🎏 Introduction
Really ..casual.. YouTube video version:
Hi this is 04 DAWAN.
When I first started making webtoon panels…I seriously underestimated how much drawing and coloring I would be doing. I want to sincerely give you all a few tips I know teenage me would have super needed to speed up the process!
❤️ Use a Special Layer Layout !!
I’m practically BEGGING you to use at least a variation of this layer layout when it comes to coloring your webtoon!
[△ In the next section, I will show HOW to make a BASE LAYER and why it is very useful. This section displays my layers separated for a clear visual]
Truthfully, you don’t even need to have a
・More Shadow
・Reflected Light
Because readers often spend 2-3 seconds per panel…save yourself the pain LOL.
{Things I want to highlight about some of the layers..
Color Layout— try to do ALL of your flat colors on this layer. If you feel like there needs to be another layer due to specific details, no problem! But overall, using lasso tools (which I mention later) makes coloring easy on even a single layer.
Shadow+More Shadow— like Color Layout, try to do all your shading on 1-2 layers. It’s faster and you can always alter the shadow colors to best fit the flat colors afterwards.
Background— when you add back your BKGD image, don’t forget to blend your character(s) in with their environment and vice versa. I prefer to make this my last step when coloring.
Using this technique has sped up my process!}
🧡 Base Layer Coloring
Have your lineart ready! As shown earlier^ you will create a separate layer where you will color in the character’s entire figure.
I like to fill in my character with a nice gray..
(You can fill it in however you like, but in a later section, I will show how I color my base layer very fast using lasso tools.)
After making your base layer…
Change the [Paper] color to something BOLD temporarily. This will let you see areas you accidentally did not color as well as have some contrast when doing your flat colors.
When you have no background added yet, sometimes using random colors end up looking pasty and too light when you finally do add your background image…so a BOLD COLOR will adjust your eyes.
[△ Notice that I am able to see more clearly certain areas that aren’t meant to be filled in, such as the gaps between hair strands, AND areas that weren’t filled in yet]
Every single layer that comes after the BASE LAYER will be clipped to it!
Meaning, you will not have to worry about coloring outside of the base you have filled in… It makes coloring your flats VERY fast!
[△ Your flats on the Color Layout layer will stay within the Base layer’s content]
💛 Making Character Color Palettes
You’re going to be drawing your main characters A LOT, so having sets for the colors they mainly use helps a lot with time and consistency.
Creating a Color Set:
1> Click [Color Set Icon]
2> Click [Toolbar Icon]
3> Click [Create new set]
4> Label the set and click [OK] to finalize
Inserting colors:
1- Click any empty cube
2- Have your color selected
3- Click the circled icon
Repeat steps until set is finished
Webtoon artists can color their flats on the Color Layout layer comfortably.
[△ I am using an original character’s color set here]
・
・
・
However, it can get a little overwhelming when you have multiple color sets, which is why I often use subview and eye drop colors for panels with many characters/a lot of coloring.
💚 Eye Drop Colors with Sub View
Sometimes you:
⁃ don’t want to keep on opening palettes
⁃ you just have too many characters
⁃ you want to hover over a color and select quickly
It gets tedious opening and closing color sets all of the time, which is why [Sub View] can help!
Sub View allows you to access and view images/files as a separate REFERENCE!!
1> Click [Window]
2> Click [Sub View]
From there, you will be able to import any image you have.
1— SELECT THE EYEDROPPER ICON! You will automatically select whatever color you hover.
2— Import other artwork files with the first icon, import other images with the second.
3— You can also flip through images/files if you import more, by clicking these arrows.
~I like to use a “chibi” version of my characters, specifically showing their SKIN and HAIR colors as those are the most consistent parts!~
[△ Webtoon artists can easily eyedrop between colors, making the coloring process faster and more efficient.]
🩵 Lasso Tools ~
Even with a base layer to rely on, using a brush all the time and/or selecting with a lasso and then filling in afterwards can become tiring and not as fast.
There are three lasso tools I HIGHLY recommend, which speed up the coloring process. As a webtoon artist, it’s almost a must…LOL.
1. close and fill tool without gaps
Even as a beginner on Clip Studio Paint many years ago, I saw many users recommend this brush for instant color blocking.
For example, when you filled in your base layer…
If you don’t want to manually fill in each area again, use this tool!
△ Make sure your lineart is clicked as a reference layer. It is easier to use this tool when your lines are connected:
Select your lineart layer/folder, click the [Reference icon], done.
You can automatically block in shapes now.
2. CSP Lasso Fill Tool
It is one of Clip Studio Paint’s DEFAULT lasso tools, allowing you to instantly color block the moment your stylus lifts from your screen.
It is one of the FASTEST lasso tools I know of and one I use the most when I color my panels.
Precise movements are also very easy with this tool, which comes in handy when you jump from panel to panel:
I mostly use this when I am making precise eraser fixes OR when I’m erasing a large area in one go! This tool is particularly helpful due to it being an actual eraser, so you don’t have to do any extra clicking.
Once you select an area with it, it’s gone!
It’s good for erasing an entire layer filled with shadows, to do a cool lighting effect:
💜 Shade Bonus Trick
If you noticed, I value shading (and highlighting) without my COLOR LAYOUT layer visible.
You can shade regular flats, but it will have you overthinking each and every part of your character…and as a webtoon artist you want to prioritize TIME EFFICIENCY—
—Make your Color Layout layer invisible (for now). The many colors could be distracting, but seeing your base color will let you focus on where there is shadow and light.
Do you do cel shading or soft shading?
Either way, the CSP Lasso Fill Tool makes cel shading A LOT faster and easier for me, and I use airbrush as well as blur for softer shading as you can see here:
Thank you very much for getting to the end of my tips post 😅I’ve added a quick clip of me using some of the tricks I’ve listed here (although the quality is kind of low due to size..)!!!
I wanted to make it so that even beginner Clip Studio Paint users would be able to understand and apply these tips.
Keep in touch with me on TikTok @serafinalok if you want to see more of my ~very regular~ webtoon process in real time LOL.
Let me know if there are any other WEBTOON or Clip Studio Paint related topics you need help with.
- 04dawan :D
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