Hello, this is NIKA; a hobbyist artist, multimedia arts student, and a webtoon enthusiast! I will be teaching you how to do post processing like what you see in webtoons.

So first things first is to ready your illustration. It is best to have separate layer folders for the characters and the background for organization.

 

Here is the piece that we will be working on today:

First, let’s focus on the background. We want it to blend with the characters and adjust the overall tone of the illustration.

 

We can do that by adding a gradient with the layer mode Linear Burn on.

 

Here I chose a pink tone for a Valentine’s imagery. It looks a little better, but it still looks bland right? Let’s get to the next part!

Since we are aiming for a webtoon-inspired post processing, let’s add more flair! This time by adding another gradient coming from the top left corner fading into the bottom with the use of the Screen layer mode. You can also play around with some Overlay to adjust the tone.

Now doesn’t it start to look better from how it was initially without the effects and post processing?

 

Up next is to start working on the characters for them to blend in with our newly edited background!

 

Let’s start first by highlighting the characters using the select tool, fill it in with a white colour, and adjust the softness using Gaussian Blur (I personally use 25 ~ 45, and I duplicate the white border layer to make it more seen since it’s usually way too light).

 

Now don’t the characters start to stand out from the background in this manner?

 

 

This is optional, but for a more romance-fantasy feel, duplicate that white border layer, alpha-lock it, and fill it in with a colour that blends with the background tone. (In this case, I chose a dark pink!) Proceed to add another blur to it with Gaussian Blur and set the layer mode to Add (Glow).

Now on to the next part of making the characters blend with the background, is by adding a clipping layer of the same or similar gradient colour you used earlier in the background and set the layer mode to Soft Light.

Now the basics are basically done! All it needs is more effects to stand out more like a romance-fantasy webtoon.

 

You can do this by adding:

1) Floral decor behind the characters. You can do this by setting the lineart to white, duplicating it and adding light Gaussian Blur to give it a glow-like feel.

2) Use Sand Lines to direct the mood of the illustration. There are CLIP STUDIO ASSETS that allows you to draw them with ease.

3) Add Ribbon effects, similarly to number two (2). It adds more flair and direction to your illustration.

4) Overlay it with some rainbow-coloured shards or highlights. It would make it seem like the sun is glowing through!

5) Not listed in the sample illustration, but you’re free to add more sparkles and other effects to liven up the illustration. Just don’t over add, or it’ll look a bit cluttered!

Now the image is completed! Can you see the difference? It’s quite huge! Basically, the learnings here is to play around with gradients, layer modes, and effects, and you’ll achieve the feel that you want.

Thank you for reading through my very first tutorial here in CLIP STUDIO TIPS. I hope that it gave you some insight or help at the very least. I am only a webtoon enthusiast and not a professional in the field so I am still learning various techniques to improve my post-processing.

 

Thank you again for reading through! Have a lovely day ahead.