Digital Art: Beginners Workshop for iPad and Procreate

If you have an ipad and apple pencil and are wondering how to start your digital artistic journey, then this workshop is for you!

Procreate is an app that is similar to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator but much more user friendly and cheaper at just £10! Tutor Rosie is a self-taught artist and illustrator and since she started using procreate it has completely revolutionised her art and business.

PLEASE NOTE: For this course you will need your own iPad, digital pencil and have the Procreate app downloaded onto your iPad. We are unable to loan this equipment to participants.

This one-day workshop will consist of 3 stages and at each stage you’ll learn the technical aspects of Procreate whilst taking creative inspiration from the wonderful gallery space at Attenborough Arts and/or your own influences.

This means that you won’t need any fully formed ideas, we’ll take the galleries lead for our artistic imagination giving us the head space to drill into the techy stuff!

For the first stage we’ll learn the absolute basics of drawing with a digital pencil in Procreate. We’ll learn how the different ‘brushes’ work. How to save, select, change and move images. We’ll learn how layers work, how to use different colours and ‘colour drop’ and the general inner workings of the app.

If any of this sounds like jargon, then you’re in the right place! And we promise it’s easier than it sounds!

Then we’ll use more of our imagination and creative skills by getting to grips with the effects section of Procreate. We’ll be taking more inspiration from the gallery space by learning how to insert images, what can be done with them and how they can be manipulated. We’ll learn how to add other things too like text, and how you can start to build up your drawn images.

The final stage will be all about how to make your work ready to sell. If you’re doing this course just for the joy of it, that’s great! But learning these extra special skills will still be mega useful! Like repeat patterns, logos, alpha lock, text and saving for print. We’ll explore the effects more and consider how we might merge other art into this new digital landscape. For example, enhancing our own photography or physical drawings. We’ll also explore any specific interests you have personally and how we might continue on this new digital venture!

Tutor Rosie Johnson is a self-taught artist and illustrator. She specialises in modern calligraphy, hand printing, decorative homeware, digital illustration and graphic design with a sprinkle of glitter! Rosie has been teaching for a number of years now and runs her own business making all things quirky and alternative. She believes everyone has creative talent and loves proving herself right in every class she teaches!

Recommended for ages 14+. Under 18s must be accompanied by a paying adult at all times.

The workshop will run on Tuesday 14 October 2025, 10am - 4pm.

There’ll be a short break for lunch. Our café will be open or you’re welcome to bring your own refreshments.

If the course/workshop you’d like to book is sold out, we do operate a waiting list - simply contact our box office team on / and ask to be added to the waiting list. We’ll then contact you if a place becomes available, with absolutely no obligation to accept it if you’ve made other plans!

Please ensure that you agree to our updatedTERMS & CONDITIONS before booking as courses/workshops are non-refundable in some circumstances.

We aim to make all our sessions as accessible as possible and carers/PAs are very welcome - just remember to book their free place when you book your session. If you'd like to talk to us in advance of booking or attending your sessions to discuss your access needs, our Box Office team is here to help! Email, pop in or call, open 7 days a week.

We have four blue badge parking spaces outside Attenborough Arts Centre, plus double yellow line roadside parking very close to the building for blue badge holders for up to three hours if our parking spaces are occupied.
Free parking for all customers is available after 5pm on weekdays and all day at weekends in the University of Leicester car park next door to Attenborough Arts Centre on Lancaster Road. The closest public car park for parking at all other times is Victoria Park, 5-10 minutes walk from us (near De Montfort Hall).