How to Make a Hair Brush in Procreate

2026-06-30

A great hair brush is just the right shape, scatter and taper dialed in Brush Studio. Make your own and you control exactly how strands fall. This guide builds a multi-strand hair brush from scratch in Procreate — no downloads needed.

What makes a hair brush work

A multi-strand brush is really one shape — a cluster of fine, tapered lines — stamped rapidly along your stroke with a little scatter and rotation. Once you understand those few Brush Studio settings, you can build or tweak any hair brush. Prefer to skip ahead? Grab a ready-made one from the hair brushes category.

Step 1 — Create the shape source

The Shape is the imprint stamped along the stroke. For hair, you want a small cluster of thin tapered strands. Either: draw 4–6 fine tapered lines in a new canvas, screenshot them as black on white, and import as the Shape; or start from Procreate's built-in shapes and pick a streaky one. In Brush Studio open Shape → Edit → Import.

Step 2 — Set the Grain to none (or subtle)

For a clean strand brush, set Grain to a plain texture or disable its influence so the strands stay crisp. Grain matters more for fur and texture brushes; pure hair brushes read best clean.

Step 3 — Stroke spacing

Under Stroke Path → Spacing, lower it until the stamped shapes overlap into continuous strands rather than visible dabs. Too high and you see gaps; too low and it smears. Aim for smooth, unbroken hair.

Step 4 — Add scatter and rotation

This is what makes hair look natural instead of stamped. Under Stroke Path, add a little Jitter, and under Shape add a touch of Scatter and Rotation so each cluster lands slightly differently. Keep it subtle — too much scatter turns hair into a haystack.

Step 5 — Taper

Open Taper and set both pressure and touch taper so each stroke thins at the start and end. This is critical — tapered strokes are why hair tips look fine and natural rather than blunt. Adjust the taper length to your taste.

Step 6 — Pressure dynamics

Under Apple Pencil → Pressure, link pressure to size (and optionally opacity) so a light touch gives fewer, finer strands and more pressure builds a denser lock. This pressure response is what lets one brush do both bulk and detail.

Step 7 — Test, tweak, save

Use the Drawing Pad in Brush Studio to test, then paint real strokes on a canvas. Tweak spacing and scatter until it flows. Rename it, drop it in a custom set, and you can export the whole set as a .brushset to back up or share — the same format covered in how to make a stamp brush.

Variations from one brush

Fur brush — shorten the shape and raise scatter; see how to draw fur.
Single-strand brush — use a single tapered line as the shape for flyaways.
Stubble brush — tiny dot shape with heavy scatter.

Next steps

Put your brush to work with the full hair guide, or browse the free hair brushes for reference settings. If an imported set won't appear, see how to install Procreate brushes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Click a question to expand the answer

How do you make a hair brush in Procreate?

In Brush Studio, set the Shape to a small cluster of fine tapered strands, keep the grain clean, and lower stroke spacing so the stamps overlap into continuous strands. Add subtle scatter and rotation so it doesn't look mechanical, turn on taper so strokes thin at both ends, and link pressure to size. Test in the Drawing Pad, then save it to a custom set.

What Brush Studio settings make hair look natural?

Three settings do most of the work: taper (so strand tips thin to a point), subtle scatter and rotation (so each cluster lands a little differently), and pressure linked to size (so light touch gives fine strands and pressure builds density). Keep scatter restrained — too much turns smooth hair into a haystack.

Can I make a fur brush from a hair brush?

Yes. Start from your hair brush, shorten the shape so the strands are stubby, and raise the scatter and rotation. That converts long flowing hair into the short, dense, slightly random strokes that read as fur. A tiny dot shape with heavy scatter instead gives you a stubble brush.

How do I save and share a custom hair brush?

Drop your brush into a custom brush set, then swipe left on the set and choose Share to export it as a .brushset file you can back up or send to others. That's the same standard format used by the free brushes in the catalog, and it imports with one tap on Procreate 5 and later.