Compatible with Clip Studio Paint Ver. 5.0

 

This tutorial explains how to make your first drawing in Clip Studio Paint.

It shows you each stage of the drawing process while explaining the functions of Clip Studio Paint.

 

This tutorial covers the following steps of creating an illustration.

 

 

See the following articles for how to get started with Clip Studio.

Tablets (iPad/Android)

PC (Windows/macOS)

 

[1] Creating a canvas

After starting up Clip Studio Paint, let’s create a canvas for drawing an illustration.

 

(1) Click New at the upper left command bar.

 

(2) Select Illustration from Project, and then select UXGA (1600x1200) from Preset.

 

(3) Tap OK to create the canvas.

 

[2] Creating layers

What is a layer?

 

Layers are used to create art in digital drawing software.

Each layer acts like a transparent film. You can paint all your lines and colors on these transparent layers.

 

If you use different layers for lines and colors, and characters and backgrounds, it will be easier to make adjustments at later stages. You can also hide everything drawn a layer with a single click without deleting it.

Layers stack up in the order shown in the Layer palette. Parts drawn on upper layers will cover lower layers.

 

Placement of the Layer palette differs depending on the device.

On PC, the Layer palette is on the right side of the screen. On tablets, you can display the Layer palette by tapping on the icon on the right side of the screen.

 

Adding a layer

When you create a new canvas, a “Paper” layer and a “Layer 1” layer will be created by default.

 

In this example, we’ll add two more layers: one for line art and one for colors.

 

 

(1) Click the New Raster Layer at the top the Layer palette to add layers. Click this icon twice to add two layers.

 

(2) Change the layer name to a simple explanation.

Double click “Layer 1” on the layer palette and change the layer name. In this example, we’ll change it to “Draft”.

 

(3) In the same way, we change “Layer 2” to “coloring”, and “Layer 3” to “line art”.

 

[3] Drawing sketch lines

Start drawing your rough sketch on the canvas. In this example, we’ll use the Pencil to draw the sketch.

 

Preparing the pencil tool

(1) Select Pencil from the Tool palette, and then select Pencil from the Tool Group palette.

On tablets, you can display the Tool Group and Tool Settings palettes by tapping on a tool group from the Tool palette.

 

(2) Adjust the Pencil brush size.

You can adjust the size by using the Tool Sliders palette.

 

Note:

You can also adjust the brush size from the Tool Settings and Brush Size palettes.

 

(3) To select black as the drawing color, open the Color Wheel palette and tap the very bottom.

On tablets, you can display the Color Wheel palette by tapping on the color icon in the Tool palette.

 

Drawing the sketch

(1) On the Layer palette, select your sketch layer.

 

(2) Draw a rough sketch on the canvas with the Pencil, then add some details.

 

Note:

When drawing detailed parts, adjust the zoom and position of the canvas to more easily draw. Please read the following TIPS to learn how to move and zoom the canvas.

Correcting lines

You can use the Eraser to edit the lines you have drawn.

(1) Select Eraser from the Tool palette, and then select Hard from the Tool Group palette.

 

(2) Adjust the size of the Eraser.

You can adjust the size by using the Tool Sliders palette.

Use a larger brush size you want to erase a large area, and make it smaller when you want to change little details.

 

Note: Correcting a line using Undo

You can undo your last action by pressing Undo in the Command Bar. Use Undo to completely redraw a line, and use the Eraser to correct part of a line or an area with many lines.

When using a touch-capable device, you can undo operations by tapping the canvas with two fingers.

 

Finishing the sketch

When you finish sketching, change the layer settings so you can more easily draw the clean lines.

 

(1) Change the line color to blue on the “Draft” layer.

If you tap on the Change layer color button on the Layer palette, the color of the sketch will turn from black to blue.

 

(2) Lower the Opacity on the Layer palette to 30% to lighten the color of the sketch.

By lowering the sketch opacity, it will be easier to see the clean line art.

 

Now, let’s move on to drawing the clean line art based on the original sketch.

 

[4] Drawing clean line art

In this step, we’ll draw the line art based on the sketch.

 

Drawing clean line art

(1) On the Layer palette, select the “line art” layer.

 

(2) Select the Pencil and draw on top of the blue sketch.

 

Note:

Although this example uses the Pencil for both line art and sketch, you can also use a tool from the Pen tool group if you prefer sharper lines.

 

Finishing the line art

Once you’ve finished drawing the clean lines, hide your sketch layer so that only the line art layer shows.

 

(1) Click the eye icon to the left of the “Draft" layer to hide the layer.

