Hello, my name is José, what I want to do with my article "Tip of the month" is to teach how to mix colors in Clip Studio Paint, using the color mixing settings of the brush tool and more specifically the new mixing mode [Perceptual ], how to configure the parameters so that you have the blend mode activated and the most interesting options that this new function provides us, as well as showing how to use all of this when painting your works.

 

 

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1_Prior knowledge

Theory of color

In order to understand how color mixing works, we must first understand color, for this, let's see some basic concepts of color theory, which will be useful for us later. It should be noted that it is advisable to study color theory a little more in depth in order to have better results in your work, you would do well to look for a tutorial on it on this page.

 

Colour properties:

1_ Tone: refers to the specific hue or color that we perceive.

2_ Lightness or brightness: refers to the lightness or darkness of a color, or also to the levels of white or black that it has.

3_ Saturation: refers to the intensity or purity of a color, or also to how vivid or dull it is.

 

 

Color wheel:

Now that we have seen the properties of a certain color, let's see how the various colors are related through the color wheel, likewise, let's see the importance of mixing color in painting.

 

1_ Primary colors:

They are those that cannot be obtained from the mixture of other colors:

Yellow, Red and Blue.

 

 

2_ Secondary colors:

They are those colors that are obtained from the mixture of two primary colors:

Purple (red + blue), green (yellow + blue), and orange (yellow + red).

 

 

3_ Tertiary colors:

They are those colors that are obtained from the mixture of a primary color with a secondary color: yellow-orange (yellow + orange), red-orange (red + orange), red-violet (red + purple), blue-violet (blue + purple), blue-green (blue + green) and yellow-green (yellow + green).

 

 

In this way we complete the entire chromatic circle:

 

 

Now, having understood this, let's move on to the color mixture.

color mix

Color mixing in painting refers to the process of combining different colors to obtain new tones and shades as we saw with the color wheel.

Now, it should be mentioned that the hue, brightness and saturation of a color resulting from the mixture of two colors depends on various factors, such as the properties of the colors that are being mixed and the proportion of the colors when mixed.

 

 

With this we finish the theoretical side, now let's see how we can use all this in Clip Studio Paint to obtain new shades that allow us to give our lights, shadows and painting in general more expressiveness.

 

 

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2_ Types of digital mixing

In Clip Studio Paint we currently have two color blend modes, we'll look at each of these below and stick with the best one for the rest of the tutorial. Let's clarify that with these modes you can mix the drawing color with itself or with the colors that are already on the layer.

 

 

Standard Mix:

Not long ago, we had only one way to mix colors in digital media, which was not quite convincing because it was not so close to reality, we refer to [Mix Mode] > [Standard]. This mixing mode is the one found in previous versions and although it is true that it provides us with a faster and more acceptable color mix, it fails to give us certain basic mixes, generating gray and muted tones as can be seen in the image.

 

 

Perceptual Mix:

Now for Clip Studio Paint users, that's over. With the arrival of version 2.0 we got a new setting in the brush tool, the [Blend Mode] > [Perceptual], which allows us to mix colors more naturally. And not only does it give us a more realistic blend, but it allows us to correct the brightness of the blend color.

 

 

As we can see, the new perceptual blend mode is much better than the standard one due to the various features it has and that will allow us to multiply the expressiveness of our brushes. So, the rest of the tutorial on how to mix colors will be using this new mode.

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3_ Brush settings + tips

In order to have control over the color mixtures that we are going to do, you have to know how to configure your brushes.

 

(The brush I am using for the explanation is [Oil])

 

To access the settings, you must first go to Tool [Brush], then in [Tool Property] you must go to the wrench icon to open the [Sub Tool Detail] palette.

 

The settings we are interested in for color mixing are [Tint] and [Color Jitter].

 

 

Ink:

In this section I will only touch on the settings for mixing colors.

 

 

1_ [Mix colors]: this setting allows us to choose the way in which we want the colors to mix, I recommend leaving it at the default setting [Color mix].

