One of the most popular programs for creating digital art available in the current market is Procreate, a program specifically designed to recreate as much of the traditional art experience as possible.
While also taking on the many benefits that come with digital art, such as a multiple layer system, much like Photoshop, and the ability to tweak saturation and colour palettes in ways that aren’t possible in traditional painting.
Nevertheless, it can be a common refrain when mentioning Procreate that it is difficult to learn – which isn’t necessarily true. Like all programs, for art or otherwise, learning the skills necessary to use Procreate and use it satisfyingly have a bit of a learning curve. But if it is approached with the right guide, the correct expectations, and a constructive attitude, it can be as intuitive as any digital art program out there. With this in mind, let’s go over some of the many features available through Procreate, as well as some of their recommended uses.
Procreate Features…
Brushes
Most artists use Procreate in conjunction with tablets, in order to more comfortably use the program, which is designed to simulate the experience of drawing with a pen and paper. As such, the main and most basic feature of the Procreate toolset is the ability to select a brush from a variety of shapes and textures, all of which can recreate different aspects of artistic expression.
Whether you prefer to draw with a grease pencil, an ink pen, a thin marker, a paintbrush of any nature, or even an airbrush nozzle, all of this comes prepared with the Procreate app, and if somehow the wide array of brushes available to you aren’t getting you exactly what you need, you can even download new brushes, or create them yourself, meaning that your tools are only limited to what you’d like them to be.
Canvas
Similarly, there’s just as much freedom when it comes to selecting a Canvas in the home screen of the app, allowing you to choose from all kinds of templates and styles before you begin committing digital ink to paper, or to go completely off book and make your own. You can also download templates from elsewhere and use them instead, just as is the case with the brush.
Layers
There are many things to go over when beginning to create with Procreate, but the most basic among them is the layers feature. Similarly to Photoshop and other photo manipulation programs, Procreate depends on a layer system, where you create new layers and stack them over the original, then either delete the layers underneath or collapse them into one art piece at the end of the work.
The function may seem strange to start off with if you’ve only ever worked with a physical canvas and paint, but it functions very similarly to the idea of using layering over an oil painting.
Just as oil painting, most artists use the first layer of the canvas as a sketch layer, drawing with a pencil or a fine pen brush to put down their first ideas and design for the piece, and then saving it separately in case they’d like to return to it. The next layer is typically a lineart layer, equivalent to putting down the first few layers of oil paint to structure the piece – or, with Procreate, to create shapes that can be filled in more easily using the tools available.
Just as with oil paint, the more layers you add, the more individual effects you can add to the piece: after painting, you may add a shading layer, and then a light effect layer, and have as many of each as you like – unlike with oil paint, however, you can go to each layer individually and tweak with them as you go.
For example, you might want to return to the sketch layer, to see if any original details were lost, or you may play with the smudge tool on the lineart to create a more blended look once you’ve started shading it in.
It might be useful to name your layers as you go – it’ll keep you from losing track or which is which and accidentally deleting or filtering out the wrong one!
Other features
Some other basic features of Procreate are the undo and redo buttons, as well as the brush size and opacity features.
Brush size allows you to control the size and shape of your brush, so you can make it as fine-nibbed or as broad as you like, and opacity controls how opaque or translucent your brush will be, which matters especially when it comes to layers and adding brushstrokes to add depth.
The undo and redo buttons, respectively, allow you to quickly undo an effect, as implied by the name, or to redo the most recent action – you can also simply tap the screen twice with your fingers to undo the latest action, or three times to redo it.
Another tool to know about is the quick menu, which you can access by tapping anywhere on your canvas with your finger and holding it there. This will bring up a basic menu with the most common actions you’ve frequently used, like alpha lock, which is a feature that allows you to paint only within the closed shape you’re working on, so that you don’t have to struggle with painting within the lines, or flipping the canvas horizontally or vertically, which is self explanatory.
