustration Program

FireAlpaca is also available at no cost. While KRITA is intended more for digital painting, FireAlpaca is a drawing/illustrating program that functions best with a drawing pen/tablet. It also provides more layer effects than other, similar software.

https://firealpaca.com/

MediaBang Screen CaptureMediBang Paint Pro – Digital Illustration Program

This is a great choice if you are into illustrating comic books, creating web comics or simple illustrations. Like FireAlpaca, MediBang Paint Pro focuses mostly on illustration. It is light-weight and simple, making it user-friendly – and it’s also FREE!

https://medibangpaint.com/en/

MyPaint screen captureMyPaint – Digital Painting Program

Just as MediBang is a ‘simpler’ version of FireAlpaca, so MyPaint is a much ‘simpler’ version of Krita. MyPaint is great for digital painting; it has a a focus on different brushes and a very simple interface. This is a great digital art program for digital artsts looking for ease of use. http://mypaint.org/

Gimp Screen CaptureGIMP – Digital Photo Editing Program

If you are looking for a no-cost digital art program that focuses more on photo editing and web design, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is for you. Like Krita, GIMP has a very similar interface to Photoshop withaccessible manual functions  to help you create and manipulate your art.

https://www.gimp.org/

 

Aaron Alviano is a professional artist who has taught arts classes for Centauri Arts for 20 years, including Digital Art, Drawing, Painting and Photography. Check our his programs in Digital and Fine Art this semester at Centauri Arts!
https://www.centauriarts.com/academy/toronto/fine-art-photography-classes-for-teens/

Centauri Arts
https://centauriarts.com