StretchLearn Course

Paint Finished Illustrations on Your iPad with Procreate

The actual working illustrator's Procreate workflow - canvas to color to lighting to export - taught through one complete painting.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner10 hr 5 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

Procreate is the app most working illustrators reach for on iPad because it pairs a fast Metal-accelerated engine with the natural feel of the Apple Pencil. This course teaches the specific Procreate workflow that turns a blank canvas into a finished painting: setting the right DPI and color profile, building a clean layer stack with clipping masks and alpha lock, blocking value before color, and lighting a scene with blend modes. By the end you will have painted and exported a complete illustration ready for print and screen.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Set up a correctly sized Procreate canvas with the right DPI, color profile, and layer budget for your goal

Control the Apple Pencil with pressure, tilt, StreamLine, and QuickShape for confident, clean marks

Build a non-destructive layer stack using clipping masks, alpha lock, and ColorDrop to paint flexibly

Block a painting in value first, then apply color using Multiply, Add, and Overlay blend modes

Light a scene with a defined key light, ambient fill, and rim light using glow and blur

Export an illustration correctly for print and web, including flattened PNG, layered PSD, and time-lapse video

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Setting Up Procreate and Your Canvas

Get the foundations right - hardware, gestures, and a correctly configured canvas - so painting problems are never setup problems.

3 lessons

What You Need and How Procreate ThinksContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Creating the Right Canvas: DPI, Size, and Color ProfileContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Gestures, Interface, and Working FastContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Brushes, Pencil Control, and Mark-Making

Build real control of the Apple Pencil and Procreate's brush engine - the marks themselves - before worrying about whole paintings.

3 lessons

How Brushes Work: Pressure, Tilt, and StreamLineContent · 50 min

LMS Access

A Working Brush Set and What Each One Is ForContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Color, Smudge, and Building ToneContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Layers, Masks, and Painting Non-Destructively

Build the flexible layer system that separates a frustrating Procreate experience from a professional one.

3 lessons

The Layer Stack: Order, Opacity, and Blend ModesContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Clipping Masks and Alpha LockContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Building a Painting from Sketch to FlatsContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Light, Color Rendering, and Exporting a Finished Piece

Turn flat shapes into a believable, lit illustration - then export it correctly for every place it needs to live.

3 lessons

Value First, Then Color: Rendering FormContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Lighting the Scene: Key, Fill, Rim, and GlowContent · 60 min

LMS Access

Final Polish, Exporting, and SharingContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

Procreatedigital paintingiPad illustrationApple Pencillayers and masksblend modescolor and lightingillustration workflow