Artwork will automatically be saved in Procreate, so once you’re happy with your completed work, you can export and share it by pressing the “Share” button in the Actions menu, and then selecting the file type you’d like to save your art in, and where you’d like it saved to.
Once you’ve exported the file to whatever format you’d like, which will merge all the layers into one completed piece, you can now safely upload your newest artwork to wherever or whatever purpose you’d like!
This has only been a few features, and there is much, much more to Procreate, but it may serve as a place to begin creating new and exciting artworks!
Procreate Art Tutorials…
- Step-by-Step Tutorial: Purple Watercolour Hydrangea (In Procreate)
Learn to paint this purple watercolour hydrangea in this step by step tutorial and time-lapse video. This painting was produced in Procreate, but the same method detailed below can be used in any digital art program or even with traditional watercolour painting. Hydrangea are complex flowers, with each petal being an individual flower with petals and pistil portion, and grow in a variety of colours based on the acidity and nutrients in the soil they … - Step by Step Tutorial: How To Draw & Paint A Cute Whimsical Robin (With Procreate Default Brushes)
Here is a quick step by step tutorial on how to draw and paint a cute whimsical robin. For this illustration, I used the Procreate app with the default pre-installed Procreate brushes. (Whilst this tutorial is a Procreate one, you may use the same instructions to use with traditional paper and watercolour/acrylic paints – if you don’t have or want to use Procreate.) I used the following reference photo: So let’s get started! 🙂 How … - Step-by-Step Botanical Illustration Of A Peach Rose (In Procreate)
The natural world has given us so many ways to create a beautiful piece of art, but one of my favourites is through the use of light and shadow. It is such a creative way to show depth in your painting, and amazingly enough, it can be achieved through the muted colours of pink and peach. This step-by-step watercolour painting tutorial will guide you through the process of creating a beautiful peach rose, from start … - Step By Step Botanical Illustration Of A Watercolour Vintage Rose (In Procreate)
There’s no doubt that roses are one of the most beautiful flowers in the world, making them also one of the most popular botanicals to draw and paint. Styles amongst botanical artists vary from simple and loose to more detailed and realistic. Then there is also the style used by the old masters, which are an all time classic loved by all – the vintage style roses. This step-by-step watercolour painting tutorial will guide you … - Step by Step Botanical Illustration Of A Fading Rose Branch With Blue Butterfly (In Procreate)
Taking a butterfly on a faded flower as my subject allows me to explore many aspects of drawing and painting. Firstly the position of the various elements, the leaves, the flowers and the butterfly along the branch allows the viewer’s eye to run from one side of the painting to the other. The colour palette can also be explored with each element subject to different hues and ranges. And lastly, there is a contrast between … - Creating Art in Procreate, Your Digital Sketchpad
One of the most popular programs for creating digital art available in the current market is Procreate, a program specifically designed to recreate as much of the traditional art experience as possible. While also taking on the many benefits that come with digital art, such as a multiple layer system, much like Photoshop, and the ability to tweak saturation and colour palettes in ways that aren’t possible in traditional painting. Nevertheless, it can be a … - Step By Step Tutorial: Oil Painting Roses (In Procreate)
Painting roses in Procreate in the style of oil paints can be a simple process, and not too different to the traditional form of oil painting. Roses are made up of simple geometric shapes, arranged in repeating patterns and depicted with enough variety and difference from layer to layer to still come across as natural and appealing to the eye. By following this simple guide, you should be able to paint roses in Procreate in … - Step By Step Botanical Illustration Of Rustic Peach Roses (In Procreate)
Peach roses are so pleasing to the eye as they bring the sweet, floral scents of blooming rose gardens to mind every time we start painting them 🙂. They are known to symbolise sincerity and gratitude. A painting of a peach rose held within an antique frame, would make a very thoughtful gift to someone who has shown you kindness. Tools: 1. Sketch Of The Rose After opening Procreate and selecting a “Sketching” brush, the first …