I love the selection of pencil brushes that come preloaded in the Procreate app. But there have been times when I’ve needed different styles of textures and grain in my pencil brushes which have led me to explore brushes elsewhere, mostly from other digital artists online.
I’m Carolyn and I’ve been using Procreate for over three years to run my digital illustration business. This means I am well versed when it comes to exploring the world of new brushes because I’m always trying to find the next best thing to enhance my skills and artistic scale.
In this article, I’m going to highlight some of my favorite free pencil brushes for Procreate and show you where you can get them too.
Table of Contents
- 1. All About Sketching by the BrushSmith
- 2. 17 FREE Procreate Pencil Brushes by Petra Burger
- 3. Pepper Sketch Free Brush Set for Procreate by MrsDrPepper
- 4. Xerox Pencil Set for Procreate by MrsDrPepper
- 5. Brush Pencil by Brushes for Procreate
- 6. Pencil Touch by Brushes for Procreate
- 7. Fat Pencil by Brushes for Procreate
- 8. Color Pencil Brush Free by Brushes for Procreate
- 9. COFE’S Free Pencil Set by Gwan Hyun Kim
- 10. 17 Free Pencil Brushes by Petra Burger
- 11. Pencil Art Free by Brushes For Procreate
- 12. Pencil Scratches Free Brush by Brushes For Procreate
- 13. COFE’s Charcoal Pro Pack by Cofe
- 14. Cheap Pen Brush by Velenzia
- 15. Pen Calligraphy Brushes by Hyde Illustration
- 16. Matt’s Sketching Procreate Brush Set by Mateusz Urbanowicz
- 17. Free Line Art Brush by Yoru
- 18. My Favorite Pencil by Kagebonito
- 19. Grain Pencil by Chanellchanelle
- 20. My Basic Brush Set for Procreate by Ramstudioscomics
- 21. Rainbow Magic Pencil Brush by crvptozoology
- 22. Charcoal Brushes Free by CrayonArcade
- 23. Free Pencil Brush Set by Cofe
- 24. Free Pencil Brush For Procreate by Karina Yordanova
- 25. Procreate Pencil Brushes by Creative Veila
- FAQs
- Conclusion
1. All About Sketching by the BrushSmith
These two brushes offer a realistic charcoal effect when sketching on your canvas. I combine the two to create a life-drawing effect in my work.
Free for personal and commercial use.
2. 17 FREE Procreate Pencil Brushes by Petra Burger
This huge set comes with a variety of rough sketch pencils that will give you a natural pencil and smudge effect.
Free for personal and commercial use.
3. Pepper Sketch Free Brush Set for Procreate by MrsDrPepper
This set comes with 5 different brushes and is perfect to use for a soft shading effect. I like to use this set if I want to use a pencil brush to shade in my drawings.
Free for personal and commercial use.
4. Xerox Pencil Set for Procreate by MrsDrPepper
I like to use the Extra Rough Pencil brush from this set when sketching outlines or dark and detailed feature lines in my drawings.
Free for personal and commercial use.
5. Brush Pencil by Brushes for Procreate
This pencil brush provides a similar appearance as if you were to use charcoal to sketch the outline of a watercolor drawing and the two will bleed together. It gives a rough, almost wet look when combined with color brushes.
Free for personal use.
6. Pencil Touch by Brushes for Procreate
This brush is a great basic pencil brush to add to your library and I often find myself using it when creating rough sketches of hair or animals before adding realistic details.
Free for personal use.
7. Fat Pencil by Brushes for Procreate
I love using this pencil brush to do quick outlines of figure drawings as it is thick and deeper in opacity. It’s not ideal for fine details but it gives a very authentic pencil appearance when used on your canvas.
Free for personal use.
8. Color Pencil Brush Free by Brushes for Procreate
This set imitates your favorite coloring pencil collection. It offers similar and consistent pencil strokes and is ideal to use when filling in color in your drawings.
Free for personal use.
9. COFE’S Free Pencil Set by Gwan Hyun Kim
This set offers a perfect combination of sketching and shading brushes. The full set offers an extensive 30 brushes and the free option gives you 5 brushes to test before making the leap.
Free for personal and commercial use.
10. 17 Free Pencil Brushes by Petra Burger
This brush set offers all of my favorite dark pencil brushes that give off a deep and almost charcoal appearance. They are ideal for dark outlines and shading.
Free for personal use.
