How many layers do you use?

>>3133262

Usually 0. I began with traditional painting, so I usually treat digital like traditional as well unless using a layer makes my job a lot easier or faster.

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one to three tops, unless im also using different blending mode layers for glow effects, gradient maps etc

usually just one for the background, mid ground and foreground.

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one for foreground, one for background

any more than that for the initial hour or two and it usually means you're bogging yourself down on details instead of focusing on the bigger picture/major forms

layers can come later

>>3133262
Depending on how many characters there are in the picture, around 50 to 200
Also depends if there's a background and how complex it is

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>>3133262
AS MANY AS I NEED
(tho admittedly there's like 3 separate drawings in this file so far)

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0

fucking traditional is suffering

>>3133296
That still only counts as one.

>>3133262
3

>one sketch layer
>one background layer
>per character:
>>line layer
>>small details that I keep changing layer
>>multiple color layers depending on what overlaps what

like 5 or 6 right now my dude

Rough layer for the foreground
Rough layer for the background
Ink layer for the foreground
Ink layer for the background
Flat color layer
Second color effect layer
Base layer for shadows
Second layer for deeper shadows
Layer for highlights
Layer for backlights
Layer for experimental effects (perspiration puffs, sweat, motion lines)

I almost exclusively draw porn. No I will not show my work.

>>3133262
if full color illust, exceeds 256 normally.
sketches is 2-3 layers, lineart around 10-15 layers.

just one

Bottom layer for the thumbnail, followed by however many sketch layers until I'm satisfied.

Then one layer for all figures and anything on the same plane as them - chairs or horses, whatever - and a never-ending stream of new layers clipped onto that layer and merged down after about 30 minutes as long as I'm satisfied with what I painted there. It lets me easily remove changes that aren't working.

One layer for the background, and any foreground that overlaps a figure gets it's own layer - if not I just paint it on the background layer.

Sometimes I abandon that and just do one the whole time when I really hate myself.

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>mfw I love Rocket Monkey and NTR

>>3133434
>No I will not show my work.
ok, dunning kruger-kun

>>3133262
it depends on the piece, but i try to stay in 3 or less, so to not become reliant in the advantages of digital and so i can easily work in traditional with minimal issues

>>3133262
1 for references
1 for head sketch
1 for body sketch
1 for BG sketch
shit tons for line and color, so much that i can't count.

>>3133262
2 for simple things, and up to 10 for more complex stuff.
Fucking hate managing many layers.

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>>3133262
as many as necessary

>>3133262
2. I like to think of it as a wet layer and a dry layer. I paint on the top "wet" layer, merge the contents down to let them "dry," then paint more on the wet layer again. I'll play with the layer functions on the wet layer when I need to, but I do not touch the dry layer.

>>3133542
I didn't say I was incredible, or that my technique was foolproof. I laid out my layering technique and said I wouldn't post my work. Next time think before your fat, booger-encrusted fingers post. Retards like you are responsible for the failed state of this sorry excuse of an art board.

hundreds

fight me

>>3133393
You are like little baby.
Watch this

>>3133292
holy shit my laptop would blow up

>>3133626
he was just baiting to get you to post it, just ignore

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>>3133751

>>3133268
So how many do you use after the second hour

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As much as I need

How can people use one layer? Doesn't fuck your background and lineart? or you draw minimalistic backgroundless stuff?

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Start with a sketch layer, if the sketch isn't too messy I keep it, if not I'll make another cleaner layer.

Make another layer, put in some rough colors in roughly the right area.

Merge the layers and paint the rest as one layer.

I should probably use more layers, especially for backgrounds, but I'm lazy and stupid so the workflow of a single layer is easier for me to manage.

>>3133262

All of them.

>>3133262
10 layers of irony

>>3133262
ends up around 300 everytim merging as i go along. Using no layers is a hilarious meme meant to keep u down. it's fuckin digital ""painting""" it aint even real lmao. Use layers, use all the advantages the medium affords you because the tradeoff is so high.

>>3133811
> lineart
You won't fuck up lineart if there is no lineart.
Painting something simple on 1 layer isn't hard for me but separating background is more comfortable.

>>3133811
i make a quick sketch layer, fill in a few colors, merge the layers and then just paint. i usually only do portraits like this tho

>>3134323
Advantage of using less layers is that you can easily select and transform part of the picture. Or don't die while trying to find layer with that fucking accidental dot you need to erase.

if you're not using at least a couple of dozen layers organised neatly into groups then you're doing it wrong. also if you don't use layer masks instead of the eraser tool then you're not going to make it.

>>3133262
1

>>3133758
like four or five at most. i found that i improved quicker the less i cared about layers and more about the idea.

