DEEP DIVE

A masterclass in illustration

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

Procreate

Sketch. Paint. Create.

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Victo Ngai’s rich and 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 turned more recently to the design app Procreate to achieve her signature look.

Over the last two decades, Ngai has moved from Guangdong to Hong Kong to New York to Los Angeles, the local colours of each place seeping into her palette. At 25, she earned a coveted spot as the youngest illustrator on Forbes’ 2014 30 Under 30: Art & Style list.

“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 travelled to the Dingle Peninsula along the Irish coast 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 chiselled 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 analogue 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 emphasise the rock’s texture. To contrast the straight lines of the rock, I stylised 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 colour. 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 colour closer to yellow. Instantly the grass felt more Irish. I then selected individual ovals and changed those into a secondary colour, giving the grass a richer look.”

Step 10

“One of my favourite 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 centre of the canvas.

The final product

Here’s the finished study!