[From preparation to finishing] How to draw a cute vignette-style illustration 🌸

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Reinca（リンカ）

■What is a vignette-style illustration?

▼ Introduction

Nice to meet you! My name is Rinka.

Today, I'll be showing you how to draw cute and eye-catching vignette-style illustrations.

"I want to try drawing, but I don't know where to start..."

For people like you, I'll be explaining tips from preparation to finishing!

First of all, what is a vignette-style illustration?

To put it simply, it's an illustration that combines characters + miniature-style diorama!

They have a miniature feel, like a slice of a small world, and are both cute and eye-catching.

It looks like the sample illustration above.

You can think of it as a character + background illustration that you often see in social games.

It's a cute miniature-like illustration that looks good on screen, so the more you draw the better the illustration becomes.

It's also easy to make into merchandise such as acrylic stands and stickers, so it's recommended for streamers.

However, it may be a little difficult to start drawing it right away.

"I want to try drawing a vignette-style illustration, but I don't know where to start."

"I'm not good at drawing backgrounds, so it's hard to make them blend in with the character..."

"The character stands out and I can't balance the whole thing!"

I hope these tips will help you with your creations.

↓This is the vignette-style illustration I drew for this article.

▼ Preparation 1: Understanding the structure of a vignette-style illustration

A vignette-style illustration is roughly divided into five elements.

From the top (front) of the layer structure

Foreground → Objects in front of the character (e.g. grass and flowers)
Character → Main character part
Midground → Objects directly behind the character (e.g. fence, mailbox)
Base → Base part that will be the base of the character's feet (e.g. ground under the feet)
Background → The furthest background (e.g. sky and mountains)

↑The area surrounded by light blue is the foreground, the area surrounded by red is the character, the area surrounded by blue is the middle ground, the area surrounded by green is the base, and the area surrounded by purple is the background.

It will be easier to work if you manage layers by element, so when you start working, I recommend first creating layer folders for these five elements as shown below.

In some cases, you may also add effects to make the screen more vibrant. Add folders as appropriate to suit the screen you want to create.

The benefit of understanding the elements of a vignette-style illustration is that it makes it easier to imagine a design that creates a sense of perspective on the screen.

Just by being aware of "what should be in the foreground and what should be in the background?" you can create a natural sense of perspective.

For example, if you draw the flowers in the foreground large and the mountains in the background small, the screen will appear to have more depth!

Next, based on this structure, let's first practice drawing a vignette-style illustration.

▼ Preparation 2: Practice drawing a vignette-style illustration

It's easy to get discouraged if you suddenly try to create an illustration with many elements, so first try making a simple study of a character and a base.

Vignette-style illustrations basically involve drawing an illustration with a composition looking down on the ground (above the base), so start by preparing a perspective ruler.

If you use three-point perspective when doing this, you can create a perspective that narrows as you go downward, creating a "miniature" or "cutely deformed" feel.

I personally like using extreme perspective in particular, as it leads the eye more easily and creates a composition with more movement!

*You can download the perspective used in this course for free. Please use it as a reference.

First, let's use this perspective ruler to draw a white box.

Roughly take the shape.

It will look more realistic if you darken the part of the surface that touches the ground.

Once I have a character sit here, my vignette-style illustration sketch will be complete.

Now let's practice creating various vignette-style illustrations by reusing the character illustration and drawing other bases using the same perspective ruler.

First, the wooden box.

↑For the wooden box, I use the white outline of the box as a rough sketch while drawing in the parts and textures.

Paying particular attention to the shadows of the corners and the direction of the wood grain will help create a more three-dimensional feel!

When drawing a cylinder, first draw a rough outline according to the perspective.

To draw the circle of the cylinder, I use the direct drawing ellipse tool, but the tool itself has its own quirks, and I think the time it takes to get used to using it varies from person to person.

