Welcome to the nekonmilk channel ! In this tutorial, I’ll teach you my tips and tricks to create perfect line art for your drawings. This tutorial is beginner friendly as I’ll go through the basics, so let's dive in !!

Before we start you’ll need: your favorite drawing tablet, a drawing software (I recommend CSP) & your stylus pen !

I. Canva & Brush Settings

To begin, you’ll need to set up our canva and brush settings.

For the canva, I like to have a canva that’s at least 2000 by 2000 pixels. In my opinion, anything below that will look pixelated.

I also like to set my canva on 300dpi. “dpi” refers to Dot Per Inch, which also affects the look of the lines. This is recommended if you ever plan on printing your artwork.

For the brush settings, it’s a little more detailed but I’ll explain everything:

First off: You need to know what brush you think will look good with your arstyle. Is it a textured brush? Or a brush with opacity variation?

Once you find a brush you like here’s the main brush settings you should play with:

 

brush size> pen pressure: this setting is so important if you want to create quick and easy line thickness variations. This allows for a dynamic line art.

 

anti-aliasing>anti-aliasing: this setting allows you to control how smooth or pixelated the outline of the brush will look. I like to keep mine on medium as I like my line art smooth.

 

correction>stabilization: this is by far my favorite setting! It allows you to control how smooth your stroke will be. I really recommend you to try this setting out!! Mine is set to 70% for a smooth line art.

 

 

II. Lineart tips & tricks

Before lining, I like to have a clean sketch to make everything faster and easier. Try to sketch in a different color as your lineart. Clip Studio has this option I really like. Go to window>layer property then on the layer property panel go to effect>layer color. Now you can change the color of the sketch without affecting it.

Now that everything is set up, here are my quick and easy tips to create perfect lines:

Vector Layers: vector layer is preferred over raster layers as you won’t lose the quality of your lines if you scale it up or down, or rotate it.

 

Short Strokes: Instead of trying to draw long lines in one go, use short confident strokes. Doing this will give you better control and precision.

 

Zoom In and Out: Do not hesitate to zoom in and out on your canva. Zooming in will allow you to work on finer details, and zooming out will help with bigger lines.

 

Adjust Brush Size: Vary your brush size to create dynamism and work on details. I vary my brush size from 12 pixels to 5 based on the level of detail I'm working on.

 

CTRL+Z: This command is the most used by digital artists as it allows you to quickly cancel your last strokes and start over. I like to have it as a shortcut on my tablet for easy access.

 

Figure Drawing Tools: If you really want your lineart to be crisp, I recommend using the figure drawing tools like circles, squares and lines instead of drawing them by hand.

 

Continuous Curve Tool: This tool deserves a section on its own. It can be difficult to use at first but the Continuous Curve tool is a really helpful way to draw long annoying curves.

 

Correct Line Tools: When using vector layers, these options can be really helpful. Let’s say you’ve spent HOURS lining and you realize that you want certain areas to be thinner or thicker. Well all you need is the correct line tools!

 

Tool Property: As with the Correct Line Tools, you can also change the size, color but also brush of the vector line ! You just need to go in the Tool Property palette and Sub Tool Detail palette when the line is selected with the Object tool.

 

Vector Eraser: When using vector layers, the vector eraser allows you to quickly erase intersecting lines instead of doing it by hand saving you so much time.

III. Conclusion

I shared with you my tips and tricks for drawing a line art that suits your style! Feel free to experiment and try new techniques and brushes. I like to color the lineart once I’m done with the colors for a smoother look. I also like to add a thick outline to make the subject pop!

I really hope this tutorial was helpful !! I left a free guide below so you can practice or warm up before starting! See you next time and Happy New Year !