Introduction

Hello everyone! Art Frog again with another tutorial this time about Gradients and working with them.

 

The Gradient tool is a powerful one, but can be a bit hard to control or use effectively. In this tutorial I will break down some methods of using Gradients and applying them to a skull study and also some tips about using it to experiment with design plans for you composition.

 

Some of the concepts I'll unpack may be a bit abstract, but applying them to your own work will help you add depth and interests to your art.

 

Alright, lets get too it.

Making a Sphere

To start I roughly sketched out a circle, painted it in with a 50% grey then selected it with the "Auto Select" (or wand) tool. (Press "w" to quickly select it then click the shape you'd like to make a selection of.)

 

You can also use the "Selection area" tool (Hotkey "M") and switch it to "Ellipse" to make your circle but I often find it is a little too perfect. Once you have your selection fill the circle with 50% grey. (Pick your colors from the colour slider and just use a brush to fill the selection or use the "Fill" tool. You can either click the paint bucket icon in the tool bar or press "G"twice or until the fill tool is selected.)

 

To start we're just going to Lock Transparency on our grey circle layer and then start to use gradients!

Diagram of a Lit Sphere

Before we go forward, here is a quick breakdown of how the light is going to be affecting our sphere. The large arrow indicates the direction the light is coming from. Try to think of where the light is coming from and the shape of the object it is hitting. This is an important step in Volumetric Design. (This means thinking about the structure of objects instead of just graphic shapes.)

The X's are there to indicate each value difference according to distance and angle of the object compared to the light source. Starting with the the one closest to our light on the left we have the "Highlight", then the "Local Colour/Value" or "Mid tone", then the "Core Shadow", a sizable section of "Reflected Light"(Because the surface the sphere is resting on is so bright!), and finally the "Cast Shadow".

 

Depending on the complexity of your object and number of light sources, there may be additional highlights, reflected lights, and cast shadows.

 

For the purposes of this tutorial we will keep it about this simple though and I recommend for your own study you have a good photo reference of basic shapes in a simple lighting set up to refer to and keep in mind.

 

(Go ahead and use the Ellipse subtool in the "Select area" tool and fill the area to make your cast shadow.)

 

I'll put up the sphere without the markings. Feel free to use it as reference for your own practice.

Gradients Applied to a Sphere

There are a few different ways to use the Gradient tool for applying simple value transitions to objects. I'll be primarily be using the "Foreground to Transparent" setting (the first option under the Gradient subtool [G]) and applying it in layers building up to the values I want. This is for a couple reasons. First, I am a painter and I prefer to adjust things by hand. Second, often I don't know what value or exact shape I'd like so building in layers or multiple passes allows me to adjust on the fly in a way that feels natural to me.

So to start (after a bit of set up) you should have something like this.

Your grey sphere and cast shadow should be on separate layers. You can either lock transparency and work on copies of them directly, or just select the objects with the select tool or holding the "ctrl" key on your keyboard while clicking the layer with your cursor to make a selection of the object, then using that selection on a new layer above. Working on a new layer is my preferred method since you can adjust the layer properties, opacity, and transform the shape individually from the rest of your image.

I've sketched out another diagram of our shading plan on just to demonstrate what I am thinking about as I go. Our stylus wielding frog assistant is pointing to the "Core Shadow" and that is what I am thinking about first.

 

The Core Shadow is essentially either our darkest dark or very close too it. This means every other value on our sphere will be lighter than it. Because we want to curve around our object (since we want it to look round) we'll use the "Circle" option next to "Shape" in our Tool Properties while the Gradient tool is selected. You can also use the Ellipse option if you want even more control but for speed I prefer shaping the gradient with just using it from different angles and directions.

In this image you can see where I've used the Gradient tool to fill almost the whole sphere with black. Look closely at the bottom and I've left it just a bit lighter at the bottom. This is where I think the reflected light (the light bouncing off whatever surface the sphere is resting on) will be.

