Procreate Made Easy

Hello Quinn,

Congratulations on finishing the course! I’m happy that it helped you out.

Your submission is absolutely stunning! I can see that you’ve put a lot of work into it and we can appreciate all the intricate details you’ve included in the design of your character.

Overall, I think you’ve executed on all the teachings of the course well and you’re definitely ready for a more advanced course. With that said, here is some more advanced feedback that would be outside the scope of this course:

Perspective of Leaves

• It’s subtle, but I noticed that the leaf surfaces are mostly angled towards the viewer giving a very flat look. I’d encourage you to imagine the leaves being stuck on a surface of a sphere and draw them radiating outward from the center (the shoulder joint). You can check the attached image to see what I mean.

Neck & Collarbone

• I saw that you included a V-shaped line to denote your character’s collarbone. I realize that this is a stylized piece and that there is an urge to keep things simplified. However, I think your implementation makes it look like there is an additional layer of clothing. Look up references to see how to best simplify the neck/collarbone area.

With that said, I think you did an amazing job. I hope this was helpful and all the best with your future illustrations!

Hi Morgan!

Thanks for your submission and sorry for the delayed response. I’m happy to hear that you got a lot out of the course. First of all, I think you utilized the references and the moodboard wonderfully. Your final designs of your character as well as the environment are cohesive as a result. The colors you used also go a long way in conveying the mysterious and magical feeling of your illustration.

With that said, let me point out some areas with room for improvement.

Symmetry

• I noticed that some of the facial features and the torso of your character aren’t symmetrical. I recommend the use of guidelines during your drawing phase to help you put elements in the right place and have them be properly aligned.

• While you’re drawing, you should also flip your canvas horizontally from time to time as it helps you spot errors more easily. Once you’ve identified something that’s asymmetrical or warped in an undesirable way, you can redraw that section or use the liquify tool to correct it.

Armor

• The design of the armor looks great. I like its curved edges and the ornate etchings. Where I think there is room to improve is in the rendering of the material – in this case, metal. Metal can be tricky to paint. It is a reflective material, so make sure you keep it high contrast. Highlights should be bright and shadows should be dark.

• In addition to that, try to avoid soft edges as they can make the armor appear “mushy”. Use hard and distinct edges especially where there is overlap between two or more layers of metal.

Overall, I think you did an excellent job. I forgot to point out that you also did great for the background. I hope this feedback helps and good luck for your future illustrations!

Hello Yazmary,

I’m glad that you’re learning a lot from the course about using Procreate. Procreate has such powerful tools that many of us can benefit from if only we knew how to use them!

And what a lovely illustration this is. It’s giving such cozy vibes and I also really like the complementary color palette you used for this.

Best of luck with your future drawings and keep drawing!

Hi Gabriella!

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you!

We're delighted to know you enjoyed the course and found it useful! You did an amazing job on this illustration. I'm a huge fan of the style and your composition skills are impeccable!

Following, you can find a couple of suggestions you can look into for your next illustration, as well as an example attached to this message:

• You can decide to have a more contrasted, darker shading in some areas of the drawing in order to help the viewer make out some of the shapes better. For example, under the yellow excavator.
• By deciding the location of the light source, you can make sure to have a consistent direction for your shadows. In my example, I have it set in the middle.
• The same way, some edges could use an even brighter highlight in order to help the shapes really stand out from the background.

You can find more explanations in the attached pictures. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any question!

Keep up the good work and have a great day!

Hi Andrew!

Thank you very much for sharing your painting with us! The proportions of your portraits are on point and I can tell you've applied all of the teacher's advice very well! Here are a few suggestions to help you with your problem:

• You can start by having these little dark areas (such as the inside of the mouth, the corners of it, the eyes and eyelids and the nostrils) be darker and stand out more, with a thicker brush.
• You can also add some more bright and saturated colors to your color blocks. In this case, shades of orange and red! It helps bring life to your undertones!
• Don't hesitate to either lay your color blocks with a more blurry brush, or to blend them slightly afterwards. One shouldn't make the mistake to over-blend, but a little does help a lot in making the whole thing come together. It's the variation of textures between blended and non-blended which makes the surface interesting to look at.

You can refer to the attached images for reference! Have a great day and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

Hey Alisa! I love your work, you have done an amazing job of following along with Aveline's assignments :)

To keep your feedback simple, I have chosen to refer to your night-time lighting scenario. Check out the tips and images I have attached below, I hope they help :)

• When you are illustrating an environment a good practice for adding depth is to ensure your foreground uses more saturated colors than your background. Currently they are at a similar level of saturation, this is something you can adjust using your ‘Hue, Saturation and Brightness’ tool.
• Around the edge of your highlights and shadows you may have a soft line that is a more saturated color.
• Folds on clothing usually follow a triangular draping pattern down from where they hang from the body. In this case her sweatshirt would mostly be draping from her shoulders. When in doubt with drawing folds in an outfit, a reference picture can make things much easier!
• If you have warmer tones in your foreground, make the color pop even more by using an ‘Overlay Layer’ to add cooler colors to the background.

I have attached some images with tips and edits to help guide you through this process. Let me know if you have any questions :)

Hello Berna,

Thanks for submitting this wonderful painting. I think the loose painting style works great and the extra detail around the face compared to the rest of the body does a good job at focusing the viewer’s attention.

I do notice that the dog’s face seems a little off. Sometimes it can be hard to tell which part of the painting needs to be worked on. Two tools I can suggest for checking your painting/drawing are:

• Guidelines down the center of the face

You can place a guideline on a separate layer to make sure the facial features you draw are symmetrical.

