In this tutorial, we're going to create a retro mid-century character in Procreate. You'll be learning how to:

• Set up your canvas in Procreate.
• Sketching your character concept in Procreate.
• Blocking out colors and patterns in Procreate.
• Using alpha lock and clipping masks in Procreate.
• The magical power of Procreate blending modes.

We're using The Liner Brush Pack for Procreate for this illustration. It's not 100% necessary but the results will be much better with the brushes.

Background of Mid-Century Retro Illustration

Overall, mid-century line illustration can be categorized as encompassing some rather unique traits.

The line work itself was frequently expressive and animated because the line widths and line styles were made by hand using varied brush or pen and ink strokes.

Color palettes were either limited to a handful of colors or layered on top of each other to create secondary colors from the flat colors below.

Shapes were often simplified or geometric.

It wasn’t uncommon for the composition of a Mid-Century piece to be trimmed down to the bare minimum. Here are a few examples below.

LET’S BEGIN!

In this tutorial, I will show you how to draw a Mid-Century styled girl in the rain using several of the characteristics I spoke about above.

I started with a Procreate canvas sized at 8 x 10” at 300 dpi – but you’re welcome to make your canvas any size you want.

I used a limited color palette and two liner brushes - Magic Charcoal and Blotty Inker and two pattern brushes - Pinstripe 02 and Loose Plaid.

Step 1.

This is the sketch on which we are going to base our illustration.

Step 2.

Start by inserting your sketch into your Procreate document.

Step 3.

Change the opacity of the sketch to 25%. Changing the opacity makes it easier to draw underneath the sketch layer.

BLOCKING IN COLOR

Step 4.

Create a new layer under the sketch layer.

Now you can start blocking in your color. Using Magic Charcoal, I began by drawing in one leg of the shorts and labeling the layer as Shorts 1.

Next, we’ll make a new layer for each of the colored pieces as follows:

• shirt
• puddle
• umbrella
• rain drops.

To help make things easier to navigate within your document, you can name each layer accordingly.

Step 5.

Now we will draw/block in Boot 1. This is the last piece of our colored pieces we need to make.

PATTERN PLAY

NOTE: There are a couple of different ways to use pattern brushes. We will outline these options below.

1. You can begin by brushing in your pattern on a separate layer. Using the clipping mask option, clip it to a base shape on the layer below.
2. Another option is to turn on the alpha lock on your base shape layer and draw/brush in your pattern on top. While this is a great option, keep in mind that you can’t multiply the pattern if it’s on top of your base shape because the entire layer will be set to multiply and appear as one color. In this case, you would have to use another color that’s lighter or darker than your base shape color in order to have your pattern show up against the base color/base shape behind it. It’s also a good idea to make a duplicate of your base shape and use the duplicated layer to use the alpha lock setting on. That way, you can always go back and change out your pattern or the color used for the pattern.

Step 6.

Create a new layer for the shirt pattern fill and set it to multiply. Select a pattern brush – I used Pinstripe 02, but you can choose the one you like best and use it.

Step 7.

Using your chosen pattern brush, proceed to draw a block/area of pattern large enough to cover over the entire shirt area.

Step 8.

Tap on your layer and select clipping mask to clip the pattern within the confines of the shirt shape.

Proceed to make new layers for the umbrella and boot 1. Remember to set these layers to multiply.

Step 9.

Choose a pattern brush to use on boot 1. Size the brush down to 5% of its original size and draw the pattern over the boot, making sure it extends beyond the outside edges of boot 1.

Step 10.

Tap on your pattern layer and select clipping mask.

Step 11.

Select the boot 1 layer and the pattern layer. You can do this by tapping and dragging your stylus to the right while on each layer. Dragging your stylus will highlight the layers in blue.

Step 12.

Now that you have the layers selected, you can group them together by using the + symbol at the top of the layers menu.

Step 13.

Create a duplicate of the boot 1 layer group and rename it to boot 2. To create a duplicate, drag your stylus to the right and select duplicate.

Step 14.

Tap on the boot 2 layer group to select it.

Step 15.

Rotate the boot 2 layer group 45 degrees and move it to the left, until it’s placed over the sketch in the proper place.

Step 16.

Make a duplicate of shorts 1 and rename the layer to shorts 2.

Step 17.

Rotate the shorts 2 layer 45 degrees and move to the left, until it’s placed over the sketch in the proper place.

Step 18.

You’ll notice that boot 2 and shorts 2 layers are underneath the puddle. They shouldn’t be in the final piece, so now is a good time to move the puddle layer.

Step 19.

Tap on the puddle layer and move it down below the boot 2 and shorts 2 layers.

IT’S TIME TO LINE

Step 20.

It’s time to start drawing in the line work. I started by drawing in two raindrops using the Blotty Inker.

Proceed to make new layers for each section of line work you draw.

I made a new layer for the girl (her head, arms and legs,) a layer for the umbrella handle, a layer for the detailing on her shirt, and a layer for the line work on her boots.

NOTE: I used less pressure on my Apple pencil to create thinner lines in her hair and on her facial details (see step 21.)

Step 21.

Change the colour of you brush and create a new layer for her hair bow. Draw the hair bow using the Blotty Inker.

OPTIONAL STEPS:

Tap and drag all of the line work layers to select them.

Group the linework layers by using the + symbol at the top of the layers menu, and label it line work.

Step 22.

Turn off the sketch layer. Change the background color to the creamy color in the palette.

Step 23.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your Mid-Century styled drawing is now complete. Be sure to go through the entire process of drawing a retro character in Procreate yourself.

The first time you go through the process might be time-consuming but it will burn the concepts into your brain and help you make character illustrations faster in the future.