HeavyPaint is a free digital painting app that mimics traditional painting techniques. Compared to other modern digital art applications with multiple levels of toolsets, HeavyPaint has only a color chooser and seven buttons representing a set of seven different brushes: two different fill gradients, a blender, and four uniquely textured paintbrushes. With a limited toolset, it allows painters to focus on the craft rather than the app. Its motto is “learn through limitation”. HeavyPaint strips digital creators of the many fancy tools they may be used to, and instead encourages users to rely on their basic knowledge of light and color.
HeavyPaint was created in 2019 by Vaughan Ling, a freelance concept artist and founder of HeavyPoly studio. Ling himself specializes in 2D and 3D prop design and environment concept art, having previously worked on major projects as a visual development artist including Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse and The Witness. His inspiration for developing HeavyPaint came from a perspective of a modern painter wanting to capture still lifes without the bulk and cost of easel and paints.
I have personally found HeavyPaint to be one of my favorite digital painting applications, having used Photoshop, Procreate, and PaintTool SAI, I can say for sure I definitely am drawn to HeavyPaint’s simplicity and straightforward UI.
To learn more, visit: https://www.heavypaint.com/
