Fancy yourself as a modern-day Matisse? Got an internal illustrator fighting to get out? Craig Grannell shows how this freebie app can help you unleash your artistic genius…

START UP

■ Explore your tools Don’t assume you’ll simply crack open Sketchbook (sketchbook.com) and be hanging your device in Tate Modern by dinnertime. Instead of immediately trying to create a masterpiece, spend time exploring the app’s tools. Once you know what it’s capable of, only then is it time to don your beret and crank out your own classics.

■ Tap and swipe Taps and gestures speed up working in Sketchbook. Two-finger drag to move your canvas, or twist to rotate it. On a tablet, use the grey palette sliders next to the brush palette (or at the far left of the display) for quickly adjusting the size and opacity of the current brush.

■ Make a selection Whether you’re working on a piece with components across multiple layers or enjoy hacking images into collage-like constructions, familiarise yourself with the selection tools. You can draw freeform selections, which you can add to or subtract from. For serious precision work, use the nudge tool (the circle with arrows).

■ Expand your canvas Sketchbook on a phone is ideal when you’re out and about and fancy a scribble; a tablet gives you a bigger canvas to explore. Need more? Try Sketchbook Pro on desktop. You could also consider going beyond the fingers/touchscreen combo by using a stylus, or even investing in a Sketchboard Pro (sketchboardpro.com) for a full drawing-board experience on iPad.

■ Save your work The real world has no ‘undo’, which gives digital art a big advantage. But you can’t undo indefinitely. If you get a piece to a place where it could go wrong, save a duplicate so you can revert to that point later. And do remember to save work in other ways, bringing it into the physical world as a print or canvas.

LAYER UP

■ Split your elements Use the layer editor to aid complex composition: place elements on layers so they can be independently moved. Drag a layer to change its position in the stack and tap the eye to hide it; tap elsewhere to see the layer’s menu, with more options.

■ Trace a photo Use the ‘Import Image’ button in the main toolbar to place an image on the current layer. Tap the layer’s padlock in the layer editor to lock it; then add a new layer and you can trace over your snap without fear of drawing directly on it.

BRUSH UP

■ Edit brushes In the brush palette, select a brush and then choose settings. You’ll see size and opacity sliders.… but tap ‘advanced’ and you’ll see a wealth of further customisation tools. There’s always the reset button if you make a mess of things.

■ Manage brushes Sketchbook helpfully arranges brushes by type, but there’s nothing to stop you dragging the items you use most often to the basic set for easier access. Be mindful there’s no reset here, though, so reverting back takes time.

SMARTEN UP

■ Hone your hues Open the colour editor and choose a hue. Tap the palette button, use the arrow buttons to access ‘Your Custom Colors’ and tap an empty palette; now drag your colour to an empty slot. Each custom palette can hold 60 colours.

■ Go full-screen Tap the full-screen button to hide toolbars so you can focus on the canvas. On tablets, Rapid UI mode adds size and opacity controls and a ‘trigger’ button to quickly show brush, layer and colour controls.

■ Make shortcuts In Sketchbook’s preferences, explore the double-tap and three-finger options. These let you configure actions triggered by a corner double-tap or three-finger directional swipe – handy to avoid distracting menus.

LINE UP

■ Get some perspective Tap the perspective guides button to help with one-point, two-point or three-point perspective drawings. Turn on the magnet to snap strokes to the guides, and use the padlock to make sure they don’t move as you draw.

■ Make a spirograph If you’re in the mood for fancy patterns, tap the symmetry button, choose ‘radial’ and increase the sections count. Select thin brushes with vibrant colours and you have an instant spirograph. Use the curve ruler and predictive stroke to add precision.

OTHER ARTY APPS

PROCREATE

Available in iPad and iPhone forms, Procreate is, suitably, a pro-grade art studio. The minimal interface gets out of your way but the rich toolset provides plenty of power, whether you want to dig into custom brushes or even paint with filters. £8.99 / iPad £4.49 / iPhone

INFINITE PAINTER

While they are also available to Apple fans, it’s fair to say Infinite apps have most taken hold on Android. On that platform, Infinite Painter is a peerless option for digital artists who demand a powerful toolset, a refined interface and beautiful brushes. £free (IAP) / Android, iOS

CONCEPTS

Instead of bitmaps, all marks you make in Concepts are vectors. This means every stroke remains endlessly editable – and infinitely scalable. The free version gives you an infinite canvas and plenty of tools to start with. from £free / Android, iOS