Tropical Alphabets In Procreate

1. Introduction: This project is a fantastic way to overcome a creative block by selecting a few alphabets and illustrating around a chosen theme, you can unlock your creativity in a fun and structured way. In this class, I'll be walking you through the step by step process of creating these tropical alphabets in Procreate. Hi, I'm Vinita, an illustrator and a designer based in Singapore. We'll start this class with some helpful tips on sketching and composition. Next, I'll show you how you can create a detailed line art for the macau bird. Followed by adding color with shadow and highlights. For the other elements, I'll provide finished examples. But you can apply the same steps we used for the Macao. For my project, I have this tropical theme with bird as the hero element while incorporating the other supporting elements. There are few examples and resources to inspire you to start your own alphabet CDs. You can experiment with different subjects like animals or flowers as your hero element to make your design uniquely yours. So see you in the class. 2. Project & Examples: For your class project, you can choose any alphabet or theme of your choice. In the resource section, you can find the sketches and the procreate brush for the letter M. You can either create the same artwork or experiment with different letters and compositions. There's also a prompt list that includes five elements for each letter. Feel free to follow the prompts or develop your own unique concept. Are the examples of other tropical letters. Each letter has five elements that includes a bird, fruit, insect, butterfly, and a flower. This is letter C, with the acato as the hero element, with the Cameleon, cacao bean, cashew, and cameela flower. This is letter F with flamingo as the hero element, pyrnapani flower, a fig and the fern and the butterfly as flotil Letter S with the stoked bird, sunflower, the snake plant, swallowtail butterfly, and the strawberry. Letter E with a two can, tangerine, tiger lily, tansy, and two tailed pasha butterfly. I hope this project and examples inspires you to create your own unique collection. I will be looking forward to your unique artwork in the project section of this class. 3. Canvas Brush Setup: So let's see what canvas size and brush set you can use for this class. When you go to the resource section of this class, you will be able to download my Canvas and the brush set. When you open my file in Procreate, you'll be able to see in the left corner here, tap and open this canvas, and this is what my file looks like. It's a rough sketch of each element, and they are all on a different layer. So when you go to layers, you will see each one is on a different layer. This will help you rearrange and recreate your own unique composition. For example, if I tap on the Macau layer and select this layer, you can move around this element. You can place it depending on your focal point, and you can even resize it. Let's move on to the brushes. When you go to the brush library, you will be able to find my brush set on the top here. I have included three basic brushes. And I have customized them depending on the stabilization and the pressure I need. The first one is a six B pencil brush. We will be using this to create the line art. Second one is Tamar to add the base color, shadow, and the highlights. Monoline can be used for the letter M. I will quickly show you the demo on what the brush looks like. So this is a pressure based brush. So the more pressure you add with your Apple pencil, the wider and darker it gets. So when I add shadow with the darker color, you can see it blends really well. So when you need darker, you can add more pressure in the same stroke. Now, let's see a lighter shade for the highlights. The second one is a six B pencil brush for the outline. This again is a pressure base brush. So when you add pressure, it gets thicker. You can also select any other brush of your choice depending on your style. The third one is a monolin brush. This can be used for the alphabets. So let's start the illustration with sketching and composition. 4. Sketching & Composition: You can either start your project with my file or you can even add your own elements and your own composition. If you're planning to have your own, you can use images from the Internet or royalty free sources as references. On a blank Canvas, you can go to action and add. Under AD, you'll find this option called Insert a photo, Swipe Left, and there is an option called Insert a private Photo. This will open your photo gallery, and you can insert the reference image on your Canvas, and then you can start with your rough sketch. Make sure you're sketching each element on a separate layer. This will give you a better control when planning the composition. For symmetrical elements like mode, you can use the symmetry tool. This will save you some time. So let's move on to finalizing the composition. So our first step is to have an extra copy of this sketch. For that, I'll go to layers. I'll select all the layers here and group them, tap on this option called group. And I'll close this group, so I left and tap duplicate. I'll hide my first group, open my second group. So now we can start moving our elements around. I'll start with one element at a time, so I'll hide all the other elements, and we can start with the macau first. I'll select the macau layer. Now here, before you start, you need to decide what you want your viewers focus to be on and make the most