NEW 4-LAYER coloring method 🤯 (works in any software)

[@YTartschool]

This week it's time to show you guys what my hours of research have led to, getting my coloring method down to 4 single layers. Easy to memorize, easy to do in any software, no special tool needed, just basic software knowledge. Now.. it's YOURS ❤ (for the small price of a like or a sub)

[@TheLobstersoup]

Idk if I wanna join your artschool. Everytime you start a lesson there seem to be fire and explosions going on outside.

[@moviereelnews]

this is a game changer for me. thanks marc

[@ShadowWind82]

There is no file from this video in Practice Files Download

[@moozey11]

If anyone knows what the equivalent of this is for Krita, let me know. Also, I have been looking for some better brushes for Krita, especially for shading.

[@Fessoid]

Looks like 3D-modelling character in Blender! Awesome.

[@LEONGREF]

Your shading is so good it looks like a 3d model

[@nycsim-r8t]

Marc was a 3D artist in the video game industry.

[@envyoc]

illustrating is basically 3d modelling in 2d

[@victorynachi2603]

Honestly

[@agwynsatria9165]

Frfr

[@AlainBoudard]

Yeah, it's really awesome.

[@RickyAY031]

your shading make it look like I'm learning Blender now, it's so cool

[@userunfriendly9304]

sometimes if I'm unsure of a reflection I'm drawing, I'll toss a rough mock-up into blender just to make sure.

[@panchuleta03]

i entered the video thinking he made a 3d model to paint over it

[@MJWolverine21]

When Marc comes to the shading step I raise my both hands and I am like, nah.. I give up.

[@kuromiLayfe]

hehe… for shading as shown in this video.. think of the darkest shade to come from the line art lines towards a lighter shade at a center point. I used to use the smudge tool when trying this with only 3 layers (one guided line art layer, a thicker lined layer as the shading layer and a vector coloring layer)

[@TsubasaAnimations]

Think of the parts as 3D shapes and start with big strokes that way. Shade the head like a circle and the limbs like cylinders. Then you can start adding the finer details like the shadow under the eyes, nose, lips etc. It's not as complicated once you get into it

[@MangroveLord]

dont give up!

[@RuneCarterCh]

believe on your self, you can do it

[@picklejho69]

Probably this video is more focused on those with a good grasp of the fundamentals. Practise your basics before trying to skip ahead to "hack" style tips.

[@winxpusr]

this half shading brush is genius, can't believe I didn't think of something like this before

[@framerate1607]

Do you know how to make one in clip studio?(if your talking about the one with the triangle tip)

[@alexl7213]

This is the optimal setup for digital art. I use a little twist: Layer 1 (layer at the top)- light - I use add mode. It works well with adding colors to change light and radiance. Layer 2 - outlines - Can use filters on it to change colors from black to other hues. Or simply paint it with different colors. I use normal blend for it. Layer 3 - shadows - multiply mode. Colors painted for shadows will change how shadows pop. It can even be a subgroup of different layers, if I need different shadow colors. layer 4 (last layer, at the bottom)- color - normal mode. 1 layer of a subgroup of different layers if I want to keep color parts separated. I work with Krita.

[@Hannah-fo3bc]

it may look small but honestly Marc taking the time to show how it looks in csp and not just photoshop is really thoughtful of him. so now I have stored knowledge too for when I try csp someday. One more thing that goes unnoticed is it's also beginner friendly BECAUSE it makes the most of four layers. There are many people out there who have basic set-ups that can't really handle a lot of layers, especially beginner artists. I was one myself. Used a very light program called Paint Tool SAI and yet my laptop back then couldn't handle more than a few layers. Of course Marc's experience will show, of course your first few tries won't magically look like his, that ISN'T the point. The point was to show you how, it's not telling you to achieve it at his level. Focus on the process and take time to apply it to your own style. It'll always be awkward at first, because that's how learning is. Thank you for being thoughtful sir, and thank you for your free content. Cheering for you! 💕

[@mattparsons433]

I’ve been religiously sticking to your similar earlier method (lines, flats, shading, lighting & effects but without the inner glow and red shading) and it’s been super helpful. I’ve seen some artists do time-lapse painting which while looking great, use hundreds of layers. This method is so much simpler for equal effect. I’ll be sure to try out this new method, many many thanks for sharing!

