Introduction

On the New Year card blow, only the little squirrel in the centre is painted from scratch. All other elements are done by using Tools and materials from Clip Studio ASSET. With access to these tools, creating a good-looking holiday card becomes much easier, and you don’t need to master painting to do it. This tutorial is focused on how to use these tools and materials that make everything easier.

Preparation

• Set up canvas

It is better to understand the size and format of holiday cards when setting up the canvas, especially when you are planning to print the card out and put it in an envelope. Usually, the size of holiday cards matches the size of the envelopes. The most common holiday card sizes are A6 and A7, while A9 could also be used for menu and programs, A1 is often used for Thank You cards. However, the standard sizes are not guidelines that must be followed, especially when e-cards are becoming increasingly popular nowadays. Don’t let format limit your imagination.

I choose a make a classic A7 card (portrait orientation) this time. The size is not available as pre-sets, so I used custom size when creating the new file. As for resolution, the better resolution would be 300dpi or 350dpi, which is big enough to contain details.

 

• Design and Sketch

Generally, holiday cards have two main components: text and decorations.

The text usually includes brief greetings such as “Happy New Year”, and “Happy Holidays”. Some card designs also include numbers, which often appear on birthday cards (the age such as 30th, 100th etc.) and new year cards (the year such as 2022). The numbers could be part of the decoration as well.

The decoration not only makes the card look more beautiful, but also could enhance the theme of the card. For example, Santa and Reindeers often appear on Christmas cards instead of New Year cards. Because the themes are different.

The card that I made is a winter-themed new year card. At the centre of the card sits the hanging number “2022”, along with a smaller “Happy New Year” greeting text beneath it. As for decoration, winter plants and snow as the decoration of this theme. I would also put a little squirrel in the middle of the number “0” to add some cuteness.

 

• Background and Texture

To make a background with texture, first, use the [Gradient] to create a gradient. Choice the colours in the Tool property setting, then drag from the top to the bottom of the whole canvas. Then lightly blend the colour with a cloud-shaped brush to add more complexity to the background.

Next, add the texture by drag and drop the material to the painting. Then turn on the [Overlay texture] effect from [layer property]. Adjust opacity of the texture layer if the texture is too strong.

Before start painting other parts, only keep the sketch, background, and texture layer visible. The draft is only for reference. Adjust the colour and opacity of the sketch colour until it’s distinguishable from the background and would not affect the further painting.

Text: Hollowed text “2022”

This part introduces a method of adding a hollow effect to text with any font. There are three major steps: 1. Covert the text into a vector layer to make the text hollow; 2. Add patterns to the hollow area; 3. Modifications on details.

• Creating hollowed text with vector function

Type the number 2022 using the [Text] tool. Then choose the size, text colour and font from the [Tool property] bar. To get a hallow effect in further modification, it is better to choose some chunky fonts that have a bigger area. The font I used is Broadway.

Then convert the layer into a vector layer via [Layer]>[Covert Layer]. Choose [type: Vector layer], click [vector settings], then set the [maximum line width] to a suitable value.

The text will then be covert to a hallow vector image.

The suitable value of [maximum line width] varies from case to case. Different values could get different results.

For vector layers, the size and shape of the vector line could be altered. To do this, go to Operation [Object] in the [Tool] bar, then choose the [brush shape] you like. If the brush shape you want is not in the pre-sets, go to the [Tool Property] of the chosen brush, select [brush shape] in the sub tool detail palette (the little wrench on the bottom right), then click [Add to pre-sets].

I choose a scribble pastel shaped brush for the text. Here is the ‘before and after’ of this setting:

Here is the scribble pastel brush for the vector layer:

• Adding pattern in the hollowed area

Move the individual numbers into the place as the draft showed. I separate the four numbers into two different layers (shown as light yellow and light blue in the picture below) to prevent overlapping. This would make further modification easier.

The next step is adding the pattern to the number. The patterns could come from brushes or pattern images. When using brushes to add patterns. Create a new raster layer below the vector layers, then add a layer mask to the new layers. Select the mask layer and erase the area outside the numbers (shown as blue in the image below). Anything on the erased part will be masked. Then choose the colour that same as the numbers paint the area.

Here is the brush for the pattern:

 

When using patterns on the images, the layer mask step is the same. While the pattern may need a few extra steps. Here I use a colour pattern as an example. First, if the pattern is an [Object], rasterize the layer before further change can be made. Second, turn the pattern into a monochrome picture by using [Edit]> [Tonal Correction]> [Binarization], adjust the Threshold until satisfactory. Next, use [Edit]> [Covert brightness to opacity] to turn the white part transparent (If the pattern you want is originally the white part, use [Tonal Correction]> [Revised gradient] before the conversion step). Finally, pixel lock the layer, then paint the pattern into different colours.

• Modification on details

The numbers so far are overlapping each other, and the borders are not well defined. So that modifications on details are necessary. I create layer masks and slightly erase some parts of the numbers using a textured brush (set “transparent” as colour). This would separate different numbers and add more textures to the numbers.

This step is more convenient when numbers are in separate layers because the other numbers won’t be affected. Besides, layer mask is a better choice compared with erasing the numbers directly. The image is still there no matter how the layer mask changes. When you are not satisfied with the changes, it’s way easier to undo them on the layer mask.

