I make three brushes for painting, and then paint my piece.

 

[1] “Painting brush”

I’ll make this brush for adding thick color.

 

 

 

■1. I select the [Brush] tool > [Watercolor] > [Opaque watercolor] to use as a base for my custom brush.

 

I click the “Create copy of currently selected sub tool” icon to duplicate the tool. In the dialog box, I change the name to “Painting brush”.

 

 

 

■2. While selecting my duplicated tool “Painting brush”, I select the tool icon at the bottom right of the sub tool property palette to open the [Sub Tool Detail] palette and adjust the settings.

 

In the [Sub Tool Detail] palette, I go to the [Ink] category and turn off [Mix ground color].

 

 

 

■3. I turn [Anti-aliasing] to the furthest right option “Strong”.

 

 

Now my “Painting brush” is ready.

 

[2] Textured pen (for painting)

I’ll make this brush for painting the ocean in the background.

 

 

 

■1. I select the [Pen] tool > [Pen] > [Textured pen] and make a copy in the same way as the first brush.

 

I change the name to “Textured pen (for painting)”

 

 

 

■2. I choose a slightly large brush size of 50 for painting.

 

 

 

■3. In the [Sub Tool Detail] palette > [Ink] > [Opacity] > [Effect source settings] dialog box, I turn on [Pen pressure] so that the amount of pen pressure will affect the opacity of the brush.

 

 

 

 

■4. Then I lower the opacity to 60%.

 

 

 

 

Now the “Textured pen (for painting)” is finished.

 

[3] Detailed painting

I’ll use this brush for painting smaller details. I use the [Oil paint] sub tool as a base.

 

 

 

■1. I duplicate the [Brush] > [Thick paint] > [Oil paint] sub tool and change the name to “Detailed painting”.

(In Ver.1.8.5 and earlier, select the [Oil paint] sub tool from the [Oil paint] sub tool group.

If you updated from a version earlier than Ver.1.8.5 to Ver.1.8.6 or later, you can still select the [Oil paint] sub tool from the [Oil paint] sub tool group.)

 

 

 

■2. In the [Sub Tool Detail] palette, I go to the [Ink] category and turn off [Mix ground color].

 

 

 

■3. In the [Sub Tool Detail] palette > [Ink] > [Opacity] > [Effect source settings] dialog box, I turn on [Pen pressure] so that the amount of pen pressure will affect the opacity of the brush.

Now my “Detailed painting” brush is ready

 

Comparison with [Oil paint] brush

 

[4] Painting

I’m going to add detail on each of the layers that I colored in the last part.

 

 

 

■1. I paint the shadows using the “Painting brush” I made in step [1].

 

 

 

■2. I paint the background using the “Textured pen (for painting)” I made in step [2].

 

 

 

■3. Once this painting step is complete, the illustration is starting to look more finished.

 

[5] Painting details

Above the “Line art” folder, I make a new folder called “Details”.

I make a layer in this folder to paint on top of the line art.

I’ll add layers as I go for each part, calling them “Details 1”, “Details 2”, etc.

 

I paint these details using the “Painting brush”, “Detailed painting” brush, and the “Rough lines” brush I made for the rough draft.

 

As I paint, I gradually increase the level of detail in the illustration until the overall colors are finished.

 

[6] Adjusting the colors

Next I adjust the colors.

 

 

 

■1. To create a nice effect, I use the [Airbrush] > [Droplet] tool to add some small bubbles.

 

 

 

 

■2. Then I adjust the overall colors of the piece.

 

I make a new layer called “Overall adjustment” at the top of the “Colors” folder, and set the blending mode to [Soft light].

 

 

 

■3. On the “Overall adjustment” layer, I use the [Airbrush] tool and the “Painting brush” I made in step [1] to add a feeling of the water and to make the colors more complex.

 

▲The “Overall adjustment” layer when all other layers are hidden

 

 

Now my colors are almost finished.

 

In the next part, I will make a new brush to add a traditional feeling to the illustration, and paint in some more details.