In this article, we interview six professional artists in a range of fields about their thoughts on Clip Studio Paint. Read on to learn more about their favorite features and tips.

 

Dylan Teague

Comic Artist

United Kingdom

 

■ Artist Profile

Dylan Teague is an illustrator based in the UK. He has been a professional for about 20 years now. He has done most of his work for 2000 AD and Judge Dredd the Megazine but has also worked for Marvel and DC. He has also done work in France, books for Delcourt, a book for Kennes Editions and he is currently working on a new book for Humanoides.

 

 

 

■ Artist Comment

 

I'm a big fan of Clip Studio Paint. I've been using it since Manga Studio 4 and now use it for pretty much 100% of my professional work. There are so many features that really help my work flow in comics. The story feature is a great way to keep organized on longer projects. The brushes are just amazing too and feel extremely life-like. I also really like how you can customize everything to suit your own needs perfectly. The iPad version is brilliant too making Clip Studio Paint totally portable so I can easily work on print-ready files anywhere.

 

 

 

■ Favorite Features

 

・Perspective Ruler

The thing that initially got me into Clip Studio Paint, Manga Studio 4 as it was then, was the perspective ruler. This is such a useful feature. I use perspective a lot in my work and it used to be a real pain having to mark up vanishing points sometimes extending way off my drawing board. In the later editions, the addition of grids and also the ability to bring in 3D objects and match them to the perspective is very helpful indeed.

 

・Frame Border Tool

I love the frame border feature too. This is so useful, especially when combined with the story feature. This means that all the pages will have the same template when I come to set up my panel grids. I also like how you can decide on what type of line the borders will be ruled in and also how you can easily set the width of the gutters and keep it consistent throughout the story.

 

Derrick“ DCWJ” Chew

Freelance Artist

Singapore

 

■ Artist Profile

Derrick Chew (aka DCWJ) is a freelance artist born and raised in Singapore. He received formal training in 2D animation while in school and has always been very fascinated and inspired by Japanese anime as well as Western style art. Formerly a Senior Artist from Imaginary Friends Studios, he later branched out to specialize in character illustrations and concept art for various notable entertainment and gaming companies.

 

 

 

■ Artist Comment

 

Clip Studio Paint is a versatile digital painting program that is ideal for rendering and inking with its many useful and unique features. It is easy to learn and has many tools and custom brushes that allow you to paint and render any type of illustrations you want. It even include 3D models of characters, items and backgrounds that you could pose and angle to further help as a visual reference, super neat function! Its competitive price point also makes it more affordable and accessible to everyone.

 

 

 

■ Favorite Features

 

・Perspective Ruler

The perspective ruler in Clip Studio Paint is one of my favorite features in this program. I remember the days where planning a perspective layout used to be a real hassle and a very time consuming process. But now, it is super easy and fun!

 

・Vector Layer

Another interesting feature that I really like about Clip Studio Paint is the vector layers. Clip Studio Paint is a really good program for drawing smooth and precise lines, and with the vector layers you are even able to edit your linework with ease to get that perfect curve you want. A great time saver and convenient feature!

 

Kenny Ruiz

Comic Artist

Spain

 

■ Artist Profile

Kenny Ruiz has been a comic artist from the moment he learned what they were. His works include Dos Espadas, Malefic Time's spin-off Soum (with Luis and Romulo Royo), Le Mystere Nemo, Outrage. Infinity with Victor Santos, and two series for Dupuis written by Kid Toussaint - Magic 7 and Telemaque. He is a storyboard artist for animation Invizimals, Blue & Malone and Playmobil The Movie, and also a lecturer at Escola Joso and at ESDIP the College of Professional Drawing.

 

 

 

■ Artist Comment

 

I have been using Clip Studio Paint since 2015. After ten years of using a pen and marker for inking, I was convinced that I would keep using them. However, when I tried the brushes, the pressure sensitivity, and the process of tracing in Clip Studio Paint, I understood that it was the right moment to switch tools. Now I work much faster and try new things. The pressure and sensitivity of the preset brushes are perfect, and I can draw natural lines accurately which makes the drawing more organic and alive. I hate the precise and clean finished works of other software because I cannot see the artist behind it. I can express myself freely in Clip Studio Paint without any restrictions.

 

 

 

■ Favorite Features

 

・Perspective Ruler

The perspective ruler tool is incredibly useful. In the past, I used to spend hours trying to create an ambitious scene with many vanishing points. Clip Studio Paint's new interface makes it so easy and fast, saving me time in the most boring part so that I can focus on creating the background.

 

・Frame Border Tool

I love the frame border tool. It may seem a minor thing but it's very useful, it saves so much time and I can later edit the page whenever I need to. It's the only software which really focuses on the perks of creating comics. I am very grateful for that.

