5 Essential Procreate Watercolor Art Tips

Written by Daisie Team

Published on 11 July 2023 5 min read

Watercolor painting has always had a charm of its own, but with Procreate, you can bring that charm to the digital world. This blog post will provide you with five simple yet effective tips to improve your Procreate watercolor skills. So, let's dive in and start creating some beautiful digital art!

1. Explore Procreate Interface

Before you begin painting your digital masterpiece, it's essential to familiarize yourself with the Procreate interface. This app packs a ton of features in a surprisingly simple interface, and getting to know your way around it will significantly enhance your Procreate watercolor experience.

Understand Interface Layout

The Procreate interface is user-friendly, but it might feel a bit overwhelming at first. The main elements include the Toolbar, at the top of your screen, which houses your painting tools, and the Layers Panel, where you can manage and organize your artwork layers. The Actions Panel, represented by a wrench icon, contains options for sharing, saving, and general app settings. Lastly, the Colors Panel is your go-to spot for picking the perfect hues for your Procreate watercolor masterpiece.

Locate Basic Tools

Knowing the location of basic tools in Procreate will save you a lot of time and frustration. The Brush, Smudge, and Eraser tools are located in the top-right corner of the Toolbar. The Layers Panel, crucial for creating depth in your artwork, is in the upper right-hand corner, next to the Colors Panel. And the Actions Panel, where you can adjust settings, is on the top left, represented by a wrench icon.

Finally, getting comfortable with navigation in Procreate is key to a smooth painting process. Zoom in and out by pinching on the screen, and rotate your canvas by twisting with two fingers. Tap with four fingers to toggle full screen mode, and swipe with three fingers to access the copy, paste, and cut options. With a little practice, navigating around your Procreate watercolor canvas will become second nature.

2. Choose The Right Brushes

After familiarizing yourself with the Procreate interface, the next step in creating stunning Procreate watercolor art is choosing the right brushes. Procreate offers a wide range of brushes, each with its unique properties and effects. Understanding how to choose and customize these brushes will give you a lot more control over your artwork.

Know Your Brush Types

There are several types of brushes in Procreate, each designed to emulate different real-world art materials. For your Procreate watercolor artwork, you'll be primarily focusing on the Water brushes. Brushes like 'Water Bleed', 'Water Brush Pen', and 'Soft Wash' are excellent picks. Each has a different level of spread, bleed, and texture, imitating the look of real watercolor strokes. Experiment with these brushes, and see which ones work best for your style.

Learn to Customize Brushes

One of the most powerful features of Procreate is the ability to customize brushes. You can adjust settings like opacity, grain, and dynamics to create the perfect brush for your Procreate watercolor art. For instance, increasing the 'wet edges' option will give your brush strokes a more watery effect, while playing with the 'dilution' setting can give you a more or less saturated color. Remember, there's no right or wrong here—feel free to experiment until you find the settings that suit your style.

3. Mastering the Watercolor Effect

Now that you've got the right brushes and customized them to your liking, it's time to dive into the crux of Procreate watercolor painting: mastering the watercolor effect. This involves understanding the concepts of layering and blending modes — two essential elements in achieving that authentic watercolor feel.

Understand Layering

Think of layers as transparent sheets stacked on top of each other. When you paint on a new layer, it doesn't affect the layers below it. This means you can add color, change things around, or even delete a layer without worrying about ruining your underlying work. In Procreate watercolor painting, you can use layers to build up your colors gradually, just like you would with real watercolors. Start with a lighter wash of color, then add more layers to deepen the color and add detail. It's a simple concept, but it can make a massive difference in your art.

Explore Blending Modes

In Procreate, blending modes are a set of options that change how your brush interacts with the colors below it. For a Procreate watercolor artist, these are your best friends. The 'Multiply' mode, for example, is perfect for adding shadows, while the 'Color Burn' mode can help deepen and enrich your colors. Try out each mode, and see how they affect your painting. The more you explore, the more tools you'll have at your disposal to create amazing Procreate watercolor art.

4. Create Realistic Painting

Having a firm grasp on the watercolor effect is a significant accomplishment. It’s now time to push your Procreate watercolor skills to the next level. Let's focus on creating a realistic painting. This involves learning to use textures and practicing shading and lighting.

Learn to Use Textures

Texture plays a huge role in watercolor painting. It gives your work depth and a lifelike quality. In Procreate, you can add texture to your painting by using textured brushes or by applying a texture overlay on a separate layer. For instance, you might use a grainy brush to suggest the roughness of a tree trunk or a stippling brush to create the illusion of a starry sky. Experiment with different textures to see what works best for your Procreate watercolor art style.

Practice Shading and Lighting

Shading and lighting can make or break your painting. They give your art dimension and make it pop off the page. In Procreate, you can use the 'Multiply' blending mode for shading and the 'Add' or 'Screen' mode for lighting. Remember, where your light source is coming from will determine where the shadows and highlights go. It might take a bit of practice to get it right, but once you do, your Procreate watercolor paintings will look incredibly realistic.

After pouring your creativity and effort into your Procreate watercolor masterpiece, it's time to show it off to the world. Sharing your work not only allows you to showcase your talents but it can also open doors to feedback and growth opportunities. So, let's discuss how to save, export and share your work on social media platforms.

Save and Export Your Work

Procreate offers a variety of formats to save and export your artwork. The standard format is .procreate, but you can also export your work as a PSD, PDF, JPEG, PNG, or even an animated GIF for those watercolor animations you might create. You should always save a .procreate version of your work so you can come back to it later if you need to make changes. However, when sharing your work, a JPEG or PNG is often the best choice. These formats are widely accepted on all platforms and maintain a high image quality.

Once you've saved your Procreate watercolor artwork, it's time to share it. Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter are excellent platforms for visual artists. You can also join art communities like DeviantArt or Behance. When you post your artwork, don't forget to use relevant hashtags like #ProcreateWatercolor or #DigitalArt to reach a wider audience. And remember, the more you share, the more feedback you will receive, and the more you will grow as an artist.

If you're inspired to take your Procreate watercolor art skills to the next level, don't miss out on the workshop 'Using Watercolours to Create Colourful Calligraphy' by BlinkLettering. This workshop will not only enhance your watercolor techniques but also teach you how to incorporate beautiful calligraphy into your artwork, creating stunning and unique pieces.