Character illustration with backlight in Clip Studio Paint

In this tutorial, you’ll learn step by step how to create a moody character illustration with dramatic backlighting in Clip Studio Paint – from the first sketch to the final light effects. Backlighting adds depth, atmosphere, and a professional touch: the figure is mostly in shadow, with glowing contours where the light hits from behind.

1. Create the Lineart

Use a vector layer to draw clean and precise lineart. This allows you to easily adjust, smooth, or even erase individual strokes later. Clip Studio Paint recognizes line intersections, so you can remove just the segments between crossing points. Focus on clear shapes, especially around the edges where the light will hit.

2. Base Colors

Fill in skin, hair, and clothing on separate raster layers. Use the Fill tool, setting the lineart as a reference layer. This helps avoid unfilled gaps.

3. Shadows (Brightness Layer)

Add a new layer set to “Brightness” above your base colors. Use a soft brush with grayscale tones to paint the shadows – especially on the side away from the light. This keeps the base colors intact while adding depth.

4. Create the Background

Paint a simple yet atmospheric background behind your character – like sun, trees, or fog. Use light effects like orbs or particles for mood. Apply a slight Gaussian Blur to background elements to add depth.

5. Soften Lineart & Add Highlights

Lower the opacity of your lineart, or color it softly (e.g., dark blue or brown). Add highlights in the eyes, hair, and accessories. These details bring your character to life and support the lighting effect.

6. Rimlight (Glow Effects)

Add a new layer in “Add (Glow)” mode. Use a soft airbrush to paint a bright rimlight along the character’s edges. Add sharper glow lines along hair strands or clothing for extra impact.

7. Lens Flares

Create oval, soft light spots. Apply Chromatic Aberration for colored edges. Set the layer to “Add (Glow)” for realistic lens flare effects.

8. Flame Orb Effect (Optional)

For magical scenes: draw a glowing orb, reshape it with the Liquify tool into a flame, and set it to “Glow” mode. Combine with subtle gradients and particles for extra depth.

9. Final Rays & Adjustments

Create a yellow-white gradient layer. Use a soft eraser to reveal radial light rays. Finally, use Tone Curves, some Gaussian Blur, or Noise for polish. Crop the canvas to improve the composition if needed.

In the following examples, I applied the color only to the left side of the image — the right side still shows the original light rays. The goal was to create a different lighting mood for the character on the left.\

The light rays were kept on a separate layer and left unchanged on the right side.

Here, I added a few light rays in a newly created layer — straight lines with low opacity.

✨ All done!

These 9 steps combine traditional drawing techniques with digital lighting tools – perfect for eye-catching #backlightillustrations. With practice, you can develop your own variations and style. Have fun creating and let your art shine!