I suppose the best way to start off this blog would be to give a little breakdown for those who may not be familiar with iPad Lettering. Currently, I have a 10.5″ iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil. The Apple Pencil is ESSENTIAL here (in my opinion) as it is pressure sensitive and that’s the secret to getting your strokes to either be thin (with less pressure) or thick (with more pressure). I haven’t tried any of the alternatives but from the videos I have watched, nothing can quite match the Apple Pencil itself. However, if you have heard of an alternative product, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
As for accessories, I have a matte screen protector on my iPad and a silicone cover on my pencil. Both are totally optional but I figured somebody out there may want to know. You can read more about my favorites accessories and things I couldn’t Instagram without here.
The magical app is Procreate and can be purchased straight from the App Store on your iPad. It’ll come with over 130 stock brushes and so you’ll be well-equipped to start off your journey when you first download it. Keep in mind there is a learning curve when you’re first starting. Just remember that it is completely normal and everybody has to suffer through it. I binge-watched YouTube tutorials and played around a lot and eventually, you start to get the hang of it.
I would start there with the App and the Stock Brushes. I’ll be highlighting some of my favorite brushes (both free and some available for purchase) from other creators in coming blog posts so stay tuned for that. However, buying brushes will not help you learn the app any faster so I would get the hang of things before you start buying more brushes. PLUS, there are SO many free resources out there y’all. Procreate has a lot of forums and even has one specifically for free brushes and folks are extremely generous and share a lot of amazing things with the community.
So you there you have it, Bossy Brushstroke’s recommended materials to get started with iPad Lettering. Dig in and play around. Tag me on Instagram, @bossybrushstrokes, because I’d love to see what you’re creating.
