Procreate is an amazing and powerful digital drawing program for iPads. It’s used by a lot of professional artists, so it can seem daunting to learn as a beginner. But, it doesn’t have to be. There are simple and straightforward Skillshare classes that will teach you how to learn Procreate in no time.
Before we jump into the individual classes, let’s talk about why I suggest that classes are the best way to learn Procreate, especially from Skillshare.
Classes are the quickest way to learn Procreate.
Something I love about Procreate is that you can purchase the app and immediately start using it. You don’t need to know anything about its settings or features in order to draw a picture.
If you actually want to learn Procreate though, you’ll have to learn everything that this powerful app can do, which is quite a lot. Alpha lock, clipping masks, brush settings, layers, on and on.
It can get really overwhelming, really quickly.
That’s where classes come in.
No matter what you thought about your high school experience, it’s time to embrace classes again. Luckily, taking classes as an adult is a completely different experience than those teenage years.
When you actually WANT to take a class and feel motivation to do so, it’s much easier to learn and retain the information.
Not only will you enjoy Procreate classes more than you might have enjoyed some of your academic classes of the past, they will strategically walk you through what you need to know – from the most basic of the basics to the more advanced techniques.
As you’re starting to learn a new skill, it’s hard to know where to start. You might be thinking you’re starting at square 1, but you’ve accidentally leapt to square 100 and gotten overwhelmed. By taking classes, you’ll have an expert guiding you through every step in order, from 1 to 100. Classes are structured, and will hold your hand as you learn.
When I first downloaded Procreate, the first thing I did was sign up for a class. Once I finished that class, I took another one. Overtime, I saw my Procreate skills grow…painlessly. Yes, it was a surprise to me too. Taking classes really helped me improve my skills in a way I could enjoy.
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And I have to attribute my enjoyment to the place where I took my classes – Skillshare.
Skillshare is a great place to take Procreate classes.
Skillshare is where I took my first Procreate class…and my second…and my third…and so many more that I can’t count.
I believe that Skillshare is one of the best places to learn art in general, let alone Procreate. They are extremely high quality.
Most of their classes are taught by professionals in the industry who really know what they’re talking about. If you look at many of their bios, you’ll end up getting distracted by all of their great artwork.
Really, the talent that Skillshare attracts is pretty incredible.
But, we’ve all been in those classes where the instructor is a genius of their subject, but has no idea how to teach. Womp womp. Luckily, that’s not the case with Skillshare.
I have yet to find a bad teacher on Skillshare. In addition to being great artists, they know how to teach as well. A lot of them teach in other avenues, so they have the experience necessary to be effective teachers.
Something that Skillshare teachers understand really well is that we’re all busy and would rather spend our time doing art instead of hearing someone talk. These classes are quick and action packed.
Even if you find a 10 hour long class, you’ll see that each individual lesson is 5-20 minutes. Also, each lesson is hands-on. Instead of listening to the teacher explain something, you’ll be guided through a tutorial.
After each class, you’ll have at least one project to show for it, if not many. Nothing about these classes are theoretical. They are hands-on, let’s learn the nitty gritty of Procreate. It’s fantastic.
Now, let’s talk about price.
Honestly, I think Skillshare is a steal given the value you get. Let’s think about 1 class at a community college, which can be upwards of a few hundred dollars. With Skillshare, you’ll get unlimited access to thousands of professionally led classes for a fraction of the price.
That’s an amazing deal.
What’s even more amazing is that you can try Skillshare for free and not even pay a penny. Grab a free trial of Skillshare and test out the Procreate classes on this list. In fact, you’ll get unlimited access to every class that Skillshare has to offer, which makes their free trial an incredible deal.
Grab a free trial of Skillshare today and sign up for all of the classes below so that you can start learning Procreate.
Ok, let’s dive into my top classes for how to learn Procreate.
1. Intro to Procreate: Illustrating on the iPad
If you’re new to Procreate, this class will get you acquainted with the basics really quickly. You’ll cover everything from creating your first canvas, to using layers, and changing your brush settings.
This class is less than an hour and a half, yet it is jam packed with information. It’s crazy that you can learn so much about Procreate in such a short amount of time, but it’s definitely possible.
What makes this class even better is that Brooke Glaser is a great teacher and her work is adorable. She’s an Illustrator and Children’s Designer, so you can bet that the samples she uses in the class are so fun to look at.
If you have just downloaded Procreate and have no idea where to start, Brooke’s class is where you want to go.
Sign up for a free trial and take Intro to Procreate: Illustrating on the iPad here!
2. Procreate Essentials: The Ultimate Guide
This Procreate Essentials class is almost 5 hours long, which means that it’s full of great information. If you were to take this class from start to finish, there’s no doubt that you would end up with the Procreate basics you need to know to be successful.
When I say that this class is an in depth guide into how to learn Procreate, I mean it. For example, there’s an entire 11 and a half minute long lesson all about Procreate’s color picker. Instead of simply saying that it exists and it’s the place to pick colors, the teacher goes into great detail about everything that the color picker can do (like the color harmony tool. Super cool).
