21-Draw-Illustrators-Guidebook-vol-2-ebook-(2021)

LESSON 6: LIGHTING USING
LAYER BLENDING MODES
In this lesson we learn about Layer Blending Modes
and how they can be a useful tool to quickly add
lighting to your illustration.
These options change the way the current layer
interacts with the layers below it. Think of them
almost like filters that are on top of the rest of your
illustration. Using layer blending modes can help you
quickly achieve effects that would take much longer
using traditional paint. I find them most useful for
adding lighting to an illustration. You can access the
layer blending mode option by tapping the layers
panel and tapping the N on a layer. This will bring up
all twenty-five layer blending mode options for you to
scroll through and select.
You can get an idea of the effects of different layer
blending modes by filling a layer above your character
with solid color and cycling through the options as
Procreate updates your canvas live. Twenty-five is a
lot of different options so make sure you experiment
with their effects. You may find that you like some
better than others. Honestly, for my process I only
use a select few. These include Multiply, Color
Dodge, Overlay, and Soft Light, but there have been
circumstances where a blending mode I’d never used
before worked better than my go-tos!
Before we start lighting our character, we need to
identify the light source. The light source determines
where we add in shadows and highlights to our
character. When lighting your character, you want to
think in 3D shapes even though our illustrations are
2D. Think about how light would wrap around the
shapes. It may help to create a new layer and draw a
line showing where your light source is coming from.
You can mark the areas you think the light would hit.
We also want to think about the color of our light
source. The color of your lighting affects both your
highlight and shadow colors. For example, warm light
will produce cool shadows.
CLEANED UP & FLATTENED
SHADOWS WITH MULTIPLY
WARM GLOW WITH OVERLAY
22 21DRAW