prominent part of your composition. For example, in my case, I want Macao, the bird to be the most focal and the most important part of my illustration. You can even resize your element. You can even create few rough compositions to experiment with different layouts and ideas. This will help you visualize the composition before you start with your final illustration. Once you're ready with your final illustration, you have to avoid moving around the elements too much. This can make your elements pixelated and spoil the quality of your illustration. I'm happy with my composition now. I want the sketch to be slightly in the center and smaller. Now to get the sketch exactly in the center, you have to make sure under snapping, your magnetic snapping is on. Now, when you move your sketch, you can see these golden lines to ensure that it is exactly in the center, and I'll deselect. Next, we can duplicate this composition. So we have an extra copy of it. I'll hide the first group, pinch and merge one of the group, and we can drag this final composition on a new canvas. You can drag and hold the layer, tap on gallery, and drop it in your library. This is the new canvas, tap on this canvas. Now when you go to layers, you'll see there's just one layer with the merged composition. You can reduce the opacity of your sketch. So this is the new canvas where we will start with our final illustration. I'll add a new layer, and let's move on to our first step of adding Lina to our illustration. 5. Lineart: Once you're happy with your composition, we can move on to our final line art. You have to make sure each line art is on a different layer. So we'll go to add a new layer, and I'll rename this layer as Macau line art. So for each element, we will be adding a new layer. Next under brush library, make sure your six B pencil brush is selected. Next under the color panel, I'll select this dark charcoal gray color. Here on the left side, you can see there's this tab where you can save the size of your brush. For example, for my thicker outline, I want it to be 50%. I'll save the size so I don't need to remember. I'll select the size and tap on this plus sign. I'll repeat the same steps for the thinner brush size that I'll be using to add details to these elements. I've reduced the opacity of my sketch layer so you can see the lines clearly. Because this is a pressure based brush, you can add thick and thin line in the same stroke. So I'm adding more pressure on my Apple pencil where I feel the lines can be thicker. This adds more depth and interest to your illustration. You can even choose another brush depending on your style. This pencil brush has a texture and gives a very sketchy and pencil finish to your illustration. But for a more smooth and clean lines, you can select a brush like studio pen brush or a technical pen Brush. You can even experiment with the color of your outline. Instead of sticking with black, you can try using colored lines to create a softer or more cohesive look that blends with your color palette. Once you're done with the outline with a thick brush, you can make the size of the brush smaller. This is to add smaller line art details. You can also experiment with these lines depending on your style. You have to make sure whatever brush or style you are using for your first element needs to be followed for the other elements, too, so that there is a consistency and cohesive feel to the whole artwork. Let's hide the sketch layer. We are done with the outline of our macau here. I'll be showing you the other elements where I have already finished the line art. So the video is not too long, and you can follow the same steps we did for the macau. This is the second element that is the monstera leaf. It is on a separate layer and it is overlapping with the parrot. The third element is the mango. Moving on to the fourth element that is this moth, and the fifth one is Mantis. And this is how the finished line art looks on the final artwork. Now, let's move on to the next step of adding some colors to these elements. 6. Adding Colours: Before we start adding colors to our elements, I want to show you a technique how you can pick colors for your elements. So for each color, we need a highlight, a mid tone, and a shadow shade of the same color. So I'll select my Tamar brush. Go to the color panel, and I can give you an example with a bright red color for the macau. The first color has to be the mid tone. So we need to select a color that is not too light and not too dark. I'll select this orangish red. So this is how my mid tone looks like. The next one is the shadow color. We have to go diagonally down on the right side. Now, if you want it to be more darker, you have to continue going diagonally down on the same line. Now for the highlights, too, I'll follow the same, but we will be going diagonally up. Now, if you want to make this more lighter, you have to go further diagonally up. So this is the technique that you can follow for each color and element. Another example with the green color. So this is what my Canvas is looking like right now with the final line R done for each element, and they are all on a separate layer. Now, tap on layers. And here we need a new layer under the Macau line art layer. Now to add a new layer, I'll select the letter M layer and tap on the plus sign, and you can see a new layer below our Macau layer. Go to the color panel, and I'll select this bright orangish red color. Make sure this color is a mid tone color, not too dark, not too