How to Use LAYERS to your Advantage! (clipping masks, alpha lock, layer modes)

for this video I want to show you how to draw with layers like a pro layers are deceptively simple and using them efficiently will save you tons of thinking energy that you could have used for drawing I'm using clip Studio paint in this video but most of the layer properties I'll be talking about are Universal traits so fear not if you're using a different software I want to talk about the five main points covered in this video which are layer properties clipping masks and layer masks layer modes folders and number of layers starting off with the basics the layer on top will of course be on top of the ones below it think of each layer as its own Planet a newly made layer is empty and anything you add in there is the planet brushes for example will work based on this principle if I use one layer with this blending brush I'm using you can see that the colors interact with each other the green is mixing with the blue next I make a new layer on top and I use the same brush but with the color red it doesn't blend with the green and blue below it as it's on a different layer very subtle detail that you can use for digital painting I use it on time locking transparency in layers is also another great feature you should always be using sometimes it's called locking Alphas after making any mark on a layer you can lock it letting you freely draw on whatever you have on that layer so far you can easily turn this feature on and off anytime I allowed transparency to add a shadow around the org then turned it off again to add a meteor streak in this one clipping layers like you draw limited to the layer below it so why use the silver lock transparency clothing layers are more flexible letting you make changes easier if I had used lock transparency to make that shadow I would have had to erase and change the whole thing not only the clipping layers neatly sort them into two layers that also allows me the flexibility of changing the color or moving it around wherever you can also clip and unclip the layer anytime you can lock the transparency of a clipping layer as you can see with me turning the shadow green we can also add as many clipping layers as you'd like the hierarchy still applies here so if a clipping layer is on top it will be of course on top of the other clipping layers works the same clefting mask allows for more control while lock transparency is more convenient for quick changes at the very least that's how I like to think about it layer masks allow you to erase and show parts of a layer without permanently erasing them as I would make a layer mask on this layer right and whenever you make a layer mask be sure that you're selecting the right one because if I had had selected this one on the left right I am drawn on the layer itself and if I select the right one you can see that I have the layer mask selected so the way it works is if I use black for some software it's black but for clip studio if I use transparency you could see that it erases the drawing or whatever is on the layer right and if I use the color wipes the brightest white you could see that I could bring back the parts that I erased using layer mask is perfect if you want to erase something or if you want to see something without completely committing to it and erasing it permanently layer masks basically work in the black and white Spectrum where white means very visible and black or in this case for clip Studio transparent means that it's transparent which means that you could not only erase it as a hard hard Edge like this you could also slowly fade it in by using a softer brush using the color white and lightly lightly brushing it back into existence just like that layer masks are perfect if you want to change something without permanently making that change it's perfect for sketching and I use it all the time in the sketching phase now when talking about layer modes or blending modes as they're also known as there are a lot of them and I mainly want to focus on the properties and how they affect the layers that you've worked on just like all layers they all affect the layers below them and react differently based on those layers I want to showcase the most commonly used ones or at the very least the ones I use a lot now multiply is a really common one and that's the one I want to start off with and as the name implies it multiplies the value and darkens darkens the uh the color that you're using and it makes for a nice shadow and you can see that I'm using a clipping layer so that it sticks onto this orb right here very convenient very self-explanatory it just makes things darker another one I love to use is glow Dodge or you can also use add glow as an alternative it's just like the name implies it makes it really really nice and glowy I love using this for the really glossy shiny effects and I like to use it with a softer brush to really add that glossy feel to it another thing to make something shiny is screen so screen just like the name implies it makes it kind of a hazy in a way it's as if there's like a sheet of clear plastic over it it makes your color get this screen Vibe and I like using it for Windows for glasses or anything wrapped in plastic it's just perfect very convenient for that sort of texture and another two that I really want to talk about is the lighten and the dark and layer modes so lighten as the name implies follow me affects colors are darker than it so for example this multiply layer right maybe I only want to affect the darker color maybe somehow making it lighter right so of course use the lightning layer and you can see that it only affects the layer that is darker but for example if I had use this okay Parkin on the other hand does the complete opposite where it makes every color that is brighter than it darker for example right here you can see that it doesn't affect the shadow layer right it just makes everything that is better than it darker simple as it sounds try experimenting with all these other layers and see what works for you you can help support us to make free Arts education become a member on patreon or YouTube and get special perks like critiques and classes if the layers are like planets then folders are like galaxies where layers exist within them within the big universe that is defined at face value they seem like they're only for sorting layers which they are it's a very convenient way to tidy up your layers when you have hundreds and hundreds of them but there's more to them than that so say I'm using this orb and I am shading it with my multiply layer for example and I would do it as normal right you can see that it's affecting the layer by darkening the colors including the gray paper right the gray of the background so this layer is affecting the layers below it as usual but if I were to put this in a layer like so you can see that the multiply layer is reacting differently and that's because if you put it in a folder all that it really sees is what's in the folder it sees that there's nothing there's no gray paper to be to be affected here so that's like the POV of it but if we had put it outside of the folder it starts affecting everything again but you can easily fix this by going onto your folder and then turning the folder into the through layer mode that way it affects everything below it even the stuff outside of the folder going back to clipping layers for example shading it right here but maybe you want the clipping layer on top to only affect this sort of Darker magenta right maybe you want to put some blue in there for some reason but you can see that it still affects the bright the bright pink but you only want this part to be affected really so this is where folders come in so what you do is you make a folder and then you put the two of them in there and then you turn the folder into a clipping layer itself right so now this folder and everything in it is only clipped onto the circle right now you open up this folder and you turn this into a normal layer and now you can see by Logic right that this blue is clipping on to the dark magenta which is also clipping on to the big pink like it takes some I think some wrapping your head around but it's very intuitive and it makes sense so say you only want the blue to be affected right so what you would do again is either a folder turn that into a coping layer and turn it back into a normal one make another cutting layer now you can see that if I put a green Like A nice bright green only the blue gets affected so it's all just a matter of wrapping your head around the logic just remember that the folders are not only for sorting your layers but they also have different properties they can take full advantage of now you might be asking yourself how many layers is the perfect amount of layers and the simple answer is it's as many as you like make as many layers based on what makes life easier for you an easy principle to remember is to make layers based on how much Freedom you want in your drawing for example if you feel like your Shadow color is going to change or if you want to change the time of day your drawing is in at some point then maybe use as many layers as you can to separate the shadows and the lighting or that freedom the freedom to change whenever you'd like but if that sounds like something you wouldn't do try to use less layers there is no one size fits-all answer for this one that's based on how you like to work join a virtual art class to learn live from our professional artists get creative assignments individual guidance and real-time feedback on your artwork start today and level up your practice here's a couple other videos you can check out next [Music]

Channel: Winged Canvas

Views: 12,552

Keywords: how to use layers, how to use layers digital art, how to use layers in clip studio paint, how to draw using layers, how to draw on layers, how to use layers in procreate, winged canvas, how to use layer modes, how to use clipping masks, how to use alpha lock, alpha lock, transparency lock, clipping masks, clipping mask tutorial, layer masks, how to use layer masks, how to shade using layers, blending modes, how to use layers in digital art, photoshop clipping mask

Id: b9pnEfsjWUg

Length: 10min 12sec (612 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 07 2023