Points to remember when using the ellipse tool

① Set the aspect ratio to 1:1 → Makes it easier to draw a perfect circle

② Check "Adjust angle after confirming" → Makes it easier to fine-tune

③ "Start from center" or "Start from corner" → Try whichever is easier to use

Try different settings until you find the one that suits you!

↑By setting the aspect ratio to 1:1, you can draw a perfect circle by snapping it to the perspective ruler.

↑ I personally think that it's essential to check "Adjust angle after confirming," but you can do whichever is easier for you.

I think whether you start from the center or from a corner will have a completely different feel for each individual.

↑By making full use of the perspective ruler, ellipse tool, and Shift key, I was able to draw the rough outline.

Then, just like with the white box, I drew out the shape and added color to make it into a cylinder.

↑Keep this cylinder as it can be used later as a guide for other bases.

Next, let's draw a stack of books.

↑When creating the rough silhouette of the books, prioritize stacking them messily over precise shapes.

Tips for drawing stacked books

Focus on the balance of the silhouette rather than precise shapes!
By intentionally tilting them slightly, you can create a more natural "stacked" look.
Making the thicknesses of the books random will give a more realistic impression.

↑ Undercoat stage. In addition to color coding, drawing some simple shadows and highlights will make the rest of the work easier.

↑After coloring. In the case of a vignette-style illustration, a roughly painted background can look better, so it's fun to try out different coloring styles to match the character you've drawn.

Next, I'll reuse the outline of the cylinder to make the character sit on the food.

I'll use the Perspective Distortion tool to further distort the outline of the cylinder I created earlier, tapering it at the bottom to make it into the shape of a cupcake.

There are many detailed tips on how to draw food, so we won't go into them here, but just paying attention to the "texture of the shadow" can increase the realism of the food.

For example...

For shiny parts such as cream and chocolate, blur the shadow to make it softer.

For matte parts such as baked goods, add sharp shadows.

Just by doing this, you can get much closer to the realism of food!

The key to making the character blend in with the base is the color of the shadow where the character is touching the base.

You can make the character blend in more naturally by changing the color of the shadow to match the texture of the base.

For books → Use cool shadow colors (such as bluish gray) to reflect the whiteness of the paper and the cold light.

For food → Use warm shadow colors (orange or brown) to reflect the warmth and diffusion of light.

Just by changing the color of the shadow, the character will look like it is sitting on the base naturally! Furthermore, painting the character with the color of the environment will help it blend in even better, but we will explain this in the main section below.

I'll also briefly explain the effects here.

I'll add effects to the practice illustration of the books and cupcakes on the stand, and use gradient maps to create an atmosphere.

For the book vignette, I used a cool color gradient map and a star effect.

For the cupcake vignette, I used a warm color gradient map and a heart effect.

The key to adding effects is to "express the atmosphere of the moment."

For example, you can create a more vignette-like worldview by choosing an effect that suits the situation, such as the "warmth of spring" by adding fluttering cherry blossom petals, or the "coldness of winter" by adding snowflakes.

This is a simple example, but you can see that by adding finishing effects and color adjustments, it makes it feel much more like a miniature garden.

Building a character + foundation relationship like this is the first step in drawing a vignette-style illustration.

In the next section, I will explain how to decide on a concept and come up with object ideas before drawing a vignette-style illustration.

▼ Preparation 3: Organize ideas for vignette-style illustrations

By this point, you should have memorized the basic structure of a vignette-style illustration both in your head and with your hands.

Now, before moving on to the actual production work, we'll create a blueprint for the vignette-style illustration.

・Design document 1: Decide on the main character

The protagonist, the main character is the **centerpiece of the world of a vignette-style illustration!

In this article, we will start by preparing a character.

If you already have a character, you can skip this section.

In this article, we have prepared four characters to create four vignette-style illustrations as samples.

All of the characters are fantasy-style characters. There is a two-to-two male and two-female ratio.

Once you have decided on the main character, the next step is to decide on a theme.

・Design Document ②: Decide the theme of the vignette

Decide on a theme based on the character you decided on earlier.

