In this tutorial, learn to draw cute and simple sweets, as well as how to incorporate little characters and designs into your art to make it more fun!

Intro!

Hello, all! My name is Dreamer! Welcome, welcome! :D

 

In this month’s tutorial, I will be showing you all how I draw sweets in Clip Studio Paint! Keep in mind that the way I draw food is very stylized! I’ve learned what I’ve learned from observing and studying others’ articles and illustrations of past years! :D

 

But, if you’re wanting to learn the way I draw my sweets, just keep on reading! ^^

 

I also have the brushes I used for these illustrations linked at the bottom of this article! :)

 

Now then! Without further ado, Let’s get started! >:D

My Thought Process!

Usually, when I make my thumbnail in my sketchbook, I write little notes beside it (pretty short in length) to help me figure out what kind of feel I want to the piece. Not just with sweets, but with my art in general. I will show you how I did that here. :D

As you can see, the notes I write aren’t typically long. I recommend doing this instead of just going straight to drawing on a canvas; that way, you aren’t going in blind!

Then, with time and feedback, I translate the notes and sketch into a fun illustration! :D

Now, then! What to think of when designing these drawings? When it comes to making illustrations of cute and yummy sweets, I think of three things:

 

 

Design and Shapes

What kind of fruit do I want to use? Cake, pie, or donut? What background elements do I want to add? Should there even be a background? What kind of feel do I want to convey? Bright and bubbly? Calm and dreamy? Even illustrations of sweets can create a mood, if you want them to! :)

Color Scheme

Do I want the dessert to be cool in color, or warm? If I want warm colors, do I want pops of cool? If cool, do I want pops of warm? Do I want the background color to be in the same color range as the color of the dessert? Do I want it to be different, bringing contrast?

 

Color schemes also help with the mood aspect of the drawing! Depending on what colors you use, the viewer may subconsciously feel certain emotions when looking at your drawing! This applies for art other than sweets, too. Make sure the colors you choose cooperate with the mood of your illustration, if you want a certain emotion to be felt!

Characters

Do I want humans? Animals? Both? Do I want them to be larger than the dessert? Or smaller? Do I want them to be on the dessert, or beside it? Interacting with the elements of the piece, or no?

 

Usually, when it comes to food art, I make the characters very simplified and cute, to match the motif. I also have them interacting with the items in some form or other, so they aren’t just standing there. You will see how I do that momentarily! :D

Yummy Accessories!

Since the drawings I will be showing you have these two aspects in them, I figured I would show you how to make them yourself so that you can add them into your own dessert illustrations with ease! :D

Syrups!

I LOOOOVEEE drawing some sort of syrupy reduction on my desserts! There’s just something about it that brings the drawing to life! Not to mention it adds another layer of sweetness to everything! -w-

 

I will be showing you how I draw my syrups! Once you’ve mastered it, you can make syrups of different fruit colors! ^^

 

Let’s begin! :D

Sketch/Lineart!

My workflow mostly consists of making illustrations straight out of sketches, not lineart, but for this, you can use lineart to make it cleaner and more polished! Or, if you want, you can just clean up your sketch! Whatever works for you! :D

 

Whichever method you use though, try to vary in line weight! That way it doesn’t look stagnant!

Base Color!

This can be the “mid-tone,” if you will, of the syrup! We will be going a little darker and a little lighter on this color later on to add depth and dimension to it!

 

At this stage, you can also alpha lock your sketch or lineart layer and change the color to a deep, dark, and saturated shadow color!

Shadows!

I suggest using a new layer for this bit, so if you need to erase something, it won’t affect the base color!

 

For this, just color long, ovular shapes in the direction that gravity is pulling the syrup. Don’t make too many, though, or it may look uncanny! The shadow will be the most saturated color of the syrup!

 

The first shadow color is between the base color and second shadow color, and the second shadow color is the darkest, disregarding the lineart color! I recommend adding the first shadow color before you add the second!

 

If things don’t have enough depth, I’ll add a third shadow color, but not too much of it.

 

Try to follow the shape and form of the sketch. The more you reference the form of what you’re shading, the better it will look! :D

Tip!

With the shadow step, be sure to use a brush of a slightly harder feel! This will make the texture of the syrup a lot more luscious and reflective!

Merge and Erase!

At this stage, I merge my lineart, shadow, and base color layer together and erase the exterior part of the drawing to make the syrup look cleaner, as well as to have it vary in thickness.

Highlights!

For this, I use Clip Studio Paint’s default G-PEN! I recommend opening a new layer above everything so that you can erase and remake things as you please!

