DEEP DIVE

A Master Class in Illustration

Acclaimed artist Victo Ngai gives us a rare peek at her process in Procreate.

Procreate

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Victo Ngai’s rich, intricate illustrations have appeared everywhere from The New York Times to GQ to Apple campaigns. The L.A.-based artist works in all manner of media but has lately turned to the design app Procreate to achieve her signature look.

“There’s always a sort of abstraction to Chinese art,” Ngai says. “And I’m always more interested in how people experience my art rather than convincing them this is what actual reality looks like.”

Earlier this year, Ngai traveled to the Dingle Peninsula on the Irish coastline and came away with new waves of inspiration. “I find the centuries-old dialogue between the hard edges of the rock and the fluidity of the ocean really interesting,” she says. “And the chiseled rock faces are often dotted with thick soft mossy grass, making them a great subject for texture study.”

Here, the artist walks us through exactly how she used Procreate to turn a photo into one of her stunning signature works. (If you’re short on time, watch the whole process unfold in this video.)

Step 1

“I’m really interested in the dramatic texture of the rock, so I started with analog media: acrylic ink, brushes, and stiff card stock.”

Step 2

“It’s always good to start with simple big shapes. Here, I outlined the mountains and used Procreate’s Color Autofill function. The fill is not always precise—especially when the outline has fuzzy edges—but it’s easy to clean up manually.”

Step 3

“After the big shapes were all in place, I refined them with the Transform tools. I especially like the Warp tool, which allows me to make minute tweaks.”

Step 4

“I took photos of the textures I created on paper and imported them into Procreate. Then I turned the photos into black-and-white images so I could use the Automatic Selection tool to isolate and delete the white areas.”

Step 5

“I added diagonal lines to emphasize the rock’s texture. To contrast the straight lines of the rock, I stylized the soft mossy grass into simple ovals. I set the grass-line layer as a Reference layer, so I could use the Color Autofill function on the layer underneath while keeping the grass-line layer unchanged.”

Step 6

“Turning down the opacity of the distance rocks enhances the atmospheric perspective, separating those rocks from the foreground and making them seem farther away.”

Step 7

“Here I used the 2B compressed charcoal brush to help translate the feel of the mossy grass. Using the Selection tool, I isolated the ovals (both individually and in groups), so I could paint the highlights and create a three-dimensional look.”

Step 8

“I applied different pressures when painting on different parts of the mossy grass, which changed the intensity of the same green color. This created an illusion that part of the grass is protruding and catching more light.”

Step 9

“The green I used had too much blue in it, so I used the Hue/Saturation/Brightness tool to slide the color closer to yellow. Instantly the grass felt more Irish. I then selected individual ovals and changed those into a secondary color, giving the grass a richer look.”

Step 10

“One of my favorite Procreate features is the Quick Shape tool—it’s a godsend when I want to create a perfect circle. All I need to do is draw a circle as usual—but not pick up the Pencil when I’m done. When done correctly, my lumpy circle snaps automatically into a perfectly symmetrical shape. If I keep my pencil held down, I can resize, rotate and move my circle around (and if I press a finger from my other hand on the screen while still holding down my pencil, the circle will snap again into an alternate shape). When I do lift my Pencil, an Edit Shape button will appear at the top center of the canvas.