To add a watercolor feeling to the illustration, I will make another custom brush with a real watercolor image as the brush tip.

 

Read the below TIPS article to learn more about using brush materials.

 

[1] Make a material using traditional watercolors

First, I’ll explain how I made the brush material.

 

 

 

■1. In my sketchbook, I use my acrylic painting tools to paint some shapes that could be used as brush tips. Any color is okay as long as it’s not too light.

 

I make lots of different shapes with different color variation and blending.

 

Because the theme of this picture is underwater, I drew a few dots for bubbles.

 

 

 

■2. I open the scanned image (jpeg) in Clip Studio Paint.

 

Note: If you don’t have a scanner, you can use a digital camera or a smartphone camera. Avoid capturing any shadows when you take the picture.

 

 

 

■3. I use the [Rectangle] selection tool to roughly select the part I want to use.

 

 

 

■4. I copy the image with [Edit] menu > [Copy], then go to the [File] menu > [Create New from Clipboard] to make a new canvas with only my selected image.

 

 

 

■5. The white of the scanned paper looks gray and the texture stands out, so I use the [Auto select] tool to select the white part, then press the Delete key to remove it.

 

Hint:

If there is color variation in the gray parts, or if there isn’t much difference between the drawn parts, it might be easier to adjust the color using the [Edit] menu > [Tonal Correction] > [Brightness/Contrast].

 

 

 

■6. So that I can use this brush with any drawing color, I’ll change the color to [Gray].

 

I change it by going to the [Layer] menu > [Convert Layer], then changing the [Expression color] to [Gray] in the dialog box.

 

Hint:

When changing the expression color of an image for a brush to gray, the “black” and “white” icons to the right will change the color when clicked.

 

When the black button is on: Only the main drawing color will be shown.

 

When the black and white buttons are on: The main drawing color and the sub drawing color will both be shown.

 

 

 

■7. I go to the [Edit] menu > [Register Material], and register the image to the [Material] palette.

 

 

 

■8. In the [Material property] dialog box, I enter the material name, location to save the material and search tags, then turn on “Use for brush tip shape”.

 

 

 

(I saved the material in a “Created Materials” folder that I had already made.)

 

 

 

■9. Now I’ve registered the image for the brush as a material.

 

(I also registered a color version, although I won't use it this time.)

 

[2] Making the watercolor brush

Now I’ll make a brush using this material.

 

 

 

■1. I duplicate the [Pen] tool > [Marker] > [Fill-in-mono pen] sub tool and change the name to “Watercolor brush 1”

 

 

 

■2. I go to the [Sub Tool Detail] palette for the new brush “Watercolor brush 1”, and change the [Tip shape] to [Material].

 

I search for the material name or search tags that I used when registering the material.

 

 

 

■3. In the [Sub Tool Detail] palette > [Ink] > [Opacity] > [Effect source settings] dialog box, I turn on [Pen pressure].

 

 

 

■4. Now I’ve finished making my “Watercolor brush 1”.

 

[3] Making a brush for bubbles

I’m going to make another brush using the same method I did for “Watercolor brush 1”.

I register this image as a material and make two brushes for drawing bubbles.

 

・ “Watercolor brush dot”

I make this brush in the same way as “Watercolor brush 1”, but I turn on the [Spraying effect].

 

・ “Watercolor brush dot 2”

I also make this in the same way as “Watercolor brush 1”, but the base sub tool is the [Brush] tool > [Watercolor] > [Dense watercolor] sub tool.

 

In the [Sub Tool Detail] palette, I go to the [Brush tip] category > [Direction] > [Effect source settings], and turn on [None] and [Random].

 

[4] Painting with the custom brushes

Now I’ll try painting with my new custom brushes.

 

I make a new folder called “Watercolors” above the “Details” folder, and set the blending mode to [Through].

I make new layers called “Bubbles” and “Watercolor” in the “Watercolors” folder, and set the blending mode for both to “Hard light”.

 

I use the “Watercolor brush 1” to lightly stamp a pattern over the illustration, keeping pen pressure low.

 

I use an eraser tool when the edges stand out too clearly.

 

For the bubbles, I paint with the “Watercolor brush dot” and “Watercolor brush dot 2”.

 

The whole piece now looks like this. The atmosphere is much closer to the final version.