I. Introduction

CLIP STUDIO has two more powerful features than other drawing programs.

The Blur tool and the Soft Airbrush are those features.

In this tutorial, I will show you how anyone can easily draw realistic shadows using these two features.

II. What You'll Need

-Fill Pen: I applied a bit of pen pressure.

-Blur tool: The Blur tool (shortcut J) has perfect default settings. You just need to set the brush size that suits you. Do not touch other settings.

-Soft Airbrush: The Soft Airbrush (shortcut B) also has perfect default settings. You don't need to change anything.

III. Example

III-1. Preparation

-To add shadows, it's important to know not only the outline but also the inner form of the outline. Try drawing lines like a 3D wireframe to get a feel for the shape.

Left: 3D / Right: Hand-drawn.

Depending on the book, it may also be referred to as topology, mesh, or contour.

-Next, determine the direction of the light. At this time, you must consider a three-dimensional direction, not a flat one.

I imagined the light coming from the front-top of the monitor, moving towards the back-bottom.

III-2. Painting

-First, paint the form on a layer separate from the background. Then, lock transparent pixels to fix it.

-When light shines on a round object, there will be areas where the light hits and areas where it doesn't. Referring to the red wireframe you drew earlier, paint the areas where the light hits brightly.

Remember this boundary. (Let's call it [Boundary A].)

-Some parts are obscured by the object in front, casting a shadow. Paint these areas dark as well.

Remember this boundary too. (Let's call it [Boundary B].)

III-3. Blurring (Blend)

-First, blur [Boundary A] which you marked earlier. The smoother the surface, the more you should blur it.

-You don't need to blur too much. Just blur to the thickness indicated in the illustration.

Using CLIP STUDIO's blur tool, you can easily adjust the intensity to blur. Of course, other programs also have blur tools, but for some reason, CLIP STUDIO's is overwhelmingly precise and powerful.

-Next, use the soft airbrush to express the changes in brightness spreading out from Boundary A.

The airbrush is also a tool found everywhere, but it's not as convenient as CLIP STUDIO's soft airbrush. With just the default settings, it's possible to paint from very faint brush strokes to strong ones.

-By using the blur tool and soft airbrush together, anyone can easily paint.

-Now, blur [Boundary B] as well.

Boundary B changes depending on the size of the light source. It's fine not to blur it at all, but generally, light sources have a certain size, so it's more natural to blur more as the distance increases.

III-3b. Refining

Refine the uneven parts of the boundaries. This too can be sufficiently done with just the [Airbrush], [Blur], and [Fill Pen].

III-4. Darkening

The change in brightness of dark areas is theoretically complex, but by remembering a few rules, you can depict it simply.

a. Paint dark in corners.

b. Paint the object behind dark.

c. Paint steeply sloped surfaces dark.

III-5. Brightening

This time, let's express highlights.

The Glow Dodge layer mode is easily found in other programs, but when used with CLIP STUDIO's blur tool, it becomes a very useful mode. Using it, even painting moderately will look plausible. (However, it's not suitable for smooth metallic textures.) Let's enjoy painting.

III-6. Completion.

Now it's time to put it into practice.

IV. Practical Application

I drew this with the feeling of an exotic travel destination on a bright day. To show you how to draw, I kept the speed below 2x as much as possible.

The first 3 minutes are a simple background drawing, and the part where shadows and shading are drawn is from then on.

IV-1. Preparation

This is the list of layers I'm using. I painted clothes, skin, and hair separately in layers. It's cumbersome at first, but it makes corrections easier.

Try drawing the same wireframe as before.

●Tip. To express realistic shadows, simply thinking of the human body as a bent cylinder is not enough. Anatomical knowledge of the human body is required here.

However, that is difficult, and I also do not have anatomical knowledge. If it's hard to depict accurately, just focus on drawing each body part clearly separated.

For example, if you draw a hand, draw it in a cylindrical shape, but separate each finger joint. Even just doing this will bring out a much greater sense of dimensionality.

IV-2. Painting

●Tip. I remember it was very difficult to choose skin colors when I first started drawing. Separating bright and dark areas into layers makes it convenient to choose colors while seeing them directly.

After drawing the form, create a new layer and clip it to the form layer. When you paint the bright parts on the newly created layer, the dark and bright parts will be separated. Adjust the colors in each layer using [Hue/Saturation/Luminosity] (shortcut Ctrl+U).

●Tip. Cartoon faces are [flatter] than realistic faces. Even when drawn three-dimensionally, facial features do not stand out.

Therefore, it is more accurate not to express shadows except for the nose. Referring to figures or 3D animations can be helpful.

IV-3,4,5. Blurring, Darkening, Brightening

There's an important fact I haven't explained yet. It's about changes in brightness, hue, and saturation.

 

-First, something to know when expressing changes in brightness: avoid the feeling of [linear gradients] that can be created with software.

Left: Linear gradient / Right: Gradient with abrupt changes.

 

The basis for this lies in how our eyes perceive light, but without thinking too deeply, you can just remember that [there are no linear gradients in nature]. Abrupt changes bring vitality to a drawing.

 

-Secondly, regarding hue changes. This is very important when painting skin. It is that bright and dark surfaces should have a difference in hue.

Typically, as the surface gets darker, it tends to become bluer. Accordingly, as it gets darker, the color wheel moves [counter-clockwise].

-Third, regarding saturation changes. This is in the same context as the [avoid linear gradients] rule mentioned earlier.

Using a linear gradient results only in linear changes, as seen on the left. However, in reality, it moves in a curve, as shown on the right. This means that at medium brightness, saturation should be higher than other colors.

Keeping these three points in mind, try painting colors.

IV-6. Other Tips

●Tip. If necessary, create a new layer and clip it. This is convenient because you can modify only a part while preserving the original.

Once modifications are complete, I recommend boldly combining the layers. If there are too many layers, they will become uncontrollable later.

IV-7. Fresnel Reflection

Finally, I'll share an easy way to enhance dimensionality. Most objects increase in reflectivity as their slope becomes steeper from our eyes. (This is summarized by Fresnel's Law.)

Accordingly, painting outlines that open outwards brightly is an accurate and three-dimensional way to draw.

Clip the Glow Dodge layer. (I love Glow Dodge.)

Paint a light color outside the outline. Although it's clipped and not visible, the line painted outside the outline still exists.

Blur along the outline.

Finally, you just need to erase unnecessary parts.

IV-8. Completion.

It's complete.

 

This concludes the tutorial. Thank you.