How to draw character illustrations with backlighting!

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暁桜陽

Hello, this is Akatsuki Sakurayo! 🎨

"My drawings are somehow lacking..." "I want to create a more emotional atmosphere!"

Have you ever thought like that?

If that sounds like you, I'd like you to try out the "backlighting" technique!

This time, I'll be using this illustration to show you how to make your characters shine at their best, in a making-of format!

If you read this course, you'll definitely be able to do this! 👇

✅ Dramatic lighting that will make you stop and stare

✅ Maximum transparency! How to paint hair that shines through the light

✅ Professional finishing techniques that determine the overall atmosphere

The software used is CLIP STUDIO PAINT.

Now, let's master backlighting together and draw a picture that stands out from the crowd! ✨

1. Rough sketch and composition

First, create a rough image of what kind of illustration you want to make!

The theme this time is, "The coolest profile of an angel turning around!" 😎

There are three points to expressing "coolness"!

POINT 1: Find the golden angle!
POINT 2: Create drama with backlighting!
POINT 3: Create a story with "movement"!

At this stage, just cherish the feeling of "I want to draw!" and draw boldly without worrying about making mistakes! 👌

① Idea sketch → ② Check the atmosphere with color roughs → ③ Adjust brightness

2. Primer

Once you've finished drawing the rough sketch, it's time to start coloring! 🎨

First, use the "undercoat" to lay down the color for each part!

There's only one super important technique here!

Separate layers for each part!

Skin layer
Hair layer
Clothing layer
Wing layer

You might think it's a pain, but this will help you later on and make you think "I was a genius back then!" 👍

This is what it looks like after ①Line drawing and ②undercoat!

The image below shows my layer structure!

Not only do I separate each part into a folder, but I also like to put the line art and color on separate layers!

It's a great technique that lets you freely change the line color later! Try it out!

3. Create a base of shadows and light

Now it's time to paint! 🎨 First, let's create the base of the shadow!

① Cast a shadow over the whole thing

Clip the "Multiply" layer above the underpainting folder!

I want to create a cool atmosphere, so I'll just paint a calm blue over the whole thing with the [Fill Tool] and the base for the three-dimensional effect will be complete 👍

② Adding a shadow

Next, let's draw the secret to the coolness of this illustration, the shadow!

The key is to draw the shadow crisply, like in anime painting.

✅ Add a new "Multiply" to the Layer!
✅ Use a hard pen like a "G-Pen" for the Brush!
✅ For the Color, choose a slightly vibrant dark blue to make it look professional! ✨

[Most Important Point]

There is only one rule for this painting method! "Decide the direction of the light"!

This time, let's think of the light coming from the bottom left!

Then the shadow will appear on the opposite side, the top right!

Just by painting the "light" and "shadow" separately like a puzzle, your picture will become incredibly three-dimensional, so give it a try! 👍

4. [Most important!] Draw backlighting (highlights)

Now, this is the best part! It's backlight time to bring life to your illustration! ✨

① Add rim light

Trace the outline of the character with light to make them stand out from the background!

✅ Set the Layer to "Screen" or "Add (Glow)"!

✅ Use a whitish light blue for the Color and a hard pen for the Pen to draw a sharp light along the outline!

②Add reflected light to deepen the three-dimensional effect

Next, we'll use the secret weapon to make your work look more professional: reflected light! Just lightly add the color of the sky to the shadows, and your work will look more convincing.

[What is reflected light?]

This time, the sky in the background acts as a light source, gently illuminating the shadowed areas.

✅ Set the layer to "screen" and lower the opacity to around 15-30%!
✅ Set the brush to "airbrush" and use the eyedropper to pick up the color from the sky in the background! Apply it softly to the shadowed areas.

The finishing touch is a special technique for backlit illustrations! It creates a "sparkling transparency" in the hair!

The secret to the magic of backlit illustrations is that the thin parts of the hair and clothes let the light through and appear to shine from the inside! ✨ We'll create this "transparency"!

✅ Create a layer on top of the hair with "Add (glow)" and don't forget to clip it!

✅ How to draw First, use an airbrush to make the edges of the hair softly glow, then use a thin pen to draw streaks of light on top of that! Just by doing this, it's magic that makes the hair look smooth in an instant.

[Points]

If you make the difference (contrast) between strong and weak light clear, it will look really professional, so give it a try! 👍

5. Adding and adjusting details

Okay, we're almost at the finish line! Let's draw in the details and put soul into the illustration!

The eyes are the heart of the illustration!

The eyes are super important because the face is in shadow!

This time, I chose orange, which is the opposite of the overall blue, to express the character's strong will. I recommend using complementary colors, as they really stand out!

Draw in the hair for divine detail!

Now, this is where you can show off your skills! Draw each strand of hair smoothly on top of the light gradient!

Doing this will increase the "information amount"** and "texture" of the illustration, and it will instantly feel "professional!"

The background is a great supporting actor!

Keep the background simple to highlight the main character.

Create a gradient that is brighter at the bottom and darker as it goes up to quickly create depth and atmosphere!

[Must try! Final check tricks]

Finally, I'll tell you a secret trick to improve your drawings!

That is, Turn your illustration into monochrome and look at it once!

It's easy to do!

Just open [New Color Correction Layer] → [Hue, Saturation, Lightness] from the [Layer] menu and move the saturation slider all the way to the left!

This way, you won't be fooled by the color, and you can immediately see things like,

"Is the part I want you to pay the most attention really visible?"

"Isn't the character's shape hard to understand?"

Make the final adjustments here and your illustrations will definitely be taken up a notch! 👍

6. Finishing and processing

Okay, this is the really, really final touch!

I'm going to apply some "magic" to boost the quality of the illustration!

① Adjust color (overlay)

Just create an "overlay" layer on top and lightly apply a blue gradient! It'll instantly create an "emo" atmosphere!

② Add effects

Next, make the white feathers flutter and add a white haze with an airbrush around the highlights to make it look more sparkly!

However, don't overdo it here! Stopping at the point where you feel like it's a little lacking is the trick to making it look more professional!

③ Blur

Blur any distracting things, like the wings in the foreground, with [Filter] → [Blur] → [Gaussian Blur]! This alone will add depth, and I really recommend it!

④ Final Adjustments

Finally, make final adjustments with "tone curve" and "level correction" to perfect the brightness and contrast of the illustration!

When you get the desired result, like "a little brighter!" or "darker shadows!", it's finally complete!

[Tone curve and level correction are here! ]

Both are easy to do!

In the [Layer] menu, [New Tonal Correction Layer], you can find [Tone curve] and [Level correction].

With "tone curve," if you move the graph line that appears, the atmosphere of the entire screen will change drastically, so try to find the point that makes you think "this is it!"

With "level correction," just move the triangular (▲) slider under the mountain-shaped graph that appears! The leftmost one adjusts the "dark parts" and the right one adjusts the "light parts," so it's intuitive to use.

With this, it's finally finished! Good job! 🎉

See you in the next hint!

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