Messy Perfectionism: Expressive hand lettering in Procreate

Explore how to create bold, characterful hand lettering using scribbles, colour, and texture. You’ll take a short phrase and turn it into a finished piece — developing it from loose sketch to layered, expressive poster artwork.

I’ll share how I approach composition, style, and my own perfectly imperfect lettering process in Procreate, using techniques I’ve developed through my practice as Idle Letters.

Here’s what to expect:

• Start with a short phrase and explore how to bring it to life with lettering Look at where to find inspiration—from handmade signs to everyday lettering gems and everything inbetween.
• Use sketching and layering techniques in Procreate to build out your composition
• Try out different brushes, textures, and colour palettes Messy Perfectionism: Expressive hand lettering in Procreate 1
• Learn how to take something rough and develop it into a confident, characterful final piece Leave with a poster-style artwork that’s all yours — wonky bits and all
• Whether you’re new to hand lettering or returning to it outside of client work, this is a space to experiment, explore, and enjoy the process.

What you’ll need:

• An iPad that can run Procreate
• Procreate installed and ready to go (we recommend updating to the latest version)
• An Apple Pencil (or compatible stylus)
• Enough storage space to open a provided A3 template file

Optional but helpful:

• A basic understanding of how to navigate Procreate (we won’t cover every tool from scratch)
• Your favourite Procreate brushes (you’ll also get a custom brush pack from me)

What I’ll provide ahead of time 

1. Procreate Template File (A3)
   • Pre-sized canvas with:
   • Sketch guide layer–Baseline + x-height + cap height lines
   • Colour palette swatches
   • Optional “Inspo”layer (photos / samples)
2. Brush Pack
   • Grid shapes
   • Sketchy brushes
   • Inking brushes
   • Texture brushes