Digital Painting: Shading with Layer Blending Modes (Procreate)

[@meandmines3245]

This was exactly what I needed to know. Its like you cut through all the bullshit and gave me the meat and potatoes. Thanks man, keep it up!

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Awesome, I'm so glad! Thanks for the feedback 👍

[@annaward3500]

this helped so much. thank you!

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

I'm so glad, you're welcome!!

[@anneburke2405]

Thank you for your encouragement. I’ll stop being scared of stuffing up & start enjoying experimenting.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Absolutely, just go for it! 👍

[@shubhamsahoo7544]

This is such an amazing video for people who know what they're going into. Thank you so much! T-T

[@Ontir]

I wish I could see what you’re selecting in the upper right hand menus.. This is what I need to see, and it’s what none of the videos I’ve found ever shows.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Ugh, I know. Unfortunately when I uploaded the video that portion of the screen recording was cut off. However I don't think anything crucial happened above the crop, but it is annoying to not see the entire screen

[@alanckaye]

Thanks. A big help.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

You're welcome, in glad it helped! 👍

[@susandraws]

This was super helpful!! I love how you showed both the screen of your hand working the sphere plus the other screen! That’s the best teaching mode. Thank you so much!!

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Thank you so much, I'm glad it helped 😊

[@hjlee7044]

I *REALLY* can’t do highlights. All I do is put a little bit of gray on the side of my person XD that’s why I’m watching this.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Well I hope this helps!!

[@kirthipriya3597]

Turn on the brush cursor option when you're recording your work for tutorials!

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

I will have to look into that. I didn't even know procreate had that function unless they recently added it. Thanks for the tip! 👍

[@ChronoMune]

What I’ve always wanted to know is, and sorry if this is in another video of yours this is the first and only I’ve seen...how, like in your profile picture, do people get such clean shades for that cartoon look?? Never been able to pull that off. Not only the edge lines being so sharp which I guess isn’t too hard to accomplish, but more making it all one “layer” or “brush” of a shade, where it doesn’t look like it was drawn over a second time. Know what I mean? How if you go over it again you’ll see another brush line cutting into it and that second mark will look darker and all that. How do you make the whole thing just one continuous and perfectly blended piece of shading?

[@ChronoMune]

lol I might’ve just realized the answer after asking....is the trick to make one big oversized brush mark to cover where you want all the shade to be, then erase away the extra that you don’t want?

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

It's probably a combination of 2 things! The first is that I am using a pressure sensitive stylus. So as I push harder the the color gets darker. And the second is the colors that are chosen for the shading. As I pick darker colors I also shift to a slightly cooler color, so that not only do my shadows get darker, but they also get cooler. For example if I am painting in purple, then I will choose a slightly darker blue color for the shadows. I hope that helps! :)

[@ChronoMune]

Zachary Alan Art sorry I probably didn’t explain well. Thank you for that answer but that’s not what I’m referring to. I only mean how clean the effect is in the end, how it looks like it’s only one stroke (that’s the word I was looking for), and like there isn’t multiple drawn lines within the shading itself. Since obviously with the different shapes of shading it isn’t possible to do all of any one piece of shading with one stroke, I don’t fully understand how that’s accomplished. Maybe it has to do with pressure like you said? I use the same pen, but I’ve also never been able to connect two strokes that look so seamlessly blended, so if that’s possible I guess that’s what my problem is.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

@@ChronoMune ahh, gotcha! I use multiple layers and gradually build them on top of each other. Each layer gets either a little darker or a little lighter as I build on top of the previous layer! That will for a smooth looking gradient, that hopefully looks like that single brush strokes look you are trying to achieve!

[@ChronoMune]

Zachary Alan Art ohh gradient, that’s a good term to know for what I’m talking about. Still not entirely sure how to make that work ‘cause it seems to me like that would have the same outcome as multiple strokes on one layer, aside from being able to change the opacity and stuff with different layers. I’ll try it out though thanks!!

[@insanecurity]

this helped me a lot! thank you so much

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Awesome, I'm so glad! 👍

[@hamarotica520]

So how did you do that thing were you selected the shape before you started to do the gradient color?

