In this article, you’ll learn practical techniques for building complex cyberpunk cities, along with time, saving tips that streamline background creation overall.
1. Understanding Cyberpunk Landscape Design
1.1. What Makes a Landscape Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a distinct visual style that can be applied to clothing, characters, cities, creatures, and more but what exactly makes a city or landscape cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk environments are defined by a layered approach and a strong connection between architecture, technology, and artificial lighting.
1.2. Components of Cyberpunk Landscapes
Several visual elements commonly define cyberpunk as a style:
1. Dense technological lines and exposed infrastructure
Example:
Cables, pipes and layered structures that create visual complexity.
2. Neon accents and high-contrast color palettes
Example will be demonstrated later in ‘Useful materials’ sections
3. Exaggerated scale in buildings, vehicles, and urban elements
Example:
Skyscrapers exceeding dozens of floors, oversized vehicle components, and massive architectural forms.
4. Heavy use of artificial lighting
Example:
Artificial light acts as the primary mood setter in cyberpunk environments, often coming
from neon signs, billboards, and screens.
5. Futuristic design elements\ Examples:
High-tech drones, advanced vehicles, and technology embedded directly into urban materials and structures.
Below is a practical breakdown of all the elements mentioned in this section, shown in a single example:
2. Core Principles of Cyberpunk Backgrounds
2.1. Using Simple Perspective for Complex Cities
Certain perspective setups work especially well when composing cyberpunk cities. You’ve likely seen many of these before, but below are three examples of the most commonly used simple perspective variations that create strong, readable compositions.
2.1.1. Rooftop View
Example Setup:
Perspective:
Two-point perspective to establish depth while keeping architectural forms readable.
Horizon (Eye Level):
Low horizon line (eye level placed near the bottom of the canvas) to exaggerate vertical scale and make the city feel imposing.
Composition:
Character placed slightly off-center to avoid symmetry and create a more dynamic visual flow.
Building Form & Depth:
Layered structures in the foreground and background to create depth and separate visual planes.
2.1.2. Low Angle Wide Shot
Example Setup:
Perspective:\ 3-point perspective, Low-angle to exaggerate height and make buildings feel overwhelming.
Horizon (Eye Level):\ Very low horizon line (eye level close to the ground) to push the viewer’s gaze upward through the scene.
Composition:\ Foreground character used as a scale anchor, guiding the viewer into the environment.
Building Form & Depth:\ Strong vertical building forms and layered architectural planes to reinforce depth and vertical movement.
2.1.3. Distant City Mass
Example Setup:
Perspective:
Two-point perspective to group multiple structures into a single, cohesive city mass.
Horizon (Eye Level):\ Higher horizon line to flatten depth slightly and emphasize the city as one unified shape rather than individual buildings.
Composition:\ Minimal or small human silhouettes placed low in the frame to establish scale without breaking the city’s unity.
Building Form & Depth:\ Overlapping building forms with limited detail to merge structures into a continuous skyline.
2.2. Simplifying Architecture Without Losing Details
One of the simplest ways to draw complex subjects in perspective is by starting with basic shapes using the box method.
Working with boxes helps establish scale, orientation, and perspective early in the process.
In this section, you’ll learn how to use Clip Studio Paint’s Perspective Ruler to build any designs including shaping character poses from simple box forms.
2.2.1. Box Method
Step 1. - Set up Perspective Ruler
There is a quick way to set this up. Go to Layer -> Ruler/Frame -> Create Perspective Ruler.
When the dialog box appears, select the desired perspective type and make sure “Create new layer” is checked. This keeps the ruler separate from your drawing layers and makes it easier to adjust later.
Note:
A Perspective Ruler can also be created from the Ruler tool on the left toolbar, but using Layer -> Ruler/Frame is recommended when you’re just getting started.
To keep this guide beginner-friendly, advanced options such as adding or deleting vanishing points and deeper perspective theory are intentionally omitted.
If this is your first time working with perspective, consider exploring dedicated perspective tutorials; here, the focus is on applying these basics to building cyberpunk environments.
