Create a Wavy Retro Checkerboard in Procreate (it's a classic)

We all love a classic checkerboard. It’s a forever pattern.

But if you want to take it from “cute and predictable” to “cute and has personality,” this quick Procreate trick is the move (hint: it's all about color choices and a little nudge 😍)

In this tutorial, you’ll build a simple checkerboard tile, duplicate it into a full grid, then add one easy swoosh that makes the whole thing feel playful.

And if you catch yourself thinking, wait… I want to turn everything into patterns now... hi, same. This is exactly how a lot of repeat pattern obsessions start.

What you’ll need:

• iPad
• Procreate
• 2 color selections

Step 1: Fill your canvas with your first color

• Create a new canvas (suggested minimum settings: 3000 x 3000 pixels, 300 DPI)
  
• Fill the entire canvas with your first color
  
  How: Drag your color from the top-right color circle onto the canvas to fill.

Step 2: Resize the filled layer into one quadrant

• Turn on Snapping and Magnetics by tapping the Transform tool (arrow icon on the top left), then tap Snapping settings on the bottom.
• Pull one of the corner nodes toward the middle to resize the filled shape so it fits into one quadrant of the canvas (a quarter of the full canvas).
  
  Tip 🔥 You'll see gold horizontal and vertical lines that let you know it's in the exact center (those little snapping lines are absolute lifesavers. We use them constantly when building seamless repeats in Procreate, too.).
  

Step 3: Add your second color on a new layer, then resize into its own quadrant

• Add a new layer (Layer panel at the top right, then tap the plus symbol)
• Fill it with your second color (same ColorDrop method).

• Transform that layer down into a different quadrant.
  
  You should now have two solid blocks of color, each living in its own quarter of the canvas.

Step 4: Repeat twice to finish your main “mini tile”

You can do this step either by duplicating what you've already done, or by repeating steps 1 & 2 and positioning the blocks into the remaining quadrants. In my video example, here's what I did:

• Merge the two color layers together (pinch them in the Layers panel).
• Duplicate the merged layer by swiping left on the layer and selecting Duplicate).
• Tap Transform (arrow icon) and drag the duplicate underneath the original.

• With the transform tool still active, tap Flip Horizontal (bottom menu) it so the colors alternate.
  
  Now you’ve got a simple, alternating two-color tile, already looking very graphic and fun.

This little tile is basically your building block. Once you understand this part, you can make… so many things. Checkerboards, stripes, tossed layouts, full-on repeat patterns. It’s a slippery (very fun) slope.

Step 5: Turn it into a checkerboard by duplicating into the full canvas

• Merge your layers so you have one layer with the four blocks (aka your mini tile layer).
• Resize it smaller to fit into one quadrant again.

• Duplicate it and move copies into the remaining quadrants until the canvas is filled.

If you want more squares, repeat that process once more:

• Merge the layers together again.
• Resize the full design down again.

• Duplicate to create 4 quadrants again