How to Make a Watercolor Brush in Procreate

Ever wanted to make your own custom watercolor brush in Procreate but had no idea where to start? In this tutorial we will be learning how to build a basic watercolor brush from scratch, which will give you the foundation to start creating the watercolor brushes that you’ve always dreamed of.

We’ll be discovering how to edit the shape and grain of the brush, as well as how to adjust the brush settings to fine-tune it to your personal tastes. We will also be looking at how we could use this brush in an illustration.

If you’re also looking for some ready-to-use watercolor Procreate brushes, we’ve got you covered! Check out the links at the end of this tutorial for some of my favourite premium watercolor brushes for Procreate from Envato Elements.

Get these watercolor brushes for Procreate for your digital projects from Envato Elements.

Do you prefer video tutorials? If you’re a visual person, then you’ll love this new video from the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel. Watch me work and learn how to make a watercolor brush in Procreate (as well as various other brushes) by following this video tutorial:

What You’ll Learn in This Watercolor Brush Procreate Tutorial

How to create a watercolor brush in Procreate from scratch
How to use a watercolor brush in Procreate

1. How to Create a Watercolor Brush in Procreate From Scratch

Step 1

In this watercolor brush Procreate tutorial, I’m using an iPad Pro, an Apple Pencil, and the Procreate 5.2 app.

To begin, open up Procreate and tap the + icon in the top-right corner to create a new canvas. This will allow you to access the Brush Library. You can find this by clicking on the brush icon on the top right side of the screen.

Step 2

Press the + icon in the top right corner of the Brush Library menu to create a new brush and open the Brush Studio.

Step 3

Click on the Shape section of the menu on the left side of the screen and then press the Edit button, which is at the top of the screen above the white circle. This will open the Shape Editor. This is where you can change the shape of the brush tip.

Click on the Import button in the top-right corner and select Source Library from the dropdown menu. You could also use one of the other options if you would like to import your own shape design or one that you have downloaded online.

Select the shape you would like to use for your watercolor brush. I selected Ink 2 due to its loose and textured appearance. Press Done in the top-right corner of the Shape Editor window to apply the new shape to the brush.

Step 4

Click on the Grain Source section of the Brush Studio menu and press the Edit button above the blank white square. This will open the Grain Editor. The Grain is the texture which sits inside the shape of the brush, so editing this will change the appearance of the fill.

Select one of the Image source options and choose the texture you would like to apply to your brush. I selected Import a file and uploaded this chalkboard texture which can be downloaded from Envato Elements.

The texture will now replace the white box, and Procreate will automatically convert it into black and white. The image needs to be a seamless pattern (or the edges will show up as straight lines when using the brush). Click Auto repeat in the top right of the screen to begin this process.

The size that the texture will appear within the brush can be edited by using the Grain scale slider. I chose to leave this setting at 1. Press Done to create the seamless pattern.

The texture is now applied to the brush stroke. The Drawing Pad on the right can be used at any time to test out your brush as you play around with the settings.

Step 4

Now it’s time to tweak the individual brush settings. All of these settings will be set at default values when creating a new brush, the red circles highlight the settings that I have changed.

First I select the Stroke path section of the menu down the left side of the screen. I chose to set the Spacing (which controls the gap between each ‘stamp’ of your brush shape) to 6% and the Jitter (this offsets each stamp of your brush along the path by a random amount) to 10%.

Step 5

Next I select the Taper section and drag the Pressure slider to none (the amount of artificial taper at the beginning and end of each stroke).

Step 6

I then select the Shape section of the menu and tap the Randomised switch to set it to the on position. (This randomises the rotation of each shape within your brush stroke, making each stroke slightly different from the one before it.)

Step 7

Next I head to the Grain section of the menu and set the Movement (set lower for more drag and a smeared effect, and higher for a roller effect) to 58%, the Scale (adjusts the size of the texture within the shape) to 59%, and the Rotation (smears the grain image based on directional stroke changes) to -100%.

Step 8

Then I head to the Rendering section of the menu and select Light Glaze as the Rendering mode as this best replicates the behaviour of real watercolor paint. (These modes control the heaviness of paint laid down on the canvas, with Light Glaze being the most opaque and washed out.)

Step 9

Next I select the Wet Mix section of the menu and adjust the Charge (sets the amount of paint that is applied to the brush when you begin to make a stroke) to Disabled and the Pull (the strength of how the brush will pull paint around the canvas) to 90%.

Step 10

I then tap the Apple Pencil section of the menu and set the Size (adjusts the size of the brush tip under varying pressure) to 37%, the Opacity (adjusts the transparency range of the brush under varying pressure) to None, the Flow (sets the amount of paint the brush lays down under varying pressure) to Max, and the Bleed (adjusts how much the brush edges bleed into the canvas under varying pressure) to 6%.

Scrolling further down the Apple Pencil section, I set the Gradation (creates a softening effect when shading with the brush at an angle) to Max, the Bleed (sets the amount the brush will bleed around the edges when tilted) to 11%, and the Size (adjusts the effect of tilt on the thickness of brushstrokes) to 34%.

Step 11

I then move on to the Properties section of the menu, and set the Smudge (sets how much a brush smudges when used as the Smudge tool) to 70% and the Maximum size (sets the upper size limit of the brush) to Max.

Step 12

Finally I select the About this brush section and rename my brush by tapping on the area of text circled in red. I also add my name and signature to the section directly below this, which is useful for retaining credit if you are planning to share the brush online.

The finished brush is now complete! In the following section I will be showing an example of how I like to use watercolor brushes like this one within my own work.

2. How to Create a Watercolor Brush in Procreate From Scratch

One of my favourite ways to use Procreate watercolor brushes is to add texture and depth to backgrounds. This is a really quick and easy way of levelling up a plain coloured background. I’m going to use the drawing below as an example of how this can add another layer of interest and dimension to a drawing.