When deciding on a theme here, if you're making a vignette-style illustration, it will be easier to structure it later if you decide on it along the 5W1H (when, where, who, what, why, how).

Why use 5W1H?

Because in a vignette-style illustration, where the character is and what they are doing is important!

By organizing using 5W1H,

the picture has a story.

the objects you need are naturally decided.

The following benefits are created.

For example, if you are thinking of a "vignette of a wizard using magic in a forest at night",

When? → Night

Where? → In the forest

Who? → A wizard girl

What? → Raises a magic wand to light up

Why? → To light the road at night

How? → To create a soft, glowing magical effect

Organizing in this way will make the composition of the vignette clear!

As mentioned above, vignette-style illustrations have a sandbox aspect, so where the character is and what they are doing is important.

In other words, a picture with a narrative will be more appealing than one that is just standing there aimlessly.

What kind of situation is the character in? **Keeping this point in mind will help you clarify the direction of your vignette.

With the above in mind, give your character a theme for your vignette-style illustration.

I set the following themes for the four characters I prepared.

Please use this as a reference!

Prerequisites: I want to vary the situations of all the characters, so I'll have two for day and night, and two for indoor and outdoor.

①Adventurer-style male character

In the daytime grassland, he raises his sword to defeat a monster.

②Maide-style female character

In the daytime kitchen, he rushes around to cook.

③Elector-style male character

In the night office, he drinks tea and looks at a book.

④Wizard-style female character

In the night forest, he uses magic to light the way.

Once you have decided on a theme, the next step is to come up with ideas for objects to place in your vignette-style illustration.

・Design document ③: Decide which objects to place

Now that you have a clear idea of the situation in the previous section, you should have a lot of ideas about what you should depict in your painting.

Now it's time to get those ideas out there for each of the five elements (foreground, character, midground, base, background)!

・Tips for generating ideas

① Think of things that suit the character's personality and occupation.

Example: For a consul, use documents and letters; for a maid, use cleaning tools and tableware.

② Include things that emphasize the atmosphere of the situation.

Example: For night, use glowing butterflies or fireflies; for an adventure, use swordplay effects.

③ Imagine and fill in the "missing parts."

Example: If the character is sitting, the texture of the surrounding floor and shadows is also important.

Thinking of objects that suit the character and situation in this way will help you create a more attractive vignette-style illustration that is packed with elements!

The more ideas you come up with here, the better. Because when you get to the stage of actually incorporating them into the vignette, you'll definitely need to add, subtract, or replace objects to balance the picture. If you write down any keywords that come to mind and create a list, you won't run out of ideas while you're actually working.

Below is a list of ideas for objects that I have created.

It is definitely best to organize this in a way that is easy for each person to understand, so please view it only as a reference.

The attached images are merely sketches at this stage. The placement is intended to be adjusted later.

①Adventure vignette-style illustration

Foreground: Monsters, monster corpses, plants.

Characters: Jumping and slashing poses, swordplay effects.

Middle ground: Trees, small animals (such as rabbits) watching the battle.

Base: Grassland, sand, some stones and rocks, maybe some fossils on the sides of the base.

Distant view: Snow-capped mountain ranges, blue sky, forest.

②Vignette-style illustration of food

Foreground: Finished dish, plate, fruit.

Character: A character stumbles in a panic and nearly knocks over a plate, bread flying in the air.

Middle ground: A kitchen in progress, a stove, the walls and windows of a building, and sunlight effects streaming in through the windows.

Base: Cobblestone floor, some water spilling, a little bit of the building structure is visible.

Distant view: A bustling street outside the window, and the ceiling.

③Vignette-style illustration of a person reading

Foreground: A writing desk, a celestial globe, a stack of books, and a set of quills.

Character: In a pose with a book open and drinking tea.

Middle ground: A chair, a wall of bookshelves, a bookshelf ladder, the walls and windows of a building, and the effect of moonlight shining through the windows.

Base: A wooden floor, a carpet, and a glimpse of the building structure.

