Things to Draw on Procreate For All Levels

If you’re already familiar with Procreate, you might be looking for even more ideas to fill up your blank canvas. If you’re still navigating Procreate 101, you’ll definitely benefit from seeing some of the work other artists have completed on the digital painting and drawing app. Either way, you’ll discover more about how to use Procreate for over two dozen beginner, intermediate, and advanced drawing ideas. 

Procreate: What You Need to Know

Procreate is a digital illustration app where any artist—no matter what their skill level—can sketch, paint, and create any art they set their mind to. Before you dive into what the app can do, try to choose three Procreate ideas from the list below and then decide from there rather than trying to compare each idea to another to avoid any overwhelm. 

Drawing Ideas for Everyone

Users have often praised Procreate for its accessibility. Crafted to be user-friendly, intuitive, and at a price point that can fit most budgets, Procreate and its designers wanted to make an app that was open to as many creatives as possible. Even if you’re not totally confident in your art skills, exploring new Procreate ideas for beginners and getting to the edge of your comfort zone is one of the best ways to push yourself even further as an artist.

1. For Procreate Beginners

A House

You can exercise some of the most important drawing skills like perspective, shading, and line work while drawing your childhood home, your dream home, or something in between. 

Mandalas

Lose yourself in the hypnotic patterns and simple shapes of the mandala as a meditative way to improve your art skills. 

Your name

Get creative with the two words most closely connected to your personal identity and explore a few different lettering aesthetics with your name as the inspiration. 

Plants and flowers

Often given as gifts, plants and flowers are celebrated for their bright colors and natural beauty. Use your favorite flower or a plant in your neighborhood for some drawing ideas to use in Procreate. You can even try painting in a watercolor or gouache style with Procreate!

Night sky

You don’t have to be Van Gogh to turn the night sky into a work of art. Use the moon and the stars as your guide and create a drawing filled with deep blues, dull yellows, and creamy whites. 

Tree

Until now trees might just have existed in your life to provide shade on a sunny day or a branch for a nest of baby birds, but trees can also be a great source of Procreate inspiration for your next work of art.

Pet portraits

If you love spending time with dogs or have a dog of your own, try your hand at a dog drawing or other pet portraits in Procreate. You can explore a simple line drawing or get more realistic by using color, shading, and textured brushes to bring your pooch to life. 

Favorite food

A juicy cheeseburger, a plate of freshly picked strawberries or a gooey brownie can all make great drawing ideas within Procreate. 

Abstract designs 

Start with a simple swirl, a few geometric shapes or just by swiping your brush across the page with your eyes closed and you’ll be on your way to a cool abstract design.

 2. For Intermediate Procreate Artists

A detailed portrait 

Find a picture of a loved one or a stranger in a magazine and try to recreate their face with as much detail as possible.

Line art

The beauty of line art is being able to put down your pen and not pick it up again until you have a finished work of art. 

Waterfalls

You don’t have to cross the globe to spend time with a spectacular waterfall. Try creating your own magnificent natural wonder on your canvas or within Procreate animation. 

Favorite Product

If you’re like most of the population, your kitchen cabinet, bathroom vanity, and office drawers are full of products. Improve your drawing skills by illustrating your favorite product.

Cartoon Character

Fill your page with your favorite character or one that sprouted from your imagination complete with a funky hair-do, a stylish outfit, and expressive facial features. 

Octopus 

You can recreate any object or creature from under the sea, but an octopus makes a great intermediate drawing prompt with its smooth, symmetrical shape. 

Eyes

Sit in front of a mirror and try to draw your eyes without looking down at your paper or try to copy a set of eyes from someone you know.  

Ice Cream

This sweet treat isn’t just delicious to eat but it also makes an illustration prompt that will make you hungry to fill up your entire canvas. 

Sofa

To find sofa drawing inspiration, you can flip through a home decor magazine or sit in your living room and draw whatever sits in front of you. 

3. For Advanced Procreate Illustrators

Your favorite movie scene

You might love your favorite movie for the plot, a relatable character, or a scene you could rewatch a thousand times. Try your hand at recreating a scene you find either beautiful, chaotic, or interesting. 

A very detailed monument

Famous monuments can instantly transport you to the place where they reside. Draw a detailed monument to reminisce on a travel memory or a dream destination. 

An imaginary creature

You can find imaginary creatures that live in space, beneath the waves, or even under your bed. Conjure up an imaginary creature and recreate it in Procreate.

Dreamscape 

Dreams can take you to places you might have never imagined on your own. Take your art out of this world by getting inspired by the unreal.

Self-portrait

These can be even more difficult than other portraits because artists aren’t always as good at evaluating themselves as they are other people, which makes it one of the more challenging Procreate prompts. 

Emotion 

With a drawing idea as open-ended as “emotion,” advanced artists can take the time to represent fear, joy, sadness, and excitement as they feel best. 

Hands

If you look back to some of the first drawings of people, their hands always look a little off because they are difficult to recreate. See what sort of hands you can create within Procreate.

A room in your house

Turn a sofa into a cozy living room or your favorite face wash into a charming bathroom in a cottage while drawing a room in your house or someone else’s. 

A detailed cityscape

If you’ve walked across the Brooklyn Bridge or the high line, you’ll know how many details can live inside one cityscape. Get as creative and precise as possible by drawing your own cityscape. 

Fine Tune Your Procreate Skills

After exploring a few Procreate ideas, your Procreate canvas could be full of curious imaginary creatures, realistic portraits, and full-blown scenes. Take your time exploring each idea and remember that every artist has their own unique style and skills. If you’re looking to be guided through an illustration with an expert by your side, try taking a Skillshare class to boost your Procreate skills.

Written By

Calli Zarpas

Producer & Writer by occupation. Ceramicist & Newsletter Editor by avocation.

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