Clip Studio Paint Beginners Tutorial

Making Your First Illustration in Clip Studio Paint

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Compatible with Clip Studio Paint Ver. 3.1.0

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.

For details on the basic operations of Clip Studio Paint, refer to “Before Drawing a Work in Clip Studio Paint”.

[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.

Simply tap [Draw] in the smartphone version.

(2) Select Illustration from Use of work, and then select UXGA (1600x1200) from Preset.

Note:

Please read the following TIPS to learn more about creating and setting up a canvas.

③ Tap OK to create the canvas.

Note:

To learn more about each palette on the screen, refer to the following TIPS.

[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.

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 above 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 “sketch”.

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 tool to draw the sketch.

Preparing the pencil tool

① Select the Sketch tool from the Tool palette, and then select Pencil or Real pencil from the Sub tool palette.

Note: Depending on the version you are using, one of the sub tools will be stored in the Sub tool palette.

② Adjust the brush size of the Pencil tool.

You can adjust the size by using the Tool Sliders palette, the Brush Size slider on the Tool Property palette or by selecting a size on the Brush size palette.

Note:

For tutorials on how to use the drawing tools on tablets, refer to the following article.

③ To select black as the drawing color, open the Color wheel palette and click the very bottom.

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] tool to edit the lines you have drawn.

① Select the Eraser tool from the Tool palette and select a sub tool. In this example, we’ll use the Hard eraser.

Note: In the smartphone version, you can switch to the eraser with the Tool Switch icon on the edit bar.

② Adjust the size of the Eraser tool.

Adjust the Eraser tool size by adjusting it using the Tool Sliders palette, the Brush Size slider on the Tool Property palette or by selecting a size on the Brush size 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 on the Toolbar. Use Undo to completely redraw a line, and use the Eraser tool 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 “sketch” layer.

If you click the Layer color button on the Layer property palette, the color of the sketch will turn 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 tool 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 pen tool 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 “sketch" layer to hide the layer.

② This hides the “sketch" 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 Click [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.

On a smartphone, tap Material palette > Change save folder for materials to select a folder. Select Texture > Monochromatic pattern folder and tap OK.

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 to create a paper texture on the canvas.

① Select the “Fine textured” layer on the Layer palette, then open the Layer property palette and click the Texture combine icon.

② Lower the Strength to “20”.

③ 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.

[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 the Brush tool from the Tools palette, then select either Thick paint group > Round mixing brush or Watercolor group > Soft bleed.

Note: Depending on the version you are using, one of the sub tools will be stored in the Sub tool palette.

2. Adjusting the brush size.

Adjust the Eraser tool size by adjusting it using the Tool Sliders palette, the Brush Size slider on the Tool Property palette or by selecting a size on the Brush size 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 and Soft bleed will produce different shades of color depending on your brush pressure.

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 or Soft bleed and then add more colors using the Pencil tool.

Note: Using transparent color

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

[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) Click Layer Color on the Layer Property palette, and click the color display to show 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.