Distant view: The night sky outside the window, the moon, and the ceiling.

④Magical vignette-style illustration

Foreground: Low trees, mushrooms, flowers.

Character: Posing with magic wand raised as if casting magic, sparkling magic effects.

Middle ground: Bushes, forest.

Base: Soil and moss.

Distant background: Starry sky.

Once you have roughly decided what you want to arrange in your vignette-style illustration, you can start working.

Up to this point, it was just setup and practice, but now it's time for the real thing.

If there's anything you don't understand, please go through it slowly while rereading it.

Summary so far

Understand the structure of a vignette-style illustration.
Try drawing the basics of a vignette-style illustration using only a simple pedestal and character.
Collect information about the vignette-style illustration you want to draw.

■Let's try drawing a vignette-style illustration!

From here on, we will start seriously drawing a vignette-style illustration.

The first thing you will need is a rough sketch.

▼ Step 0: Make a rough sketch

As you draw and gather reference materials, you may notice that vignette-style illustrations can be roughly divided into dollhouse-style (miniature-style) and bonsai-style. (This is based on my own experience.)

Dollhouse-style: Illustrations that depict the walls and background in detail, giving a strong sense of a miniature garden and creating a "closed world view."

Bonsai-style: Illustrations that do not depict walls, but are open up, down, left, and right, creating an "open world view."

Neither is better than the other, so it's best to choose according to the theme and character you want to draw.

With that in mind, I wanted the four illustrations to have a unified look as a series, so I decided on the base design along the following lines.

The base that the character rests on is square, and the base underneath is circular.
Draw walls as needed.
Shave the corners in the front and place character nameplates to create a sense of a series.

I'll try to put together a hybrid that mixes elements of "miniature" and "bonsai".

Based on the above, I created rough sketches for four characters below.

I start by creating a color rough sketch to make it easier to work with (to recall the final image).

This time I created an example with a deformed character, but of course a vignette-style illustration will also turn out to be very cute if you draw a character with a normal head-to-body ratio.

Try applying these techniques while referring to the individual examples in the next section.

▼How to draw an adventure vignette-style illustration

Here is the full rough sketch of the vignette-style illustration for the adventure.

This vignette-style illustration captures the freshness of a daytime grassland and the excitement of adventure.

Let's finish it by highlighting the bravery of the adventurer-like character and the cuteness of the small animals in the background.

▼Step 1: Draw the nameplate

First we will draw the nameplate, which is a common part.

Emphasis is placed on the metallic luster and three-dimensional effect, and the lettering is carved into the end to finish.

The basic method of drawing metal is as follows.

There are other people's TIPS articles that go into detail, so here we will only introduce an overview of the process.

① Adjust the line drawing.

② Fill in with a dark color.

③ Add various colors while keeping the lighting in mind.

④ Change the color of the main lines.

⑤ Use the color of the main lines to create a three-dimensional surface.

⑥ Draw in scratches and dents in the metal.

⑦ Adjust the overall color.

⑧ Adjust the contrast.

Next, add the text.

① Using a base color, place the letters with the text tool and create an angle using a circular arrangement.

② Use clipping to add a gradient to the letters that follows the curved surface.

③ Add a shadow color to the top.

④ Add a light color to the bottom.

After this, we'll add an environment color as a finishing touch, and make some fine adjustments, but the nameplate will then be complete.

At this point, we'll also create nameplates for the other characters all at once.

The nameplate is now complete. We move on to the next step.

▼Step 2: Draw the distant view

Next, draw the distant view, which is the furthest back.

As distant views are the places and objects that are at the very back, you should generally draw them without using main lines.

The sky has the largest area, so if it's not completely obscured by other objects, the silhouette of the outline is important.

If you make the shape of a motif based on the theme of the vignette, it will make the worldview stand out and be cute.

For the vignette-style illustration for this adventure, I wanted to prioritize a free image, so I'll draw the silhouette in a cloud-like shape, but if you're using a flower motif, you could use a flower shape, or if it's the night sky, a star shape... try various shapes, etc.

