#shading process

I was looking for a character to illustrate as a quick demonstration in response to a previous ask, and it just so happened that this franchise was one of the many I suddenly remembered I once had quite a fondness for; hence the little tribute.^^

So here's how I proceed for the shading process!

When it comes to monochromatic sketches, I have a special liking for warm and earthy tones, but any color can work really well depending on the atmosphere needed. When choosing one, I pick the background first as a general indicator, then follow it up with the contour lines. This helps me find the base for the character itself, which is always somewhere in-between. That way, the figure stands out reasonably while also having visible details even at this stage. :3

From there, I separate each darker and lighter zone by using the already existing tones that I have and creating blends. Same goes for the shadows, which I keep fairly subtle and only emphasize in some key areas for a softer effect. 🎨

Depending on the complexity of the piece (and especially when using a more diverse palette), I will often trace the final version first, but in the case of a simpler drawing like this one, I usually apply most of the shading on the rough sketch instead and make the remaining adjustments from there. When cleaning up the lines, I use pen pressure to obtain varying thickness and create a more dynamic result. Sometimes, I will also include a few tiny elements outside of the color range I'm working with as a fun bit of contrast and finishing touch. ✨

Shading process

YOOO thanks for the question!! I had to grab my tablet for this one, so here’s a sort of step by step process using my most recent drawing of Amma as a Pharloom bug! It’s kind of a big dump but hopefully it’ll have something useful in it 😭

Usually, I start out by filling in my sketch (I rarely do lineart) with a solid color, usually the most prominent color in the piece or whatever undertones you want it to be (I’ve heard gradient maps can be really cool but I haven’t tried those yet) and then all of the base colors that lay directly on top of it are clipping masks to this base layer. I tend to start from the biggest swaths of color (like her navy blue body) and then layer smaller details on top. Here, her coat and mask just stays the base color, so I don’t touch it. I usually use a basic pen brush to outline the areas and then colorfill.

After that, I do lighting and shading. This depends heavily on the atmosphere I want, but I almost always use one of the gouache brushes in Procreate for it (this one was done largely using Night Heron and Loyetea, though any paint-shape brush with varying opacity can work), and I usually use a purpleish blue on a Multiply layer for shading and just SMEAR it around and then detail, erasing away any parts I don’t want in shadow and deepening parts in heavier shadow (and have started doing the edges in orange or red on the same layer too to give the shadows more depth!)

For the highlights, if the subject glows from within I usually use the base color adjusted slightly on an add layer, and if there’s external lighting, I’ll use the lighting from the environment around the edges.

I think what really helps my drawings pop out is the white layer of lineart I then do on top of everything else, particularly in dark areas of anything else I want to stand out. Depending on how much contrast you want I usually use a white pencil tool on an add layer and then adjust the opacity or partially erase parts away.

For the glow around her, I went back and duplicated the entire bottom layer (that everything else is clipped to) and changed it to a bright blue, set it to add, and then used the bloom tool. After that, I went around the edges where corners are and parts meet with the same gouache brush on add to add texturing, and then dotted little stars on another layer and added a very slight bloom effect to them.

i uhh… uh

sdsklfjds