Cel shading gets treated like the “middle step” a lot—base color, slap a hard shadow on top, maybe a highlight, done. I used to think that way too, but lately I’ve been getting the hang of it, and honestly? It can look just as good as my other rendered stuff if you make smart choices. In this tutorial I break down what cel shading is, then walk through my actual process (the footage is from my surprise-me commissions) so you can apply it in Procreate or literally any program. I start with clean lineart (but you don’t need lineart—lineless works too), lay down flat colors on separate layers, then build shadows with clipping/masks so every material gets its own shadow control. The big takeaway is that “interesting” cel shading isn’t about soft blending—it’s about shape language. I talk about choosing shadow shapes, using big/medium/small, placing highlights where you want focus (face… and uhhhh respectfully), and adding a second deeper shadow for more form. After that I show my “sloppy but efficient” lineart-coloring trick, why I usually don’t shade everything with one Multiply layer, and how I still break my own rules with gradients and effects like glow, blur, sparkles, and a vignette to pull the eye where I want it.