Digital painting has been gaining popularity, and Procreate offers incredible possibilities for artists. The idea of painting with watercolors without the need for water, paint, or paper—anywhere you like—is undeniably appealing. But how do you choose the realistic watercolor brushes for digital art to achieve professional results, even as a beginner?
What to Look For:
Expertly Crafted Brushes
Ideally, the brushes should be created by a watercolor illustrator or an experienced artist. Who better understands how brushes should behave to achieve a truly realistic effect? Technically, a digital brush consists of a texture background and a brush shape, so it’s best if the brush is based on real watercolor textures and authentic brush imprints.
A Versatile Collection
If you want to create various styles—portraits, botanical illustrations, commercial artwork, and landscapes—your collection should include a sufficient number of brushes. The perfect set includes several essential round brushes, textured brushes (such as goat-hair brushes for grass and fur or bristle brushes for rough strokes), detail brushes, and multiple blending brushes for seamless color transitions. Watercolor is beloved for its smooth color flow, and a single blender isn’t enough to achieve a truly realistic effect. Having stamp brushes for watercolor splashes and blotches will also enhance your artwork, making it look more authentic.
Pre-Textured Canvases
A high-quality brush set should include specially designed canvases with watercolor paper textures. These textured backgrounds play a crucial role in achieving realistic results, and having multiple options allows you to select the right paper texture for different projects.
Tutorials for Guidance
Watercolor techniques can be challenging for beginners, so it’s beneficial if the brush creator provides tutorials demonstrating how to use them effectively. Watching these tutorials will help you understand which brushes to use for specific stages of painting and how to achieve the desired effects. Even professional artists need time to adjust to new digital brushes and explore their full potential.
Pre-Made Color Palettes
For a quick start, having ready-made color palettes is a major advantage. If your chosen brush set includes palettes, you can dive straight into painting without the hassle of selecting colors from scratch.
Sketch Stamp Brushes
If your collection includes stamp brushes with pre-drawn sketches of flowers or other objects, you can quickly test the brushes and enjoy a relaxing coloring experience.
For a truly realistic watercolor effect, try the Soft Watercolor Procreate Brushes collection with 72 brushes—your results will be stunning!
Soft watercolor Procreate brushes + botanical edition
- 22 watercolor brushes for a stunning realistic result.
- 41 watercolor stamp brushes. Add drops, shadows, textures, splashes and salt stains to your watercolor illustration.
- 8 stamp brushes with floral sketches
- 6 canvases with real watercolor papers & special paper effects.
- 32 pre-made Procreate color palettes with soft and deep natural hues
Brush demonstration:
Explore Realistic watercolor Procreate brushes:
You can try a few brushes and one canvas texture by downloading this archive.
To watch video tutorials showcasing the painting process with these brushes, click the link to visit my YouTube channel: