Sketching & Drafting
I like to start every illustration with a rough sketch to figure out the general layout of where the biggest elements in my artwork will be. I use the Fat Pencil and Jen’s 6B interchangeably for this purpose.
Fat Pencil
This is such a great sketching brush and I use it for just about all my sketches. It’s a free brush by Mike Henri that he so generously provides off his YouTube channel.
Jen's 6B
This brush is part of a free set of brushes found on Leila & Po’s resources page on her website. You can also read the accompanying Spoonflower Blog post she wrote on how to create repeating patterns in ProCreate. This was the original article where I found her.
Flat Colours
Once I have the general sketch figured out, the next step is to play with colours. Here I use either the Monoline or the Paint Fill brushes to block in my colours and finalize the palette I want to use.
Monoline
This is a default ProCreate brush found in the Calligraphy brush set. The only modification I made to the original was to increase its Maximum brush size to 500% which you can do in the Properties panel in the Brush Studio.
Paint Fill
I love Adam White’s art style so much, even if you aren’t into tattoos, his artwork is so beautifully colourful that you’re likely to follow him too! He offers his trade brushes in 2 collections available here. This brush, in particular, can be found in this collection under the name: AW Flat Textured Fill and I use this one primarily to do rough fills of my colour schemes to ensure my colours are well-balanced.
Lineart & Flat Shapes
Now it’s time to draw all the elements for the final illustration. Personally, I don't like my artwork to have any lineart on the outside of my shapes I only add lines for detailing. Lately, I’ve been mostly using the Script brush for this, but I have used the Dry Ink brush a lot as well.
Dry Ink
Another great default brush in ProCreate! This one is found in the Inking brush set. It’s a fun textured inking brush.
Script
My favourite out of the whole bunch is this versatile Script brush. It can be found in the Calligraphy brush set. It’s a beautiful pressure-sensitive brush, that can be used for just about anything from lineart to hand-lettering.
Textures
The final thing I like to do with all my illustrations is to add a bit of texture to them. I generally add a little depth to each element using either the Watercolor brush or the Bristle Brush. Then I top it off with a light coat of Spray or Splatter brushes.
Watercolor
This is my go-to for buildable texture and shading for most of my elements. This also happens to be a nice default brush found in ProCreate. It’s under the Painting brush set.
Bristle Brush for Dry Paint & Smudge
This fun texture brush was created by Lisa Glantz in her AquaReal Realistic Watercolour Brushes set which you can purchase here. I have several sets from Lisa and all the brushes are fantastic!
Build Up - Spray
This is another great brush from Lisa Glantz. I use this for every single illustration where I want a nice top coat of light texture. It’s a fabulous brush, I’m so happy I stumbled on this one! You can find this brush as part of her The Instant Artist brush collection available for purchase here.
Build Up - Splatter
My last brush in my top 10 favourites happens to also be from Lisa Glantz. What can I say I love her texture brushes a lot! This one is also available in the same set as #9 above The Instant Artist.
