A short video showing my digital painting setup excerpted from my 2022 Daily Pages class.
My Digital Painting Setup
As an artist, I work mostly with digital tools. This is my go-to set, which I think is one of the most common setups for digital artists. I feel like the drawing experience with this setup is seamless, and I can finish a complex digital painting with it.
- 12.9” iPad Pro. I get the smallest memory size of iPad pro, because I only really use it for digital painting and Procreate files take just a small amount of storage space.
- Second Generation Apple Pencil.
- Procreate digital drawing app.
- Paper-Like screen protector adds some friction to mimic the feeling of paper.
- New: Sketchboard Pro. This iPad stand really helps with posture and comfort! Note: this one didn't make it into the video as I'm adding it in January 2022.
Setup for a Sketchbook:
I suggest using a canvas size that mimics the feeling of a notebook. The default "Screen Size" could work because it's similar to a sheet of paper. Or, you could use the dimensions of your favorite traditional notebook for your Procreate template. (I like 8x10", the size of my Stillman & Birn notebook).
You can create a new canvas template by clicking the "+" sign at the top right corner to open the canvas menu, then clicking the little black symbol next to the "New Canvas" option.
I group all the pages in one folder so I can scroll through them like a book, by doing a long hold on each page and dragging them on top of each other. You can edit the folder name by clicking on the title.
The latest version of Procreate (as of the time of this recording) lets you see all your layers in a page format, so you can scroll through them. It's really nice!
Brushes, Colors, and Layers
I suggest just choosing a few favorite brushes so that your flow isn't disrupted when you are drawing by having to sort through all the brushes. You can make a folder in your brush library just for daily pages brushes, by pressing the "+" button in the brush menu.
You can do the same thing with colors by saving a palette just for your daily pages. Open the color menu at the top right, then click the Palette icon, and click the "+" button to create a new palette.
Finally, you can draw in different layers to add flexibility to your drawing process and make easy changes. (You create new layers by clicking the layers icon at the top right, then clicking the "+" sign.) However, drawing all on one layer is a nice way to mimic the feeling of drawing in a real sketchbook if you are doing this as a Daily Pages practice.
More Resources
If you're new to digital painting, check out my Intro to Digital Painting class in Mimochai Studio and on Skillshare, where I introduce my basic digital painting workflow from Procreate to Photoshop. It's comprehensive yet approachable, so don't feel intimidated :)
I also share more tips and resources in our Mimochai Studio Resource Library. Learn more about the Studio and join here.
- M💛
