Procreate Shading and Blending: Expert Tips and Techniques

Written by Daisie Team

Published on 10 July 2023 7 min read

Get to Know Procreate Shading Tools

Brush Tool
Smudge Tool
Eraser Tool

Practice with Real-World Examples

Still Life
Portraiture
Landscape

Procreate Community
Social Media Channels
Personal Website

Procreate has taken the digital art world by storm with its intuitive interface and powerful drawing tools. And among those tools, the ones that truly allow you to add depth and realism to your artwork are the shading and blending options. In this guide, we will explore the world of Procreate shading and blending, providing you with expert tips and techniques to take your digital art to the next level.

Get to Know Procreate Shading Tools

Before we dive into the methods of Procreate shading and blending, it's crucial to familiarize yourself with the tools that will help you achieve these effects. Procreate offers a variety of tools for this purpose, including the Brush, Smudge, and Eraser tools. Each of these has a unique role in shading and blending. Let's take a closer look at them.

Brush Tool

The Brush tool is your main weapon for shading in Procreate. It offers a vast range of unique brushes — each with customizable opacity, size, and pressure settings — allowing you to create the exact shade and texture you need.

Pressure sensitivity: By adjusting the pressure sensitivity, you can control how dark or light your shading is.
Size control: Playing around with the size of your brush can help you create both broad and fine shades with ease.
Opacity: The opacity control lets you decide how transparent or opaque your shading is — perfect for adding depth to your work.

Smudge Tool

Next up is the Smudge tool, a vital part of Procreate shading and blending. This tool acts like a digital finger, smudging and blending the colors on your canvas to create a seamless transition between them. It's like mixing paints on a real canvas, but without the mess.

Strength adjustment: You can control how much smudging effect you want by adjusting the strength of the tool.
Smudge brush: The Smudge tool uses the same brushes as the Brush tool, so you can maintain consistency in texture and style while smudging.

Eraser Tool

Lastly, the Eraser tool. While its main function is to erase, it also plays a crucial role in Procreate shading and blending. By erasing with a softer brush, you can create a shading effect. And by erasing areas where colors meet, you can achieve a blending effect, creating a smooth transition between colors.

Eraser as a brush: You can use any of the brushes as an eraser, creating unique shading and blending effects.
Eraser opacity: Just like the Brush tool, you can control the opacity of the Eraser tool, creating softer or stronger erasing effects as needed.

With these tools at your disposal, you're well-prepared to start your journey into Procreate shading and blending. So, let's move on to mastering the art of blending.

Master the Art of Blending

Blending in Procreate can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. Understanding how layers, blending modes, and gaussian blur work can greatly enhance your ability to blend colors smoothly and create realistic, professional-grade art.

Using Layers

Layers are your best friends when it comes to blending in Procreate. They allow you to work on different parts of your artwork independently, without affecting other areas. This way, you can experiment with different Procreate shading and blending techniques without fear of ruining your entire piece.

Layer isolation: By isolating your shading or blending on a separate layer, you can tweak it as much as you like without affecting the underlying color or detail.
Layer order: The order of layers can impact the blending effect. Generally, the top layer's color tends to dominate in the blending process, so keep this in mind as you arrange your layers.

Blending Modes

Blending modes are like secret sauces that can change how your layers interact with each other. Procreate offers a variety of blending modes, each providing a different effect. For instance, the "Multiply" mode is great for creating shadows, while the "Add" mode can help create a glowing effect.

Multiply: This mode darkens the colors, making it ideal for creating shadows or darkening an area.
Add: The Add mode brightens the colors, simulating the effect of direct light or glow.

Gaussian Blur

The Gaussian Blur is a powerful tool in Procreate for softening the edges between different colors, creating a smooth, natural blend. It's like the digital equivalent of smudging pastels on paper. You can control the extent of the blur effect, allowing you to create subtle to dramatic blending effects.

Soft transitions: Gaussian Blur is perfect for creating soft transitions between colors, giving your artwork a more realistic look.
Blur slider: The Blur slider allows you to control the intensity of the blur, letting you decide how subtle or dramatic the blending effect should be.

