
We have something better for this purpose! Multiply You may feel tempted to use this mode for darkening, but I wouldn’t recommend it-in this mode bright areas are darkened more strongly than the dark ones, significantly lowering the contrast. The Hue also changes in the subtractive way. The Darken mode gives your layer the properties similar to those of alcohol-based markers-you can only cover the colors below, if you use a darker color. Darkening Modesĭarkening modes are the easiest to understand, because they share properties with real things.

I use this mode to draw the local colors-colors unaffected by any lighting effects. That’s why I’m going to use it for comparison and the standard of “normal” layer behavior. It’s the most predictable and the easiest to control. This mode is best for sketching, inking, and coloring. In this mode your lines have the potential to be 100% covering, if only your brush settings allow it-this makes it similar to oil paint properties. It gives you more control over the properties defined by the Blend Mode. Just like with Blend Modes, you can change the Opacity non-destructively. If the layer is darkening, lower the Opacity to make it less darkening. For example, if the layer is covering, lower the Opacity to make it less covering. It can be changed gradually from 0% to 100%, and this number will define the “strength” of the effect. Opacity is not a Blend Mode-it’s more like a modifier of the Blend Modes. Here I’ll show you what they do and what they’re good for! Opacity You may find a slightly different list of Blend Modes in every drawing program, but there are a couple of popular modes that you should be able to find everywhere. So don’t be afraid to experiment and test all the options on the list!įrom top to bottom: Autodesk SketchBook, Adobe Photoshop, Krita What do Blend Modes Do? It won’t affect the content of the layer. You can change the Blend Mode at any time, non-destructively. Look for the text saying “Normal”-click it and you should see a drop-down list of all the Blend Modes available.
Krita blend tool how to#
How to Change a Blend Mode?Įvery drawing program has a different interface, but if your program has a Layers panel, that’s where most likely you’ll find the option to change the Blend Mode. Third, it reminds you that there are many different materials with many different properties, so you’re not limited by default, 100% concealing setting for your layers. Second, it makes you aware you can change the colors of the layers below by adding a new layer above them. First of all, you can imagine you’re looking at the layers below through the upper layer.

Thinking about Blend Modes this way will help you conceptualize their function. For examples, both of these containers may contain the same red fluid, but the one on the right is 100% concealing, making it impossible to see “the layer below”. This makes you see the wall through them, but it no longer appears bluish white-it has the color of the bottles.ĭifferent materials may have different properties. However, the bottles have a physical property of selective transparency-they let some of the light in and out, so that it can reach the wall and go back to your eyes. The wall is bluish white, and the bottles have various colors.

So this is what a Blend Mode is: it’s a set of “physical” properties of the layer.įor example, in this image you have two “real life layers”-a wall and a row of bottles. It may change the saturation of it and add a sheen (varnish)Īll of this comes from the physical properties of the pigment.It may change the hue of it (alcohol-based markers).It may cover it slightly, brightening or darkening it (watercolors).

A new layer may affect the look of the previous layer in a couple of different ways: In digital art you can draw on separate layers-you can draw the sketch on one layer, ink the line art on another one, and then remove the sketch without affecting the line art.Īlthough you can’t do something like this in traditional art, traditional painting has layers as well-they just merge by default.
Krita blend tool download#
If you want to practice this topic, you can download this template and paint on it the way I describe in the tutorial.