If you draw distant objects using extreme aerial perspective, you can create a sense of scale and depth even in a small vignette-style illustration, so try using colors with lower saturation blue to gray for more distant objects and higher saturation to show the inherent colors of materials for more easily seen objects in the foreground.

Once I've adjusted the balance while making sure the distant elements don't overlap too much with the character or base, I move on to the next step.

▼Step 3: Draw the base

Next, draw the base that will be under the feet of the character or object.

Because the base will be mostly hidden by other objects, it's a good idea to draw the elements roughly together, with the assumption that you'll make adjustments later.

It's easier to add shadows and textures for other objects later to achieve a good balance.

Once I've finished adding the colors, I start by drawing the middle ground, which is the next most important part after the characters, in a vignette-style illustration.

▼ Step 4: Draw the trees in the middle

For the vignette-style illustration of this adventure, I plan to draw one large tree on the right, and the others faintly a little distance away.

Here, I'll draw distinctive trees that are undulating and have rocks at their bases to make the vignette-style illustration more impressive.

For a normal tree, it is best to draw it straight, following the perspective, but for a tree positioned like this one, it looks better on screen if you give it a personality, almost like a character in itself.

Please check out other people's courses on how to draw trees, plants, and rocks.

This time I'll also draw a rabbit at the base of the tree. It's so cute!

Between the background and middle ground, add trees and plants that represent the image in between.

▼Step 5: Draw the characters

Draw the main character of the vignette-style illustration.

Please note that at this stage, you can only proceed as far as underpainting.

(Draw shadows to express shadows and three-dimensionality, which are always possible regardless of the light source.)

It will be difficult to balance the entire vignette if you don't position the character first, but it will be difficult to draw lighting and environmental colors until the rest of the background is complete, so this will make it easier to adjust the overall balance later.

Of course, readers will be particular about characters, so if there is a way that you find easier to draw, please prioritize that.

This time, we will draw the characters with main lines. We will also draw the monsters as characters.

To create a sense of presence, make the outlines of the outermost silhouettes slightly thicker and be mindful of overlapping elements.

For coloring, separate each element into layers and apply the undercoat.

Once the balance is set, the character is finished and moved on to other steps.

▼ Step 6: Draw the foreground

We will draw the objects that wrap around in front of the character.

As this object is the second most prominent object after the nameplate, we will draw a thick main line in the foreground as well.

However, we want the impression to be more subdued than the character, so don't forget to color trace the main lines to make it blend in with the screen.

▼ Step 7: Draw the sword effects

In this illustration, there is an adventurer brandishing a sword, so we will add a swordplay effect.

You can make the effect either opaque or semi-transparent, whichever you prefer, but we will finish it off with a semi-transparent effect this time.

We tried to play around with the silhouette to avoid a monotonous impression.

▼ Step 8: Adding lighting and environmental colors

This is almost the finishing touch stage. I'll be adding lighting and environmental colors.

I'll be adding depictions and colors based on their relative positions mainly to the midground, character, foreground, and nameplate.

This time it's outdoors on a sunny day, so the shadows are bluish and the light is yellowish to resemble sunlight.

Try to keep in mind that the colors of objects also affect each other.

We also recommend adding a rim light to create a more game-like look.

If there are gaps between overlapping objects, it can be fun to try lowering the saturation and increasing the brightness of the color you pick up with the eyedropper to create a sense of air.

▼Step 9: Add final adjustments

If you feel that there are any areas that are lacking in the parts you've drawn up to this point, add or erase them.

For example, try putting a darker color in the gap between the ground and the placed objects, or if there are areas where the contrast between objects is weak and it's hard to tell the sense of distance, use an airbrush to lightly add a sense of distance.

If there are any other parts that concern you, continue to draw them in.

Don't forget to adjust the shadow of the nameplate.

Once you're satisfied with the design, it's complete.

