StretchLearn Course

Draw. Color. Get Paid. Your Complete Digital Illustration Start.

From blank canvas to confident illustrator — learn the craft and the commission workflow in one practical beginner course.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hr 20 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This course teaches digital illustration the way working illustrators actually do it — starting with confident mark-making on the iPad, moving through line art, color theory, and shading, then shaping a recognizable personal style, and finally running a real commission from client brief to final file delivery. Every lesson is built around practical exercises using Procreate and Photoshop so you finish with a portfolio piece and the process knowledge to repeat it for paying clients.

Learning Outcomes

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

Set up a professional digital drawing workspace in Procreate and Photoshop and navigate both tools with confidence

Construct clean, expressive line art using gesture, proportion, and controlled brush technique

Apply color theory and shading methods to make flat illustrations feel three-dimensional and polished

Develop a consistent personal illustration style by analyzing references and making deliberate stylistic choices

Manage a client commission end-to-end: brief, sketches, revisions, final delivery, and licensing

Price illustration work accurately and present it professionally to attract and retain clients

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: Foundations: Tools, Mark-Making, and Line Art

Get your workspace set up correctly and build the core drawing skills — confident mark-making, gesture, proportion, and clean expressive line art — that everything else depends on.

3 lessons

Setting Up Your Digital Studio in Procreate and PhotoshopContent · 40 min

Preview Enabled

Gesture and Proportion: Drawing with ConfidenceContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Clean Line Art: Inking Techniques for Digital IllustrationContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Color Theory and Shading for Illustrators

Apply color theory practically — palette building, flat color workflows, and shading techniques that make digital illustrations feel dimensional and polished.

3 lessons

Color Theory in Practice: Palettes That Work TogetherContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Flat Color Workflows: From Line Art to Base ColorContent · 40 min

LMS Access

Shading and Light: Making Illustrations Feel Three-DimensionalContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Developing Your Personal Illustration Style

Move beyond copying references to defining a distinctive visual identity — through stylistic analysis, deliberate creative choices, and a consistent body of work.

3 lessons

Analyzing Illustration Styles You AdmireContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Making Deliberate Stylistic ChoicesContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Building Consistency Across a SeriesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: The Commission Workflow: Brief to Delivery

Run a real illustration commission from first client contact through pricing, sketches, revisions, and final file delivery with professional standards at every step.

3 lessons

Pricing Your Illustration WorkContent · 40 min

LMS Access

Taking a Brief and Managing Client ExpectationsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Sketch Approvals, Revisions, and Final DeliveryContent · 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.

digital illustrationProcreatePhotoshopline artcolor theoryfreelancecommission workflowpersonal style