Introduction

Hello! Welcome to this new Tip. This time, the topic we'll cover is futuristic cities. Using a method that doesn't require a graphics tablet at all, the tools used in the following process have the wonderful feature of automatically stabilizing lines to make them straight and steady. I hope these Tips are useful to you, so let's get started...

► Basic Perspective and Composition

• PERSPECTIVE

 

To achieve the perspective of the buildings, all I did was right-click on the layer where you want to have the ruler. When you click, an options bar will appear where you will select the option «Ruler/Frame» and then «Create perspective ruler».

This dialog box will appear where you will choose how many vanishing points you want to use.

➜ Two-point perspective

 

I will choose a two-point perspective with one vanishing point at each horizontal end. To draw these buildings, all you have to do is draw by following the angled direction with respect to the vanishing points, as exemplified by the pink arrows.

► Neon Colors

At first, I didn't know how to choose saturated colors, but using a bit of logic, I realized that getting neon colors is so simple; all that's needed is to choose colors found at the top tending towards the right vortex. The colors in this part are very saturated, while, on the other hand, those that tend towards the white vortex become opaque compared to the right side, as seen in the color wheel above.

 

For shadows, I advise choosing colors that are towards black, but not too far from the right strip, as seen in the color wheel below. Colors that tend towards gray are not welcome in the neon group.

► 2D Buildings

To create 2D buildings, we will use the option to create a «New Vector Layer», so that when using this option we will not lose quality in the illustration when we scale it to put it in perspective, and it has easy ways to edit the created lines. This option is located next to the «New Layer» option.

On this Vector Layer, we will draw the buildings we need to complete the architecture. I recommend using the vector layer because the lines drawn on it are easy to edit. For each building, two views will need to be made: the front and a side view. Below is a graphic example for greater clarity.

 

As you can see, the buildings are just structures built from basic shapes, made with the «Figure» tool. For figure 2, a side counterpart is no longer necessary, as the line itself gives it three-dimensionality.

The Vector Eraser tool deletes entire lines up to their intersections with other lines.

In this style, buildings have this graphical construction; a tool that can help facilitate their creation is the Grid function found under View > Grid. To edit the grid characteristics, such as the size of the squares, you must access the following option path: View > Ruler/Grid Settings.

Buildings can be of various shapes, anything you can imagine. At this point, it is advisable to visualize the buildings in 3D to correctly create the side view.

► Gradient

To color the buildings and some parts of the background, we will use gradients in Clip Studio. They are very easy to use, adding color to illustrations quickly and simply.

 

You can find endless gradients in the Clip Studio Assets, or you can use already created gradient maps and also create them manually.

 

First, to add a gradient that has been downloaded from the Clip Studio store, one way to add it would be to drag the downloaded material to the «Gradient» tool.

As for creating your own gradient, the method is simple. You only need to click on the «Create copy of sub tool» option within the «Gradient» tool; a new window will appear where you can choose the name of the gradient. Once generated, you need to go to the tool's properties and, in the color specification section, in the squares at the top, by clicking on them, the color will transform to the one currently selected in the color circle.

 

With the arrow at the bottom of the «Gradient Specification» bar, you can move the participation level of a color or click between the arrows to make a new square appear where you can add a color.

➜ Buildings

 

Now comes the most important part, what finally gives our futuristic city its definitive shape, and not only that, but it's also the easiest thing to do. We will color the buildings using gradients.

 

To place the colors, we will need to create a new layer below the layer where the buildings are located.

The next step is to choose the colors, and once chosen, we will select the parts of the building we want to illuminate with the gradient using the «Auto Select» and/or «Selection» tool, depending on the situation. Gradients can be placed in different directions by establishing a reference point with a click and dragging the emerging line in the desired direction.

 

To apply the gradient, we will go to the previously created layer, and once the figure is selected, we will choose the desired gradient. In the tool properties section, under «Create on», we will change the option to «Create gradient layer» and finally apply the gradient.

Each time we want to apply a color to a certain section, we will follow the steps of selecting the color layer, and once the area is selected, we must apply the gradient. The gradient must be applied appropriately so that when the line layer is made invisible, the gradient colors must be united without any white spaces between them.

 

Each gradient is automatically created on a new layer above the selected one, so I advise not merging the layers until you have the final colors.

► Aligning Buildings in Perspective

Now it's time to align the buildings in the perspective created at the beginning. This is an extremely simple step. What we need to do is unify all color layers into one, without including the vector layer that contains the lines, and then transfer them to the perspective file if you did it in different files. If they are in the same file, skip this step because you've already done it beforehand; just unify the color layers. It should be clarified that the perspective sketch and the buildings must be on separate layers.

Once you have the building on the perspective layer, we will now use the «Transform» tool and «Free Transform». The Transform function can be accessed using Ctrl + T. For the Free Transform function, you must first access the transform function, and once inside, right-click within the transform box where several options will appear, one of which is Free Transform.

 

To align, we will select the front part of the building, then access Transform > Free Transform. Using its qualities, we will align the building to the shape of the sketch. First, a view of the building, either the front or side. Both must be aligned with each other.

 

I advise separating each part of the buildings, each on separate layers, as this facilitates editing without damaging the work.

We will repeat these steps for each building we add.

► Background

Once all the buildings are aligned with the perspective, the final step comes. For this part, we will also use gradients and the opacity of the layers we are using.

 

Now, let's start by adding a complete background to the canvas. In my case, I will use a dark blue gradient. For this step, we will create a layer below all other layers where the gradient will be placed. I will extend this gradient to the vanishing points so that the lighter final colors of the blue gradient are not lost.

Then, for the ground, I placed a purple background, and on a new layer, with the help of the grid, I painted a green grid that I placed on the floor to differentiate the horizon from the sky and the ground.

Next, I made a copy of each building and rotated them upside down relative to the original to act as their reflection; I merged all the layers of the inverted buildings and lowered their opacity to 50%.

Finally, I placed some pink, yellow, blue, and white dots in the sky to simulate stars. The final result was as follows:

Conclusion

The future is so enigmatic and full of possibilities; even though we have no certainty about it, we can always imagine what it could be like.

 

Here we reach the end of this journey into the future.

Well, nothing left to say, thank you for making it this far! ପ(๑•̀ुᴗ•̀ु)* ॣ৳৸ᵃᵑᵏ Ꮍ৹੫ᵎ *ॣ

 

See you next time ( •⌄• ू )✧