Vent: That "layer mask everything" advice almost ruined my piece

I spent 3 hours masking a bunch of leaves on a tree illustration for a client in Portland, only to realize I could have just painted the shadows directly on a multiply layer and saved all that time. The final look was actually better because the edges had that natural brush feel instead of stiff cutouts. Has anyone else found a specific technique everyone swears by that actually makes your work worse?

3 comments

3 Comments

milacraig17h ago

The masking method works great for clean vector style stuff but falls apart fast with anything organic like leaves. I switched to clipping masks plus multiply layers and got way better results with half the work.

hugo_robinson2516h ago

Oh damn I gotta try that! The organic stuff has been driving me crazy lately. So wait, do you set the clipping mask on a base shape and then just paint the shadows and highlights on multiply layers above it? I've been trying to figure out if there's a way to keep that soft texture without fighting the mask edges the whole time lol.

terryw6714h ago

Yeah totally agree with @milacraig on that... the clipping mask trick with multiply layers is the way to go for organic stuff. I set a soft brush on like 30% opacity and just kind of dab around the edges, lets the mask breathe a bit. If you're fighting the mask edges too much, try adding a slight gaussian blur to the base shape before clipping - smooths everything out real nice. Keep it loose and don't stress the precision, that's where the texture comes from.