The Art of the Bow: Draw Cute & Trendy Ribbons in Procreate

Want to make your illustrations instantly more playful and eye-catching? Put A Bow On It! Draw Cute, Trending Ribbons In Procreate teaches you how to draw and incorporate bows into a variety of illustrations using Procreate. Led by illustrator and surface designer Carrie Cantwell, the class combines practical drawing demonstrations with ideas for creating artwork that can also work as marketable motifs.

Across eight concise lessons, you’ll explore bow anatomy, different ribbon styles, and ways to incorporate bows into animals, portraits, gifts, and standalone artwork. The class takes a focused approach, making it easy to follow without overwhelming you with unnecessary theory.

• Procreate beginners — Suitable if you already have basic familiarity with the Procreate interface.
• Digital illustrators — Learn practical ways to incorporate bows into existing illustrations.
• Surface designers — Explore bows as standalone, trendy motifs suitable for creative portfolios.
• Artists developing their portfolios — Useful for adding versatile decorative artwork to a portfolio.
• Art licensing enthusiasts — The course connects bow illustrations with marketability and licensing-oriented artwork.

• Understand the basic anatomy of a bow.
• Draw bows with loops, knots, tails, and wraps.
• Add bows to animal illustrations.
• Create chunky bow accessories for portraits.
• Draw soft, wispy ribbons in hair.
• Wrap ribbons realistically around three-dimensional objects.
• Create standalone decorative bow illustrations.
• Develop trendy motifs for your portfolio.

Put A Bow On It! focuses on a deceptively simple subject and shows how much creative variety can come from understanding the fundamentals of a bow.

The class begins with the anatomy of a bow, breaking it down into its essential components: the knot, loops, tails, and, when applicable, the wrap. This gives beginners a useful foundation before moving into practical illustrations.

From there, Carrie demonstrates several different applications. You’ll see how to place a large bow around a swan’s neck, create a chunky bow headband for a portrait, and use a softer, wispy ribbon to tie back a character’s hair. These examples are particularly useful because they demonstrate that bows don’t have to look identical; their shape, size, and flow can change according to the subject and context.

Another useful lesson focuses on wrapping a ribbon around a gift box. Rather than simply drawing a decorative bow on a flat shape, the lesson considers how the ribbon travels around a three-dimensional object. This introduces concepts such as placement, depth, layering, and implied structure while keeping the exercise approachable.

The class also covers standalone bows, giving learners an opportunity to treat the bow itself as the main illustration rather than simply an accessory. This is particularly relevant for artists interested in creating decorative motifs, portfolio pieces, and artwork with commercial or licensing potential. Carrie specifically connects the subject to her own experience as a surface designer and illustrator, including work associated with retailers such as Pottery Barn, Michaels, Urban Outfitters, and Target.

The eight lessons total approximately 69 minutes, with individual lessons ranging from just over one minute to under 18 minutes. This makes the class relatively easy to fit into short creative sessions while still providing several hands-on demonstrations.

There is also a hands-on class project where students create an illustration featuring a bow. The project can be an animal, portrait, or standalone bow, and students are encouraged to upload their work to the class project gallery.

One important consideration is that this isn’t designed as a complete introduction to Procreate itself. Carrie recommends having a basic familiarity with the Procreate interface before starting. You’ll need an iPad, Apple Pencil, and Procreate to follow along.

Overall, the course works best as a focused illustration class rather than a comprehensive Procreate course. Its strength is its specificity: instead of trying to teach everything about digital illustration, it concentrates on making bows look appealing, natural, dimensional, and useful within different types of artwork.

Put A Bow On It! Draw Cute, Trending Ribbons In Procreate is a focused and approachable course for artists who want to add charming bows and ribbons to their digital illustrations. Its combination of basic bow anatomy, practical demonstrations, varied examples, and a hands-on project makes it especially suitable for beginners and developing digital illustrators who already have basic Procreate knowledge.

Artists interested in surface design, portfolio development, or art licensing may also find the commercial perspective particularly useful. More advanced Procreate users may find the fundamentals familiar, but the different applications and illustration ideas can still provide creative inspiration.