5 Ways HARD LIGHT is Great for Digital Coloring

In this video, I'll explain how the Hard Light layer blending mode is one of the most flexible and useful blending modes for digital colorists using Photoshop, Clip Studio, Krita, Affinity, etc!
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[@colorwithkurt]

Support videos like this at www.patreon.com/kmr or use coupon code washyourhands at learn.comiccolor.com for 50% off any of my courses. Thanks for watching!

[@leviavi01]

Hi, I like your videos and they are very easy to understand. You have a video that shows what you do from start to finish Not just parts of the process?

[@duonguc5566]

Thank you! Now i use Hardlight as my blending of choice for shading instead of Multiply. On the surface, it is just the combination of Screen and Multiply, but actually, it gives more vibrant, and creates more saturated look, especially in darker areas when multiply just feel "bland". I have learned a lot from you, these tutorials are super helpful!

[@jackiehonda]

Thank you for your tips, Kurt! These are real golden stuff here.

[@allydrawsthings]

there are surprisingly few videos that i can find that give a quality breakdown on how an individual layer works. this was super informative

[@colorwithkurt]

Thanks! The latest video is one you'll like too. :)

[@allydrawsthings]

@@colorwithkurt awesome! its kinda hard to figure out just exactly how layer blend mode work technically or like brush blend vs layer blend modes and how they work

[@BHStudios01]

I have been painting in ArtRage for years now, so my painting techniques, including highlights and shadows, have been done in a sorta traditional medium sense for so long. I’m working in Procreate now for my ipad now as well, and decided to play around with the blend modes on my shading and highlight layer for the characters skin. Trying to use the same painting techniques I use in ArtRage doesn’t work in Procreate, sadly. Holy… hard light really gave my shading and highlights a much more natural and vibrant look and I LOVE IT.

[@HungNguyencolorist]

Thank you so much. I have learned a lot from you, special thank to you.

[@derekcascio]

Great vid Kurt. I’ve always been a multiply/overlay/add guy but I’m definitely going to mess around with hard light more! Love this kind of content too. I’m a product design professor and send my students your tutorials all the time. Lots of overlap technique wise for rendering. Great stuff.

[@colorwithkurt]

That's nice of you. I appreciate that! There's a gillion ways to do this stuff, but some ways just click better than others for some. :)

[@abrr2000]

perfect 50% grey, which has zero affect on hardlight, is the following... HEX 808080 R-128 G-128 B-128 H-0 S-0 V-50 these are all the same colour. I have this colour set to my command bar in Clip Studio, because I use it all the time, due to hard light.

[@colorwithkurt]

Good info!

[@eboi5575]

Kurt you are warrior

[@Naimad319]

Love this. Thank you

[@RedOni87]

Thanks Master. Helpful video as always.

[@SyParker]

This was really useful thanks!

[@tktsumibito]

Ha! I think I finally get that blending mode, thanks!

[@laristokrato106]

This was great. Thanks. Now to experiment with hard light layers...

[@morganpantoja5583]

I’m so happy this channel exists

[@colorwithkurt]

Thanks. :)

[@Alex_M_Smith]

Man! THIS is a revelation! And revolution. For my art skills at least. Thank you.

[@dexterbacchus8009]

Awesome Video the Teaching style is Suitable for Thorough Learning.

[@BunnyN]

thank you for this very informative video!

[@beksultantokochev9195]

Wow! That's a lot of use for this blending mode. Very useful info, thank you!

[@colorwithkurt]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@zviyeri9117]

My personal favorites now are color dodge and glow dodge, absolutely amazing for lighting unless you are working with way too saturated colors

[@TheDeathclawhunter]

same here! i use glow dodge like 90% of the time but started using hardlight as a way to really see what colors i wanna go with. afterwards, i tend to adjust my flats to be the shadows so they match up, but i should experiment more with rendering shadows

[@eL.N.M.]

back then I use overlay, and then screen, and now I actively use glow dodge!

[@Shad0wchasers1]

I'm always certain to learn something new from your videos. Thank you so much for sharing this one!

[@colorwithkurt]

Awesome. Thanks!

[@BrendaMaryanArt]

Perfect!

[@charrsvader1454]

Thank you

[@JeffreyKahnartist]

Great video.

[@rambusdesigns3216]

Dope Stuff!

[@SolveForX]

It’s funny, because hardlight is always my go to as well. I think the fear comes from is this movement to make everything desaturates and fuschia. Haha

[@lawrencescales9864]

I really like your videos. Would you ever do a full rundown on CSP? I know you’ve done coloring videos with procreate, and i’d really like your insight on CSP. Great work as always!

[@colorwithkurt]

I've actually pretty recently decided to do some videos on CSP. So since your question was so recent...there's an updated answer for you. :)

[@ZethKeeper]

6:02 I can't help but to think about that Technology Connections video about brown, haha =)

[@colorwithkurt]

Great video, that.

[@slipthetrap]

Enjoyed! Hoping for more like this, maybe some Procreate ones too. Thank you and be well.☮️

[@colorwithkurt]

Thanks! This all works in Procreate too.

[@slipthetrap]

@@colorwithkurt Cool, i did recognize some of the blending stuff from taking your courses, but Photoshop is such a larger beast to understand. Thanks again.☮️

[@antwonphantom9712]

Could hard light be used for night time and dusk time atmospheres because when I use multiply it looks to dark

[@colorwithkurt]

Yup

[@takeshikusao4674]

I never could understand what's so good about Multiply, rather choosing my shadow colors freehand. Maybe with you I will finally learn how this tech works. At least, this, about HL, seems quite understandable. This brush of yours leaves peculiar markings. It is obviously not round. Where did you get it?

[@Jason-rt4lv]

Hard Light vs. Multiply: Is there any reason to choose one over the other for shadows?

[@colorwithkurt]

Other than maybe being able to also do highlights on the same layer... I'm not sure. Procreate's layer limits would make that appealing but I can't think of anything really.

[@Carrot-ks7lb]

Hey I'm new here. Is there any notable difference between hard light and linear light? I usually choose linear light and adjust the opacity until it looks nice

[@colorwithkurt]

Yes, each mode is different.

[@gaelcross]

*Staring a the bald guy* ...Bruce Willis is that you ?!

[@ArtParlor]

Is it really worth shading this way, when picking all the colors by hand looks better? I'm sure this ways faster. But I feel like it loses it's uniqueness. The unique way any artist picks colors by hand. But I do hate how long that takes

[@colorwithkurt]

There are a lot of ways to do this. You can work however you like. This is just a good way to get a base going. I often dress up the colors more over this.

[@StrattonDraws]

Pretty sure soft light left the dislike

[@colorwithkurt]

Nice

[@StrattonDraws]

@@colorwithkurt Classic soft light