With these blending techniques under your belt, you're ready to explore some Procreate shading techniques to add depth and dimension to your artwork.

Explore Shading Techniques

Shading is the magic that brings your artwork to life, giving it depth, volume, and a sense of light. And Procreate offers you a plethora of shading techniques to choose from. Let's delve into some of them.

Cross-Hatching

Ever wanted to add texture and depth to your drawings with just a few strokes? Cross-hatching is the answer. It involves drawing intersecting lines at different angles to create a texture. The more lines you add, the darker the area appears, making it a great technique for Procreate shading and blending.

Line variation: You can vary the distance, angle, and thickness of your lines to create different textures and depths.
Light and shadow: By controlling the density of your cross-hatching, you can create areas of light and shadow, giving your drawing a three-dimensional look.

Stippling

Stippling involves creating shades and tones using dots. Yes, dots. Lots and lots of tiny dots. It's a time-consuming process, but the end result is worth every second. With stippling, you can create a wide range of tones and textures, making your Procreate shading and blending incredibly versatile.

Dot density: The density of the dots determines the darkness of an area. More dots mean darker shades, fewer dots create lighter shades.
Dot size: Playing with the size of the dots can also create interesting textures and depth in your artwork.

Scumbling

Scumbling is essentially scribbling with a purpose. It involves creating texture and depth by layering and swirling colors together. It's a fun, intuitive technique that can create stunning Procreate shading and blending effects.

Color layering: By layering different colors, you can create interesting color interactions and textures.
Pressure control: Varying the pressure on your Apple Pencil can create a range of effects, from light, airy scumbles to dense, heavy shading.

Now that you're armed with these shading techniques, it's time to put them into practice with some real-world examples.

Practice with Real-World Examples

Reading about Procreate shading and blending techniques is one thing. Applying them to your artwork is another. It's time to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty with some real-world practice. Here are a few examples to get you started.

Still Life

Still life is a wonderful way to practice your Procreate shading and blending skills. It allows you to focus on the texture, light, and shadow of objects. Try using cross-hatching on a fruit bowl to create texture, stippling on a vase for light and shade, or scumbling on a piece of fabric for depth and color interaction.

Portraiture

Portraiture is a true testament to your Procreate shading and blending prowess. It requires a keen eye for detail and a good understanding of light and shadow. Use stippling for skin tones, cross-hatching for hair texture, and scumbling for color blending. Remember, the key to a good portrait is capturing the light in the eyes, so pay extra attention to this detail.

Landscape

Landscape drawing can be a fun and rewarding way to flex your Procreate shading and blending muscles. Use cross-hatching to create the texture of tree barks, stippling for the play of light and shadow on mountains, and scumbling for blending the colors of the sky at sunset. The world is your canvas—paint it as you see it.

After all this practice, you're probably itching to share your work and get some feedback. And guess what? There are plenty of platforms where you can do just that.

Creating art is a process, and feedback is a valuable part of that process. Whether it's a thumbs-up from a friend or constructive criticism from a fellow artist, feedback can help you fine-tune your Procreate shading and blending skills. Here are a few places you can share your work:

Procreate Community

The Procreate community is a vibrant, supportive place where artists of all levels share their work, exchange tips, and inspire each other. It’s a great place to post your Procreate shading and blending masterpieces, ask for advice, and pick up new tricks.

Social media channels like Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter are platforms where you can showcase your Procreate artwork. Use hashtags related to Procreate shading and blending to increase visibility. You'll be surprised by the wealth of feedback and tips you can get from fellow users.

Personal Website

If you're serious about your art, consider setting up a personal website. It's a great way to present your portfolio in a professional way and reach a wider audience. Plus, the feedback you get will be more focused and constructive because your viewers are likely to be interested in art and design.

Remember, the goal is not to seek approval but to grow as an artist. Each piece of feedback is a stepping stone towards mastering Procreate shading and blending. So go ahead, share your work, embrace the feedback, and keep creating.

If you've enjoyed learning about Procreate shading and blending, you'll love exploring the workshop 'Animating with Procreate and Photoshop' by Nyanza. This workshop will teach you how to take your Procreate skills to the next level by incorporating animation into your projects, providing you with new ways to express your creativity.