#clip studio tutorial

[kil9]

how 2 realistically simulate printing in clip studio :]

i spent a long time trying to figure it out, and i made a tutorial so i never forget, now i will share it !! :3

[gizarhyme]

[kamapon]

Hi all!! I made this Chibi Tutorial for Clip Studio Paint, but I thought it'd be nice if I posted it on my Patreon, too!

It's a public post so come on in and read it❤❤

https://www.patreon.com/posts/52521537

[gleamiarts]

I made a video about my favourite Clip Studio Keyboard shortcuts! 

[spidersaiyan]

Here’s a video showing the process of my Rilakkuma and Kaoru piece I made a few weeks back! Hope ya like it! :D

[purplishly-prosaic]

I threw together a little step-by-step walkthrough of my process from this piece for anyone who might be interested. I use Clip Studio Paint, so exact layer modes, brushes, etc. will vary between art programs. I’m happy to answer follow-up questions and I’d be incredibly grateful for reblogs of this or the original art post if you find the tutorial helpful as well~  Detailed breakdown under the cut!

Brushes: I can probably dig up the download links if needed. My main rendering brush is from the dp-fuzzy charcoal set.

Step-1: Sketch. I had a rough pass or two before this, but this is the lineart-ready sketch. I use a blunt round brush to keep from over-detailing at this stage. I usually draw separate body and clothing layers unless the pose is very simple. 

Step 2: Lineart. I often opt for a pencil lineart rather than ink for color pieces to avoid overwhelming contrast and let the color and value carry the piece, similar to using color holds. Additionally, a pencil lineart needs less precision than an ink lineart and tends to be less time/labor-intensive to produce. The drawback is that it doesn’t stand as well on its own as an ink lineart and requires strong rendering to make up the difference. It’s also much harder to fill cleanly with the selection wand.

Step 3: Underpainting. I do most of my rendering in grayscale with color layers on top. Here I filled the figures and laid down a basic black and white value scheme with the big textured watercolor brush. Then I overlaid that with a cerulean blue Difference layer at 35% opacity to set the temperature of the light and shadows (this tints your image with a light-dark  gradient of your chosen color and its complement. Blue-green in the shadows and yellow-orange in the highlights, in this instance. If I were painting a night scene with a cold light source I would use a red/orange layer. Warm light makes cool shadows and vice versa). A similar effect can be achieved with a gradient map. (Never color against a white background if you don’t intend to leave it white. It’s harder on the eyes and compromises your ability to accurately gauge color, value, and contrast.)

Step 4: Base Colors. I do the base colors on Hard Light layers on top of the Difference layer. It’s important to have basic values down at this stage so you can see what the full value range looks like for each color. I usually end up adjusting and readjusting them all by the end anyway. A few notes on skin: Be mindful of the undertone of your subject’s skin (pink/yellow/grey) when choosing a base. Lips should only be a step or two darker in value than the skin and just a bit more saturated/reddish. Avoid bright pink lip colors on characters with darker skin, especially. I always add a 30-35% Soft Light layer of red across the cheeks, eyelids, and nose, as well as knuckles, knees, and elbows if visible. I also add a 10-15% opacity dark, dull blue-green Normal layer over the lower face/jaw, especially for characters who grow facial hair (even if they’re clean-shaven.)

Step 5: Rendering. I realize the jump to this step from the last is a bit “draw the rest of the fucking owl”, but this the stage where most of the hard work happens. I do my underpainting on the grayscale layer under the colors and Difference layer using the big textured watercolor brush for the broad strokes and charcoal brush for precision work and blending. Keep your details in the highlights and leave your shadow areas a little loose for the sake of focal point. 

Step 6: Highlights. This what really makes a piece look tactile and complete. I used a light yellow Add(Glow) layer and shifted the color a little on the hair to match. The uniforms got a midtone blue green. Leave the highlights slightly sharp and distinct rather than soft blended on the focal points, especially on faces. Anything wet, metallic, or otherwise shiny is likely to have more distinct, hard-edged highlights. There tend to be many on and around the eyes since these areas are smooth and draw moisture. (Don’t mirror your eye highlights. If they’re from the same light source they should be on the same side in both eyes.) Highlights typically stand out and have more dramatic impact on darker skin due to increased contrast.

