Draw a Disco Ball in Procreate

This tutorial is so much fun! Disco fever has arrived, so join me as we learn how to draw with fun, shiny Disco Ball together in Procreate. You can grab a free Glitter brush here to add some extra sparkle!

You can follow along with the video tutorial or use the basic steps I've outlined below. If you make your own version of this, I would love to see it, so please share it on Instagram and tag me AT laurierusselldesign. 😀

• Choose your color palette

  • Monochromatic looks nice

  • I’m using the Flourish palette from Procreate (lots of fun bright colors)

• Draw a circle using Quick Shape & center it (Transform tool w/Snapping)

  • Fill in the Circle with Color Drop

• On a new layer, add criss-crossed lines in a contrasting color (TIP: use quick shape and tap on screen to get perfectly horizontal or vertical lines)

• Use Transform (warp) to adjust lines (see video)

• Use Adjustments > Liquify (Expand) to “pop” out the middle of the lines and create the 3D illusion

• Trim lines to the shape of the circle

  • On Circle layer, choose “Select”, then “invert”

  • On the lines layer, choose “clear”

• In order to be able to fill in different colors using the lines as a Reference layer, we need to have a version with the outside filled in (otherwise the Color Drop will spill over)

  • Duplicate the lines layer and hide one (drag this to the top for later)

  • On Circle layer, choose “Select”, then “invert”

  • On the coped lines layer, choose “Fill layer”

• Set this layer as “Reference” and add a few blank layers underneath it (these are where we’ll add colors to the different parts of our Disco Ball)

• Choose your first fill color and make sure you have one of the blank layers under the Reference layer selected. Color drop into one of the Disco Ball areas, then choose “continue filling” and add that color to some more, keeping it a bit random.

  • Repeat this process for other colors (each on their own layer) until you fill up your ball.

• OPTIONAL: adding Glass Texture

  • Add a new layer above each colored layer and make it a Clipping mask.

  • Set the blend mode to “Overlay”

  • Use brushes or Add > Add file/photo to add the textures

• Adding Shadows & Highlights

  • Add new layers above the colors layers for Shadows and Highlights (separate for each)

  • Using either Monoline or Soft brush in Black, draw on shadows for each colored layer. Use Adjustments > Gaussian blur to soften and adjust opacity in layers panel if needed.

  • Repeat process for Highlights on those layers using White. TIP: For stronger highlights, you can set these blend modes to Add.

• Finishing the Lines

  • Turn the lines layer at the very top back on and Duplicate it.

  • Select the bottom copy and turn it Black by either Alpha Lock and fill, or Adjustments > Hue/Saturation/Brightness and take brightness to zero.

  • Use the Transform tool to slightly offset the black layer (just a couple taps/pixels), then use Gaussian blur.

  • Add a new layer at the top and make it a clipping mask. Set the blend mode to Add.

  • Using the included Glitter brush, choose a light shade of the color of your lines and brush on some glitter!

• Adding the Background

  • Add a layer at the bottom and drop on your background color (I’m using a dark blue for contrast)

  • Add a layer above this and add any other elements (I set the blend mode to Add and used the Stars brush from Procreate’s Luminance set to create a fun sky effect)

• Final touches

  • You can add one more layer at the very top, set the blend mode to Add, and use brushes from the Luminance set to add sparkles and flare to your Disco Ball!