This class is taught by Leo Maeus, a Designer and Illustrator. There’s no doubt he knows Procreate inside and out. If you’re looking for a deep dive into everything Procreate can do, this is it.
Sign up for a free trial and take Procreate Essentials: The Ultimate Guide here!
3. Digital Illustration: Learn to Use Procreate
I had SO much fun taking this class. I love the illustration that Jarom uses as a demonstration, so it was neat to follow along and recreate it.
I took this class in the very beginning of my Procreate journey and I must admit I was a little lost at times. It ended up being a great learning experience to work through my confusion and dig deeper into some of the techniques that were talked about. But, I would suggest taking the #1 class first for this reason.
This class is taught by Jarom Vogel who is a freelance Digital Illustrator. If you like the style of his cute little running man illustration, I definitely suggest taking this course. You’ll wind up with your own cute little illustration and a lot of great Procreate skills as well.
Sign up for a free trial and take Digital Illustration: Learn to Use Procreate here!
4. Color Palettes in Procreate: Find Your Unique Color Style
The amazing thing about Procreate, and digital art in general, is that you have an infinite amount of colors at your fingertips.
Instead of being limited to the pencils in your box, or the colors you can mix from the paints that you have, Procreate has a color wheel that will literally let you pick any variation of color that you need.
Even though this is a HUGE perk of digital art, it can be overwhelming too. How do you suddenly start picking from an infinite amount of colors when you used to be accustomed to whatever was in your art box?
That’s where this color palette class comes in. You’ll learn everything you need to know about deciding which colors you resonate with, how to create them in Procreate, and how to save them for your future projects.
The teacher, Iva Mikles, does a really good job of providing a holistic education about color in general, and how it specifically works in Procreate. It’s fantastic.
If you want to get a better grasp of how to learn Procreate colors, this is the class for you.
Sign up for a free trial and take Color Palettes in Procreate: Find Your Unique Color Style here!
5. Digitize Your Art in Procreate – Step by Step
If you’ve been working with traditional art materials, it’s a really neat opportunity to be able to merge your drawings and paintings with the digital world of Procreate.
You can make copies of your art and add new digital elements to them; you can have easy access to your entire portfolio on your portable iPad, which makes it easier to show others your work; you can have nice images that can be quickly put onto mugs, shirts, prints, and more for your online print on demand store.
There is SO much potential with turning your traditional art into digital form and, luckily, it’s not too hard to do.
This class about digitizing your art in Procreate is only 1 hour long, yet it covers everything you need to know to do this successfully.
The teacher, Disha Sharma, is an Artist and Illustrator that loves to mix traditional and digital mediums. She has a lot of experience in this space and is great at teaching it.
Sign up for a free trial and take Digitize Your Art in Procreate – Step by Step here!
Ok, so now that we’ve reviewed some classes that will teach you how to use Procreate in general, let’s talk about classes that will teach you how to do specific things in Procreate.
Lettering is very different from portraits, which are both different from patterns.
Each one requires different skills and different uses of Procreate. Let’s dive into some classes in various subjects that can show you how to learn Procreate given the types of art you want to make.
6. Hand Lettering in Procreate: Fundamentals to Finishing Touches
Hand lettering is such a fun thing to do with Procreate. Big bold words, cute phrases, elegant scripts; you can do it all with Procreate.
Even though we can all do basic handwriting, lettering is a completely different story. It’s an art form, to say the least. And don’t think that because you have bad handwriting that you can’t learn how to do beautiful lettering.
A lot of lettering is more similar to drawing than it is to handwriting.
Anyone can learn lettering and this class about lettering in Procreate is the place to start.
Gia Graham is a skilled Artist, Letterist, and Illustrator. She is also the teacher of this great class. She covers everything from different types of fonts to adding color to your work. When you’re done, you’ll know how to make letters, words, and phrases in so many styles and formats.
If you’ve been looking to get started with lettering, this class is a great place to start.
7. Drawing People: Creating Unique and Dynamic Character Poses in Procreate
Drawing people can be challenging, but this class makes it so fun. If you’ve noticed a theme; Skillshare classes are fun in general!
I love the flow of this class and how it really guides you to recognize human shapes and poses in life, and translate them to your drawings in Procreate. What I especially love about the lessons in this class is that they challenge you to create multiple poses from one character.
As the name implies, this leaves you with “dynamic” characters that are especially useful if you plan to use the same character for a number of different pieces of work (like a book, for example).
This is also useful because it can be challenging to draw the same person or object from different perspectives, which can be really limiting. I love how this class focuses on looking at the same character in multiple poses and how to manage that.
The skills you’ll learn in this class are fundamental to drawing people and to drawing in Procreate in general. The teacher, Sarah Holliday, is an Illustrator whose work is adorable. Even just watching her draw during this class is a delight.
8. Intro to Watercolor Florals in Procreate
Something I love about Procreate is that it can replicate traditional art materials pretty well. It takes some practice to get the hang of it though. Switching from traditional watercolors to a digital platform and ending up with the same result isn’t always easy.