 

I alternate between squiggles and defined shapes for this part; it helps it look more liquid-like, but fun, too! These will be the least saturated colors of the drawing!

 

Sometimes, if I feel like it would look nice, I’ll also add squiggles and lines of complementary colors regarding to the color of the syrup!

Finishing Up!

After I finish up with the highlights and shadows, I’ll add extra effects to the drawing, like overlay layers (in between the highlight and main layers) and sparkles!

 

I use the border effect tool to add dimension to my sparkles! It’s underneath your layer property palette! I use the regular edge and usually pick a darker color of the main color scheme!

The overlay layer I’ll be mentioning throughout this article is a blending mode, by the way! Here it is on the blending mode menu! :D

And with that, it's done! Great job! :D

Fruit!

I love adding fruit to my sweets! They look so cute to me! I love making them have almost the same texture as the syrup; it makes them look candied and like gems! ^^

 

In this segment, I will be showing you how I go about making them! The same process can be applied to different fruit :D

Sketch/Lineart!

First things first, I make a sketch of the desired fruit! I make sure to keep the lines relatively thick. They’ll be the around the same thickness as the lines of the dessert, so it helps make them match the overall appearance! :D

Base Color!

Just like with the syrup, you’re wanting to choose a “mid-tone” for the fruit, as we will be stacking darker and lighter values on top of it!

 

At this point, you can change the color of your sketch or lineart to a deeper, darker color.

Shadows!

Make sure to add a new layer!

 

I add three shadows to my fruit. The first one I add is in between the midtone and the deepest shadow for the fruit (NOT the lineart color). The second shadow is the second deepest shadow color of the fruit, and the third shadow is the deepest color, disregarding the lineart color.

 

I will also add bounce lighting to the shadow where it will touch the dessert. For this example, though, I just have the bounce light the color of the background :D

Remember that bounce light is not as strong as the light source, and it is pretty faint in color! Add these lightly to your fruit!

 

I typically draw the shadow shapes in the shape of the fruit. So, if the fruit is more ovular, I will draw a more ovular shadow, so on and so forth. I will also occasionally use the color of the darkest shadow to outline some parts of the other shadows! Depending on how I feel depends on how sparingly I do this :)

Merge and Erase!

Just like with the syrup, in this stage, I merge the lineart, shadow, and base colors together so that I can clean up some of the exterior of the drawing. I also try to vary the thickness of the sketch lines in this stage.

Highlights!

Make sure you add a new layer for this part!

 

Again, I use the default G-PEN for this! Remember that this is the least saturated color, yet the brightest! This is where we bring life to the fruit! :D

 

Like with the syrup, I make squiggly and defined shapes and lines on the fruit to add highlights to them!

 

I will also add complementary highlight colors to the fruit if I think it looks good!

Finishing Up!

Lastly, I apply an overlay layer (in between the highlight and main layers) of colors that will bring out the saturation of the fruit (redder for red berries, more blue or cool for blue or cool-colored berries), and I’m done!

 

Great job! :D

Dessert One!

Here is my thumbnail for this! I knew I wanted the theme to feel dreamy and soft, so I made the color scheme that of blueberries! I wanted bubbles to be surrounding the cake slice, and I wanted cute little bunnies, soft as marshmallows -w-

 

I also have a mini me in the corner, because I knew I wanted this to be my cover image for this article XD

 

I ended up not drawing bubbles, as they wouldn’t have really looked well without a noticeable table or edge in the background. But, I think it would have taken away attention from the focal point anyway (which is the cake), so it’s perfectly fine!

 

This is what the thumbnail stage is for! You’re going through your mind and figuring out what would and wouldn’t work for your illustration! Certain things won’t be figured out until in the middle of the process (like the bubbles for me), but that’s okay! A thumbnail isn’t a final draft; it’s an idea you can use! ^^

 

The words I used to settle the theme and mood in my mind for this illustration is as follows:

• Blueberry

• Bunny

• Dreamy

• Soft

You see? Your thumbnail doesn’t have to have super-detailed notes beside it! One or two words per bullet point will convey a thought, too!

Sketch/Lineart!

Whichever method you use for this, just make sure that the drawing is clean enough for you to have to do as little to it as possible when you’re almost done! I like cleaning up my sketches or making cleaner sketches; you may like inking your sketch and making lineart! It’s completely up to you; make your sweets the way you want to! ^^

Base Colors!

Again, these base colors will be the “mid-tones” for our sweets! We will be adding darker and lighter colors to them later!