 

Mirka Andolfo

Comic Artist

Italy

 

■ Artist Profile

Mirka Andolfo is an Italian comics creator and illustrator, with past experiences also as a digital colorist. She mainly draws for DC Comics, Image Comics, Glénat, Marvel and Panini Comics. As a complete author, she has signed international hits such as Sacred / Profane and Unnatural, both published in more than seven countries worldwide.

 

 

 

■ Artist Comment

 

The speed of execution is important to me, and I always have to maintain good quality even when there is no time. Clip Studio Paint is perfect for my purposes: intuitive and simple, the brushes (even the basic ones) are the best I've ever used in a digital drawing app. My favorite is the Textured Pen, which I use a lot for inking since it leaves a slight "texture" in the stroke that makes the line softer. I also often use the integrated "Decoration" tools and they are very useful to easily draw details when the deadlines are particularly difficult.

 

 

 

■ Favorite Features

 

・Page Manager

One of my favorite features in Clip Studio Paint is the ability to see the thumbnail pages as a whole, allowing me to have an overall view of the comic book that I'm working on. It is a fundamental tool that allows me to not lose the overall vision, even when I work on a particular page.

 

・Brush Customization

The Clip Studio brushes are the best I've ever found in a digital drawing software because each brush can be customized as desired. I use them to draw, but also to color: in the last few months, all my illustrations are colored in this manner. Above all, I love to recreate a very light watercolor-like effect.

 

Amei Zhao

BG Paint & Design Artist for Animation

Australia

 

■ Artist Profile

Amei Zhao lives in Australia and currently works in animation as a freelance production and concept designer. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming in the ocean and hiking, and illustrating seascapes.

 

 

 

■ Artist Comment

 

Clip Studio Paint is optimized for drawing and painting, making it ideal for illustrators. The painting brushes are highly customizable, and easy to use. There's a thriving community of users who constantly contribute to the online materials library. Clip Studio Paint is also ideal for illustrators who specialize in linework. The smoothness of lines, lack of lag while drawing, as well as the vector output make drawing very fun and efficient.

 

 

 

■ Favorite Features

 

・iPad Version

There are lot of great features in Clip Studio Paint, and the most significant for me was using the iOS app version on the iPad. It has all the functions of the desktop version, but is optimized for the tablet, and for people who are inspired by outside nature, this is perfect, as it means we can carry our workspace everywhere. For example, while trying to come up with a concept for this picture, I happened to come by a small waterfall where the colours and mood were nice, so I could sit down and capture the immediate mood. It's honestly amazing how powerful this app is.

 

・Brush Customization

My other favourite function is the customization of brush sets. There is such a large selection that the online community has contributed to, including brushes for inking, painting, even graphic floral designs. Specifically, Clip Studio Paint handles paint blending very smoothly. For this painting I wanted to capture the softness of sea foam on the water just before it moves to sand. To achieve this, I used a mask layer and the opaque watercolour brush to mask out the areas of foam. The blending of the brush gives the image mood a softness which is difficult to achieve in other programs. This technique was also used in the faint reflection in the sand.

 

Sam Nassour

Visual Development Artist

United Kingdom

 

■ Artist Profile

Sam Nassour is an Art Director and Visual Development Artist working in the entertainment and animation industries. He has worked with studios like Cartoon Network, DreamWorks TV, Nickelodeon, and Disney TV. He also enjoys creating his own concepts and illustrations that tell fun and entertaining stories and hopefully promote positivity.

■ Artist Comment

 

The process of creating complex artwork has been made much easier with the help of Clip Studio Paint's fantastic capabilities. I like how customizable the software is, all shortcuts and modifier keys can be set to different functions easily. And when I'm painting, I like the way colors blend together by using the Mix function in the brush customization menu. I also love using the inking brushes for my line work. They have a very natural feel and a high response to pressure sensitivity; going from thick to thin lines in one smooth stroke is quite easy, especially when using the Stabilization slider that allows you to slow down the brush stroke for more precision. I often keep the color wheel palette on top of the canvas so I can quickly choose the right colors. I also use other advanced color palette like the approximate color and intermediate color palette. Both really help choosing colors in different lighting situations.

 

 

 

■ Favorite Features

 

・Lasso Fill Tool

Clip Studio Paint is a fantastic painting software that I rely on quite often for creating character designs and illustrations. There is one very neat feature in it that I like to use which is the Lasso fill tool. It allows you to quickly block in shapes and fill in areas without doing a selection first. It really speeds up the flat color stage.

 

・Tool Property Palette

I also like the advanced tool property palette, which you can customize to include the features you use the most for each tool. I like how you can change the Anti-aliasing level with one click, or change the Line/Fill behavior of the curve tool very quickly.