 

2_ [Amount of paint]: this adjustment allows us to modify the proportion of colors when mixed. A low amount of paint will give us a mixture with a hue closer to the color already painted on the layer, while a high amount will give us a mixture with a hue closer to the color being applied.

 

 

Tip: Avoid the extremes, because they will not give you good color blends, use an intermediate value. You can use this setting depending on the tonality you are looking for.

3_ [Paint Density]: This setting allows us to control the opacity of the new colors that are applied to the color already painted on the layer. The greatest utility that I personally see in it is that if this setting is reduced to 0 and the [Amount of paint] also to 0, we will have a perfect brush to mix color, like the ones we have in the [Color mix] tool ].

4_ [Extend color]: this setting allows us to modify the amount of the initial color when starting a stroke over another color. The biggest utility of this setting is with the brush setting we saw earlier ([Paint Amount] = 0 [Paint Density] = 0), as it will allow us to control the amount of color in the mix from when the stroke begins until it ends.

 

Note: For convenience, please leave the above settings at their default settings.

5_ [Blending mode]: This setting will allow us to select between the two previously seen blending modes, in addition, with the [Perceptual] blending mode we can select the level of brightness we want in the blends .

Color Variation:

In these settings I will only explain the option [Random on each stroke] because it is the one that I find most useful.

 

 

. [Random on Each Stroke]: This setting allows me to “randomly” vary the color that is applied to each stroke. But, personally I use it to have a wider range of a certain color simply by applying several strokes over the area to be painted, enriching the color of the painting in general.

 

 

Note: The color mix in this setting will depend on the drawing colors being used (drawing color and drawing subcolor), for this we must apply previous knowledge of color theory, for example I use the color yellow main and subcolor blue to have green tones in each stroke.

 

 

1_ [Tone]: this adjustment allows us to randomly vary the tone or color in each stroke. Precisely for that reason I will reduce it to 0, because I don't want the pitch to vary randomly.

 

2_ [Saturation]: with [Hue] = 0, this setting will allow us to configure the level of randomness we want in the saturation of the strokes.

 

3_ [Lightness]: with [Hue] = 0, this setting will allow us to configure the level of randomness we want in the lightness of the strokes.

 

 

Note: All this for the method of painting and mixing colors that I will explain later.

4_ [Mix with Subcolor]: With [Hue] = 0, this setting allows us to set the hue of the mix between the main drawing color and the secondary drawing color. If the value is low, the blend color will be closer to the main color (yellow), while if we choose a high value, the blend color will be closer to the subcolor (blue).

 

 

Note: This setting is the one that interests us the most and the main one, since we must first choose the tone with which we want to work and then use the previous settings to configure how random the color of each stroke will be.

Tip: For the blend between the main color and the sub color to work well, avoid leaving the value at 0 or 100.

5_ [Main Color]: If [Mix with Sub Color] is on, this setting allows you to select whether changes in hue, saturation, and lightness are applied to the main color, sub color, or both.

 

 

4_ How to use the new type of mixture + Tips

Tip: In practice it is better and the result is more noticeable if saturated colors are used.

 

 

Watercolor

In this simple illustration I will show you how to use the color mixture as it would be used in the physical environment, to paint a background.

Colors to use:

Yellow and blue.

Brushes to use:

_ [Watercolor] > [Watercolor Gouache], in its blend modes [Normal] and [Multiply], plus I'm using [Blend Mode] > [Perceptual].

 

_ [Watercolor] > [Flat Brush] with [Blend Colors] on and with [Blend Mode] > [Perceptual].

 

_ [Watercolor] > [Round Brush] with [Blend Mode] > [Multiply] and with the [Mix Colors] setting on, using [Blend Mode] > \ [Perceptual].

 

 

Process:

• 1_ I'm going to select the areas that I don't want to paint, like the clouds and the main character. For this I go to [selection] > [Lasso] and set the [Selection mode] to [add selection], once the areas I don't want to paint are selected, I go to the selection flyout and I choose to invert selected area.

 

• 2_ I start by painting the sky in layers with [Watercolor gouache], each stroke is a layer of paint, so I give more strokes in the upper area to generate a gradient.

