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Description
Some artists can be a little shy when it comes to shading. That's perfectly normal, especially when it comes to programs without layers, such as Microsoft Paint. While slight shading can look fine, a good shadow can really solidify an object or character. Now, there are plenty of approaches to this, but here's one that is simple, clean, and relatively painless.

First step is picking a color. Look at your piece and think to yourself "What would look nice?" or, if there is a comprehensive background, "what is the appropriate shadow color for this setting?" If this doesn't help, just grab whichever color you like, apply it to the drawing with the marker tool, undo, and repeat this process until you find one that looks good with the drawing.

The next step is picking the value and saturation of the color. I would recommend always using a high saturation for this method, but the value is where things get interesting. The farther from the center of the value bar, the less saturated the shading will be. Having extremely high saturation from the get-go will balance this out and give you access to darker shading without much fear of extreme color loss.

For this example, I went pretty low on the value scale for one big reason. The darker the color, the less details that need to be fixed. Any color darker than your shading will become lighter afterwards, so you need to prepare to replace said colors after the entire shading process is over.

The third step (second image) is to use the marker tool and shade in long strokes across the drawing. Try to avoid overlapping the lines or leaving space between the lines. This will, of course, happen anyways so don't stress out over it too much. Just try to make sure neither the gaps or overlapping portion, referred to here as the seams, land on very detailed areas.

Lastly, (third image) use the eyedropper to grab the now-shaded colors. With whichever tool, use these new colors to hide the seams and gaps. Congratulations! Your drawing is now shaded.

(Fourth Image) Bonus: Add a bit of dim, saturated lighting to the shaded portion to liven up the character a tad more. Darken lines if needed.

Description
Some artists can be a little shy when it comes to shading. That's perfectly normal, especially when it comes to programs without layers, such as Microsoft Paint. While slight shading can look fine, a good shadow can really solidify an object or character. Now, there are plenty of approaches to this, but here's one that is simple, clean, and relatively painless.

First step is picking a color. Look at your piece and think to yourself "What would look nice?" or, if there is a comprehensive background, "what is the appropriate shadow color for this setting?" If this doesn't help, just grab whichever color you like, apply it to the drawing with the marker tool, undo, and repeat this process until you find one that looks good with the drawing.

The next step is picking the value and saturation of the color. I would recommend always using a high saturation for this method, but the value is where things get interesting. The farther from the center of the value bar, the less saturated the shading will be. Having extremely high saturation from the get-go will balance this out and give you access to darker shading without much fear of extreme color loss.

For this example, I went pretty low on the value scale for one big reason. The darker the color, the less details that need to be fixed. Any color darker than your shading will become lighter afterwards, so you need to prepare to replace said colors after the entire shading process is over.

The third step (second image) is to use the marker tool and shade in long strokes across the drawing. Try to avoid overlapping the lines or leaving space between the lines. This will, of course, happen anyways so don't stress out over it too much. Just try to make sure neither the gaps or overlapping portion, referred to here as the seams, land on very detailed areas.

Lastly, (third image) use the eyedropper to grab the now-shaded colors. With whichever tool, use these new colors to hide the seams and gaps. Congratulations! Your drawing is now shaded.

(Fourth Image) Bonus: Add a bit of dim, saturated lighting to the shaded portion to liven up the character a tad more. Darken lines if needed.