>>3133262
normally about 80-ish

for studies i sometimes go up to 2000+ layers

if you guys ever tried indirect realist oil painting you know the autism required to paint thin washes on everything

not more than 10, because it gets messy for me

>>3133292
>>3133619
>>3133635
>>3134205
>>3134529

>actually gonna make it because using a zillion layers indirectly teaches you how to manage layers and thus deal with asshole clients

>>3134173
>only person here posting work

you're gonna make it

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About 120 layers, I am not so good at organizing the layers so I just make a new one to paint if I feel lost

>>3134605
how do you get your lines that fucking smooth?

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>>3134900
just draw a lot I guess and be patient, ofc it will take time to get used to but you will get there.

>>3134921
thank you anon!

>>3134605
>>3134921
>120 layers
>for what is almost cell shading
lol?

>>3134926
You never know when the client will ask you to change something on the fly.

>>3134926
i was just about to ask this like ???

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>>3134926
yeh, I should learn how to organizing the layers xD, it get really messy at later

>>3133262

Honestly, usually 2. I know it would make everything cleaner and easier to edit if I had a layer for every element, but I am just too lazy for that.

>>3133626
lol

Easily a couple dozen

>>3134330
These are problems only for some software, in krita for example you can use transform tool on several layers at once, and you can jump to the layer with the dot on it by pointing your cursor over the dot

inb4 t. krita shill

>>3134330
>Advantage of using less layers is that you can easily select and transform part of the picture. Or don't die while trying to find layer with that fucking accidental dot you need to erase.
what are layer groups, what is auto-select? Maybe you should take advantage of your software instead of going out of your way to gimp yourself? then you would know these basic features exist.

The meme of use less layers is about committing to changes, this is a bad noob habit Yes, but some people have misconstrued this as layers are cheating/layers will hinder your improvement. There is no better time to learn all the features when you're starting out, so telling someone not to use X is bad advice. There is no real cost associated with failure in digital art, so experiment ffs.

ONE for still drawings. If I make another above, it'll just be to adjust the opacity of some colors, but I always merge them.

3 max for animations : one for the lineart, one for the colors. A third one when there's a background involved...

>>3133262
I use around 500-900 layers. I usually just flatten them down though once I'm almost done with colouring.

>>3135927
What do you do if you want to hold part of the character? Just copy and paste then erase any parts obscured by the moving elements?

>backround layer
>start drawing one 1 layer
>add one when drawing something new
>merge layers when i'm happy with what i've drawn
>continue process until i feel it's needed to start seperate the layers into groups
>do same process inside layer groups

>>3133262
0

>>3133262
s u c c

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>>3133292
>AS MANY AS I NEED
>Layer 183
I hope you know it's around 3 AM where I live and I laughed out loud at that and it ended up waking up the dog and the dog started barking uncontrollably and woke people up.
I usually don't laugh out loud at things anon thanks for that.

>lineart is a folder
>draw different elements on different layers so it's easier to colour the lines later
>layer count skyrockets

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>>3136069
>sweat
>35%

>>3136254
>so it's easier to colour the lines later
just make the line art a layer mask and invert it then paint the colours you want onto the layer.

>>3135220
>>3134972
I just don't like jumping between layers ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Like paint, paint, "oh wait, if want to change this detail", finding right layer, change it, select previous layer again. I like to keep it simple unless it will be hard to manage.

I use as many layers as I'm comfortable with >>3133596 and I don't see advantage of using x10 more.
>inb4 b-but what if you'll need to change color for some thing?
I'll use the advantage of layers with blending modes and filter layers. But for personal pieces I rarely do what, I just play with color while painting this thing.

One of my paintings went into 380 layers

>Huge portion of /ic/ uses a shitload of layers
>The other uses only 1 layer
This contrast is quite interesting.

One layer for line art/inking (I go into this directly I don't sketch), one for colouring. Maybe a third when I'm not sure whether to add a certain element to a drawing so if it doesn't work out I can just delete it instantly without messing around with erasing.

I pain on one layer but I make duplicates through the process

>>3136268
>want to paint hair lines hair colour
>hair goes over the eyes
>eye lines are now also hair coloured
Haha no. And you just lock the transparent pixels you dummy.

>>3133262
As much as you need, you can allways merge

>>3135967
If I reuse elements, all of that must happen in the sketch-lineart phase. Once the movements are solid & cleaned up, I move to the colouring part!!

>>3133262
Depends on complexity. Usually 1-2 if I'm doing sketch work (or 0 when I need to get used to the tablet again).

More complex projects are usually 3 or more to begin with before being reduced considerably.

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>>3133262
Of irony? at least 6 at all times

Hundreds but dong some animations/background video loops on websites so a lot maybe functional duplicates

>>3136606
yay!!!

Motion comic animation has trained me to layer ridiculously and make sure nothing is every really erased. Better to make a duplicate to erase than have to redraw a section because it's missing.

Here's the layers I used for the last image I made

folder 1
>alternative face
>eye highlights
>liquids

folder 2
>clean lines
>movement lines

folder 3
>girl1 hair color
>girl1 skin color
>girl2 hair color
>girl2 skin color
>eye/mouth color
>background

folder 4
>initial rough sketch
>cleaner sketch