[@Tinopachanga]

This is literally the meme of "Step 1: Do the lines. Step 2: Add in the details". Your experience makes this look so easy 😭

[@DeterminationV5]

Look, some guides are targeted towards intermediary to advanced artists. Even though beginners can extract info from this if they try, this is targeting intermediary to advanced. Try checking out his guide on shading or line, since these go from the ground up line by line detailing the initial process.

[@schminke89]

Pro tip: do the color layer first so you don't have to lasso everything in the shading and highlight stage but can select the seperate colors as seperate parts to shade

[@aegisgfx]

I dont get why he painted right on the flats layer... I would always keep the flats layer as a separate layer especially if there are multiple characters in a scene

[@ryantaylor3499]

or you can use buckets feature like all layer bucket or you can just use magic select tool then edit little things. its not that hard

[@framerate1607]

I’m a noob at shading/coloring, but how would you individually select each color?(preferably in clip studio if you use it) is their a setting to auto lasso a color selection?

[@ArylideL]

0:15 thought you had hair for a second with those pencils behind your ears

[@jj.vargasmusic5019]

Same

[@JuanGil221]

SAME! 😂

[@yearight1205]

Lol same, was like "this guy's gonna advise me on making things look good while rocking the grandpa haircut? Just let it go man!" 😂😂😂

[@matsujun4me]

😂

[@ez_is_bloo]

*cries in my 200 layers*

[@LISA.WANG.]

1:17 It is stuff like THIS that I can never wrap my head around. More than theory and technique of what to do, I have no clue how to organize my layers and what the modes do. Thank you for this!

[@nomoretwitterhandles]

13 years ago when I started my art journey, the only things I had were my sketchbooks and my 3DS art app. Since the 3DS/app was limited in certain capabilities, I only had 5 layers to work with. The great thing about art is that you can always find creative ways to break out of those limitations. I ended up improving really quickly, and even now I keep my layers minimal. It feels cleaner that way. I'll never understand how some artists can stand having over 50 layers, let alone hundreds!

[@deafinki]

Colors! 3D was freaking awesome. Honestly that 5 layer limit actually forced people to get more creative within those constraints. I kind of miss it, lol.

[@CyberPolygon2077]

It is very easy to get over 100 layers. You paint the character details individually as additional objects that you can hide and replace at any time. Ok, that's been my way so far so as not to have to concentrate on details at first and only add them at the end.

[@villagerjj]

When I do digital oil paintings of landscapes, each element has its own layer, foreground, sky, mountains, knights, etc. I mainly did this in case I wanted to change something, since I paint mostly from imagination. I am excited to try this 4 layer method, and feel the bliss of not having 10 layers

[@OlgaGlassSilver]

Cool! I found it useful! Despite the fact that i'm from Russia. Here in Russia there are several old schools of drawing. One of them is the oldest folk craft Zhostovo. Their flowers are almost always drawn divinely beautifully! I also drew them myself and gave them as gifts to my family and not only. So this school uses the following steps of drawing: 1) Painting the background with color: sanguine, sepia, ocher, black, grassy gray-green, etc. All these colors are presented in the crayons of the classical school of drawing. 2) Lineart on the background, 3) Separation of objects from the background (white, beige), 4) Flat coloring the object, 5) Overlaying shadows, 6) Drawing light. 7) Reflections in the shadows (Ambient Occlusion), 8) Drawing hard white highlights and shadowless thin lines. Well, in general, the work is not left unfinished. if use it in cg. Why i didn'f guess it before and try to draw another way!?

[@migovas1483]

Another blast! I totally agree about people should know their tools, and fiddle with them and don't expect settings to be found ready everywhere, people should learn how to build their brushes ,customize, professional environment is tough, sometimes you are given tools you are not used to.. and you are expected to easily transfer your skill... be prepared.

