Create digital art using existing apps!

Digital art is a vague definition, with no set rules for what constitutes a work of art. Most of us have access to amazing apps that make it easy to create stunning digital art.

1. Digital Scrapbook

 

Scrapbooking is a traditional art and craft practice that many people practice to collect memories, create mood boards, journal entries such as a notebook, or as an internal art form for self-reflection.

Traditional scrapbooks are messy, take up space, and can be expensive if you buy high-end materials; digital scrapbooks eliminate all of those problems. You can create completely clutter-free scrapbooks for free or cheap using apps like Canva, Photoshop, Hypic (available on Android and iOS), or many others you're probably already familiar with.

You can create an animated scrapbook effect using Photoshop or other tools that have collage and animation features. Some people might not consider animation to be digital art, but if you're already creating a digital scrapbook, animating it can add a little extra fun.

Choose an app that has layer options, an image library — for stock images or uploading your own — and great text options. Canva is our favorite app for creating digital scrapbooks. The image and text libraries it offers make every digital scrapbook unique. Use Canva's built-in apps, like ChoppyCrop, to add textures and shapes to your scrapbook elements.

2. Add illustration elements and create drawings

 

A fun way to turn your photos into digital art is to add illustrative elements to them. Of course, using a drawing app, you can also draw the entire photo from scratch - this is best done using a tablet and a stylus like the Apple Pencil.

If you just want to enhance your photos and turn them into digital art, then doodles on or around the photo is a fun way to add something new.

Most art apps (and some photo editing apps) have drawing tools, although depending on the app you choose, they may not be comprehensive enough to produce great results. For high-quality illustration effects, it's worth paying for Procreate on your iPad.

Doodle around photo elements allows you to apply contextual illustrations, adding your branding as a drawing, elevating images to artistic heights.

3. Photo editing effects

Whether you're applying filters from Instagram, your own Photos library, or using a specific app like Canva or Photoshop, there are likely a ton of photo editing effects in whatever app you already own.

Most photo editing tools offer color overlays with blend modes, and even just using the adjustment panel can turn basic photos into works of art. For editing photos with artistic effects, apps like SnapSeed or Lightroom for mobile offer great, free options that can really take your photos into the artistic realm.

Take it slow when applying these filters – too much is not good. Apply filters or overlays sparingly, unless you're aiming for abstract art. In that case, go wild; add filters, overlays, color, high contrast, exposure adjustments, black and white, or transform using posterization or threshold settings. Photoshop has great options for creating abstract portraits from basic photos.

 

4. Available Digital Painting effects

If you don't have the skills to draw a portrait from scratch or paint a vibrant landscape in watercolor, there are plenty of effects available that will do the trick with just a click from most apps you already use. You'll probably see the results of these artistic effects on your Facebook profile picture – they've been popular for years.

The art app Prisma (available on Android and iOS) offers stunning, realistic filters in a variety of popular techniques. You can turn your photos into Picasso-style paintings without any of the skills or time it takes to draw from scratch.

PicsArt (available on Android and iOS) also has a number of artistic effects, like watercolor, sketch, and halftone. These quick action tools let you apply traditional art techniques quickly and are often free in most apps.

5. AI Art Effects

There are many AI apps that you can use to apply artistic effects to your images and many AI art generators that let you create artwork automatically.

Most apps have AI tools these days, so chances are you already own or use some apps that have AI features that let you transform your images. Keep an eye out for new AI features as you update your apps and see what you can create with them.

AI effects can be used in a variety of ways, whether you're using them to apply an abstract or art deco style, or turning an image into something that looks painted or generically created instead of a photograph. AI tools and effects can turn your images into works of art in any way you want.

Canva offers great AI tools for both mobile and desktop. Hypic is also a great tool for creating art on mobile.

6. Artistic animation

 

Motion graphics and animation are a fun way to turn your images into works of art. Whether you're using Procreate Dreams or the native Procreate app to animate, or shooting time-lapses to create stop-motion animations, there are plenty of animation tools that produce great artistic results.

Adobe Express and Canva both have animation and video features to add movement to your images. You can animate doodles and make yourself feel like a character in Netflix's Heartstopper with leaves floating around your portrait.

Your animated art can be used in a variety of ways. Whether you want to turn it into an animated phone wallpaper, use it as a sticker graphic on Instagram, or share it with your friends online, the options are endless.

You don't have to be an artist to create art, and you don't have to buy or subscribe to expensive, complex software. Most of us have a variety of photo editing apps on our phones, and there are plenty of apps available on our desktop browsers. Whether you want to create dramatic works of art or make subtle changes to your images, there are plenty of tools available that you're probably already using.