But, with the right class, you can shorten your learning curve.
I love this florals class because it not only teaches you the fundamentals of creating flowers, but also the fundamentals of watercoloring on Procreate. A double whammy win-win!
The teacher, Teela Cunningham, does a great job of reviewing fundamental watercolor techniques while painting her flowers. For example, how do you watercolor with a stylus without getting streaks? Teela covers it.
This is a fun class that will get you ready to watercolor a whole bouquet of flowers. Heck, it will get you ready to watercolor on Procreate in general.
Sign up for a free trial and take Intro to Watercolor Florals in Procreate here!
9. Create Seamless Patterns in Procreate from Sketch to Finish
Repeat patterns need to be created with technology at some point. Even if you draw your design by hand, the final steps require a program to turn that design into a pattern that repeats seamlessly for fabric, all-over print products, scrapbook paper, and more.
Luckily, with Procreate, you can draw and create your seamless pattern all in the same place. This class by Illustrator and Designer Josephine Skapore will teach you everything you need to know about using Procreate to create beautiful seamless patterns.
You will learn about the types of sketches that lend themselves to patterns, how to set up your canvas for success, and all of the technicalities you’ll need to know to make a seamless pattern that works.
I’ve created seamless patterns myself and, to be honest, it was confusing the first time. There are a few important steps that you need to do correctly in order for your pattern to work. Having a class like this is invaluable for learning the right techniques with fewer mistakes.
Sign up for a free trial and take Create Seamless Patterns in Procreate from Sketch to Finish here!
10. Drawing Landscapes in Procreate on the iPad
Landscapes are important to learn, whether you plan for your landscape to be the star of the show, or the simple background to a character.
What I love about this particular landscape class is that it uses a lot of different textures, elements, gradients, and stamps. Yes, stamps!
When you sign up for this class, you get a tree brush, which is essentially a stamp that creates a tree. This can help you create a whole forest of trees really quickly without drawing each of them by hand, which can really speed up your work process. That said, they will all look the same, so if your main focus is just a few trees, you may want to draw them by hand to get different looks.
I’m a sucker for lakes, mountains, and trees, so this class was a lot of fun for me. No matter what type of landscape features you prefer, there’s no doubt you’ll gain skills from this class.
Sign up for a free trial and take Drawing Landscapes in Procreate on the iPad here!
11. Illustrating Expressive Portraits in Procreate
We’ve learned how to draw figures in the character poses class, but now it’s time to learn faces! And not just faces, but portraits. As you can see from the picture of the class, these portraits are no joke. They’re beautiful!
Maia Faddoul, the teacher of this class, is an Illustrator and Designer. And, needless to say, she’s amazing at portraits. There is SO much you can learn from her about translating your portrait skills onto the Procreate form.
If you want to learn how to draw on Procreate, it’s more tricky than doing exactly what you would normally do with pencil and paper. As you can see from the picture of the class, the basic techniques are different.
When you take this class, you’ll learn about how to create portraits, uniquely in Procreate. This is a valuable class for learning a number of Procreate skills in general, and especially for mastering digital portraits.
Sign up for a free trial and take Illustrating Expressive Portraits in Procreate here!
12. Procreate Animation: Make Fun GIFs and Videos
Procreate isn’t just for static images; it can make animations, GIFs, and videos as well! Even if you’ve never thought about using Procreate for animation before, it can be fun to see your characters dance across your page.
This class will teach you everything you need to know to create basic animations, GIFs, and videos with Procreate. This class is only an hour long so, don’t worry, it’s not as technical as you might think. In fact, you’ll probably have fun with it and start a new passion for animations!
The teacher of this class, Rich Armstrong, is a Product Designer and a jack of all trades. He does a great job of simplifying the steps for bringing your drawings to life.
Sign up for a free trial and take Procreate Animation: Make Fun GIFs and Videos
13. Digital Marbling: Create Stunning Abstract Art in Procreate
Acrylic pouring is beautiful and unique. It’s also messy, requires a lot of space, and uses specialized supplies. WHat if you could create the same look of acrylic pouring just with Procreate? Well, you’re in luck.
This digital marbling class is taught by the same teacher as the animation class, Rich Armstrong. If you enjoyed his teaching style in that class, you’ll probably like this one as well.
Digital marbling is really fun to play around with and can produce amazing results. I don’t know about you, but I find acrylic pouring and digital marbling to be mesmerizing. It’s just so beautiful!
This is a great class that can teach you what you need to know to create beautiful marbling work right on your iPad with Procreate.
Sign up for a free trial and take Digital Marbling: Create Stunning Abstract Art in Procreate here!
As you can see, Skillshare offers SO many options for learning to draw or do art with Procreate. Dive into one of the classes that suits your fancy and start learning!
Diana has been an artist for over 27 years and has training in drawing, painting, digital drawing and graphic design. Diana’s latest obsession is digitally drawing with Procreate and Procreate Dreams. Diana has experience selling her art across a number of platforms and loves helping other artists learn how to make money from their art as well.