A mini Procreate tutorial
It doesn't need to be complicated. In this quick tutorial we'll make this washed out image stand out by starting with a Color Fill layer, a Blend Mode, and then by making a few color Adjustments to the artwork layers.
Use your own layered artwork if you want to follow along.
Step 1. Open the Layers panel.
Step 2. Make a layer above your artwork layers and Fill Layer with a gray color.
Step 3. Change the Blend Mode for this layer to Color and the image will appear to be grayscale. There's little contrast between the colors and the image looks washed out. For a true gray change your RGB to all equal numbers ex. R50 G50 B50, but the gray doesn't need to be perfect for it to work.
Step 4. Select a layer that needs work.
Step 5. Go to Adjustments and click on Hue, Saturation, Brightness, and choose the Layer option. This will give you the ability to adjust the color of the layer.
Step 6. Toggle the Saturation and/or the Brightness to achieve some contrast. For a good color theme try for a light, a medium, and a dark tone. I increased the Saturation and decreased the Brightness to get the star to pop out.
Step 7. Turn off the gray layer to see how it looks. It's better but the teal colored layer (Layer 3) needs some work to create contrast and interest.
Step 8. Turn on the gray layer, select the layer that needs work and repeat Step 5. I pumped up the Saturation and dialed back the Brightness, let's go back and turn off the gray layer and see what it looks like.
Step 9. It looks much better but still needs a little tweaking. I'll continue to work on this on my own time.
Closing thoughts. You can save some time by adjusting the colors of your palette before coloring your artwork. Do this by painting the colors from your palette on separate layers and use this same technique to create light, medium, and dark tones.
It's still a good practice to put your finished artwork, while it's in layers, under a gray layer to do a quick color check and to correct the balance of your colors.
Written by Wendy Wittner | Illustration, Graphic Design | January 2022