Watercolor Procreate Brushes Realistic | AquaBrush Realism

AquaBrush Realism is a curated set of watercolor brushes and canvases created specifically for Procreate on iPad. The pack focuses on realistic watercolor behavior—soft washes, textured edges, natural bleeds, and subtle grain—so your digital paintings feel closer to traditional watercolor on paper.

The pack includes multiple categories of brushes designed to work together:

• Painting brushes for strokes, washes, and details
• Blending brushes for smooth color transitions and soft edges
• Texture brushes for grain, speckles, and layered watercolor effects
• Stamp brushes for instant stains, splashes, and organic shapes
• High-resolution watercolor canvases that mimic real paper texture

Together they give you a complete watercolor workflow inside Procreate: sketch, wash, blend, texture, and final details on realistic paper.

AquaBrush Realism is designed for the iPad version of Procreate (version 5 or later is recommended). If your iPad can run the current Procreate app and supports Apple Pencil or another pressure-sensitive stylus, you can use these brushes.

For the best experience, we recommend:

• An iPad compatible with Apple Pencil
• The latest version of Procreate installed
• Enough free storage for high-resolution canvases

No. AquaBrush Realism is built for the Procreate app on iPad and uses Procreate’s brush engine. The brushes are not compatible with Photoshop, other desktop software, or non-Procreate apps.

The main pack is optimized for Procreate on iPad. Many third-party Procreate brushes also work in Procreate Pocket on iPhone, but behavior can vary, especially with large canvases or heavy textures. For critical projects, we recommend using them on iPad.

Procreate Dreams can import Procreate .brush and .brushset files. If you work with animation or motion, you can experiment with AquaBrush Realism brushes inside Dreams for watercolor-style frames and textures.

After purchase, you’ll receive a download that usually contains a .brushset file (and possibly extra files like canvases). To install:

1. Download the file to your iPad and, if it’s a .zip, unzip it in the Files app.
2. Locate the .brushset file in Files and tap it, then choose to open it in Procreate.
3. Procreate will launch and automatically add the set to your Brush Library as a new brush set.

You can also import from within Procreate by opening the Brush Library, tapping the “+” button, and choosing Import, then navigating to your AquaBrush Realism file.

Once imported, AquaBrush Realism will show up in your Brush Library as its own set, usually at the top or bottom of the list depending on your Procreate version. You’ll see the set name in the left column, and all watercolor brushes for that set on the right.

Some versions of Procreate group recently imported brushes in a folder called Imported, so check there as well if you don’t see the set immediately.

You can technically use AquaBrush Realism with your finger, but the pack is designed to take advantage of Apple Pencil pressure and tilt. Many brush settings respond to how hard you press, creating natural variation in stroke width, opacity, and texture—very important for realistic watercolor effects.

For full control and the most organic results, we strongly recommend an Apple Pencil or a compatible pressure-sensitive stylus.

For believable watercolor effects, we recommend this simple workflow:

• Start on one of the included watercolor canvases to get natural paper texture.
• Block in shapes with soft painting brushes at low flow.
• Use blending brushes to soften transitions while paint is “still wet”.
• Add texture brushes and stamp brushes on separate layers for blooms, splatters, and edges.

Working in layers lets you adjust opacity, erasing or masking areas until you reach the perfect balance between softness and detail.

Pixelation usually comes from a canvas that’s too small, not from the brush itself. Procreate is a raster app, so if you paint on a low-resolution canvas, strokes will look blurry when zoomed in or printed large.

For crisp watercolor results, start with a higher resolution canvas—for example, 3000–4000 px on the longest side at 300 dpi—or use one of the high-resolution canvases included with AquaBrush Realism.

Watercolor brushes with rich textures can be demanding on older iPads or very large canvases. If you notice lag:

• Reduce the canvas size or the number of layers.
• Lower the brush size slightly while painting broad areas.
• Close other apps to free up memory.

If you still experience lag, try turning down especially heavy settings in Brush Studio (such as grain scale or advanced dynamics) on a duplicate of the brush, so your original stays untouched.

Yes. Every brush in AquaBrush Realism is editable inside Procreate’s Brush Studio. We recommend duplicating a brush first, then adjusting settings like size limits, flow, grain, taper, or tilt response to match your personal painting style.

This way you can keep the original “factory” version while building your own custom variations for line work, glazing, or heavy textures.

If you’ve changed a brush too much, there are two easy options:

• Use Procreate’s brush reset option (if available for your version), or
• Reimport the original AquaBrush Realism .brushset to restore all brushes.

Many artists keep a backup copy of the original set in a safe folder in the Files app so they can restore it at any time.

Yes, in general our brushes are designed so that you can use the artwork you create—illustrations, client work, prints, and products—for commercial projects. What you cannot do is resell, share, or redistribute the brush files themselves as your own product.

Always refer to the license or terms on the purchase page for full details on what is allowed.

Yes. Once you’ve downloaded the brush files, you can copy them to any other iPad you personally own and install them again through the Procreate Brush Library or Files app. Many artists keep their packs synced via iCloud so they can access AquaBrush Realism across multiple devices.

Just remember that the license is for your own use; it doesn’t allow sharing the brush files with friends, students, or teams as a substitute for extra licenses.