▼Complete: Adventure vignette style illustration

Here is the finished adventure vignette-style illustration.

Let's continue drawing the vignette-style illustration of food.

▼How to draw a food vignette-style illustration

This is the full rough draft of a vignette-style illustration of food.

We're trying to create the atmosphere of a warm kitchen at lunchtime.

I'll skip over the parts explained in the adventure vignette-style illustration and focus instead on the new items.

▼Step 10: Draw the room and furniture

The adventure vignette-style illustration was an outdoor illustration, but this time we'll be depicting an indoor area.

The only part of the exterior that needs to be depicted is the windows, so we'll start by drawing the line drawings of the furniture, including the windows.

Once I've drawn the furniture, I draw the lines for the stone walls and wooden floors on separate layers.

By drawing them on separate layers, it will be easier to draw in the details after I've drawn the shadows on each surface, centered on the light source from the window.

Once the line art is done, color-code the parts. Since the stone and joint parts will be drawn in different ways later (with or without texture and shading), it will be easier to adjust them if you separate them on different layers.

With an emphasis on ease of work later, at this stage I paint each surface with a different color, taking into account the light coming through the window.

This will make it easier to use clipping masks to manage the wood grain later on.

Once the colors are painted, apply a rough gradation to each surface.

Since the only light source in this case is the window, I make horizontal surfaces such as the ceiling and floor darker the further they are from the window, and apply a gradation that gets darker from bottom to top to vertical surfaces such as walls and the sides of furniture.

I won't apply a gradation to small surfaces, as they will look curved.

Once the gradient has been applied, the next step is to add brick and wood grain textures.

Compared to natural objects outdoors, man-made objects tend to have a flat impression, so at this stage we increase the amount of detail.

For the stone walls, it looks cuter if they have slight unevenness, so express these with color tracing of the main lines.

When doing this, make the foreground thicker to express thickness, and make the background thinner to create a sense of perspective.

For the top and bottom lines, use the character's eye level as a reference, and make the sides where the thickness appears thicker and the sides where it isn't to reduce the monotony of the screen.

Shadows from the furniture, walls, and floor are also added at this stage.

Keeping in mind the light source from the window, I adjust the width, angle, and blur.

Now that the atmosphere of space has been created, express the light coming through the window by adding a layer with your desired glow on top of the line drawing layer. Adding lens dust on a separate layer will create an even more atmospheric effect.

The atmosphere of the room has been captured well. Next, I'll draw tableware in the room.

▼Step 11: Draw the tableware

Vignette-style illustrations are characterized by perspective, so if you draw small items such as tableware by eye, they will inevitably end up distorted or off-balance.

This is where 3D materials come in. You can download a variety of materials from CLIP STUDIO ASSETS, so find one that suits your image and use it as a rough guide.

Below is an image of the actual arrangement.

To match the perspective of the 3D material with the perspective of the original work, select the perspective layer of the 3D material with both displayed, and adjust the position and angle so that the vanishing point (VP) matches the original perspective ruler.

This way, even if there is some misalignment, you can work with little discomfort.

You could use LT conversion to turn it into line art, but this time I'll trace the 3D material because I want to unify the atmosphere of the entire screen.

LT conversion in particular has a tendency to pick up fine lines, so I'll use it only as a rough guide to avoid cluttering the screen with lines.

I also want to place food on a plate, so I'll add those parts as well.

The decorative plate displayed on the shelf looks a little lonely as it is, so I'll turn it into a decorative plate.

First, I'll draw the pattern on the plate using a symmetrical ruler.

I'm thinking of a Spanish decorative plate, so I'll look at the reference material and draw carefully so as not to make it too detailed for the screen.

Once you have drawn the pattern, transform the pattern layer relative to the plate and clip it with Multiply, then use the Distort tool to slightly shift the center (the dent in the plate) to make it blend in.

This process is complete once you have added the shadows and shine of the tableware you have added.

