Painterly Backgrounds Procreate Brushes (Free)

Description

A Curated Gem for Backgrounds & Environments

I found these Procreate Painterly Texture Brushes on Julia’s Gumroad and immediately bookmarked them. What grabbed me was how intentionally imperfect they are — they’re not trying to be perfectly smooth or hyper-detailed ink tools. Instead, they behave like a small kit of real-world painter’s brushes tailored for backgrounds, environment thumbnails and mood studies. If you want fast painterly color work that reads beautifully at a distance, this is the sort of toolkit that makes scenes come alive without overworking every pixel.

First Impressions: The Feel & Texture

What I love is the honest, hand-crafted texture — think rough bristle marks, soft particulate grain and smoky blending brushes that keep brushstrokes visible. From the preview images I can see layered strokes with subtle breakup (not digital slickness) and brushes that retain texture even when you blend. These feel tactile: slightly dry-brush edges, soft atmospheric smudges, and a few heavier brushes for bold shapes. The overall impression is warm, organic, and painterly — great for building depth quickly and for adding lived-in texture to skies, distant foliage, rocks, and architectural silhouettes.

Where This Brush Set Shines

• Fast environment thumbnails and concept thumbnails where mood > detail.
• Painterly background passes for illustrations and comics (block in shapes, then texture).
• Matte painting-style layering: sky, distant mountains, atmospheric haze.
• Loose character backgrounds that need texture without competing with the focal subject.
• Speed paintings and warm-up exercises when you want to focus on color and composition.

About the Creator & How to Download

A respectful nod to Julia — she’s shared a small, lovingly curated brush pack intended for Procreate users who want painterly texture quickly. The file on Gumroad is listed as €0 (with a “name a fair price” option), size ~2.11 MB.

How to download and install (simple steps):

1. Click the Gumroad link on Julia’s page and choose the free option (you may enter a tip if you’d like — creators appreciate that).
2. Complete checkout (no payment required if you leave it at €0) and click Download from Gumroad’s receipt page or your email link. The package will usually be a .brushset or a small .zip.
3. On iPad: if it’s a .brushset tap the file in Files and choose Open in Procreate — the brushes import automatically into your Brush Library. If zipped, unzip first then import the .brushset. Or in Procreate, open the Brush Library, tap the + icon → Import → locate the downloaded file in Files.
4. Try them on a large canvas first to appreciate the grain and blending behavior; these are designed to read well at distance.

FAQ