At the age of 18, Hong Kong digital artist Andrew Mok, better known as Offgod, has already made an impressive name for himself.

He’s designed album covers for renowned musicians such as The Kid Laroi, Juice WRLD and Justin Bieber, been invited to collaborate with fashion labels including Adidas and Bape, and founded his own fashion label Bandage Boy.

We spoke to him about how he uses technology and experimentation to expedite his creative process, as well as his best Procreate and Nomad Sculpt tips.

Growing up in Hong Kong, Mok sees the city as a source of inspiration: “Even though Hong Kong is a small place, there’s so much culture in it and also a lot of influence from western and Japanese culture. It’s really inclusive.”

And from this grew his signature style, which leans into local animations and is deeply influenced by the aesthetics of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai.

When Mok was a child, his father encouraged him to doodle, never expecting that this would set him on the career path of an illustrator.

He remembers starting out drawing with the trackpad of his MacBook, until his father gave him his first iPad. Now he uses Procreate to illustrate, describing the app as “my bread and butter, something I can use on my way to class and on the road”.

Balancing education and art as a teenager is no easy task, and Mok manages by keeping his creative process as simple as possible.

The Dry Ink brush in Procreate is one of his go-tos, and he likes it for how it recreates the texture of putting pencil to paper. From everyday graphics to major exhibitions, he uses the brush to sketch his ideas before filling in the details.

Another one of his favourite tools is the Studio Pen, picked for the smooth, simples lines created with its StreamLine function. “Working with lines is always the hardest part,” he explains, “but this feature makes it easy for me to draw perfect lines with less jitter, saving me a lot of time.”

Procreate Pocket

Sketch and Paint on iPhone.

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When adding colour, Andrew uses Alpha Lock to isolate the painted area and prevent spill-overs. In order to make his work feel more realistic and natural, he uses a Layer Mask together with a lower opacity brush to add light and shadows, creating a softer effect.

“Many people think that Procreate is just a drawing tool, but in fact, it is much more than that,” says Andrew.

He highly recommends the app’s image editing feature, which makes adding different colours and textures to layers easy, just like a filter. The app can also organise a series of photos into a lively animation. And Mok’s latest brand video for Bandage Boy was put together with Procreate.

Apart from his illustrations, Mok is also known for his imaginative fashion accessories, which he now designs using Nomad Sculpt on iPad.

He points out that even the most complex 3D models are made from simple shapes, so he usually starts by pulling out different shapes in the app and stacking them into the desired form.

Most of his sculptures are fashioned with just a few simple brushes of Clay, Move and Drag, and he often uses the Symmetry tool to give his sculptures symmetrical balance. Another app feature that adds to his product design is the ability to view his designs in different materials.

“If I’m working on a piece of jewellery, I can just render it in silver or copper to make a very realistic image with shadows, so it’s easy for me to imagine the actual effect,” Mok says.

Once the model is created in Nomad Sculpt, the STL file can then be exported and sent to the factory for production.

Nomad Sculpt

Sculpt, paint and create in 3D

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When it comes to tips on how to start creating, Mok encourages emerging artists to follow their intuition and gradually find their own style.

“With art, especially digital art, there is so much you can experiement with,” he says.

“With Procreate alone, there are so many brushes you can draw with, you can do anime, realistic, painting, spraying. Really experiment with the resources you have and don’t be afraid to just try different things and see if you like it or not.”