 

If you want to have more organization and a neater process, you’re welcome to make multiple layers for each component. Like, one layer for the cake batter, one layer for the icing, one for the fruit, etc.

 

This is also completely up to you :D

Shadows!

Remember to add a new layer over the aspects of the drawing, if you’re wanting more control to adjusting your shadows without affecting the base color!

 

Again, we will be using three different shades for the elements of this drawing to add depth to each aspect! I recommend starting with the lightest shade and going darker with each time you color.

 

For the lil’ bunnies, I’m only using one shadow color and a complementary color within the shadows -w-

 

Be sure to determine a light source and its direction, so you can add an appropriate casting shadow for the cake and its elements!

 

(Casting shadows are just shadows “casted,” or shown, on the ground when a light source hits an object. They usually appear on the opposite side of where the light source is. For example, a light source from above results in cast shadows below the object, a light source from the left results in a cast shadow from the right of the object, etc.)

Merge and Erase!

DO NOT MERGE THE WHOLE THING!! Only merge the certain aspects with their specific colors and shading! So, I have the syrup sketch, shadows, and base color merged together to its own thing; the cake’s sketch, shadows, and base colors merged to their own thing, etc.

 

Then, erase and clean up each component accordingly! :D

Highlights!

You can either add a new layer on top of each component or do all of the highlights on one new layer! It’s up to you!

 

I made two new layers: one for the cake highlights, another for the fruit and syrup highlights -w-

 

I use the default G-PEN for the fruit and syrup highlights, but I use the brush I colored the shadows in with for the highlights of the cake! That way, it doesn’t contrast from the intended texture :D

 

Plus, a matte cake with shiny fruit and syrup accessories looks quite nice, don’t you think? ^^

Finishing Up!

Effects time! I add sparkles, overlay layers, and the background elements!

 

And with that, I’m finished! Nicely done! :D

Dessert Two!

Here is my thumbnail for this one! I originally drew a cake, but I changed my mind and wanted it to be a donut instead! Since strawberries are cute and sweet, I wanted hearts in the background, and I decided to have squishy-looking cats in the picture, too! -w-

 

I ended up deviating from the heart idea, but I still think it turned out nicely ^^

 

The words I used to settle the drawing’s theme and mood in my mind were:

• Strawberry

• Cat

• Cute…

And bright, yet soft! ^^

 

Again, don’t worry if your notes are short in length! If that’s all you need to settle in your mind what you want, then that’s okay! Do what works for you! :D

The process is the exact same as the dreamy blueberry cake from earlier! I make a sketch, put down base colors, add the shadow colors, merge and erase/fix, add highlights, finishing effects and sparkles, and then I’m done! :D

Sketch!

The neater your process for this stage is, the less time you’ll spend cleaning up lines and polishing things later! :D

Base Colors!

Remember that these are the “mid-tones;” we will be adding the highlights and shadows later!

Shadows!

For more control with your shadows without affecting the base colors, remember to add new layers!

 

Just like with the bunnies, I only used one shadow color and a complementary color for the cats -w-

 

Be sure to add these in the opposite direction/side of the light source!

Merge and Erase!

Remember to NOT merge every aspect together here! You only want to merge the certain aspects of your drawing that fit together! Like, the base color, lineart, and shadows of the fruit can be merged together to make its own layer! Keep that in mind!

Highlights!

Unless the light source is all around, make sure to create the highlights in the general direction of the light source!

Finishing Up!

How you finish up is up to you! You can add overlay layers and a background, you can add sparkles, or you can leave it as is! Whatever suits your fancy, go for it! :D

Outro!

Congratulations! You’ve just learned how to draw some cute and fun sweets! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! This doesn’t have to be the only way you draw desserts, though; find and experiment with different methods until you find one that suits you! Just remember to give credit to all the artists you’ve studied! Shout out to all the food artists I’ve learned from! :D

 

I wish you all the best! Until next time, happy creating! ^^

Brushes I Use!

Here are the brushes I used for these illustrations! I also used Clip Studio Paint’s default G-PEN for the syrup and fruit highlights! :D

For Sketch:

Heavy painted Brush - CLIP STUDIO ASSETS (clip-studio.com)

I also use this one for my non-food-related illustrations :)

For Coloring:

Mango's Textured Marker - CLIP STUDIO ASSETS (clip-studio.com) (Base Color)

MB marker - CLIP STUDIO ASSETS (clip-studio.com) (Shadows and Cake/Donut Highlights)

… as well as CSP’s default selection and lasso tools (including their lasso fill)! :D