When I was younger, we would cut snowflakes out of paper to decorate windows & doors. You can use Clip Studio Paint to make cute snowflakes exactly like those (or fancier!) with this guide. :)

 

Starting Your Snowflake

For anyone who wants to draw fun snowflakes and maybe copy/paste them around, they can skip this. For anyone making a brush tip, look below:

First, set your canvas size to a little bit larger than what you want your max brush tip size to be. I like using 500px squares since I'm rarely using a brush over 300px. Then, make sure your [Basic Expression Color] (blue) is set to Gray. This way, if you register it as a material, you can have it change color. Anything Black will be the Main Color, anything White will be the sub color, & any Gray in between will be a mix of the sub and the main color.

 

You can set your [Paper Color] (pink) to whatever is easiest on your eyes. It will not affect the layer colors.

 

 

Setting up the Guide

First, you need to look for the [Ruler] Tool. It looks like a right triangle:

Then, click on the [Symmetry Ruler] (yellow). You can also use this rule to draw everything from flowers to symbols during other seasons.

This will be our guide, our "paper folds" we draw and cut from. Turn on [Line Symmetry] (blue-green) to give each fold a symmetrical point. You can also do this without a line of symmetry if you rather have more control.

 

For every 2 [Number of Lines] you have, you will have 1 "point" on the snowflake.

*8 Lines of Symmetry = 4 Points

*10 Lines of Symmetry = 5 Points

*12 Lines of Symmetry = 6 Points

*14 Lines of Symmetry = 7 Points

*16 Lines of Symmetry = 8 Points

 

Now all you need to do is draw your guide. Click where you want the center of your snowflake, then pull at which angle you want it to go to.

To get the lines as straight as possible, hold [Shift] while dragging.

 

Pick your tool you want to draw with. Any tool will work, but it has to have [Enable Snapping] ON. You can find it under [tool settings]>[correction].

Here is the option in English. It allows the tool to follow the ruler whenever you draw with it.

 

There's two methods from here: you can either "Cut" a snowflake, or draw one. We will "cut" a snowflake from "paper" first.

"Cutting a Paper Snowflake"

First, draw a circle. I will be using white for the traditional snowflake look, but I suggest you use [black] if you are making a brush tip as anything black in grayscale will be the [main color] as a brush tip.

I used the basic [Turnip Pen] since it is cozy. :)

 

From here, use the transparent color to "cut" out shapes. Like so:

Most angular shapes will work, but don't be afraid to get creative and draw whatever you like. Look up pictures of "up close snowflakes" to get more realistic shapes.

 

Tip: if you want to make sure you erased everything, you can turn on "border effect" under [layer property] & erase any of the extra bubbles that shouldn't be there. :o

This can be turned on and off, so you don't have to worry about it affecting your layer (unless you combine two layers, turn it off before combining layers!).

Here is my finished snowflake. Don't be afraid to use the undo button or redraw things if you are not satisfied with what you made. That's the nice thing about "cutting" things on Clip Studio Paint: the undo tool. :D

Drawing the Snowflake

This one is self explanatory: instead of drawing a circle, create an outline that you can then build upon, & keep adding spines, points, & holes until you are satisfied. This one has 10 lines of symmetry with 5 points.

Variations

1. Using Rounder Shapes

2. 4 pointed star made with freehanded diamonds

3. Fluffy snowflake drawn with one of my pastel brushes

4. A snowflake made of a diamond ribbon brush I made.

 

You can even draw scribbles on the ruler lines, then smooth them out to create a unique shape.

For Brush Tips

Your last steps will be to:

1. Delete the Ruler (as it will not let you save it as a tip otherwise)

2. Click on [Edit}, then {Register Sub Tool as Material} & fill out the required steps.

 

When you make your new brush, you can then look for your tip & use it to make a fancy brush.

Thank you for reading! Hope everyone has a fun and safe winter. :D