Next, we'll draw the characters. The drawing method is almost the same as the adventure vignette-style illustrations, so I'll skip the explanations until I get to the line drawing and coloring.

▼Step 12: Drawing a backlit character

In this composition, the light from the window is coming from behind the character, creating a shadow on his face.

Since I have the chance, I'll finish it with backlighting.

First, to get a feel for the atmosphere, I place large shadows and lights roughly across the entire character, and check the balance of light and dark. Since I plan to adjust the details later, there's no need to draw in too much detail at this stage.

Clip the yellow overlay and gray multiply layers to the layer folder containing the character's base color, and layer the shadows and lights.

The face is too dark, so I'll add a slightly brighter warm color to the multiply layer to adjust the color. This alone will create quite a nice atmosphere.

It's a simple process, but it has a nice feel to it, so I'll take advantage of this state and do some simple coloring to complete the character. As usual, I'll keep the details to a minimum to finish it off.

▼Step 13: Draw the decorations on the nameplate

Draw decorations around the nameplate while keeping an eye on the balance.

This time, I used fresh flowers and berries as a motif to match the character's atmosphere.

Add some writing and finish it off.

▼Complete: Vignette-style illustration of food

Here's the final product, a vignette-style illustration of food.

I added some extra effects to finish it off. I used lots of round shapes to create a warm and fun feel, and to evoke the scents and light that float in a kitchen.

Next I will be creating a vignette style illustration of a reading subject.

▼How to draw a vignette-style illustration of a reading scene

This is the full rough draft of a vignette-style illustration of a reading person.

We will depict a calm space just after midnight.

The information needed to draw this, such as 3D placement, has been explained in the previous two images, so we will provide additional explanations here.

▼ Step 14: Adjust the character size

I noticed that in the current rough sketch, the character is a little smaller than the previous two drawings.

The size of a character has a big impact on its presence in the picture and how it guides the eye.

Therefore, I'll adjust the size of the character to balance the overall impression of the screen.

This time, I enlarged only the character and the chair, while considering the relative positions of the objects and the balance of the overall screen.

I also adjusted the size of the moon in the background to be about the same as the celestial globe, making it smaller so as not to stand out too much.

The overall impression of an illustration can change dramatically depending on the size of your characters.

If you're unsure, one option is to just make your characters bigger or smaller.

▼ Step 15: Drawing a space with multiple light sources

This illustration has two light sources: a lamp and the moon.

This means that we're depicting not just one light source, but a space with multiple light sources.

The lamp's light source is a warm color, illuminating the people and furniture from within the room, creating a sense of warmth and depth.

On the other hand, the moon's light source is a cool color, and as light that shines into the room from outside, it expresses the spaciousness and tranquility of the space.

Furthermore, in a dark room, adding a supplementary light source to make the presence of the small items and desk in the foreground more obvious can make it easier to organize information.

Here, a weak purple light is placed in the lower foreground so as not to disrupt the overall color tones, reinforcing the three-dimensional effect.

First, we'll draw the shadow created by the lamp light source.

The lamp light source is on the left side of the screen, in front of the character, and on top of a desk, so it illuminates the entire room, even though there are many obstructions.

Place a shadow using a multiply layer, keeping in mind the light that radiates from the lamp.

Once you've placed the shadow, the next step is to add a light layer from above the lamp.

The recommended method is to first use an additive (glow) layer to place a small, strong light in the center of the light. Then use an airbrush to spread the light in stages so that it gradually becomes fainter. Adding a dodge (glow) layer on top of this will make it look even more shining.

Using the light from this lamp as a reference, shine light from the light source on the desk and other parts of the desk.

The light from the lamp is clearer in closer areas and fainter in farther areas.

Being aware of the distance of the light by using different airbrush sizes, for example, will help create space.

Next we will draw the light and shadows created by the moonlight.

Because the moon shines its light from outdoors into the room, it only affects the wall on the far right side of the room and a small part of the floor.

