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My professor told me to stop using the 'smudge' tool for blending, and honestly, it fixed my whole workflow
I was in my second year of digital illustration classes, and I was obsessed with that tool. I'd use it for everything, skin, clouds, you name it. My professor, Mr. Davies, pulled me aside after class one day and said, 'Kai, you're making mud. The smudge tool is a crutch. Try using only a soft round brush with low opacity for blending instead.' I was annoyed (who wants to re-learn their whole process?), but I tried it for a week on a new portrait piece. The difference was insane. Colors stayed clean, transitions looked way more natural, and I had way more control. It felt slower at first, but now I'm so much faster because I'm not constantly fixing muddy patches. Has anyone else had a 'simple' piece of advice that completely upgraded their art?
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