1.1. Finding Ruler
1.2. Creating Perspective Ruler on the new layer
Step 2. - Adjust Horizon line and vanishing points*
To adjust the horizon line and vanishing points, first select the layer containing the Perspective Ruler. Then use the ‘Scale/Rotate’ tool.
Horizon line: move the ruler up or down to change the viewer’s eye level.
Vanishing points: scale the ruler wider or narrower to adjust the perspective angle.
2.1. - Scaling/Rotating your perspective ruler
Keep the following in mind when setting up your horizon line and vanishing points:
Vanishing points closer together = stronger perspective distortion
\ Vanishing points farther apart = more natural perspective
\ Lower horizon line = taller structures
\ Higher horizon line = flatter space and stronger focus on city mass
Step 3. - Snapping to Ruler
After setting up the Perspective Ruler, enable the “Snap to Ruler” icon in the top bar and make sure your brush supports snapping. This allows your strokes to follow the perspective automatically.
3.1. - Checking ‘Snap to rulers’ icons
3.2. - Checking your brushes ‘Snapping’ settings
Step 4. - Adding boxes
Begin by placing a few boxes on the canvas. Draw a straight guideline at, above, or below the horizon line, and use it as a base to build your boxes in perspective.
Try to imagine a street or find any reference you like to make this practice even more easy and practical.
Tips to keep in mind that help me at all times:
1. Closer = larger and more detailed; farther = smaller and simpler.
2. Horizon line = eye level; vanishing point = where lines meet.
The example below demonstrates one of these principles in practice.
Now, let’s try adding some boxes. Two tips that I always keep in mind and always help me to draw perspective :
1) Closer = Bigger Object, More Details , Far away = Smaller Object, Fewer Details
2) Horizon = Eye Level, Vanishing Point = Where All Lines meet
One of these tips is demonstrated in the example below for practical understanding.
4.1. - 2-point perspective setup
Once snapping is enabled and the Perspective Ruler is active, all strokes drawn on the canvas will automatically follow the ruler.
If you want to draw without the ruler, simply hide the Perspective Ruler layer by clicking the eye icon next to it in the Layer panel.
4.2. - Adding boxes of different size
In this example, the entire scene is constructed from boxes of different sizes. Connecting their edges creates volume and depth, even in a rough sketch.
When using references, block everything in as simple boxes first the design stage comes after the spatial structure is established.
Step 5. - Designing inside the box
Let’s imagine we need to design a neon sign for the middle building. To do this, all we need is a simple linear guide and a clear design idea.
First, draw perspective-aligned guidelines over the sign area to understand how the lettering or logo will appear from this angle.
Second, follow these guides when drawing, or use Edit -> Transform -> Free Transform to align the design precisely to the perspective you established.
Note:
Avoid drawing outside the box. Keep your design contained within the guide, or adjust the size of the box itself to ensure the result stays clean and properly aligned with the perspective.
5.1. - Applying linear guide
Note:
Depending on your design, you will need more or less lines over an object that you want to design.
5.2. - Designing on the grid
Note:
Using this guide keeps the design clean and properly aligned to the chosen perspective. The lettering shown here is a fictional language with no specific meaning, but it remains clear and readable to the viewer.
Step 6. - Adding a character to your city
Just like you create a guide for an object or a building, you can similarly do it to you character. Let’s try to add some character using the ruler.
6.1. - Assembling a characters from boxes
Note:
If you already have a solid understanding of anatomy, blocking a character with simple boxes in perspective will feel natural. If not, and the box construction doesn’t fully make sense yet, that’s completely fine.
Start by placing a vertical center line, add a box for the head, and then block in a larger box for shoulders to legs, to establish the character’s presence and pose within the space.
6.2. - Shaping characters inside the boxes
Note:
These simple box forms help guide the character naturally through the space you’ve created. For quickly sketching poses, I used the Lasso Fill tool, which I’ll cover later in the Useful Materials section of this article.