[@kirahhdrop]

“And my lines are a mess…” Ngl SYAU 😭 ITS PERFECT TO ME-

[@Kaycegamez]

6:48 environmental lighting always takes things to the next level

[@davidaugustofc2574]

The shading layer made such a BIG difference

[@ChaosMarine9118]

Aight. One video and I’m subbed. I used to draw and sketch a lot as a hobby. Even tried out digital painting like this for a short while. SO satisfying and therapeutic. Looking forward to seeing more of your channel, maybe I’ll get the pen back out!!

[@FUMOangelo]

Ever thought about setting your default background color to beige ~ gray , just a suggestion and not mentioning it because my eyes are wasted or anything at all Thanks for everything in general, Marc

[@Zatroth]

Yeah I view this technique years ago in the collage, but forgot the exact procedure, since then I stuck on adobe illustrator doing basic vector graphics, but finally I reunite with this beautiful technique!!! Thank You Marc and God Bless You!!!

[@ThrillaWhale]

Favoriting this one for later. There’s a lot to absorb here. But that’s because you got so much information across in such a succinct straightforward way. I appreciate that. And i appreciate that you put it all into one single video rather than multiple parts or across a multi year long string of topics 🙏🏻💪🏼

[@Tomoka51]

Honestly this is mostly how I do it already but I have never had the same mastery of shading or materials as you do lmao. In particular I have absolutely no idea how you use the lasso tool so effortlessly, it looks like fucking magic to see you just nail the exact pieces you want in one go like that. Great video!

[@lunafox5571]

I'm scared to try drawing in 1 layer immediately, (though technically i draw with 1 layer everytime whenever i draw traditionally lol) maybe i can try with this 4 layer technique first :D As always.. Thank you Marc for the quality content!

[@mauricioalbelo]

Al principio te dan cosa, pero es como dijo samdoesart: "Sal de tu zona de confort". Personalmente, aceleró mucho mí ritmo de trabajo el colorear todo en una capa. 😎👍🏻

[@lunafox5571]

@@mauricioalbelo you're correct 💯 I've tried couple times before drawing in 1 layer digitally but whenever the result start looking good, i'm afraid to continue and refine it so i never finish it. But like you said, i should get out of my comfort zone and make more mistakes so i can improve faster, thanks 👍

[@mauricioalbelo]

@@lunafox5571 Lo que yo hago es que primero hago el fondo, lo trabajo, despues el personaje. Despues podes aplicar efectos y luces en otras capas como en este video si te parece bien. No hay reglas absolutas, ya demostraste confianza haciendo todo en una capa? No pasa rayos, luces, polvo en otra capa. En mi caso tardaba dias por detallista. El ultimo trabajo que me hice entre 5 - 8 horas. Pero porque era mas detallado.

[@sirdioz]

It's a strange, the workflow gives me 3d vibes. I mean, you literally have the color pass, the ambient occlusion pass, and lighting pass. Both direct and indirect lighting mind you and you even included SSS. The glossy pass was amazing. The very useful tip of shifting the skin ambient occlusion to red was the chef kiss. Making it so much livelier.

[@Kiseriru]

I will try this method in a future drawing - I just finished a group drawing with way to many layers since I didn't know a better method. Thank you for this tutorial 🥰

[@CygnusSonolumen]

Using the selection on the flats to pick up the areas of skin, and then going into the shading layer and making it red woth alpha lock is so dimensional!! I should emplot that kind of work flow

[@Flanowa]

I do more traditional medium and have always struggled with digital feeling very overwhelming! This really helped me make some sense of things and I want to try this technique. Thank you for sharing!

[@seanjameson1975]

wow that is absolutely astonishing. I can guarantee I'll be watching this one video on repeat to learn all of that.

[@NatureMedStudio]

I have a BFA in Biomedical Art and I feel like I learned more from this than I did some of my classes in college! This is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@BaseBasvic]

Best short digital painting video I have seen in a while, wish I could afford the reasonably priced art school!! Maybe later…. THANK YOU for all of these!!!

