Lately my husband and I have been talking about selling almost everything we own and buying an RV to travel, live, and work full time on the road. As an artist (with a TON of art supplies, huge blank canvases, etc.) the idea of getting rid of all of that, quite frankly, made me a little sad. But then I started working more and more digitally, and I love it, and I can create digital art that sells (and sell it passively) from anywhere!
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Luckily, all I (or anyone else!) needs to create digital art that sells (in my Etsy, RedBubble and Society6 shops) is my iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and an app called Procreate. But the more I used Procreate, the more I realized there are tons of powerful tools in this seemingly simple but actually powerful and robust little app!
So I decided to start learning to use it even more effectively, so I headed over to Skillshare (my favorite online learning platform — I’m a teacher and a student there! It’s kind of like Netflix for online learning and you can get a free trial right here) and dig deeper into the Procreate app and all of its abilities.
One of the first classes I came across was Jarom Vogel’s Digital Illustration – Learn to Use Procreate.
At just over an hour, this is the longest class I took that teaches Procreate, but I mention it first because he really covers all the fundamentals, as well as some of the more “hidden” tricks you can use. I also like how Jarom starts with the basics, including drawing thumbnail sketches before creating your final illustration. But he also covers things like:
- Using layers
- The selection tool
- Adding color, value and texture
- Cool effects in Procreate
- Exporting your work
- And more!
You can take Digital Illustration – Learn to Use Procreate free for the next two months by clicking here.
The next class I took was Brooke Glaser’s Introduction to Procreate: Illustrating on the iPad Pro with Procreate. She is such an enthusiastic and infectious teacher! Like me, she is a huge fan of Procreate. Plus she shares even more of all of the “hidden tools” within Procreate that make it so powerful. Brooke says, “…creating digital illustrations will feel intuitive and natural as drawing with pencil and paper. Class covers all the hidden tools and gestures you need to make creating digital illustrations easy and fun. Plus you’ll learn how to make and share a cool time lapse video of your art!”
In fact, if you’re only going to take ONE class from this list, I’d suggest Introduction to Procreate: Illustrating on the iPad Pro with Procreate which you can take for free for the next two months with that referral link.
If you’re up for a little fun while learning Procreate, I definitely recommend Nic Squirrell’s class, iPad Art: Create a Monster – an introduction to Procreate! In this class Nic will show you how she comes up with colors palettes, things to think of when designing your own character, how to use the app to sketch, draw and paint the monster, and how to export the finished art for print on demand and/or products.
Nic also teaches a more advanced (but SUPER helpful!) class iPad Art: Make Gorgeous Custom Brushes for Procreate. When you create your own brushes within Procreate, your art stands out even more. Plus, if you get really good at it, you could potentially sell those brushes on sites like CreativeMarket!
Once you get a bit more experience, I would suggest taking Stephanie Fizer Coleman’s class, Layering Color and Texture in Procreate. In it she teaches you how to layer color and texture to create illustrations that are bold and full of life. (She also has a basics class, Procreate Basics: Keeping a Digital Sketchbook on Your iPad Pro, so if you like her teaching style, that is worth checking out, too!)
I’ve taken other lettering classes before, but none that teach it within Procreate, until I found Kaitlyn Wall’s class “Intro to Procreate Lettering.” She shares some of her own tricks and tips within Procreate, that are more specific to letterers. So if you’re into digital Calligraphy, definitely check out her class.
Some of the things I love about Procreate are the fact that you can export your work in several different formats (like .JPG, .PNG, .PDF, and more!) Sometimes I’ll do most of the work in Procreate, and then export it and do some final touches in Photoshop on my desktop computer. Plus you can export a video of the creation of your work. I find those are great to share on social media, because people really love to watch your process.
Here’s a handy list of tools you’ll need to Create Digital Art That Sells with Procreate:
- The Procreate App, of course!
- An iPad or an iPad Pro (I got the biggest one –12.9″– in order to really see all the details as I was creating art on it)
- An Apple Pencil
- Alternatively, you can get Procreate Pocket for your iPhone
- Your imagination!
Once you’ve learned how to create digital art that sells with Procreate, you might want learn more about how and where to sell your art:
Make Your Art Stand Out With Mockups
30+ (and growing) places for artists to make passive income online
36+ Passive Income Ideas for Artists
Also, if you love creating digital art that sells, my other favorite app is called ArtRage!