 

The final step is adding effects. Keep the layers in a folder and create layers that are clipped to the folder. When editing the new clipped layers, it only affected the layers that are included inside the folder. You can add different colours and patterns to the body of the number. I use layers with different blending modes layers to add a glowing snowy effect.

Then the hallowed text “2022” is done.

Here is the brush set I used to add the texture:

Text: Curved neon text “Happy New Year”

This type of text can be done by using [Border effect] and [Mesh transformation].

Type the text using the [Text] tool. Textures and patterns can be added to the text by clipping a layer above the text. I added a crystal pattern with [overlay] blending mode to my text.

 

Here is the crystal texture:

Move the text and the correction layer clipped above into a folder, select the folder, then add a border to the text by turning on [Border effect] in [Layer Property] bar. Adjust the [Thickness of edges] and [edge colour] until satisfactory.

To change the shape of the text, the text needs to be rasterized first. Use [covert layer]> [Raster layer] to covert the folder into a single raster layer. Then, use mesh transformation to change the shape. This function allows more complex distortion of the image. Open [Edit]> [Transform]> [Mesh transformation]. You can change the numbers of horizontal and vertical lattices in [Tool property]. Then drag the notes to make the text into a curved shape.

Select [Watercolour edge] of [Border effect] and the [Blurring width] into a large value. The border shows a blurry glowing effect. [Watercolour edge] function is commonly used to add watercolour effects. It is also a good way to make watercolour text.

Decorations

• Painting the strings that hang the numbers using figure tools

Geometric figures are easier to be drawn using the [Figure] tool. In this picture, the object that hangs the numbers comprises a string with beads, and a circular ring that connect with the numbers. I use the [Straight line] tool for the string. The beads effect is achieved by setting [brush shape] into [dot line] (available as default brush shape pre-sets). For the circles, I use the [Ellipse] tool with a pencil brush shape.

• Painting decorative plants and snowflakes using CSP asset brushes

These parts are all done by using CSP asset brushes. I use the process of painting the bottom part of the decorative plants as an example. The painting of the top part is similar. Here are the steps:

1. Add some pine branches using a pine shaped brush with a colour that is much darker than the background.

2. On the layer below, add more pine with the colour that is closer to the background. This would make the object blend in the background better.

3. On the layer above, add some pine with a light colour to create a frosty effect (Use a textured brush to erase some part of the white pine to make it looks more natural).

4. Painting some bright-coloured berries and seeds

Some brushes can apply up to two colours at the same time. The brushes I paint the berries and seeds are one of them. For the berries, choose white as foreground colour and dark red as background colour before painting, then you can get dark red berries with white linear. Then create a layer mask and erase part of the branch using textured brushs to let the berries blend into the pine.

While for the seed, I intent to just use the shape as a lineart. To do so, set black as the colour of the lineart and white as the filling colour. Then turn the white part transparent using [Edit]> [Covert brightness to opacity]. The picture now is like a normal line art which can be coloured. You can also create a layer below the line art to colour the seed into the way you want.

Then the decorative plant is done. The painting of upper part of the decorative plants is similar with bottom part.

Here are the brushes of the decorative plant I used in this part:

Finally, add some snowflakes. Also erase some parts using a textured brush for a natural looking.

Here is the brush of the snowflakes:

• Painting the red squirrel

This part is basically the same as a normal illustration painting. The main point here is to keep the layers separated from the layers of the numbers. I painted everything above the layers of the hanging number 2022.

The process of this part is quite simple.: 1. Draw the lineart; 2. Fill the base colour on the layer below the lineart; 3. Clip some blending modes layers onto the base colour layer. Adjust the colours to make it fit in the picture better (adding shade, light, reflection etc); 4. Change lineart colour.

After finishing all parts of decorations, here is how the card looks so far:

If the brushes from Clip Studio Paint ASSETS are not fit for your designs or you want something unique, you can also make your own decorative brushes. The article below is a comprehensive tutorial of making it:

Finishing touches

The picture still has some problems: the background looks empty, the snow effect is not obvious enough, and the overall colour scheme is a bit too grey-ish. A few steps could fix all of these flaws.

I use falling snow to fill the background. To avoid interfering with the big snowflakes, I use a small round shaped snow brush instead. I also add more white snow on the top of the squirrel body.

 

Here is the brush set for the falling snow:

Next, I created a new layer with [glow dodge] blending modes, which could be used to increase the luminosity. On this layer, I use an airbrush to make some areas (the squirrel, berries, some parts of the numbers, etc.) stand out. Then I use a textured brush to add a glowing snow effect to the plants.

Besides, I turned on the [watercolour edge] effect of the layer with the seed. This could give the lineart a glowing effect.

 

The last step is having some tonal correction with correction layers. There are many different types of correction layers. Because I need to make the painting less grey-ish. The one I use is [Level Correction], which could increase the contrast.

I feel the texture is not obvious enough, so I added another texture on the top. This step is optional.

 

The New Year card is finally complete.

Here are the textures I used:

Thanks

Thank you for reading till the end. Hope you find something useful in this tutorial.

Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy, and prosperous new year!