[@Starsandstardust]

One of my most favorite artists, you saved my anatomy and taught me color theory so easily I was almost baffled at how it took me so long to learn it despite how easy it was! I'm also learning from your shading techniques, and I feel like my art has never been greater! Thank you for providing us with your great knowledge, you're a miracle to beginners!

[@drawingcomics]

Thanks for sharing this process, Marc. I like that your art style removes the line layer.

[@nickolasmendes4872]

Amazing! Thank you so much, Ive been following you for 4 years and you never fail to teach me something new!

[@_RichardOrtega]

"Im making it open source" lol thanks for that, Marc.

[@HonekoAo]

your videos from a couple of years ago convinced me to minimize down my layers to a handful and I've been so much happier working that way since! Thank you for all your work, it's very appreciated for us freelancers to learn from a professional like this!

[@AaronLopez-k8s]

Wow I never thought of doing the shades first than the coloring, Amazing tutorial thank you!

[@dsamurai4725]

If you have a continuous outline you can just select the outside of your sketch then inverse selection and id reduce the selection by a few pixels. Just make a new layer and fill in with a solid color. Voila

[@superjay1518]

Ok, the part where you start shading with grey but later change the color of the shading based on the color of the parts is genius! I would have never thought to do that!

[@otakuking69]

My main connections that that with all the shading on one layer, you're likely using just one brush for shading. I often like to change brushes to give different texture to different materials

[@smuglady3606]

the art community really can't thank you enough for all the work you do for free on your channel, this from someone who is a slow learner and who needs to go a little further to learn how to do this things ❤ I don't think it goes without saying but keep it up!

[@solarydays]

he makes money out of ad revenue and his classes/store he advertises through this channel. he ain't doing it for for free, he is doing it for a living. if it was for free he wouldn't be doing any of it

[@lino_gutenpower]

Thank you for this knowledge Marc. I was working with other workflow, grayscale that requieres a lot of time for finishing illustrations, so I was looking for optimizing time due I have to work too as graphic designer and it takes huge chunks of time. You're the Goat man

[@Bajamanator]

I know it might seem small, but the pops u add when u toggle layers on and off or do other things that might be easily missed is super useful, thanks for those ^_^

[@ashtondawnpng]

I've been doing digital art for over a decade now and I can't believe I never thought about using alpha lock on the shading layer!!! I feel So Dumb right now 🤦 This is why learning from other artists is so important! That's certainly going to streamline my process...

[@RahhmiPoofs]

good stuff. A Million years ago I started doing everything in grey scale and then hue shifting from there... I tended to keep my flats as sperate layers tho. I love that a new generation of artists gets great advice like all of this!

[@bergie8342]

This is one of the best digital art videos I’ve ever seen. It simplifies so much for me. I’ve always just messed with different shades of color and always disliked how it came out. Easily the best information you’ve given us in my opinion. Thank you Marc

[@TrườngNam-g9k]

Hello. This method is absolutely amazing. It helps me to reduce layers as many as I can since I use many layers for each part of the human body and materials. Anyway, this way is mainly fine for drawing a portrait like ONE character in a singer frame. For some beginners who wants to jump to this method, consider adding them into a group folder if you draw many objects. And if you draw a scene, background or environment, also consider before applying, since there would be many layers you are handling for a background. For a game artists who draw assets, group layers if you don't want to lose the layers you are drawing.

[@reversamente]

this is the way. i do something similar, but usually add more layers (for example i like to add layer for just the ambient occlusion shadows) i also find very helpful to create, instead of layers, groups, you can add a clipping mask to the whole group. After i paint the falts, i create a groups and select the flats and turn it into a clipping mask for the group. The way in the video is really clean, i like it too.

[@akitsuneke]

Dude! Thanks so much! I KNEW I was missing something from my workflow, it was the last step that changes the muddiness from my workflow! It's like, such a small step but changes SO much man!

[@ranaventuras905]

OMG! This method is incredible!

