Dry brushes for realism. Wet brushes for everything else.
I paint flowers in a vase twice. A peony with the dry brushes, built up and blended until it reads as a real oil painting. Then a glass vase with the wet brushes, where the marks stay visible and the colour sits thick on the canvas.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Format
- Online video
- Narration
- English
- Subtitles
- English
- Contents
- 2 Exercises, 2h 3m
A brush set you own isn't a technique you have
Ninety-nine oil brushes is a lot of thumbnails to scroll past. Knowing which one gives a broken edge, which one blends by itself and which one leaves a ridge is what changes the painting.
So this isn't a tour of the set. I paint two complete pieces and name the brush at every step: Oil Canvas for the ground, Oil Old for a messy background, Oil Dry 5 (my favourite) for dense colour with texture, the blender to soften glass.
The same subject, painted two opposite ways
Dry and wet are two different attitudes to a canvas. You paint both, so you feel the difference.
Exercise 1: Oil Dry, for realism
A peony in a vase. Canvas texture on Linear Burn, a background blended from three colours, then base, shadow and light on the vase and flower, checked against the reference photo the whole way.
Exercise 2: Oil Wet, for loose colour
A clear vase and stems, painted with the wet brushes. Obvious brush marks, thick colour, and a background made by pulling colours into each other.
Painting something transparent
Glass is where most digital oil paintings fall apart. I keep the colour light, add the darker strokes where the shadows sit, and soften them with the blender so you can still see through the vase.
Reference without a second screen
Procreate's Reference window puts the photo beside your canvas, so you keep checking colours and values on one iPad.
From sketch to finished piece
Exercise 1
The vase in dry brushes: base, shadow and light, blended until it looks real.
Exercise 2
A loose background in the wet brushes, then the glass vase in blue, pink and yellow.
Exercise 1
The sketch on a canvas texture, with a background blended from three colours.
Exercise 1
Leaves, then the peony, pollen and the last white highlights.
Exercise 2
Light and sharp edges on the glass, and the stem and leaves in front.
Exercise 1
The sketch on a canvas texture, with a background blended from three colours.
Exercise 1
The vase in dry brushes: base, shadow and light, blended until it looks real.
Exercise 1
Leaves, then the peony, pollen and the last white highlights.
Exercise 2
A loose background in the wet brushes, then the glass vase in blue, pink and yellow.
Exercise 2
Light and sharp edges on the glass, and the stem and leaves in front.
What you will paint
Two paintings of flowers in a vase, one in each technique.
Exercise 1: Oil Dry
A peony in a vase for realism: canvas texture, a background blended from three colours, then shadow, light and pollen.
Exercise 2: Oil Wet
A clear vase painted loose, colours pulled into each other until it feels like you are painting on glass.
Your teacher
I made these brushes, and I paint with them here
I'm Freya Kotchakorn. I've taught Procreate to more than 80,000 students, and Apple has brought me in to teach it at its events.
I designed every brush in the set this workshop uses, so I can show you exactly what each one was made to do: which to keep dry, which to load wet, which to blend.
Teaching Procreate at an Apple Store event
Finish the workshop, take the certificate 🎓
Lifetime access to both exercises: 2 hours and 3 minutes of real-time painting, on desktop, tablet or phone.
Watch both and post a painting, and you receive a Certificate of Completion. The reference photo, the sketch and the colour swatches download with the workshop.
Lesson list
Two long-form exercises, narrated in English, painted in real time.
The dry technique, which suits realistic styles. Canvas texture, background, the vase, the peony, and the surface it stands on.
The wet technique, for loose and abstract work. Dense colour, obvious brush marks, and a vase you can see through.
30-day full refund
Paint along with the workshop. If it isn't for you, email support@freya.courses within 30 days and you get a full refund.
Oil Painting Workshop
2 Exercises, 2 hours 3 minutes of real-time painting
- ✓Lifetime access to both painting exercises
- ✓Project files: the reference photo, the sketch and the colour swatches
- ✓Certificate of Completion when you finish and post your piece
You'll need the brushes
My Oil Brush Set (99 brushes), sold separately
🔒 Secure payment·PayPal · Mastercard · Visa · Apple Pay
FAQs
Answers to the questions people ask before they start
No. This workshop teaches my Oil Brush Set, which is a separate product. Buy the set as well if you don't already own it: I name a specific brush at nearly every step.
Two pieces. A peony in a vase with the dry brushes, painted for realism, then a clear vase and stems with the wet brushes, painted loose.
Two exercises, 2 hours and 3 minutes of video, both in real time. Exercise 1 alone runs 74 minutes, and you keep lifetime access, so you can paint along in stages.
Some. I work at a steady pace and assume you're comfortable with Procreate layers and blend modes. If you're brand new to the app, start with a fundamentals course first.
An iPad with Procreate and a pressure-sensitive stylus. The canvas is 2048 × 2048 pixels. The reference photo, the sketch and the colour swatches are included as downloads.
Yes. Watch both exercises and post your painting, and you receive a Certificate of Completion.
No. It's a one-time purchase with lifetime access.
Yes. If the workshop isn't for you, email support@freya.courses within 30 days for a full refund.
Still have questions?
Ask me about the brushes, the workshop or anything technical. Write anytime.
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