Artist insight

Uncover a selection of secrets for creating mind-blowing work on the acclaimed iPad app with our master artists

If you’re one of the increasing number of artists working on an iPad, you’ll most likely have tried Procreate. So many people have fallen in love with what it offers, making it one of their primary creative tools. But whether you’re a seasoned pro or a fresh newbie, there’s always something to learn.

Whether you’re looking for workflow improvements or want to learn how to make the most of the app’s broad feature set, our team of Procreate artists is here to share their top tips covering what it brings to the table. Learn everything from working smart with layers and Blend Modes, to navigating the app efficiently and more.

Artist

PROFILE

Nelson Tai

LOCATION: Hong Kong

Nelson is a concept designer working in the film and video games industries, specialising in hard-surface science fiction designs. https://bit.ly/3FHzkCe

1-10: NELSON TAI

1 HOOK UP AN EXTERNAL KEYPAD

Using these improved my workflow and efficiency greatly. With it, I can switch tools, undo and redo all more quickly with key presses. Keypads can easily be found on Amazon with countless iterations offering a wide range of features and price points.

2 PREP 3D REFERENCES

I often use these for my blocking or reference. It’s important to set up the render size from your 3D software the same as your canvas in Procreate. Locking the 3D camera is also important so that any future changes to your 3D scene can be easily re-rendered and replaced in Procreate, and continue to have everything matching up.

My top brushes and functions are on a QuickMenu so I don’t have to lift my drawing hand off the canvas

3 MAKE A CUSTOM QUICKMENU

Set up a QuickMenu that best serves your workflow to further improve your efficiency. I have my most-used brushes and functions here, so I don’t need to lift my drawing hand off the canvas to tap into the menus and functions. Having a QuickMenu button ready and waiting on an external keypad is also awesome!

4 SAVE YOUR FAVOURITE BRUSHES AND SIZES

Create a new folder in the Brush Library to store the brushes you use most often for quick and easy access. Duplicate and drag brushes into your folder to add them. Tap the Brush Size slider, then the ‘+’ button to save the brush sizes. As well as saving on time, I find this useful to keep my line work consistent. While we’re at it, why not add brushes into your QuickMenu for extra speed?

5 COLOUR WITH CLIPPING MASKS

For characters, I usually like to paint out the base silhouette with a skin colour, then add Clipping Mask layers on top to develop. Often adding this silhouette layer helps check for issues in the proportions or shapes that you don’t easily catch with just line work. The Clipping Mask layers would start with the skin, then another for hair, one or two for clothing, and additional ones for accessories and so on. Everything gets kept nice and clean within the base layer as Clipping Masks.

6 ALPHA LOCK

Using Alpha Lock in conjunction with Clipping Masks during the colouring stage is extremely useful to keep things clean and contained. Get this set up in the QuickMenu, or open and select the layer you want to be Alpha Locked and swipe right with two fingers. A layer that’s actively Alpha Locked will show a chequered background in its layer list thumbnail.

7 USE MULTI-LAYER TRANSFORMATION

It’s immensely powerful to be able to transform specific areas across multiple layers at once when you need to move and shift things around. Simply swipe right on the layers you want to edit then use the Lasso tool (or any other selection tool) to select the area you want to transform.

8 CREATE SHADOWS USING COLOURS…

I like to add shadows at the end of my process by creating a layer set to the Multiply Blend Mode and reducing the opacity down. I typically use dark blues to paint shadows, but for skin, I may instead use oranges and reds depending on the situation and how it looks visually.