Any space drawn with a Perspective Ruler can be designed freely using this method, as long as you create simple guides to direct your hand.
Over time, with consistent practice, these guides become less necessary as the angles start to feel natural, and your hand follows them instinctively. This is why practicing the box method is especially effective.
3. Step-by-Step: Creating a Cyberpunk City in Clip Studio Paint
In this section, I’ll walk you through my step-by-step process for creating a cyberpunk city in Clip Studio Paint, along with materials and tools that help speed up the workflow.
3.1. Useful Materials
3.1.1. City Materials
When building your city, these assets help save time by reducing repetitive steps:
3.1.2. Skylines and Background
These assets help build background depth and strengthen the city skyline:
3.1.3. Cyberpunk
For cyberpunk and technology-focused elements, these assets help reinforce a high-tech atmosphere:
3.1.4. Color Sets
To simplify color selection for neon lighting, I created a reusable color set asset available on the Clip Studio Assets store:
3.1.5. Additional Materials
Here are additional materials that support character construction in perspective, including tools for the lasso fill method, pose blocking, and brushes useful for outlining the city.
3.2. Full Walkthrough
Now, using all the methods, materials, and notes covered in this article, I will create a quick artwork.
Phase 1. - Sketching and Lineart
Phase 2 - Coloring and Rendering.
You can also play with colors by switching order of ‘Normal’ and ‘Overlay’ layer.
Depending on what kind of glow or value you need from this color, try putting ‘Overlay’ above ‘Normal’. These 2 options will keep your colors from going muddy or dull.
Note:
To focus on the most important , these aspects of the cyberpunk, I did not do any extra rendering, only pointing here on the focus subject of this tutorial, cybercity environment feeling through planning of your city to artificial lighting and design.
3.3. Final Result Breakdown
As you can see, the most powerful tools for making even a simplified cyberpunk city feel convincing are artificial lighting, design, and color.
By using the box method, breaking the city into simple volumetric shapes, you significantly reduce design time while freeing up mental space for creativity.
This approach helps you focus on composition, lighting, and atmosphere instead of getting lost in unnecessary structural details.
4. Tips to Elevate Cyberpunk Backgrounds
Tip #1 - Control Visual Noise for Readability
Too much light does not automatically create drama, and adding more objects or visual elements does not guarantee that a cyberpunk landscape will communicate its idea clearly.
A key rule for maintaining a strong focal point, compositional flow, and visual balance is this:
‘Keep visual noise under control, and make sure every element in your landscape serves a purpose, not just decoration.’
Tip #2 - Think in Volumes, Not Lines
One mindset shift that changed my art completely was learning to think in volumes, imagining that you exist inside the space you’re drawing, as if you were looking around a 3D model.
For cyberpunk landscapes, especially when creating backgrounds for WEBTOONs, it’s important to approach environments as three-dimensional spaces rather than flat images.
Thinking this way helps maintain background consistency and allows you to place characters naturally and easily within each frame.
Tip #2.1 - How to Think in Volumes?
The example below visually demonstrates the idea of thinking in volumes described above:
Tip #3 - Keep a Focal Point
One of the most important aspects of any artwork intended for visual storytelling especially for WEBTOON is maintaining a clear focal point through lighting, detail control, pose, and environment design.
When designing a city or cyberpunk landscape, choose a single area of the city that the viewer will notice first, before any other elements.
When establishing your focal point, ask yourself the following questions:
1. What is the primary focus of this artwork?
2. How will I emphasize it through lighting, lineart, detail density, pose, environment design, or a combination of these?
You’ve unlocked a new achievement!
Environments are one of the most challenging subjects in art, so it’s completely normal if progress takes time. I’m still learning myself, and I plan to keep studying alongside you until building cyberpunk cities starts to feel natural and intuitive.
Don’t give up if it doesn’t work on the first try. Nothing ever comes together perfectly without iteration, progress comes from trying, adjusting, and trying again. Good luck on building your own city! You can do it!
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