Introduction:

Hello, I'm going to show you how I do the base painting for my art in Clip Studio Paint in an easy, fast way using few tools. I'll also show you how to organize your layers to make editing easier.

Starting the work!

When opening Clip Studio, the first thing I do is create two layers: a vector layer for the lineart (at the top) and a raster layer for the color (right below). I name them Line and Color to stay organized.

Then, I select the bottom layer (Color), as all the painting work will be done on it.

 

 

The secret is using the right tool!

To paint, I use the Fill tool (shortcut G, or the bucket icon). In the sub-tool options, I choose Enclose and fill, which allows you to fill specific areas just by circling around them.

In Tool Property, I set the Target color option to Area surrounded by black.

Just below, I check the Close gap icon, which prevents small openings in the lineart from letting the color “leak”.

Painting the artwork.

After that, just choose the desired color and circle the area to be filled. You can do the entire painting on a single layer or divide each color into separate named layers—I prefer to separate them, as I consider it safer and easier to edit later, but for this tutorial, I painted everything on a single layer.

An extra tip is to start with the larger areas and then add details on their own layers, isolating the previous ones. This helps maintain control and avoid mistakes.

I also create two more layers: one for shadow and another for light. I work on them as the art requires, using blending modes like Multiply for shadows and Overlay or Add (Glow) for lights.

As for the layer order, I usually set it up like this: Lineart → Light → Shadows → Color Layers → Background.

With everything ready, I create a folder with the name of the artwork (for example, Paladin Chibi), put all the layers inside it, and finish the work.

An extra tip is that you can replace the Fill tool with the tool in the image below. It can be found in the Clip Studio Assets store and is known as 'The Ice Cream Tool'.

I hope this tutorial helps you speed up your base painting and better organize your artwork in Clip Studio Paint!