Artrace: AR Drawing & Sketch

Fan art is the territory here. Artrace, from BRALY, is a camera-tracing app whose template library leans toward anime, chibi, cartoon and fanart subjects, with categories for food, eyes, flowers, vehicles and seasonal sets, and the listing names Hello Kitty and Pikachu as example subjects. A reference can also come from your own photo roll or from a real object in the room.

It adds practice tools on top of the overlay: photos reduced to simple outlines, lessons at three difficulty levels, video tutorials for specific pictures, and a recorder that captures your drawing as a video. A profile keeps track of time spent drawing.

Prop the phone, line up the paper, choose a chibi or an anime eye from the library and trace, with the opacity lowered until the pencil line is visible. Many users switch the recorder on first, so the session ends with a timelapse of the drawing that can be posted. Beginners follow a video tutorial for one specific picture rather than freelancing.

Over several weeks the profile's time counter becomes the motivator, and the difficulty levels give a sense of moving up. Some people skip the templates entirely and point the camera at a mug on the desk.

Young artists wanting to draw their favourite characters are the main searchers, and the fanart and chibi categories speak directly to them. The process recorder is the second hook, because a drawing timelapse is a popular thing to share. A 4.7 rating from more than ten thousand reviewers is strong for a tracing app in a crowded field.

Expect a template grid heavy on bright anime and cartoon artwork, the camera view with an overlay, and a profile screen with drawing stats, across the five screenshots. The Art & Design category and the chibi focus point to a colourful, youthful design rather than a sober studio tool. The recorded-video feature probably gets a screenshot of its own.