Why You Should Always Use Layers When Creating Digital Artwork

One of the things that I love about digital artwork is you can do all sorts of things with layers! Today I decided we don’t pay nearly enough homage to the wonderful reasons to use layers and so this post will share with you all the convincing reasons layers are great to work with.

Who knows, you might even be inspired to try something new you hadn’t thought of trying to do before!

Now, let’s discuss why you’d want to use this methodology of layers for shading different areas of your artwork:

Flexibility:

By using separate layers for shading, you have the flexibility to make adjustments or changes without affecting the original artwork. This allows you to experiment and refine your shading techniques without any permanent effects.

Control:

Working with layers gives you precise control over the opacity and blending modes of your coloring and shading. This allows you to create subtle or dramatic shading effects, depending on the style or mood you want to convey.

Non-destructive editing:

Since your brush strokes are always applied on a separate layer, you can easily modify or remove it if needed. This non-destructive editing approach ensures that your original artwork remains intact, and you can always revert back to the previous stages if necessary.

Consistency:

Using layers for shading allows you to maintain consistency throughout your artwork. You can easily replicate shading techniques across different areas or elements by duplicating and adjusting the shading layers accordingly. I like to do this a lot when I’m working with repeating pattern designs so I can make sure each color is on its own layer.

Workflow efficiency:

The more efficient we are in our digital artwork, the more time we can spend creating and see better efforts with less work. Layers are a great tool to help boost our efficiency and productivity.

With the layer-based approach, you can work on different aspects of your artwork simultaneously. For example, you can work on the shading layer while keeping the base colors on a separate layer. This streamlines your workflow and makes it easier to manage complex projects.

By utilizing layers for coloring in your artwork, you can enhance its depth, realism, and overall just make it absolutely beautiful. It’s a lot of fun so I hope you give it a try and enjoy the creative possibilities it offers!