Step 7: Secondary light source. I often add some kind of funky colored secondary light source over the reflected light areas, but this piece called for that glowy pink orb, which made a similar effect. I layered an Overlay, Add(Glow), and Color Dodge layer to make the orb and an Add(Glow) for the rays and the cast light on the figures. I typically use a Normal layer for really strong, colorful rim lighting and the like since they’re opaque and won’t react with the underlying colors/values the way Add(Glow) layers do. 

Step 8: Background. I condensed this all to one step since the process wasn’t terribly complicated.  The floral kimono bg pattern is a vector asset from the Clip Studio marketplace and I dropped a purple/red/orange gradient behind it. I made the wave by drawing shapes with the solid pen tool and added a border in the layer settings so they would outline themselves in a color, then recolored the main base water shape with a blue gradient. Finally, I dropped a subtle paper texture set to Linear Burn over just the background layers to complete the ukiyo-e aesthetic. And lastly, SIGNATURE. Sign your work! Especially if you’re sharing it online.

[dragdramanetheatre]

Clip Studio Tuts

[jane-runs-fast]

Drawing Process- Nico

Step 6- Base Color

This step- and most future steps are gonna be pretty geared towards CLIP Studio (the drawing software I use.)

First off it is important to make sure your line art is secluded in its own marked folder.

Never Fill YOUR ONLY COPY OF LINE ART for your base color.

if you just HAVE to have your base colors in your line art layer ( for whatever reason you would need to do that for)- MAKE A COPY OF YOUR LINE ART and set it to invisible.

For the coloring method I am going to show you (Later on in Step 7- Basic Shading)  you NEED to have the colors filled in their own layer.

you can do them all on one layer- BUT- it will make things harder on you later on.

After I prep my folder- label it ‘color’ and add some pages im ready to start filling.

I use the ‘Paint Fill Tool’ with the ‘refer to other layers’ sub tool setting.

This way I can fill my Line Art layer without actually touching it.

Also- if you have connected all of your lines on your line art (See earlier steps) You will not need to use ‘close gap’ feature of your ‘paint fill tool’- but if your color fill seeps outside of your desired lines you need to check the box next to the words ‘Close Gap’ in the Tool Property tab.  

After you check that box- the five empty boxes beside it will fill.  These boxes determine how strict your ‘close gap’ setting will be (For larger gaps, you will need more boxes filled, for small gaps- fewer filled boxes.) 

All of this is depicted in the image below….

After my tools are in order- I start filling in my line art- 

It is important to layer your base colors from ‘back’ to ‘front’…

For example: 

clothes and hair go over the skin-

So your layers in the folder should be

HAIR (Top)

CLOTHES

SKIN (bottom)

As you may have noticed- whenever using the ‘paint fill tool’ there are always little unfilled spaces.

It is important that these empty spaces are filled in- it will be troublesome down the road if they are left alone.

this is not an unavoidable step- it is boring and tedious- but it needs to be done for the sake of your project.

You must go through the entire work closely to find everything- because I can promise you there will be a lot of unfilled spaces in there.

After the clean-up is done we need to add a ‘White Layer’- this layer if for teeth, eye whites, small accessories, and such like that.

We dont use the ‘paint fill tool’ for the white layer because

A. ‘white layer’ stuff is usually pretty small.

B. ‘White layer stuff is not always sectioned off by the line art.

This layer is placed DIRECTLY BELOW THE EYE COLOR LAYER.

Below is the image without the white

image with filled in ‘white layer…

Now we have finished the Base Colors!

This is a good save/stopping point.

and the full image- 

This needs no prepping for Step 7- basic shading.

<<<<Step 5- Line Art                                               Step 7- Shading>>>>