 

(2) This hides the “Draft" layer so only the line art is visible. The line art is now complete.

Unlike when drawing on paper, the sketch does not need to be erased. By using separate layers, you can automatically get rid of the sketch lines by hiding the sketch layer.

 

[5] Adding a paper texture

Before painting the color, we’ll change the canvas to a cream color and add a texture to create the effect of traditional paper.

 

1. Changing the Paper layer to a cream color.

The Paper layer on the Layer palette is set to white by default, but you can change it to any color you like.

 

(1) Double-click the Paper layer thumbnail.

 

(2) The Color Setting dialog box will appear. Adjust the paper color with the Color slider (A) and Color Field (B).

 

(3) Tap OK to change the color of the paper.

 

2. Importing an image material (texture)

To make a soft effect like a traditional drawing, import an image (texture) to the canvas.

 

(1) Click the Material palette icon.

 

(2) From the Material palette, open the Monochromatic pattern > Texture folder.

 

(3) In this example, we select the “Fine textured” material and drag it onto the canvas.

 

(4) The Layer palette now includes the “Fine textured” material.

 

3. Creating a paper texture

We’ll use the “Fine textured” image material to create a paper texture on the canvas on the Layer Properties palette.

Be sure to have the “Fine textured” layer in the Layer palette selected.

 

(1) On the right side of the screen, tap on the Layer Properties icon to display the Layer Properties palette.

 

(2) Tap on Overlay texture in the Layer Properties palette.

 

(3) Lower the Strength to “20”.

 

(4) The “Fine textured” texture is now combined with the canvas.

 

Note:

Drag to move the “Fine textured" layer so that it appears at the top of the Layer palette.

If you don’t see the Layer palette, tap on the Layer icon on the right side of the screen to display it.

On tablets, you can move layers around by selecting the grid on the right side of layers and dragging.

 

[6] Coloring

To create a gentle atmosphere in this illustration, we will be using the Round mixing brush found in the Thick Paint group to color the illustration.

 

Preparing the tool for coloring

(1) Select Brush from the Tool palette, then the Thick paint group from the Tool Group palette, and then the Round mixing brush.

 

(2) Adjust the brush size.

You can adjust the size by using the Tool Sliders palette.

 

Selecting the color

Change the drawing color with the Color Wheel palette.

Use the circle on the outside (1) to select the hue, and use the square in the center (2) to adjust the luminosity and saturation.

 

For more details on how to use the color palette, refer to the following TIPS.

 

Coloring

Select the “coloring” layer on the Layer palette.

 

Let's add some color. The Round mixing brush will produce a different shades of color depending on pen pressure.

 

Note:

You can display the Tool Settings palette on PC by tapping on the tab next to the Tool Group palette.

 

Reduce the brush size to paint the details.

 

For the lines on the cheeks and the pattern on the clothes, paint the base color with the Round mixing brush and then add more colors using the Pencil.

 

Note: Using transparent color

You can use the Eraser to correct an area that extends over the lineart. However, you can also erase parts by simply changing the drawing color of your brush to transparent.

 

[7] Changing the color of the line art

After coloring, you can change the color of the line art to create a more cohesive effect and make the lines blend in slightly. In this example, we’ll change the lines from black to brown.

By changing the color of the line you can make the whole illustration feel gentle.

 

(1) Select the “line art” layer on the Layer palette.

 

(2) Tap Layer Color on the Layer Properties palette, and tap the color display to open the Color Settings screen.

 

(3) Adjust the Color Slider (A) and Color Field (B) to choose your preferred color, then click OK.

 

(4) This changes the color of the line art.

 

[8] Finishing the illustration

Your illustration is now complete!

 

Finally, save the illustration data on your device.

 

[9] Saving your work

If you save the work in Clip Studio format, the layer data will be saved.

 

(1) Tap on Save in the Command Bar.

 

(2) Name your artwork and choose a save location, then select Save.

 

Note:

See the following article for how to save on tablets.

iPad

Android

(3) The artwork will saved in Clip Studio format (.clip).

 

[10] Exporting the artwork as an image

You can also export your finished drawing as an image that you can upload online or to social media.

 

(1) Select Export (Single Layer) from the File menu and choose the export file format.

In this example, we’ll use the PNG file format (.png).

 

(2) Name your artwork and choose a save location, then select Save.

 

(3) The PNG export setting dialog box will appear. If you are happy with the default settings, select OK.

 

(4) This exports the work as a PNG file. You can publish this image online or print it.