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Mar 2020

I've mostly only ever shaded with charcoal and specifically chosen positive space, leaving negative space largely unfilled.

In what ways are doing cell shading different from normal traditional shading?

One reason I had always avoided it, was I'm not sure if it's going to contrast with charcoal shaded art, which carries its own visual aesthetic at times. ( Especially when you smudge it. )

Most of my dark art in the past has been with homemade burnt cedar. I choose cedar, because I feel like it burns more thoroughly, smells better, and you get more bang for your buck.

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    Mar '20
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    Mar '20
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I think it's better and example then saying in words so here

basically it's a digital painting technique where you use a hard brush to place harsh shadows (like charcoal but with no smudging) and then some small gradients for color tones

while soft cell is with a soft brush and low opacity (like charcoal with smudging) and again small gradients here and there

but again this is for digital art exclusive (or radiography)

Oh! Ok. I wonder if I was thinking of applying toners maybe? I'm definitely familiar with that kind of shading.

That perfectly highlights the difference though.

I might not end up bothering with Toner then, unless it really improved the thing. I'm not sure.

Yea like the half tone stuff professional manga does, where it's not actually images, so much as a collection of closely stitched together prefab micro dots.

screen tones are great if your working black and white, like most manga, but if you are gonna be coloring it a great inking style could make it stand out (solo leveling is a great example where the inking style elevates what is basically a generic battle Manwhua to exceptional), I believe your experience with charcoal could help you with this since inking and charcoal are very similar (both permanent and using harsh shadows to convey form)

Edit: also some digital editing could help you with speical effects like using fire for auras or sharpening flares for dazzling