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Flatting is the process of applying base colors to your digital artwork. It's like setting up a coloring book, laying down foundational colors before adding details and shading. While not necessary for every art style, flatting helps you build your piece through flat colors and a more graphic approach. It sets a baseline for what you imagine the piece's most dominant look to be.

Organizing Your Flats

When flatting, it's important to have a streamlined system for organizing your layers. Instead of labeling layers by their content or color, use a consistent order that makes sense to you. A system that works well is ordering your layers from light to dark and warm to cool.

• Starting with the lightest and warmest colors at the top.
• If you have a blue color, you'll know it's towards the bottom since blues are cool and tend to be dark.

This organization helps you quickly find layers later, especially when you have many layers in your artwork.

Starting with the Most Important Parts

Begin your flatting with the most important parts of your image. Start with the figure, often the white parts like eyes, and then move on to the skin, which is also warm. Having these essential elements on top of your layers makes sense and makes it easier for you later on.

Choosing Background and Base Colors

Before you start coloring, change your background to a color that allows your work to stand out. Choose a color that contrasts with the colors you're applying so you don't miss any spots. For example, if you're coloring with a light warm color, pick a background color that doesn't blend into it.

Avoid Using Stark White

Never start with a stark, bright white. Use a middle gray, either cool or warm, depending on the direction your piece will go. This reserves a part of the spectrum for your highlights later. If you start with pure white, there's no room to add highlights to areas like the eyes without adding shadow, which can limit your flexibility.

Picking Colors Using Value

Consider using value when picking your colors. Instead of relying solely on a color wheel, try using RGB sliders. Thinking about color in terms of warm vs. cool can help you create color combinations that you might not think of otherwise. Adjusting the RGB sliders allows you to conceptually choose colors that fill the role you need, such as being warmer or cooler.

Using Clean Brushes

When applying flats, use a clean brush without any texture or tooth. Flats require flat color and clean, crisp edges. A clean brush ensures your base colors are solid and uniform, which is essential for this stage.

Methods for Applying Flats

There are several approaches to applying flats. Depending on your line art and what feels comfortable, you might switch between these methods.

Method 1: Manual Painting

The most straightforward way is to paint in the colors manually. This is intuitive and works well, especially when your line art doesn't fully contain the shapes.

Method 2: Over-Coloring and Erasing

Another approach is to over-color beyond the lines and then go back and erase the excess. This method can be faster, allowing you to quickly fill areas without worrying about precision initially. Afterward, you can clean up the edges.

Method 3: Lasso Tool and Color Fill

You can also use the lasso tool with the color fill option. Draw your selection around the area you want to fill and then fill it with color. This method is similar to manual painting but can be quicker for certain shapes.

Method 4: Using Reference Layers

In programs like Procreate, you can set your line art layer as a reference layer. This allows you to use automatic selection tools to fill areas based on your line art. However, your lines need to be extremely clean, and fills will go up to the edge of the line, which might not always be desirable.

Drawbacks of Reference Layers:

• Lines must be clean and complete.
• Fills may not extend under the line art, especially if your lines are textured or not solid black.

Combining Approaches

Don't feel locked into a single method. Often, it's best to combine different approaches depending on what's most efficient for the area you're working on. For instance, you might use manual painting for some areas and the lasso tool for others.

Reusing Colors and Limiting Your Palette

When flatting, try to reuse colors for multiple elements to keep your palette limited. This makes it easier to adjust your colors later and helps your piece feel cohesive. Limiting the number of colors gives you fewer variables to manage when balancing your overall color scheme.

Starting with Key Colors

If your character or piece has key colors, it's important to start with those. For example, if a character has bright blue hair, applying that color early helps you ensure that other colors you add will balance and complement it. This can influence the rest of your color choices and help maintain harmony in your piece.

Being Flexible with Layer Order

While it's helpful to work from light to dark and warm to cool, sometimes you need to skip ahead. If you have strong ideas about certain elements, go ahead and apply those colors. Just be aware that you might need to adjust your layers accordingly. Flexibility is key, and it's okay if your layers aren't perfectly in order all the time.

Adjusting Colors and Experimentation

As you work, you might realize that some colors need adjusting. Use features like alpha lock to restrict your edits to specific layers. You can then experiment with the hue/saturation sliders to tweak colors without affecting other parts of your piece.

Don't be afraid to experiment with different colors. Sometimes, finding the right color requires trying out several options. This stage is about exploring and seeing what works best for your artwork.

Background Elements

Background elements are typically less important than your main subjects. You can place them lower in your layer order or even on a separate layer group. Since they're usually behind your primary elements, it's okay to have them on layers beneath everything else.

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Flatting might seem mundane, but it's an essential part of the digital art process. It lays down the foundational colors and organizes your piece for the next stages, like creating the palette and adding lighting and shading.

Remember, at this stage, don't worry too much about the colors. You can adjust them later. The goal is to have your base colors and layers set up so you can build upon them. Flatting creates the building blocks that will make your artwork shine.

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