1. Introduction

Do you draw landscapes digitally but they look too artificial? Do you want to create an illustration with a traditional finish? ...Well, you're in the right place!!! In this tutorial, I'll share some tips for drawing and painting landscapes or backgrounds with Clip Studio Paint and achieving a traditional look in just a few steps. If you use the tablet app, it'll be even more fun!

 

Here's a video I made and uploaded to YouTube. You can see the entire process in detail to show how easy and fun it is to use Clip Studio Paint for painting backgrounds. (Main voice in Spanish - remember to turn on subtitles)

2. Color Mix Panel

If you're new to Clip Studio Paint, let me tell you that you'll find a very useful and fun tool for mixing colors... it's the Color Mix window!!

This panel is not in the default interface, but don't worry, you can quickly find it as I show you below:

 

 

This panel allows you to use a default flat brush or one from your collection. You can enlarge the size, use the mixer, or the eyedropper. You can also clear the entire panel with the small-lined circle on the left and open the traditional color selection panel if you want a more specific tone... I won't spoil all the fun, try it out and you'll have a few minutes of fun making the best mixes!!

3. Place a Background Texture

This step simply consists of filling your entire canvas space with a gradient from a dark color at the top to a lighter one at the bottom edge. This is the most general initial setup for all landscapes or backgrounds.

 

You should use a brush that has a strong texture and variation in color, saturation, and luminosity as you apply the tone, in order to give it a more traditional touch. This also helps you get rid of the blank canvas nightmare.

 

Clip Studio Paint has an infinite number of oil brushes in its material library that are very good for the job... You can also use one that imitates gouache or acrylics; I leave it to your choice.

 

I also leave you below the link to some brushes I found and liked for you to try.

4. Sketch

For the sketch, simply do it using the darkest color you've placed in the background. I recommend using a brush that leaves a stroke similar to a real brush; that is, one that leaves a trail of parallel lines as I show you below:

5. Base Colors

Unlike the background, here we are going to place uniform colors. You should use a brush that behaves well for mixing colors, similar to oil painting, and you will place the strokes next to each other so that the brushwork is visible... This ensures from the start that your illustration achieves that traditional finish.

 

For this step, it's not necessary for the brush to have a very heavy texture, as it's the first layer of color, and if it has too much texture, it will take you longer to fill the entire canvas.

6. Define Volumes

Here I ask for a little patience... you must define all volumes with a single brush. You can change its size, but you cannot lower the paint density or change the opacity. Remember that for mid-tones, the eyedropper is your best friend, or you can use the color mixer panel.

 

For clouds, remember that the edges are lighter and generally, the central part is a bit darker. Make sure the greatest contrast is at the focal point of the cloud block.

This strip of trees starts very close to the viewer, so the colors there are warmer, but as they recede, they should blend with the environment and change their color to a bluish-green.

 

Regarding details, those on the right should have more definition, but in the background, they are just a silhouette with little definition.

For the grass, apply vertical and slightly diagonal brushstrokes everywhere. The strokes at the bottom are larger because they are closer to the viewer; as they approach the horizon, they should become smaller. Doing this ensures that atmospheric perspective is maintained.

7. Add Animals, Trees, and Plants with More Details

To make the tree on the left, create the trunk's silhouette with a hard-edged brush, then use a granulated brush for the leaves. Add a shadow and erase some parts with the vertical bristle brush you used for the grass.

Making animals is simple. First, create the silhouette, then with a lighter color, apply spots with the intention of creating volume. Finally, add an edge light, but make sure it doesn't go outside the tonal range of the entire illustration... you can use a light color from the clouds.

Create plant elements using the same technique as for the cows, then copy, paste, and transform them to place them in the foreground to add more complexity to the illustration.

Add elements that complete your scene and help improve the composition or direct the viewer's gaze. In this case, I added a piece of old barbed wire fence, as well as including some loose brushstrokes for weeds.

8. Add Sun Rays

In this scene, I wanted to add some sun rays piercing through the clouds. They are very easy to make (not so much traditionally), so pay attention to the following:

Place a couple of parallel brushstrokes, one next to the other, overlapping slightly.

Add a motion blur to lengthen them... here they already start to look like rays of light.

Use the free transformation or distortion tool to gather them into a point, which will be located in the clearest area of the clouds.

Place more rays forming a circle around the brightest point. Just copy and paste the previous ones, then rotate and position them where you want.

Apply another blur, but this time a Gaussian blur to give it more softness and light presence. Lower the layer's opacity a bit to make them more subtle.

Add a yellowish-green tone to make the light appear warmer. Do this on an overlay layer to control the tone later.

And done!!!... Oh, I almost forgot one final trick.

9. Apply Canvas Texture

To add canvas texture, just look for an image like the following:

An image like this can be found anywhere... I got this one by just taking a photo of a shirt I had in my closet.

 

What you need to do is place this texture on a separate layer above the entire image, then apply the blend mode >divide< to the layer; with this, you achieve the following result.

Well, I think that's all you need to have a good time and create a good background with a traditional style. I thank you for taking the time to review this document and wish you all the best in your next drawings... Good concept for everyone!!