Ruth Burrows’ Illustrator’s Guide to Procreate is a winner!

Buy it here.

“Artist and illustrator Ruth Burrows takes a beginner-friendly, jargon-free approach to explaining how to get the most from Procreate, delivering not a heavy technical manual but rather, an inspirational workbook that encourages you to play, make mistakes and seek out your own way of using the app.”

I’m very proud of writing and illustrating my own book about Procreate.

I love the fact that the book is now out in the world, people are reading it and doing the projects and sending me messages to say how much it is helping them!

I learned that I actually enjoy writing and really enjoyed the process of breaking down the projects into steps and organising the screenshots in a way that helps the reader understand how the app works.

Were there challenges on this project?

The challenges were all time-related. I had to kind of start and finish each project in one sitting so I didn’t lose momentum. That made for some pretty late nights!

What was the original inspiration for the book?

I was approached by the publisher who had the original idea to do a book about Procreate for illustrators.

Where did you find inspiration for this project?

I found inspiration from my own practice. I love to apply my illustrations and artwork to different products like greetings cards, tote bags, fabric, mugs and coasters. I wanted the people to understand that the work you make on Procreate can be applied in so many different ways.

How long did you work on writing the book?

All the ideas were planned out in one, almost day long meeting. I then went away and developed the projects further. The whole process took about a year but if I’m honest, I did the bulk of the work in the last 3 months!

My studio and art shop is located in the historic market town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, UK

What are your favorite art materials?

When I’m not hunched over my iPad using Procreate I love to go mad with acrylic paint, covering sheets of paper with bold shapes and colours. I then cut them up and collage them into semi-abstract works or photograph them to use as textures in my digital work.

I am surrounded by art materials and supplies in my shop and I also have a lot of creative people dropping in to buy stuff, I always ask them what they’re working on and have some really inspiring chats throughout the day!

What is “a day in the life” like for you?

Wake up in my tiny cabin and take Sandy for a walk; Drive 20 minutes to the studio and shop; Work on client work in between serving customers; Take Sandy for a walk beside the river around 5pm.

I sometimes work late at the shop if I have things to finish but if it’s client work, I take it home, listen to a podcast and work into the night.

Then go to bed in my tiny cabin!

Right, below: Sandy the studio dog (@sandystudiodog ) outside the shop.

The Illustrators Guide to Procreate: How to make digital art on your iPadis available now. Buy it here!

See more of Ruth’s gorgeous illustration work here.