Lucky Dragon Illustration Tutorial for Procreate

This free tutorial builds a lucky dragon illustration in Procreate from base shapes to finishing details. Download the free files so you can track the same sketch and palette as the demo.

Work through the video in short sessions if you like, then refine edges and highlights at the end. Want more character practice afterward? Explore our Procreate courses.

For this tutorial create a 3000 x 4186 px canvas at 300 DPI. Then import the dragon sketch to serve as your guide. You can choose to use it as a reference or sketch over it, whichever is more comfortable for you.

‍

Step 1: This tutorial is meant to show you how to use the Effortless Brush as a dragon scale so leave the body with just the base color for now. For the rest of the illustration, feel free to be creative and deviate from this design.

‍

Step 2: Now add a clipping mask on top of the body's base layer. Choose the Effortless Petal No. 24 and set the primary and secondary colors for this dual-tone brush. Draw an upward curve as shown in the above image.

‍

Step 3: You can repeat and layer this over and over again. And because we set it in a clipping mask, it stays within the bounds of the body's base shape.

‍

Step 4: Now, adjust the scales with the Liquify Tool. Go to  Adjustments > Liquify and select pinch or expand depending on the effect you want to do. Add shadows by adding another clipping mask and setting the layer mode to Multiply. Use a darker peach color instead of black so that it still looks cohesive with the rest of the painting. And there you have it! Beautiful dragon scales with an Effortless Flower Brush! We can’t wait to see your version.

‍

Your dragon is ready to share. Export a clean PNG for socials, then try another character-focused piece from the Twotap tutorial list.

Liked building a character from shapes? Continue with Twotap’s illustration courses, or try another free character demo on the blog.