[@connorlaurey4647]

Thank you sooo much this was really helpful

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

You're welcome, I'm glad it helped! 👍

[@TheIncredibleHulk96]

Hi! This helped so much! Thank you! Is there any way to get your brushes?

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

I am so glad! I don't have any acrylic brushes available yet, but I've had a few requests so I'm planning on making a pack and putting them up for sale!

[@JeremyCobb]

How did you do that gradient ? Is it part of the brush or part of procreate I am not aware of?

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Just paint with light pressure, then apply more pressure as you paint to lay the color down darker. That's how I made the gradient!

[@lonagermanotta]

Thank u

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

You're welcome!! 👍

[@NguyenHieu-uw2sx]

How to download the Zac brushes?

[@jordanbonitatis7727]

If that's not a Philly accent, then I don't know what is. Go birds (and nice video; I'm going to try this advice out)

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Thanks, I appreciate it! I'm actually from the Pittsburgh area though haha

[@user-fg5ho3tg3u]

I am your 800th sub

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Wahoo, thank you so much!

[@CeeJayKay]

It would help if I could see that inset video on the bottom left bigger and not cut off at the top.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

I will keep that in mind for the next video! Thank you for the feedback!

[@cd.ceedee]

Hello, my 'select layer' object is not selected, and if so it disappears again. Please help.

[@catarinarondao9822]

Can someone help me? When I change the blend mode from Normal to anything else it doesn’t work. Nothing appears on the canvas, I can only see the “paint” on the layer miniature. How do I fix this?

[@gabieden8]

I don’t know how to make my own brush Mega oof

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

I have a video on how to make your own brush if you want to check it out on my page!

[@bhzmafia]

You said you select the layer to paint within the shape. How did you do that when you’re on a different layer?

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Click the layer you want to select, the there should be an option to select the layer in the drop down menu. Hope that helps!

[@marciaharris108]

I tried to follow but no success. Highlights and shadows don't seem to show up when doing it on the second layer. How does that work?

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Hmm, that's very strange. Are you using a darker color for the shadows?

[@marciaharris108]

@@ZacharyAlanArt yes. Either you don't see the highlights unless you close the other layers or, another method I tried, to alpha lock a layer and highlight the shape. Only problem is that the alpha lock does not seem to work and the shadowing I have tried goes outside the lines.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

@@marciaharris108 maybe try using a slightly different shade for the highlight layer, or a different layer blending mode. That might help your highlights show up

[@marciaharris108]

@@ZacharyAlanArt I finally figured it out. Thanks for your help!

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

@@marciaharris108 great, I'm glad to hear that!!

[@joannadinio1313]

How are you not going pass the circle? Thats what I wanna know.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Whenever you make a selection, you can only paint within that selection. I selected the circle so everything I painted stayed within the selected area!

[@joannadinio1313]

Zachary Alan Art how do you select an area? 😅😅

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

@@joannadinio1313 click on the layer where you have drawn the circle, then there should be an option to select the layer under the drop down menu!

[@cupid6922]

I have a problem I use black to outline my work when i select an area when I use the smudge tool the black ruins the colour for some reason and I'm not sure how to fix this issue

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Are you using separate layers for the black and color, or are they all on one layer?

[@cupid6922]

Zachary Alan Art they are all on one layer

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

In that case I would put your black line work on the tip layer, and your color layer right below it. Then anything to edit or adjust on the color layer, won't effect your linework on the layer above. I hope that helps! ☺️

[@sathies4040]

I can't do that since I don't hv iPad pro

[@sandwich930]

It works on 7, 8, maybe 6. But get the eighth or seventh if you can!

[@sathies4040]

@@sandwich930 bruhh I don't even have iphone .......I just have a crashed Iphone 4 , OnePlus 3T and Samsung Galaxy tab s 10.5

[@starscapesss]

I need brushesss

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

I have been considering releasing my painterly brushes for purchase! However in the mean time head over to my channel and I have a tutorial on how to create an acrylic brush 👍

[@lisamaier9984]

I really dislike the blotchiness of the colors.

[@ZacharyAlanArt]

Are you referring to the colors themselves, or the way they transition from highlights to shadows?

[@meandmines3245]

He used the Acrylic Brush. Acrylic Brushes are blotchy. Simply choose a different brush that's more to your liking.