We start of with a basic rough sketch

I wanted to add a character, an object, and a bit of background.

1. Base - A basic flat design you can never go wrong with

Use the lasso tool and color fill to make the shapes you want.

You can also use a simple brush without texture, a brush that your comfortable with

Make a new layer for every shape you want, or combine multiple shapes that share the same color (example: I had one layer for the head and arms and a different layer for the legs)

All the main colors are on different layers, is an easy way to add depth to a flat illustration.

A bonus part is that its very easy to change colors or adjust them if you have every important thing on different layers

 

2. Shadow - A flat design with more depth

For the shadows, I decided to merge the whole design down, and play around with the color balance. After I chose a pink hue, I set the reference aside, and just color-pick the main shadow tones for each shape. Clip every layer on the main shape layer. Adjust the colors as you see fit.

Bonus, you can try out different shadow colors, including light ones

If you merge everything together and erase the base colors, leaving only the shadow layer, you can easily make different effects. use this shadow layer on multiply or screen or just leave it on a normal layer and try out different colors

3. Outline - A flat design with a bit of edge

For the outline I used lasso tool or a simple brush, and follow the shape we already made

Make sure to add thickness and thinness to the line, this helps with adding dynamics and depth to the flat illustration.

You can also play around and test if you would like a darker outline or a lighter one, or even changed every line to match the closer color

Combining step 1 with 2 with 3 , with a lighter oultine

Which one do you like best?

4. Gradient - A flat design with a charm in simplicity

A gradient is probably my favorite trick to use

For each shape layer, make a different layer on multiply and add a bit of a gradient.

Choose the angle based on the shape. Play around because there are no mistakes here

Different combinations you can make, base on the steps up above

5. Texture - A flat design with a quirk

A texture is a simple way to add a bit of attention in some places, of course you can play around with shapes and sizes and see how you like it

Here I added a polka dots texture on the full illustration.

It might look a bit to heavy, or uniform, so lets try adding texture to just some parts of the illustration

Here I just focused on the flower and adding different polka dots size

Combining step 1,2,3,4,5 just too see how it affects the illustration

its subtle, but you can defiantly see how the combinations affects the overall illustration

6. Pencil - for those that want a playfull look

The last step, its more like a bonus step, for those that don't really enjoy sharp lines or edges, you can always go back to the base shape, and use a textured brush.

I feel like this brush is more forgiving of mistakes, its also similar to a crayon brush, so the illustration will look more playful

Just be mindful that it might look a bit fuzzy, and you probably can't make too many details with this kind of brush. I added a few combinations down below

Conclusion

A small compilation of all 6 design

I know this tutorial looks more like a 6 steps tutorial, they do have the same base, but every number stands on its own, as well as works well with each other.

Each has its own charm and a different emotion to it, depending on the subject you are painting. You can skip any of them, or just use one of them, it's really up to you

The image down below combines all 5 steps (I skipped step 6 -pencil, because it started to look blurry, compared with the rest, as much as I like that particular brush, I don't think I've done it justice since I still need to work with it more )

For this tutorial, I wanted to redownload the default brushes. link here if anyone needs them

I only used the tapered pen in combination with the pen effect. And the real pencil brush

Thank you for watching, see you next time, bye bye