Check out my Free Line and Color Quick Start Guide: https://www.thedrawingcodex.com/quickstart You will learn how to develop a simple reliable process in photoshop. You also get all the brushes and PSDs that I use in the guide (the same ones I use for most of my illustrations).
Get that loose, gestural feel in your digital sketches with this simple sepia tone technique! I've been teaching this layer setup to art students for years, and they tell me they're still using it a decade later.
Here are some Automagically generated takeaways to help with search optimisation:
---
DIGITAL SEPIA TONE SKETCHING: A Simple Technique for Dynamic Digital Art
In this tutorial, I share one of my most reliable digital sketching techniques - a simple layer setup that gives your digital drawings the loose, gestural feel of traditional media while making color work vibrant and dynamic.
This sepia-tone effect solves two common problems with digital sketching: the lifeless feel compared to traditional media, and the muddy appearance when adding color. Students I taught this to years ago tell me they're still using this "sepia trick" because it consistently delivers great results.
WHY THIS TECHNIQUE WORKS:
Creates visual separation between rough sketch lines and final sketch lines through color contrast
Prevents colors from becoming muddy when sampling from the canvas
Makes sketching feel more dynamic and loose, encouraging gestural drawing
Allows easy color adjustments through simple hue shifts
Works in virtually any digital art software (Procreate, Photoshop, Clip Studio, etc.)
STEP-BY-STEP SETUP:
Create your initial sketch on a layer
Create a white-filled layer beneath your sketch
Create a new layer above your sketch
Fill this top layer with a bright sepia/orange color
Set the top (sepia) layer to "Overlay" blending mode
Clip both your sketch layer and the sepia layer to the white layer
Set the white layer to "Multiply" blending mode
Add a new layer beneath this group for coloring
Once set up, you can continue sketching on new layers between your colored background and line work. Light sketch lines will appear in a different color than your darker final lines, giving you a natural workflow similar to using blue/red pencils in traditional animation.
This technique is perfect for quick concept sketches and explorations rather than highly polished final pieces. It encourages maintaining the energy and looseness of your initial ideas while adding just enough color to make them visually interesting.
---
00:00 Intro
01:05 Welcome
01:38 Tutorial
02:11 The Layers
03:05 Demo
08:44 Sketching IN Sepia
13:03 Refining Lines
14:23 Adjust Line Color
16:23 Adding A Bit More Color Underneath
21:16 Recap
22:27 Illustration Demo
Happy Drawing!
Tim Mcburnie
Learn Drawing and Illustration from me:
www.thedrawingcodex.com
Portfolio: www.timmcburnie.com
www.artstation.com/tim-mcburnie
www.instagram.com/timmcburnie
twitter.com/timmcburnie