• Flipping canvas horizontally

Procreate allows you to flip the canvas horizontally. By occasionally flipping the canvas, it allows you to “reset” your perception of your painting, and it will be easier to spot your errors while painting or drawing. Try it out on this one and it should be easy to see where and what needs fixing!

I know that for painterly styles like this, it can be hard to make changes without essentially re-painting a section again. Procreate has a built-in Liquify tool that is perfect for situations like this. You can use the liquify brush to push or nudge your painting around until it is correct.

I hope this helps and I’m glad that you learned a lot from this class. Good luck with your future art pieces!

Hi Nida!

Wow, you did such a great job of applying the techniques from this course! I love that you've put your own characters into the scenes as well! I only have a few small notes for you.

For the Night Scene:

• Increase the glow in the night scene! Use a soft brush to lighten that part of the scene (I used a light yellow with a soft-light layer setting)

• Add more highlights/rim lighting on the night scene as well. Make sure you have lots of contrast and really make the most of the fun lighting!

For the Day Scene:

• Because you have made most of the background quite light, try and keep that somewhat consistent. Keep the background light, and the foreground more dark. Keeping this contrast makes it easier to see the characters as seperate from the background and makes it easier to read.

*Add a few extra shadows to reflect the size of the skirt/around the skirt to imply more 3D form

You've done such a fantastic job with these, and they're honestly great the way they are! Well done!

Hi Lana!

This is such a cute drawing! It's very lively and there is a great personality coming from them!

When drawing cats focus very much on the flow - lots of round fluid movements. The line of action will be very important for their poses.

For this particular drawing I just have a couple suggestions!

• Push the snout slightly further forward. This will help make the head feel a little more round and improve the sense of dimension. Think of the base of the head not as a circle, but as a sphere!

• When drawing complicated shapes like limbs, especially when they're folded up, think about how each segment is a basic shape. Using the right amount of lines, you can force a sense of perspective by overlaying some with others. In this case, you can add a couple extra lines to make the back leg seem more like it is bent away from the "camera".

• Use the tail to emphasize the sense of movement! Follow the line of action you already have moving through the pose! Treat it as an extention of this. But also try to consider where the dog was in space before - the tail can have a very lovely flow to it if it is shaped as though it is coming from where the dog was just a moment ago. You were very close to this I think, but lowering it slightly makes it feel less like the dog has dropped down very suddenly.

It's great to hear that you loved the course! I hope you continue to draw more fun animals in the future!

Hi!

Thank you for sending in your painting! This is incredible work. The subject is beautiful and your use of color is mind-blowing!

You could maybe try to have the hair on the chin flow in more various and natural directions. Even with the head clearly in motion within the scene and the hair following in the same direction, I think there could be a little more variation.

You can check out the attachments for a more visual explanation!  I hope you’ll find them helpful!  Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any more questions and I wish you a beautiful day!

Hi Marjolijn!

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the course! I'm a huge fan of the way you used the brushes and the colors! Your characters have a lot of personality and I think your final drawing looks really professional.

Keep up the great work and have a fantastic day!

Hey Makdessi! These illustrations look amazing! You have done a great job of using the lighting and shading techniques from this course :)

Here are a few feedback suggestions that you could try in future illustrations/ to improve these:

• In areas of your character that are highlighted, change the colour of your line-art to a colour brighter than the highlighted area.
• Additionally, it can look nice if you set your line-art to a darkened version of an ambient colour in your image rather than black.
• Add soft shadows to objects that aren't in direct light.
• For your night-time scene, you could decrease the saturation of the background and perhaps add even more blur to make your character stand out even more.

Try these out and see what you think! Wishing you a creative week, Rhea

Hi Louise!

This is such a great drawing so far!

I do recommend trying to start a drawing with the basic shapes before you get too far into detail to make sure that the drawing has a solid foundation.

• Break things into spheres and cylinders. Spheres for the head and joints, and cylinders for the limbs and snout. Using these as a guide and it will help add dimension

• Another thing that will add dimension is layering one shape of the other. Having a shape hidden behind another will instantly add a sense of 3D.

• Think about their skeleton! Look at where their bones bend. This is the natural basic building of an animal. You don't have to draw every bone, but you can break it into areas - The ribcage as one oval, the pelvis as another. The forearm bone as a cylinder, the joints as spheres. It helps a lot to understand how a creature can move and bend, and how they can't.

You're well on the right track and each drawing you have done is very expressive and has lovely poses, good job!

Hello Polina! I love your drawings, they are so gorgeous! Thanks for sharing them :)

Check out my feedback below and notes I have added to your drawing! I hope you find them helpful :)

• Don’t be afraid to use ‘Overlay’ blending layers with vivid colors to help establish the time of day, especially for the sunset and daytime photos.
• In the indoor scene: the walls and the character should be in soft shadow due to the backlighting from the window.
• Your character has a few spots on their face that might have highlights including their: eyes, nose, lips and cheekbones.
• Your overcast lighting scenario could be de-saturated to convey the gray-diffused light source. This is something you can adjust using the ‘Hue, Saturation and Brightness’ tool.
• Even on an overcast day you will still have some soft shadows where clothes fold or different objects meet each other.
• You can try and make the direction of your light source more clear by adding color variation to your sky using an overlay or multiply layer.
• When in doubt, practice by studying photographs! This can be a great way to learn about illustrating hard shadows.

I have attached some images with tips and edits to help guide you through this process. Let me know if you have any questions :)