Moody Digital Illustration with Procreate
A course by Jim Spendlove
Illustrator.
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
Joined January 2022
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, Illustrator
Joined January 2022
Explore composition, line work, color, and overlays to create atmospheric artwork that tells a story
- 100% positive reviews (28)
- 914 students
- Audio: English
- English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
Explore composition, line work, color, and overlays to create atmospheric artwork that tells a story
- 100% positive reviews (28)
- 914 students
- 16 lessons (2h 51m)
- 15 additional resources (4 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Through a careful combination of digital tools and techniques, you can create captivating artwork that appears attractive at a glance, but also invites the viewer to look deeper. Illustrator Jim Spendlove specializes in creating cover art for digital streaming platforms, vinyl sleeves for labels like Chillhop Music and Lofi Records, and independent artists.
In this online course, he teaches you to tell stories through atmospheric images. Learn how to use the tools of Procreate to craft powerful illustrations through solid compositions and impactful effects. Ready to create evocative artwork on your iPad?

What will you learn in this online course?
Course table of contents
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U1U1. Introduction
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U2U2. Learning the Basics
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U3U3. Creating the Artwork
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U4U4. Going One Step Further
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FPFP Final project
Begin the course by getting to know freelance illustrator Jim Spendlove. Discover how he turned his childhood love of drawing into a full-time career, along with the influences that inspire him and the work he creates.
Get an introduction to Procreate and its features. Then see Jim’s process for coming up with a concept for your illustration. Create a mood board of references and use it to draw three thumbnail sketches, experimenting with composition.
Use your favorite sketch as a base to create your initial illustration before developing it into a more refined line drawing. Add color to your work, and incorporate shadow for depth. Then work on the lighting before adding the finishing touches to your drawing.
Learn how to create your own textures for digital illustration. Jim also shows you how to add movement to turn your image into a simple animation. To wrap up the course, he guides you through the process of formatting and exporting the finished project.
What is this course's project?
Illustrate a narrative digital illustration in Procreate with the option to turn it into a simple animation.

Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone interested in creating atmospheric artwork on their iPad.
Requirements and materials
No previous experience is required.
In terms of materials, you will need an iPad with Procreate installed, and an Apple Pencil.

Reviews

A course by Jim Spendlove
Jim Spendlove is a UK-based freelance illustrator who specializes in cover art. As a child, he loved to draw, recreating artwork from his favorite comics, Beano and Dandy, and even having his work featured at the age of 11. He went on to study art at college, and later, fine art at university where he combined his experience with traditional techniques with digital tools. Inspired by his passion for hip-hop, Jim decided to focus on creating cover art, expanding his portfolio, and attracting commissions on Instagram.
Since then, he’s worked for Lofi Records, Chillpop Music, and a number of independent artists. He also creates loop animations for social media and YouTube and sells his work online.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
Learning the Basics
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Introducing Procreate
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Concept Development
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References and Mood Board
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Composition and Thumbnails
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U3
Creating the Artwork
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The Initial Sketch 1
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The Initial Sketch 2
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The Line Drawing
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Adding Colour
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Adding Shadow
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The Lighting
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The Final Touches
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U4
Going One Step Further
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Creating Texture
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Adding Slight Movement in Procreate
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Formatting and Exporting the Image
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FP
Final project
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Moody Digital Illustration with Procreate
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
cagliyangilcaglasu
Thanks for teaching so many things about Procreate, finding inspiration, use of colors and everything! We need more instructors like Jim! As a person who has been painting in traditional ways for more than 10 years, this course speed up my talent in digital art in a short time. Completely recommending. You won't regret :)
wingkatarina
I loved the course! It is very inspiring and motivating with a lot of useful tips and is easy to follow.
rubiojuan
Easy to follow and learn
romee_milou
Loved this course, not quite ready to show my own work on here, but I loved following along! Clear instructions and room to get your own feel of how to work in Procreate. Definitely recommend this course! Even for beginners (maybe especially) like me :)
tlunddesign
Fantastic! I was looking for something that moved along and focused on the design process. Learned so much in every video!