Procreate Beginner Landscape: Canvas to Starry Mountain Scene

Key points

• Set up a 2300 by 3000 pixel canvas in RGB with the sRGB profile, and download the video's colour palette if you want the same colours. 0:43
• Build the landscape as separate layers, one per hill, so each mountain can be moved or edited independently later. 6:57
• Use Alpha Lock to keep paint on the existing shape, for example when adding mist to each hill, so strokes don't land outside it. 10:01
• Draw a perfect moon by holding the pen after a rough circle so it snaps to a shape, then resize with Uniform scaling, because Freeform distorts it into an egg shape. 13:13
• Keep texture inside the moon with a clipping mask on its own layer, which stays editable afterwards, and export the finished artwork as a JPEG through the Share options. 15:34

Terms the lesson explains

• Colour drop threshold — Colour drop threshold is the setting adjusted by holding a fill and dragging; the sweet spot is the furthest-right value that still stops the paint spilling. 6:38
• Alpha lock — Locks a layer so only the existing painted area can be painted on, keeping strokes inside a shape. 10:01
• Clipping mask — A layer clipped to the layer below so paint only shows on the existing shape. 15:34
• Gaussian blur — An adjustment that softens edges to create a smooth gradient. 4:29
• Bloom — An adjustment that adds a soft glowing light effect around a shape. 14:44
• Smudge tool — A tool that drags colour outward from a stroke, here used to create a tail on shooting stars. 19:42

What you need

• Apple Pencil or pressure-sensitive pen — Recommended for pressure-varying brushes; finger does not work with these.
• Procreate on an iPad — The app used throughout the tutorial.
• Colour palette download — A downloadable palette linked in the description provides the exact colours used.

Steps

• 1. Create the canvas: Tap plus, choose custom size, set width 2300 px and height 3000 px, set RGB and sRGB profile, name it and create. 0:31
• 2. Fill the background blue: Drag the first palette colour onto the canvas to fill layer one. 2:14
• 3. Airbrush the gradient: Use the soft airbrush at 25 size and 60 opacity to add the second colour across the middle. 2:49
• 4. Blur the gradient: Select Gaussian blur from the magic wand menu and drag right to about 45 percent. 4:24
• 5. Draw and fill a mountain line: On a new layer draw a wobbly mono-line stroke across the canvas, then fill the enclosed shape with colour. 5:47
• 6. Lock layer alpha: Tap the layer and turn on Alpha Lock so paint stays inside the mountain shape. 10:01
• 7. Draw a perfect circle: Draw a rough circle, hold the pen to snap to an ellipse, then hold a finger to make it round. 13:07
• 8. Set up the star brush: Open the Glimmer brush in Brush Studio and increase stroke spacing and jitter for scattered stars. 17:09
• 9. Smudge a shooting star: Place two bright dots, then gently stroke outward with the smudge tool to create tails. 19:19
• 10. Export as JPG: Tap the wrench, choose Share, then pick JPEG to save or send the artwork. 21:34

Things to look at closely

• Brush Library — The Brush Library shows Lightbrush selected in a list including Flare, Lightpen and Pulse brushes.
• Layers panel — The layers panel lists seven layers stacked over the background colour, showing the mountain layers.
• Transform options — The transform bar shows Freeform, Uniform, Distort and Warp modes, with Uniform chosen for resizing without distortion.
• Glowing moon and stars — The finished moon sits in a sky full of scattered glimmer stars above the pink horizon.

Questions to check yourself