The drawing tools are solid for a free app. You get a decent brush engine with opacity and size sliders, layers (yes, layers), and a color picker that lets you save custom palettes. The undo button is mercifully generous. What sets PENUP apart isn’t the toolset though—it’s the way the app nudges you to participate. There are daily drawing challenges, coloring pages for when you just want to relax, and a “draw this in your style” trend that actually gets hundreds of entries. The feed is chronological and shows recent work from people you follow, not some algorithm’s best guess at what you might like.

The social side works exactly like you’d hope. You can like, comment, and follow artists. The comment culture here is notably nicer than most social platforms—people leave encouragement, ask about techniques, and share tips. You can also post time-lapse recordings of your drawing process, which is great for learning. There’s no DM spam or aggressive self-promotion; it feels more like a community studio than a competition.

A few quirks: the app pushes Samsung account integration hard, and some features (like exporting high-resolution files) are locked behind signing in. The drawing interface can feel cramped on smaller phones, and the brush library, while functional, won’t replace pro tools like Procreate or Clip Studio Paint. But for a free app with 100 million downloads, it’s remarkably polished.

If you like drawing but struggle to finish pieces or want feedback from real people, PENUP is worth installing. One tip: start with the daily coloring pages to get a feel for the community before jumping into original work. You’ll see what gets attention, and people will notice you back.