Linearts - Not just dividing lines for coloring

You have a great motif or idea for a character and want to put it on paper immediately, but then - What seems unclear to many when drawing the Linearts, the creation of a character, starts with the first line!

While we are guided by color theories when coloring, the Linearts also offer a great opportunity to give our drawings more personality and to let our own style shine through.

【1】 SKETCH

You never get tired of sketching. And here, too, we will start with a sketch of our character. For the sketch, I prefer to work with a thinner lead, as this allows me to perceive errors in perspective more quickly and to paint over the lines so easily until I am satisfied with the shape of an object.

Pen ➡ G-Pen (1.5)

【2】 COLOR LEVEL

The coloring of "Rough Sketch" is no secret, but here I would like to introduce a quicker way to coloring for beginners than having to do this manually over and over again.

 

Just go to "Layer Properties" on your taskbar.

Here you select "Layer Color".

This tool allows you to switch between the selected color and the previous color image with one click!

 

【3】 VECTOR LEVEL

With this tool, CLIP STUDIO PAINT enables a more fluid and natural course of the drawn lines.

For the next step you will create a "vector layer".

As usual, trace the lines of your sketch.

(Use different layers for skin, hair, clothing and background to make coloring easier for you)

Don't be afraid to follow the natural course of the lines.

Thanks to the "vector layer", you can easily delete such crossovers without affecting other lines.

 

Just select the "Vector Eraser".

Use the eraser to click on the protruding lines.

And voilá! Clean flowing lines!

This technique is especially useful when drawing hair and airy clothes.

【4】 LINE DENSITY

After you've drawn your clean lines, depending on your coloring style, you could stop here. However, I would like to show you here how you can breathe more character into simple black lines.

 

The way the lines are currently lying, there is no depth, nor can we see a specific focus on our figure. (She goes under between the "odds and ends")

Work the approaches of shadows into your lineart and note that we e.g. Perceive thinner lines in objects as a lighter or voluminous figure. Shades can be represented by crosses as well as straight lines.

The result shows how the character now lingers much more clearly in our view.

This character uses flowing circular lines all over his body, giving him a softer and more child-like feel. If you had wanted to point to a more serious personality, you could have used a messier, more angular line art. Instead of color theory, the human perception of shapes plays a major role in lineart.

【5】 TEXTURES

Many newcomers have the problem that they cannot draw the clothes "realistically". The reason for this can be several factors, but here I would like to give you at least one tip that could help you:

 

Uses different brushes / pens depending on the texture of an object.

For example, for the wool of my character's shoes I used the airbrush instead of the G-Pen to first sketch out the fluffy shape of the wool.

After you have sketched the wool with the airbrush, you go in again with the G-Pen to reinforce certain lines and work depth into the texture.

【6】 SHAPES & LINES

With CLIP STUDIO PAINT's line tools, you can easily create any shape imaginable.

These tools are particularly useful when you have a longer flowing line, e.g. want to pull for the hair.

CLIP STUDIO PAINT also offers a ruler.

This tool is perfect for adjusting distances between lines, or for checking your perspective.

【7】 MIRRORS

Often one overlooks errors in proportion or perspective when working on the same picture for hours. It is therefore advisable to zoom out and mirror the image from time to time. This way our eyes recognize such mistakes much faster.

 

To flip, look at the navigation bar.

Next to it is the rotation setting,

and the zoom in / out option.

【8】 END

Thank you for reading and I hope that at least a few of the tips here can help you! (´ω`)

.: ■ See finished lineart on Twitter.