[@balorprice]

This blew my mind - it looks absolutely fabulous. I'm really excited to get more uniform looking pieces because I have zero consistency! Thank you so much Marc

[@shadysaar]

Omggg i have been asking everywhere and sesrching everywhere on how artists do this FLATS methods! SO TY SM FROM THE BOTTOM OF MYHEART

[@kevincox8549]

dude wtf how is this free, thank you Mark :))) you are a legend once more

[@jovannydiazabad6123]

Something I forgot to add is that when doing shading and planning your value structure you can use a rule of thumb that says "for an object outdoors and in direct sunlight, surrounded by dark surfaces, the shaded area is 60% of the value of the sunlit side."

[@mariocamarillo1206]

This is so damn good, It made me wanna try this method and get back it again at digital art. Awesome bro!

[@daffy_core]

this process is realy great base for having a stable default workflow with full control and amazing rendering results , yet complex scenarios and different compositions and environment will impact any drawing drasticly so dont forget to still improve beyond what you mastered like for example just think what would you have to do if theres a night scene lit by some fire aroud the character ? now its more and mroe complex and thats okay if you need to make something complex then yes you spend a lot of time matching the desired resutl but if you dont have to dont do this paingin as marc showed us and mostly do in his painting is lit by sun just a global illumination with one color and bounce light its simple but verry effective sometimes you wont even notice , so thank you again marc for this lesson again im truly messy person and i would have to dig this workflow to my brain since i stared when youre doing speedpaints with you square brush making messy stuff clean and this is what i learned and sticked with me but im grateful for everything i think truly wihout you i might quit drawing long time ago , not that i print amazing paintings like you can almost every day by 3 h but im trying even tho its not enought im sorry

[@orionvin]

fun fact (in csp at least, should work the same in photoshop) hard light makes it possible to shade and light on the same layer :D if the value of your color is above 50%, hard light will lighten. if it is below 50%, it will darken. makes it possible to use even LESS layers 👀

[@YTartschool]

I you could but I don’t recommend that for this method, there are many reasons why I keep them separate ;)

[@GIRLIEPOP19]

I LOVE THE ACTION FIGURE DOLL!!! 😻

[@Kaycegamez]

It’s impressive watching a flat image start to look like a blender sculpt more and more

[@Xceny]

I can't wait to try this! Thanks bro! Your channel has such good advice!

[@lovebaltazar4610]

thank you for this comprehensive tutorial, your rendering is just stunning!

[@prosebuds5124]

This process is straight up MAGIC I can’t wait to practice and master it!

[@odowney80]

That was the smoothest self plug I've ever heard bravo on that plus the learning and process video

[@Simply_Sketch]

You would not believe how EXTREMELY grateful I am for these free (aside from one like or one sub lol) YT art school classes. I currently saving up for your program, but watching these in the mean time has helped me drastically!!

[@PanewsONE]

Such an amazing and clean technique! I absolutely love it!!!

[@TRISTAGE-888]

You are my fav art teacher 💫

[@dafrelt]

I try this method in Krita and works like a charm, thanks for sharing it with all of us 🥰

[@YTartschool]

Glad it helped!

[@Spino8336]

omg.. i always struggle to fine a good way to colour! THANK U! omg i m usin ibisPaintX and not the same brush as urs..but i love it ! its a amazing style to colour thank u !

[@ASEC21]

greatest teacher and artist on youtube, hands down!

[@JJay7042]

Im definitely gona try this, this looks awesome! Thank you very much for sharing

[@kevinbzrra]

That's a very good way to color drawings, great video. If you're wanting to draw and has no advanced knowledge in values and colors, that's a good way to start making art

[@AlexGriggAnimation]

Breaking things down like this is super smart.

[@michaelstone3463]

Thanks so much! I believe that this will be very useful to me. Much apreesh!

[@naruh0draw2]

Thank you so much, I've begun 3d shading since 3 week, I always have difficulty but it's easier with your video. Encore merci Marc Brunet

[@justinmeisse]

Nice 👍 I'm going to apply this to 3D coat for character model painting.