• 3_ I give a layer of yellow over the area of the grass and trees in the background. I will apply more coats in areas that I want to have in shadow and not so many in areas that I want to leave in light.

• 4_ I add a layer of blue on top of the yellow, to combine the colors and give it the greenish tone that I want. I'll apply more layers in the areas that I want to have in shadow.

Tip: Since we are going to mix colors in layers, I recommend using the brightness correction to the maximum in the first layers and gradually decreasing it.

 

 

• 5_ I set the [Watercolor Gouache] brush to its default blend mode [Blend Mode]>[Multiply]. With this blend mode I will apply more layers in the shadow areas.

• 6_ I'll add a layer of blue and yellow as I see fit, with the [Flat Brush], going over the areas I want to darken, as it has the [Blend Mode] set to [Multiply]. The area I want to darken is the one on the horizon line and I will gradually generate a gradient with the part near the character.

• 7_ With the brush [Watercolor Gouache] in a small size and with the combination mode [Multiply] I give details in the background trees.

• 8_ With the [Round brush] I will give some details like the grass, using the color blue or yellow.

Finally I will paint the main character and give details in the clouds.

In this way, a simple illustration using the perceptual blend mode in watercolor will be ready.

Oil

In these two examples I will teach you how to use the color mixture to paint with [Oil], on the one hand a simple method and on the other hand a more fun one.

 

Apple:

 

 

Colors to use:

Yellow, Blue, Dark blue, Red, Brown.

 

Brush to use:

_ [Thick Paint] > [Oil], with [Perceptual] blend mode.

Process:

 

• 1_ I'm going to start by painting the base colors.

• 2_ then I will paint the shadow of the apple with a blue color, since the light reflected from the surface will hit the red apple causing them to mix, giving a violet tone. I also seek to give volume by mixing both colors.

• 3_ next I'll paint the light yellow, using [Brightness Correction] on [Maximum] to give the combination more life and light.

• 4_ finally I am going to mix the yellow with the blue for the color of the leaf.

Avocado:

For this lab, I'll show you how to use the [Perceptual] color blend together with the [Random on each stroke] setting.

 

The painting method with this option activated is good for creating more interesting paintings, having fun and learning, because not knowing what exact tone the stroke will give, you are forced to play with color, brightness, saturation, values, etc. .

 

Colors to use:

Main color Yellow and subcolor Blue.

 

Brush to use:

[Thick Paint] > [Oil] with the [Blend Mode] > [Perceptual] setting and the [Random on each stroke] setting with [Hue] = 0, [Saturation ] = 40, [Lightness] = 25 and [Blend with Subcolor] = 30.

 

 

Tip: Use reference images of whatever you're painting to guide you.

 

 

Process:

 

• 1_ With a tone closer to yellow I am going to paint the inside of the avocado, for this I will use [Mix with subcolor] in a value less than 30. I use each stroke to paint certain specific areas according to the reference.

Tip: As we paint with this method, it's good to play around with the aforementioned parameters.

[Saturation], [Lightness] and [Blend with Subcolor].

 

 

• 2_ I'm going to paint the outer part with a darker and stronger color, for that I use [Mix with subcolor] in an average value greater than 30 and I will select a darker yellow.

• 3_ to paint the avocado seed I will move the yellow to a more orange and darker one, also I will decrease the value of [Mix with subcolor].

• 4_ finally to paint the shadow I will decrease the brightness of both drawing colors and increase the value of [Blend with subcolor].

As you can see if you try it, this method leaves you with more interesting shades and will help you understand how to mix colors.

5. Conclusions

With all this, we have seen how we can mix colors with the new and better type of mixture, the [Perceptual] mixture, also when putting it into practice we have noticed an interesting new use of color, when working with both watercolor and of oil.

 

I hope that the content of this tutorial and help is useful. If you learned something new, I would appreciate it if you would give me a thumbs up and encourage you to try the color mixtures in the application, thanks for coming this far and I hope you have a good day.

 

 

Instagram: @arts.of.jose