In many art forms there exists a concept of a gradient - in drawing, this is called shading; in painting, blending (such as on miniatures). In all forms, a gradient forms a smooth transition between extremes. In Minecraft, the gradient is a powerful tool for enhancing the look of a facade. It conveys the story of the building, creating age and gravitas; it entices the viewer, drawing their eye where the builder wishes. It is the single most important detailing technique that you have access to. This written tutorial aims to teach you about the theory and techniques behind gradients, so that you can apply them in-game to create vibrant, effective gradients.

Definitions

We’ll start by defining some common terms related to the process, for use throughout this tutorial.

Surface: the canvas that you intend to gradient. This could be a floor, a ceiling, a wall, or any number of other elements of your structure.
Palette: an ordered selection of blocks that form a color gradient, from lightest to darkest. Palettes can be as small as 3 elements or larger than 20, depending on the surface and patterns involved.
Pattern: the specific pattern of blocks on a surface.
Gradienting: the process of applying a palette onto a surface.
Depth: a palette can be too shallow or deep for a given surface. The depth of a palette is intrinsically tied to the scale and complexity of the surface.

Theory

Gradienting, while seemingly simple, can be difficult to excel at. Simple mistakes can lead to a chunky, uneven transition that breaks the illusion of a uniform material. We want to create a smooth, clean gradient that effectively highlights our build.

Palettes

When choosing your palette, there are 3 vital properties to consider: Shade, color, and texture. The shade of a block - how light or dark it is - is the most important factor to consider when ordering your palette. The second factor is color, which influences the undertones. The third factor, texture, cedes priority to the former two properties. You will rarely get a perfectly blended palette, but as long as the color and shade match decently, it will suffice.

The palette you choose for a structure may be a large, comprehensive composite with multiple alternate colors or trims, or only a linear whole that you take segments from for any given surface. In any case, a particular surface may be more or less detailed than another, requiring different portions of the master palette.

Patterns

First, let us look at the three key faux-pas when creating a pattern: Splattering, Smallpox and Sandwiching.

Splattering, or skipping stones, is a result of mismanagement of the palette, where you skip an element in the order of the palette. It results in an inconsistent color gradient that detracts from the surface:
Smallpox is a result of rushed technique in combination with a shallow palette. It creates a patchy, flat gradient that causes the viewer to gloss over the surface. It also tends to lend itself to strange and unsatisfying shapes, as seen in the center below the window:
Sandwiching is a phenomenon that occurs when the elements of a palette are layered akin to sediment deposits, horizontally. This creates an effect on the surface that emphasizes the top of the surface irreverent to the features, which is altogether undesirable:

The most common pattern found is a simple radiating cluster, where the central, irregular blob is brightest and focused on a point of the surface that you want to draw the eye. This pattern is best for small houses and low walls, but many others exist, such as ‘drip damage’ (seen in the gallery below) or complex combinations. Larger facades can use multiple clusters, where weathering might accumulate on a sill or protrusion.

Application

When building a structure, it's commonplace to build with a placeholder block, be it wool, terrainset, or plaster. Any block could work, so long as it provides a solid base for the gradient.

WesterosCraft has a custom tool called the paintbrush. This tool is your best friend when it comes to gradients. To access it, type [/wctool paint] while holding a vanilla tool. To use the paintbrush, left-click a block to select it as your ‘paint’ and then right-click a block on your surface to apply it. It will apply your paint over any blocktype, as long as that type is within the blockset of the selected paint.

When building, remember that the gradient is one step of many! A good gradient can only do so much if the underlying structure is flawed. We use placeholders and the paintbrush to allow us to focus on the structure first.

So, on to the actual process! Step one is to create our basic surface, in my case a medieval cottage from central France. Notice how it looks quite flat and clean; we have no weathering yet.

The next step is to add weathering. This step is deceptively complex; we want to add the cracks and damage in sensible areas. Common areas are around windows, edges and eaves. It’s easy to overdo weathering, so try to keep it tasteful. Think about where most of the weathering would happen. Places such as openings in walls, corners and bases, where water would run off. These places would experience erosion faster, so you should focus darker and rougher textures in these areas.

Our last step is to add the gradient. Oftentimes the location of cracks will pose a challenge - this can be overcome with clever use of mid-palette blocks, or by moving the cracks around when necessary. Never be afraid to go back and change things, or even start the gradient from scratch!

Notice how the pattern I used is deceptively simple. A simple central cluster, with radiating darkness that centers on points of damage; yet, it creates a perfectly adequate gradient. With practice, these gradients can be achieved within a minute.

Conclusion & Gallery

Now that you know the theory behind gradients, the next step is to apply it! Many of these tenets become subconscious with time, and eventually you may find yourself breaking from them to create better effects. But if you don’t practice, you won’t have gained anything from this document, and there’s nothing more I can do for you.

Thank you for reading along with me! Below is a selection of certain gradients that I believe will help demonstrate the concepts above.