Animated Illustration in Procreate: Tell a Story with Movement

Animation can be a powerful tool for telling a story. Over the years, illustrator Martín Tognola, whose clients include The Washington Post and The New York Times, has mastered the art of explaining things using animated loops.

In this course, learn how to use animation as a narrative tool for illustrating while also learning how to use Procreate. Your goal is to create a graphic solution for an idea, text, or script and convey the core message using only your animated loop. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to add motion to any illustration and bring it to life using Procreate.

Start by meeting Martín who tells about the creative process he goes through while developing an idea. He also shares some of his main influences and discusses the narrative tools he regularly uses before walking you through the course content.

In the second unit, study the three main concepts you need to know to complete your project. Start by learning how to work with Procreate. Then, discover the basic principles of animation. Lastly, explore the different types of visual narration.

Now it’s time to work on your illustration project. Play with rhetorical figures until you develop a conceptual language and define your creative idea. Then, create a sketch and a storyboard. Finally, clean up your design in Procreate, add color, and experiment with foreground.

Once your animation is finished, export it from Procreate in a format that allows you to either share it on social media or send it to clients. Analyze which options suit you best based on your needs or the platform you’ll be using.

Create an animated loop that tells a short story with an unexpected ending.

Anyone with or without knowledge of drawing interested in exploring the narrative capabilities of animation applied to illustration.

All you need for this course is basic knowledge of Procreate, a graphic tablet with the program installed, and a lot of imagination.