Illustrator's Guide to Procreate

Illustrator's Guide to Procreate is a practical guide to digital illustration in Procreate, the painting app for iPad. Artist and illustrator Ruth Burrows teaches the techniques for making professional-looking art, including seamless patterns. She covers the app's main elements, such as layers, selections, brushes and tiling patterns.

The tone is beginner-friendly and free of jargon. Rather than a heavy technical manual, the book works as an inspirational workbook that encourages readers to experiment, make mistakes and find their own way of using the app.

The Basic Tools section introduces the essential features and gives a quick tour of Procreate. Readers learn by doing and can return to it later to refresh their memory. The Projects section extends that learning. The first projects explain techniques step by step, with screenshots of the real interface so it is clear how things work and where to find them. The later projects focus more on art, showing in detail how Burrows uses Procreate to make her commercial work.

By the end, the aim is for digital drawing to feel as natural as working with pencil and paper. The book also gives practical advice on earning money from your art, including licensing and having your designs printed on products.