 

I have used the tool (clicking and dragging) a few times to build up the shape and level of darkness. We can adjust it later because it is on it's own layer.

Next we add a new layer, change our foreground colour, and apply our mid tone or local colour/value on top of the core shadow layer. Try to shape it in a way that looks natural. (You'll get better as this as you work and more from good reference of similar lighting set ups.)

 

I used the colour sliders and just adjusted the foreground value to 44%. If you light is brighter/darker, or your sphere is a darker of lighter colour the local value could be higher or lower. Again, practice from real life reference!

The left frog (above) is pointing directly where I "pulled" my circle gradient from for the mid tone. The above image is just one application of the tool. Here are the subsequent applications to show how I gradually shape the area until I am satisfied.

 

(The right frog is pointing to where the foreground colour is set. Make sure you use if for your gradient tool!)

Now that the mid tone is on and has sort of pushed the core shadow into a nice shape, make another new layer and apply the highlight. I am setting mine to about 85% on the value slider as pure white generally as a rule should be saved for really bright reflections on shiny surfaces. You can use pure black and white as a stylistic choice too of course.

 

And here is the sphere with the highlight applied using the same process as the mid tone. Usually with highlights less is more so try not to make it too large. (You want to be able to see the sphere turning away from the viewer to get that round feel).

And finally we'll add a bit of a gradient to the cast shadow. Normally you might adjust the edge of the cast shadow a bit to soften it, but make sure to study real objects casting a shadow in various lighting situations and you'll find some times the edge is quite a bit harder than you thought!

Now to start, set your gradient tool back to "Straight Line". Then, (after making sure you are on a new layer and selecting the cast shadow shape) set up a lighter value and pull up from the bottom towards where the sphere is touching the table/ground. This is just to add a little reflected light and show a transition to where it is darkest. Adding these small variations in value really helps to give a believable effect.

And there is our finished grey sphere.

Now, what is all the point of this? Seems like a rather complex way of drawing a simple shape right? Why not just paint the sphere with different brushes and naturally apply texture and detail in a more painterly way? Or even just use the Airbrush tool with a layer mask or selection for a similar effect? I encourage you to do so of course! But with a bit of practice, using gradients in your work can very quickly help you to experiment and plan out designs and lighting schemes as well as add very subtle transitions in tone and colour.

 

What do I mean by planning out the design? Well this is where we get a bit abstract.

Design Principles and Tips

When I talk about design, what I mean is the controlled application of visual elements in order to add depth to our image.

 

In an image without colour we have a few contrasting elements to work with.

 

For VALUE (how light or dark something is) we have contrast between:

 

Light and Dark.

 

For SHAPE we have contrast between:

 

Thick and Thin

 

For EDGES we have contrast between:

 

Soft and Hard

 

These are the most basic building blocks we have to work with. In each category you probably even add some sub categories. For example, If you have a transition between Light and Dark on a simple shape like our sphere, but this sphere is a rough texture, you've now added COMPLEXITY or VARIETY. You might say that is just another expression of soft and hard edges on each little dimple and scuff on your ball, and you'd be correct. But I think it is important to understand that on each object and in every inch of your image you should be striving for good design.

 

Studying from life and doing drawing sketches and painting based on that knowledge adds DEPTH to your work.

 

So far we have just applied simple gradients that are soft EDGES or transitions between the Lights and Darks of the VALUES on the sphere and done so in particular variations of the SHAPES in order to show Volumetric DESIGN.

 

Now lets think about these principles as we move forward.

 

 

Applying Gradients to a Skull

Ok so I am going to start of simply by doing a very rough sketch of a skull from photo ref, and then showing how I break the areas I want to use gradients down into separate areas.

 

Here's our rough sketch. Use whatever brush you like just make sure it is just a line drawing.

I've started to block out the shadows while sketching out the details, but I am being pretty rough since I am going to rework the areas and go over it.