Unlike a lamp, the light it emits is linear and soft, and the range it spreads is limited, only reaching behind the character and slightly around the decorative parts on the wall.

The expression of rim light is particularly important.

If you use a soft, cool-toned moonlight to shine along the edges of a window frame, a celestial globe, the edge of a desk, or a book, it will bring out the depth and shadows of the image.

Try making fine adjustments using a dodge (glow) layer with lowered opacity or a screen layer, keeping in mind that "moonlight should be soft, not too sharp."

Finally, place a faint purple light from the bottom front.

Unlike a lamp or the moon, this light is intended to add depth to the overall space.

Because it is a very weak light, it does not create clear shadows.

I mainly focus on areas that tend to be dark and crushed by the lamp's shadow, such as the sides of the desk and the edges of the tea set, shining a faint light on them to outline their contours.

Adjust the transparency and layer mode so that the purple color does not clash too much with other light sources, and keep it just enough to make it appear softly pop out.

Using multiple light sources can create depth and drama in a space. Try to consciously control the color and intensity of the light.

▼Complete: Vignette-style illustration of a person reading

Here is the finished vignette-style illustration of a reading room.

I was mindful of the effects of the lamp, moonlight, and fill light each enhancing the space.

Finally, we will create a magical vignette style illustration.

▼How to draw a magical vignette style illustration

This is the full rough draft of the magical vignette-style illustration.

Most of what is done in this illustration has already been explained so far, so I will only provide additional information about the lighting effect.

▼ Step 16: Draw the glowing effect

The illustration below was drawn by applying the techniques used so far.

Since lighting has not been set up yet, the whole screen appears dark.

First, make the magical butterfly glow.

Blur the duplicated butterfly layer and change the layer attribute to Glow Dodge Layer.

Additionally, add a Dodge (Glow) Layer to add rim lighting to the tip of the staff, glowing plants, and the person.

▼Completed: Magical vignette-style illustration

Here's the finished magical vignette-style illustration.

I've added some light and dark accents and effects.

This concludes our introduction to how to draw vignette-style illustrations.

As a final supplement, we'll explain how to project 3D when using it for vignette-style illustrations.

▼TIPS: How to use different projection methods when using 3D for rough sketches

When you look at a 3D model in the Sub Tool Detail screen, you will see that there is an item called Projection Method in the Camera tab.

Here we will explain how to use the two types, Parallel Projection and Perspective Projection, when creating vignette-style illustrations.

First, I tried drawing a 3D character using parallel projection.

You can see that the character is standing without any perspective distortion from the top to the bottom of the head.

Next up is Perspective Projection. The character is drawn with the same perspective used for the vignette-style illustration.

Because the perspective is so extreme, you can see that the face is looking up and the body is almost horizontal.

The difference between projection methods becomes more apparent when you move the model from one position to the other.

With parallel projection, there is no distortion due to perspective, even if you move the model to the edge of the screen.

However, with perspective projection, the distortion becomes more severe the closer you get to the edges of the screen.

When using these two projection methods for vignette-style illustrations, this article recommends that you use them appropriately:

Characters and the tools they hold are projected in parallel.

Background models such as furniture and objects are projected in perspective.

Characters can be small or large, and there can be differences in angle, but if you use perspective on a miniature screen, the composition will be dynamic and the sense of scale will be unnatural.

On the other hand, furniture and other items can be packed with more information by making the sense of perspective even on a small screen.

Of course, there are also vignette-style illustrations that use both projection methods.

If you complete a vignette-style illustration using parallel projection including the background, you can create a screen like a quarter-view game, and conversely, if you draw the entire vignette-style illustration using perspective projection, you can create a very dynamic screen.

This depends on your preferences for the screen you want to draw, so please try out various compositions!

■Drawing vignette-style illustrations is fun!

This article has gotten quite long, but thank you for reading this far.

Vignette-style illustrations are a lot of fun to draw, so I hope you all will give it a try.

As I've said many times before, vignette-style illustrations look amazing when made into merchandise such as acrylic stands!