The right Workflow?!

Procreate has many features that allow you to create and keep an industry standard non-destructive workflow, meaning that you can make a lot of changes and adjustments to piece of work without losing track of before and after of alterations. you can work in organized layers and duplicate the layers when trying out new adjustments and experimenting with new brushes and techniques. Despite these options you might still feel comfortable working on one layer at a time but you would be losing the opportunity to create multiple layers of work that can be re-used and re-adjusted to differerent moods and settings.

Working in Layers

To work in layers, you can start from bottom to top layer where each layer can be drawn and adjusted individually.

Layer Adjustments and Blending Modes: 

A variety of blending modes can be used to adjust color, value, opacity, tonality and lighting. You can access blending modes by clicking on the (N) on each layer. In  this example I colored my grissaille drawing by adding flat colors in the color blending mode layer on top of my monotone drawing so the colors retain the same value. This is a trick for faster coloring.

Layer Mask and Clipping Mask 

An often confusing but useful layering options are the Layer Mask, Clipping Mask, and Alphalock modes. Alpha Lock, Clipping Mask, and Layer Mask are essential tools for controlling where you paint, ranging from destructive to non-destructive methods. Alpha Lock restricts you to painting only on the existing pixels of a single layer, making it great for quick color changes but permanently altering the art. Clipping Mask allows you to paint on a separate layer while using the layer below to define the boundaries, offering a reversible way to add shading or textures without touching the original shape. Finally, Layer Mask functions as a non-destructive eraser that uses black and white values to hide or reveal parts of an image, allowing you to correct mistakes without permanently deleting pixels. In the drawing below you can see that I used both clipping masks and layer masks to add a soft light ray on top of my drawing.

Text adjustments: 

Using the Insert Text feature, you can change the font, size, kernings and leadings.

Animation Tools

You can do frame by frame animation drawing in procreate after selecting animation assist in the canvas in the actions menu. In this drawing mode each layer will count as a frame unless you group layers in which case the group will count as a frame. You can adjust Frame setting by holding on a frame and change onion skin and speed of the animation by clicking setting. 

Color Adjustments: 

you can change and recycle an already colored drawing by adjusting the colors and values using Gradient maps or Hue, Saturation, Brightness in the adjusments menu.

Making Patterns and Precise designs

One the greatest features of Procreate are the drawing guide grids and assistents for perspective, Isometric, and symmetrical drawing.  In this example I draw using the symmetry mode from the actions, canvas, drawing guide section. To create a repeating Pattern I then duplicated my drawing 3 more times and placed each of them in one quarter of my canvas using the transform and grid tools. I then repeated this action to get a larger pattern repetition. You can then export your drawing by clicking share file mode in the actions menu.

Note: I used color history and Harmonies tool at the bottom of the color panel to use colors that go well together.

Isometric Grid for drawing a room from above head.

Additional Adjustments:

Finally, some extra fun adjustment tools that you can use to create cool abstract paintings are laid out at the bottom of the adjustment menu including but not limited to: Gaussian blur, noise, liquify, clone, bloom, etc. You can adjust these by how long you hold and drag them after selecting them.

Strength and weaknesses

• Strengths: The biggest advantage is the pricing model; at a one-time cost (around $13) with no subscription, it is far more budget-friendly for schools than Adobe Creative Cloud. It is portable, intuitive, and the brush engine is world-class. The "Streamline" feature also helps students with motor control issues create smooth, steady lines.

• Weaknesses: The primary barrier is hardware; Procreate is iPad-only, which can be a major equity issue if a school does not have an Apple ecosystem. Additionally, it is a raster-based program (pixel-based), meaning you cannot scale images up indefinitely like you can with vector software (like Adobe Illustrator). Finally, the text tools are somewhat limited compared to graphic design specific software, making it better for illustration than strict layout design.

Overall Thoughts

As a big fan of Procreate and a digital artist myself who uses procreate daily I have to say that procreate is highly accessible for students from upper elementary through high school. For younger students, the tactile nature of drawing directly on the screen removes the disconnect found in traditional drawing tablets (where you draw on a pad but look at a monitor). The interface is icon-based and readable, though the sheer depth of features can be overwhelming for K-4 without guided instruction, also considering the expensiveness of ipads. For older students, it offers professional-grade depth. Importantly, procreate creates an automatic Timelapse video of every drawing if you keep this default setting on. In a classroom setting, this is an invaluable assessment tool, allowing teachers to view a student's entire process, not just the final product.