Here I've reduced the opacity of the rough line layer, then on a new layer above carefully outlined and grouped up the important shadow areas. This step can be tricky as it takes practice and patience drawing these shapes with care.

 

You can simplify and combine these shapes even more, or break them down more but for this example this will do.

Now what is this mess of arrows all over our nice clean drawing?!

 

Each arrow (I hope) is placed with the direction of each shadow/gradient in mind. This is the direction I will be focusing on and referencing when placing and pulling my gradients. Because in our Design rules we are going to have variety in our shadows, and in our reference photo we have areas of reflected light, we will use that as our guide to which "end" of our shadows will be darker or lighter. Don't worry if it looks a little chaotic, as you work it will make more and more sense. Just remember our sphere and how it is broken down and apply that to the skull.

Here I've carefully filled our shadow areas. I've broken it into a few sections on different layers for each part, but you can do that as you build up your values at subsequent steps.

 

This is a good time to double check your shapes and proportions to make sure you are pleased with your drawing and composition. Next we get to the gradients!

So here I have hidden the layer of the area of our cast shadow (Outlined in green), and selected the shape of it (hold ctrl or command then click the layer with the shape) then on a new layer started shaping out where I see the darker areas the skull is touching the table.

 

For this I am using the Sphere option in the Gradient tool discussed earlier in the lesson. We will be using the straight option as well but as it cuts across the whole area in a straight line you'll need to break areas into even smaller pieces to use it effectively.

Here we have switched back to the straight shape option in the gradient tool, and are starting our "pull" from quite far out from our image. This is so we can easily get a fine feathered edge to mimic the values I see in the reference image. Remember to build it up in transparent layers until it is the value you want.

Now there are a few methods you can use to add values to your shadow shapes. One way to start is merging all your shadow shapes on the skull (keep the cast shadow on the table separate). To do this, copy all your layers that have your shadow shapes you want and then merge them into one layer. (While selecting all the layers you want to merge, Press Shift+Alt+E) then press the little icon at the top of the layer panel with the checkerboard and a padlock to "lock transparent pixels", Now we can use a combination of the Lasso tool and the Ellipse shape option in the Gradient tool to semi freehand start putting variation of tone down.

Here I am just using the method we used on the sphere just to see what kind of different effects we can get without going through the whole structure. I am mainly getting inspired by the reference and also my perception of what the form is doing. Because the edges of the shadows nearest the light source are surrounded by light areas, they look extra dark to me, so I am darkening those edges more in an exaggerated way to see how it looks. Because we are using the "Foreground to transparent" option in the Gradient tool, we can work on top OR underneath this layer as we move forward.

Here on a new layer I have free hand selected what I see to be more the Mid tone areas. Use the straight and circle shape options to gently fill in the desired values. Use the eraser tool to clean up edges as you go.

 

Now that we have some values down you can start to erase out areas you want to be lighter and sharper, and select individual areas that have more complex shapes you want to adjust the direction of the light with the Gradient tool. Experiment a bit with all these techniques and figure out what works best for you.

 

In my example here I have added another layer with a mid tone on the lighter side of the skull, then erased away to pull out light and details.

Continue to adjust edges and values to match your reference while remembering the light direction, Highlights, Core shadow and Reflected light.

Here we are getting close to being finished. Besides manually painting and adjusting values shapes and edges, I am also selecting small areas with the lasso tool and using the Gradient tool to pull small gradients in areas I think need a bit more of a smooth transition in values. It can be a pretty tricky process but keep practicing and experimenting and you'll get more proficient not only with the tools in Clip Studio Paint, but also at painting and drawing overall.

Thank you!

Finished. Or at least finished enough for the purposes of this tutorial!

 

Thank you so much for reading and making it through to the end! I hope this will help your on your journey to learning Clip Studio Paint, and help you better understand design in shaping forms.

 

Aaron (Art Frog)