Video: Wavy Modern Calligraphy Watercolor Layout
In this quite video tutorial I’m demonstrating a layout design using a relaxed modern calligraphy technique. The watercolor Procreate pens are all from my The Watercolor Calligraphy Brush Pack.
Watch the video:
Follow along with written instructions:
Step 1
I start with the pencil brush that comes in the Watercolor Brush Pack – Soft Graphite Pencil – and draw a lot of wavy lines across my square canvas. This is totally freehand, and I’ll use them as baselines that I adhere to only very roughly. They’re more like baseline suggestions than a hard and fast template! My composition will be fifteen lines long, so after drawing fifteen loose waves, I select them all and center the block roughly on my canvas. Reducing the opacity of the lines so they don’t distract me while I’m writing, I then make a new blank layer above them.
Step 2
Next, I select the colors for my watercolor calligraphy. I’m using one of my watercolor ombré brushes, which means I want to select not one but two colors from my swatch palette (found in the upper right corner of the color palette window). These two colors will blend together as I write. Each brush in the Watercolor Calligraphy Pack has different paint characteristics, from opacity to pigmentation to edge bleed. So today I chose the Watercolor Script Brush #10 Ombré, because I want that color variation described above. Brush #10 is one of the many brushes in the pack that is great for delicate calligraphy and flourishes.
My complete watercolor calligraphy toolkit has 37 Procreate brushes that capture the soft, watery feel of real pigment on paper—for iPad lettering, washes, textures, and splatters.
This pack has everything you need to bring beautiful watercolor calligraphy to life on your iPad. I designed these brushes to take the guesswork out of digital watercolor lettering, whether you’re designing fancy flourished calligraphy or free-flowing brush scripts.
The 20 calligraphy brushes capture bleeding edges, translucency, and natural pigment variation. Each one comes in an ombré version for effortlessly adding beautiful gradients and color transitions.
To complete your watercolor lettering compositions, you’ll get 17 additional brushes for lush watercolor washes, paper texture backgrounds, and paint splatters.
37 Realistic Procreate Brushes:
10 Watercolor Script brushes for single-color calligraphy
10 Watercolor Script brushes for ombré calligraphy
8 Watercolor Wash brushes for adding texture and depth
4 Watercolor Wash Background brushes for painting your canvas
1 Splatter Stamp for realistic paint details
2 Smudge brushes for blending stroke overlaps and creating extra bleed
Bonus: 1 Cotton Paper brush for realistic paper backgrounds
Bonus: 1 Soft Graphic Pencil brush for sketching and colored pencil detail
What’s included:
1 brush collection file containing 37 Procreate brushes (.brushset)
Guide on how to use the brushes (.PDF and .procreate)
Beginner-friendly installation instructions (.PDF)
Please note: None of my brush packs overlap—every pack contains different brushes so you’ll never pay for the same brush twice.
Frequently bought together:
Step 3
Now I write out my text along my freehand baselines, ignoring them where I see fit but at least using them a starting point! To create an even stronger sensation of waves, I connect the words themselves with long connector strokes, and make each line bleed off the edge of the page.
Step 4
To make the most out of the ombré effect, lift between every letter, or every couple of letters. Then, when the lettering is complete, go back into the art with the Smudge Tool and Smudge Brush for Blending Stroke Overlaps and blend together the regions where you can see overlapping strokes. I explain this technique in depth in last week’s tutorial.
Step 5
Creating a blank layer behind my artwork, I will paint in a realistic watercolor paper background. I do this by selecting off-white from the color palette and the Cotton Paper Background Brush from the brush library. I paint the entire background, then reduce the opacity of the layer if I think it’s a bit too dark.
Step 6
Finally, I set my watercolor art layers to Linear Burn blending mode, because this makes them blend into the background paper texture even more realistically!
Resources
All Procreate brushes in this video are from my Watercolor Calligraphy Procreate Brush Pack:
Watercolor Script 10 Ombré Brush
Smudge Brush for blending overlapping strokes
Cotton Paper Background Brush
Soft Graphite Pencil Brush
More iPad layout design videos:
iPad tools used:
My complete watercolor calligraphy toolkit has 37 Procreate brushes that capture the soft, watery feel of real pigment on paper—for iPad lettering, washes, textures, and splatters.
This pack has everything you need to bring beautiful watercolor calligraphy to life on your iPad. I designed these brushes to take the guesswork out of digital watercolor lettering, whether you’re designing fancy flourished calligraphy or free-flowing brush scripts.
The 20 calligraphy brushes capture bleeding edges, translucency, and natural pigment variation. Each one comes in an ombré version for effortlessly adding beautiful gradients and color transitions.
To complete your watercolor lettering compositions, you’ll get 17 additional brushes for lush watercolor washes, paper texture backgrounds, and paint splatters.
37 Realistic Procreate Brushes:
10 Watercolor Script brushes for single-color calligraphy
10 Watercolor Script brushes for ombré calligraphy
8 Watercolor Wash brushes for adding texture and depth
4 Watercolor Wash Background brushes for painting your canvas
1 Splatter Stamp for realistic paint details
2 Smudge brushes for blending stroke overlaps and creating extra bleed
Bonus: 1 Cotton Paper brush for realistic paper backgrounds
Bonus: 1 Soft Graphic Pencil brush for sketching and colored pencil detail
What’s included:
1 brush collection file containing 37 Procreate brushes (.brushset)
Guide on how to use the brushes (.PDF and .procreate)
Beginner-friendly installation instructions (.PDF)
Please note: None of my brush packs overlap—every pack contains different brushes so you’ll never pay for the same brush twice.
Frequently bought together:
If you found this lesson helpful, consider sharing it with others. That’s the best, free way to support artists you appreciate.
(You could also buy me a coffee.)
Learn beautiful brush lettering on your iPad with this free 90-minute course—everything a Procreate calligraphy beginner needs.