[@pimpiriwin]

Gracias! He estado practicando esto de manera instintiva hasta ahora 😅 con estos tips SEGURO mejora mi velocidad 🧙🏼‍♀️

[@deddjay]

This is just the optimized method I needed! Great tutorial.

[@xanksauri89]

I have no ingenious comment, this is just good. Thanks for sharing this Marc, having a method to follow is such a big help. And thanks for the rest of the videos as well.

[@UnWinnable-y4m]

Love the process. Very instructive. Loving it!

[@chaoswolf7976]

Mhm. Well structured. Simple and not unnecessary overcomplicatet. Room for some personal “touch“. Definitly helpful ^^ Mayyyybe you could give us some tipps, on base of this method if possible, how to get a more paintet look as result? Would be much appreciatet :)

[@jamesoliverfarrell1797]

This can be called AO painting or Ambient Occlusion Painting style. People do it in a slightly varient ways but he does simplifies it, the end result is great.

[@dadich84]

I have to say, this is the best coloring tutorial I have seen so far. I did a piece for a job submission that I didn't end up getting and I wish I saw this before.

[@HardCoil]

That last part with colorizing the shading layer is so smart. Shading with black looks bad, and you just lift it right out of that in the end. Super efficient.

[@jackypaschan1]

Best video ever done for a simple yet effective process. Thx a lot. Have you already done or planned a video on how to draw objects like swords, desks, buildings and every other object that is "non organic" and submitted to perspective? I know how to draw those kinds of things and use perspective manually with pen and paper, but I can't find any good way to do it digitally, it's always a p*** in the ***...

[@yagotav5719]

THIS IS PERFECT! THANK YOU A LOT!

[@fleity]

Really nice and structured approach, plus lends itself very well to be made into a game engine shader as it shares some ideas with how pbr rendering works :D

[@gbartho]

After I learn how to draw I can give it a try. It was so awesome seeing the drawing come to life ❤️

[@whydidyoutubechangemyuser]

i might not try it out right now, but i’ve definitely learned something from this video and i will be taking it with me for my next piece

[@lazyoctopus6183]

Thank you so much for this one! Got to a point where I started playing around with blending modes and things got interesting but also messy. So this will help a lot!

[@phancanedoo013]

I find it GREAT that you've addressed this method! I happen to dislike both having too many layers and having too few layers, and 4 layers (or 5 with lineart) strikes a very nice balance for me personally. I do have one thing to ask though, and i find it to be a very big deal: HOW DO I LEARN TO BEST USE THE LASSO TOOL?!? So far, all i know about its usage is tracing the lines, but doing so across a bunch of sections of an art piece is so difficult, as i keep missing lines and such. What do i do about that?

[@carlosvillafuerte5378]

you never stop impressing me you are an art god teacher marc

[@evgenator1334]

This is the greatest coloring tutorial ever!!!

[@conaiz]

Thank you for this universal coloring update. Especially your solution with coloring the shading layer. I am a bit astonished that you actually prefer removing the lineart, because of the perceived emphasis on the lineart/polishing lineart in the past.

[@YTartschool]

Lineart was just a phase that started 3-4 years ago, it was always painted like this before ;) just visiting an older style

[@astridtrisorio4894]

really massive shading technique, well done Marc as usual 😍

[@rolanpriela2627]

Wow. And to think this is free Talking about content here. Amazing as always Marc!

[@GDLRenoBlade]

I used to have 5 layers for each part/texture. Flat, soft shadows + drop shadows, lights + highlights. Even tried to separate full parts such as arms to have alternative poses...

[@MyChemicalLove011]

Every time I watch one of your videos, I learn so much and my art improves every single time. THANK YOU 🙏

[@SadelinaV]

I've never been so early before! Can't wait to watch the video till the end!

[@SadelinaV]

Very handy method, especially now, that I'm trying to optimize my shading technique.

[@Beolith_art]

I'm definitely going to be trying this out, trying to refine my processes and this looks like it could be just the method I need.