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Description
I had no idea how to make this, because let's be honest... most of the time I look at tutorials I have no idea what's going on lol. I tried to go into as much detail as I could here while still keeping it simple. This might be hard to understand, and I'm really sorry for that. But if you're confused or have any questions, feel free to comment below and I'll help as much as I can.

A while ago someone asked me to make a tutorial about how to shade, focusing mostly on brushes and layer order. This one doesn't involve any specific brushes - in fact, I used a default one. For shading, some of the brush types you can use are pencil, brush or marker. The Min Size could be turned down to around 50% and Density a little over 80%. I find it gives a rather soft effect, and not too solid or rounded.

Now I'm no professional, and I am far from mastering any form of digital art. In fact, I could be doing everything wrong lol. But this works for me, and I'm here to share how I do things. If some or all of the techniques here are drastically different from what you're used to or what you're taught then hey, that's cool. There are many crossroads you can take to reach one destination. We're here to learn

This isn't a step-by-step tutorial. All four are different techniques as I explain different ways you can select colors to use for shading. It's different for everyone, and you're free to use either one or neither.

1.

Layers are separated for mane and coat, and have their own shading layers each. This is because the mane and coat use different colors for shading.
For the mane, the shading here is the same color as the original mane color. The shading layer for the mane is placed above the mane flatcolors layer, and Shade Mode is turned on.
For the coat, the shading here is the same color as the original fur color. The shading layer for the coat is placed above the coat flatcolors layer, and Shade Mode is turned on.
Shading layer(s) are placed in a clipping group over flatcolors. This is so you don't have to worry about the shading bleeding out of the outlines.
Play the the opacity as much as you like until you reach a shade you're happy with. There's never a set opacity to use.

2.
Layers aren't necassarily to be separated. Mane and coat layers can be merged, and have only one shading layer. (pictured above is separated for the sake of comparison) They don't have to be separated because the color used for shading is the same.
Shading layer is placed over flatcolors layer. Shade Mode is turned on.
Shading layer(s) are placed in a clipping group over flatcolors. This is so you don't have to worry about the shading bleeding out of the outlines.
The colors used for shading here depend heavily on the character's overall color scheme. For instance, if the character consists mostly of warm colors, then you use warm colors for shading; red, orange, pink.
If the character is of a neutral color not belonging to either warm or cold, you may either want to get out of your comfort zone and experiment with various different colors or use a different color-selecting technique.
Never use black unless you absolutely have to.
Play the the opacity as much as you like until you reach a shade you're happy with. There's never a set opacity to use.

3.
This one is a technique used by a friend of mine (thanks, Lunar! Give her some love here Lunar-Imagination )
Layers aren't necassarily to be separated. Mane and coat layers can be merged, and have only one shading layer. (pictured above is separated for the sake of comparison) They don't have to be separated because the color used for shading is the same.
The general idea of the colors used in this one is to use greyish colors (see the color wheel above)
Any greyish color may work. This one is more convenient as it works on most any color, and you don't have to keep switching to a different color just to shade.
In comparison to 1, you don't have to change to a different color when you move from shading the body to shading the mane.
In comparison to 2, you don't have to pay any mind to whether or not the character consisted mostly of either warm or cold colors.
Shading layer is placed over flatcolors layer. Multiply Mode is turned on.
Shading layer(s) are placed in a clipping group over flatcolors. This is so you don't have to worry about the shading bleeding out of the outlines.
Play the the opacity as much as you like until you reach a shade you're happy with. There's never a set opacity to use.

4.
This one is pretty much number 3, the only difference being to use Shade Mode instead of Multiply Mode.

Thanks for reading and happy arting!

Description
I had no idea how to make this, because let's be honest... most of the time I look at tutorials I have no idea what's going on lol. I tried to go into as much detail as I could here while still keeping it simple. This might be hard to understand, and I'm really sorry for that. But if you're confused or have any questions, feel free to comment below and I'll help as much as I can.

A while ago someone asked me to make a tutorial about how to shade, focusing mostly on brushes and layer order. This one doesn't involve any specific brushes - in fact, I used a default one. For shading, some of the brush types you can use are pencil, brush or marker. The Min Size could be turned down to around 50% and Density a little over 80%. I find it gives a rather soft effect, and not too solid or rounded.

Now I'm no professional, and I am far from mastering any form of digital art. In fact, I could be doing everything wrong lol. But this works for me, and I'm here to share how I do things. If some or all of the techniques here are drastically different from what you're used to or what you're taught then hey, that's cool. There are many crossroads you can take to reach one destination. We're here to learn

This isn't a step-by-step tutorial. All four are different techniques as I explain different ways you can select colors to use for shading. It's different for everyone, and you're free to use either one or neither.

1.

Layers are separated for mane and coat, and have their own shading layers each. This is because the mane and coat use different colors for shading.
For the mane, the shading here is the same color as the original mane color. The shading layer for the mane is placed above the mane flatcolors layer, and Shade Mode is turned on.
For the coat, the shading here is the same color as the original fur color. The shading layer for the coat is placed above the coat flatcolors layer, and Shade Mode is turned on.
Shading layer(s) are placed in a clipping group over flatcolors. This is so you don't have to worry about the shading bleeding out of the outlines.
Play the the opacity as much as you like until you reach a shade you're happy with. There's never a set opacity to use.

2.
Layers aren't necassarily to be separated. Mane and coat layers can be merged, and have only one shading layer. (pictured above is separated for the sake of comparison) They don't have to be separated because the color used for shading is the same.
Shading layer is placed over flatcolors layer. Shade Mode is turned on.
Shading layer(s) are placed in a clipping group over flatcolors. This is so you don't have to worry about the shading bleeding out of the outlines.
The colors used for shading here depend heavily on the character's overall color scheme. For instance, if the character consists mostly of warm colors, then you use warm colors for shading; red, orange, pink.
If the character is of a neutral color not belonging to either warm or cold, you may either want to get out of your comfort zone and experiment with various different colors or use a different color-selecting technique.
Never use black unless you absolutely have to.
Play the the opacity as much as you like until you reach a shade you're happy with. There's never a set opacity to use.

3.
This one is a technique used by a friend of mine (thanks, Lunar! Give her some love here Lunar-Imagination )
Layers aren't necassarily to be separated. Mane and coat layers can be merged, and have only one shading layer. (pictured above is separated for the sake of comparison) They don't have to be separated because the color used for shading is the same.
The general idea of the colors used in this one is to use greyish colors (see the color wheel above)
Any greyish color may work. This one is more convenient as it works on most any color, and you don't have to keep switching to a different color just to shade.
In comparison to 1, you don't have to change to a different color when you move from shading the body to shading the mane.
In comparison to 2, you don't have to pay any mind to whether or not the character consisted mostly of either warm or cold colors.
Shading layer is placed over flatcolors layer. Multiply Mode is turned on.
Shading layer(s) are placed in a clipping group over flatcolors. This is so you don't have to worry about the shading bleeding out of the outlines.
Play the the opacity as much as you like until you reach a shade you're happy with. There's never a set opacity to use.

4.
This one is pretty much number 3, the only difference being to use Shade Mode instead of Multiply Mode.

Thanks for reading and happy arting!