11. Pencil Art Free by Brushes For Procreate
This set offers a large selection of delicate and clean-cut pencil brushes. This is ideal if you’re looking for sharp, thin lines and adding finer details to your drawings.
Free for personal use.
12. Pencil Scratches Free Brush by Brushes For Procreate
This huge brush set offers over 15 different brushes that create a smooth, coloring pencil stroke and are great for children’s book illustrations.
Free for personal use.
13. COFE’s Charcoal Pro Pack by Cofe
These charcoal brushes are amazing and really make you feel like you’re using actual charcoal on your canvas, except without the messy smudges all over the edge of your hand.
Free for personal use.
14. Cheap Pen Brush by Velenzia
Despite its name, this brush is very pencil-like and provides a light and loose stroke effect. This is a great brush for creating quick sketches with lots of movement.
Free for personal use.
15. Pen Calligraphy Brushes by Hyde Illustration
Even though this is broadcast as a calligraphy pen, it offers some excellent rough pencil style strokes and is ideal for creating basic shapes and outlines in a drawing.
Free for personal use.
16. Matt’s Sketching Procreate Brush Set by Mateusz Urbanowicz
This huge set offers a lovely selection of both blending and smudging tools combined with a sketching brush collection.
Free for personal use.
17. Free Line Art Brush by Yoru
Even though this is classified as a line art brush, the is awesome for sketching and gives a unique and smooth pencil effect.
Free for personal use.
18. My Favorite Pencil by Kagebonito
I love using the Fat Pencil brush from this set as it really does emulate the texture and appearance of a solid 6B pencil.
Free for personal and commercial use.
19. Grain Pencil by Chanellchanelle
The Grain Pencil brush of this brush set is everything you need for a light and rough sketching pencil that can be used for shading and fine line drawings. For a darker or deeper shade, use the Grain Pencil Heavy.
Free for personal and commercial use.
20. My Basic Brush Set for Procreate by Ramstudioscomics
This set is perfect for creating comic book sketches from start to finish. I love to use their Pencil Brush combined with their Hatching Brush to create classic comic book style drawings.
Free for personal and commercial use.
21. Rainbow Magic Pencil Brush by crvptozoology
This brush creates a glowing and blending pencil brush that really provides a realistic drawing effect on your canvas. Use it with color to see the brush’s full effects.
Free for personal use.
22. Charcoal Brushes Free by CrayonArcade
This set offers one of my favorite pencil brushes. The Scratchy Brush creates deep and realistic charcoal strokes on your canvas and is great for deep and dark portraits.
Free for personal and commercial use.
23. Free Pencil Brush Set by Cofe
I love this simple brush set because the pencil options are so close to the real thing. I use these for basic sketches and even lettering sometimes.
Free for personal and commercial use.
24. Free Pencil Brush For Procreate by Karina Yordanova
These 15 brushes provide a really nice and smooth pencil stroke. I like to use a combination of thick and thinner pencil brushes to create varied line strokes in my sketches.
Free for personal use.
25. Procreate Pencil Brushes by Creative Veila
This huge pack of 24 pencil brushes is a perfect starter pack for all things sketching. It gives the perfect amount of variety so you won’t need any other brushes to complete your drawing from start to finish.
Free for personal and commercial use.
FAQs
Below is a selection of your frequently asked questions about free pencil brushes for Procreate. I have briefly answered them for you:
Why can’t I download Procreate brushes?
You may be trying to download a brush file type that is not compatible with Procreate. Ensure that you are downloading Procreate or Photoshop brushes.
What brush is best for sketching on Procreate?
The 6B Pencil is one of the default Procreate sketching brushes and it’s my favorite to use as it imitates a real-life pencil and allows for organic sketching.
What are the best free Procreate brushes?
I love the Free Realistic Cloudy brush by Fooarc for quick cloud formations, the Bubble from the Free Water Brush Set for all things water-related, and Haze Long’s Superstar Brush from Watercolor Brush Pack for the most perfect watercolor painting set.
Conclusion
Whether or not you think you need new brushes, once you search the endless options online you will find a multitude of pencils that you didn’t know you needed. And with so many free options out there too, there’s really no reason to start expanding your brush library.
I recommend spending some time trying out some of these brushes above and seeing how much your art transforms. Especially with pencil drawings, you always want to find a brush that best reflects your drawing style and gives you a recognizable outcome in your work.
What’s your favorite pencil brush in Procreate? Share your answers in the comments section below.