light. From the brush library, I will select my Tamil brush, and I'll start adding my base color for the macau. I've increased the speed of the process so that the video is not too long, but you can pause the video and take your time. You can also have some images for your reference to understand how in real the colors are looking on the Macau bird. Reference images can also be very helpful to pick colors. Next, I'll select a nice deep yellow color, and I'll continue below the red. Next below this yellow color is this bright turquoise blue color. On the tail, again, it has to be red, so I'll pick the same color from the head. So we are done with the base color of the body here. We can add some base color for the beak and the face, too. Let's zoom into the face, and I'll select an off white color for the beak. Let's move on to the face. Now, this part of the face has to be white. I'll select this white color and we'll change the color of the background because the background is already white. Now when we draw, we can see it clearly. I'll fill in the whole face area with this white color. I think the lower beak needs to be of a darker charcoal color. I'll select a dark gray color, and I'll fill the bottom part of this beak. So now we are ready with the base color for the whole parrot. We'll move on to the shadow layer. We'll go to layer, and you have to add a new layer above this base layer. And this new layer is to add shadow. We'll start with the red first. I'll select the red first. I'll pick the color red. Then I'll diagonally go right down, select a darker shade of the same red. Make sure your tamer brush is selected, and with a smaller size brush, we can start adding some shadows. Now, with the same shade, we can also add to the tail area. Et's move on to the shadow for the second color. That is this yellow color. I'll select the color, diagonally go down, and I can add shadow to the yellow area. Now, let's move on to the blue color. I'll follow the same steps, select a darker shade of the same color. And we can add some shadow to the blue feather area. There's this one tip that you can follow for your shadow layer is you can go to the shadow layer, tap on this tiny end, and you can see all the filters here. You can select the multiply. You can see it enhances your shadow effect. You can even control this with the opacity if you feel the shadow looks too dark. I'll keep my opacity at around 80%. And let's move on to our highlights. I'll add a new layer about this shadow layer. Uh. Once you're done adding your shadow and highlights, if you feel the lines needs to be smudged, you can select the smudge tool. With any soft brush, you can blend the edges where you feel they are too hard or too rough. I'll go back to my highlight layer and we can continue with the yellow color. I'll select the yellow color, go to your color panel, and diagonally select a bright lighter yellow color. Now for the blue again, I'll select the color. I'll pick the mid tone, and I'll diagonally go up and select a lighter, brighter color. If you see a reference image of this red Macao, you can see there's another color of this darker royal blue. This is towards the end of the feather. So we are almost ready with our macau here. I need to add a little detail on the face, on the beak and the face part of this macau. I'll follow the same steps. I'll select a darker and a lighter color of the same off white shade, the beige shade to create a little shadow and highlights that can help you create this depth. On the face, I'll use this lighter shade of gray. If you closely see a reference image, you can see the stripe pattern on a macau face. So we have completed our Macau illustration here. I'll show you the colored version of the other elements too. So this is what it looks like with all the elements colored. You can follow the same steps like we did for the Macao. You need to create a base color, a shadow layer, and the highlight layer. Next, we need to add color for our letter M. Before that, you need to make sure you have each element on a different layer, and they can also be merged. Make sure to have a duplicate canvas before you merge all the layers. I'll select the letter M layer, add a new layer above your letter M layer, tap on the layer and select reference. Next, you have to select the new layer that you just added. Go to the color panel, and I'll select this dark charcoal black color, and you can drop this color on your letter M. If that fills your whole canvas, you have to reduce the threshold. This is also happening because the outline on my layer is with the six B pencil brush. If you have an outline done with a more opaque brush, this might not happen. And we are done with our artwork here. 7. Final Thoughts: Congratulations for completing this class. To recap, we learned some tips on sketching and composition of these tropical alphabets, how to add line art, and how to add color with shadow and highlights and plenty of examples to inspire you to create your own alphabet series. I hope this class has been beneficial to you and adds value to your illustration journey. If you have any doubt or questions regarding the class or the illustration process, you can post in the discussion section of this class. I'm here to assist you. Your feedback through review helps me improve and plan my future classes. You can follow me on Skill Share to get notified when I publish a new class and you can follow me on Instagram two. Thank you for taking this class with me. See you in my next class.