Procreate is a professional level digital creation app that you can access at the minimal price of £12.

Although initially that might seem pricey, as soon as you open Procreate you can tell the price is very reasonable considering the range of tools you gain access to. Tools which can massively help improve any new and upcoming artists, while also being useful for more developed professional level artists.

Personally, I have used procreate since the age of around eight, and I found it easy to learn how to use. Despite this, the more you use it the more you will discover, as there are endless possibilities due to the customisable brush feature. 

Procreate has massively helped me develop as an artist as at the age of eight I was learning a lot about graphic design from playing around with the app itself and watching little YouTube tutorials on ’how to make mandalas on procreate’ or ‘how to draw a 3D eye’.

The more you explore Procreate the more you discover new things to try out like animation or creating your own pallets. When I was a kid, I was very interested in animation, and procreate made it very simple for me to explore my ideas easily without spending a lot of money on expensive equipment or software.

This amazing app also has lots of cool hidden features that you can easily find out about with just a quick Google search. For example, if you drag and drop an image from Google onto a new pallet it automatically picks up all of the colours from that image and makes them usable in the app, all in one place.

However, the only downside to Procreate is that it makes it a lot easier to use if you have an up-to-date iPad, as well as an Apple Pencil. Although this is not necessary, it does make the experience a lot more enjoyable and massively improves your artwork. 

I got an Apple Pencil which meant I had an immediate advantage although my iPad was not especially high-quality. I realise now that I would be at a completely different place within my artist journey if not for Procreate as it meant I could practise at my convenience any time, due to Procreate being just a press away.

These are the reasons why I highly recommend Procreate as an option for new artists and in fact any artists of any age.

Lyra Hamilton, the young reporters scheme.