Creating flats using the fill and pen tools
In this section, we will use the fill tool, which uses the reference layer as its boundary. Flats is a shortened word for flat-colored layers; the layer has colors painted without shading or lighting, hence it is flat and two-dimensional looking. Normally, artists create these flats after creating line art layers, which means just painting foundation colors according to the inked line art, then adding patterns, shading, lighting, and special effects later.
To complete this section, we will need a file open that has a set of lines on a layer we have set as a reference layer. Only one layer can be set as the reference layer at a time, but we can use tools that conform to the reference layer on any other layer in the file.
Complete the following steps to create a custom Fill tool that conforms to the reference layer:
- Select the Fill (paint bucket) tool.
- Select the Refer other layers sub tool.
- In the Tool property...