Opening

Hello there! today I'm going to explain a little bit about one of Clip Studio's features, liquify.

Starting from the basic functions, and some ways you can use liquify.

I hope you enjoy~

What's Liquify?

Liquify tool "liquefies" parts of your drawing so you can push, drag, expand, and some others to distort your drawing and alter it the way you want. It's really useful for retouching, fixing, or even giving some creative artistic effects.

Where can I access Liquify?

You can find the tool by clicking the icon shown above, or by simply clicking the shortcut which is the letter "J" on your keyboard key.

 

>The shortcut is a default, so unless you've changed it before, you should be able to use it. Even if you've changed the shortcut settings before, you can modify, add, or delete shortcuts by going to File>Shortcut Settings.

Tool Property

Brush size is used to change the size of the tool, how big or small the range of liquify. There are 7 different modes of liquify, which are: -Push

-Expand

-Pinch

-Push Left

-Push Right

-Twirl Clockwise

-Twirl Anti-Clockwise

Strength and hardness can change how you use the tool, which will be explained further later. Only refer to editing area when checked will use a more accurate calculation method when determining reference points

1. Push

"Push" allows you to push/drag parts of your drawing:

You can find the mode here:

Some things you can do with "Push" such as:

 

Correcting mistakes:

Altering the facial expressions of your character:

Giving more volumes to clothings:

2. Expand

"Expand" is used to expand/enlarge parts of your image:

You can find the mode here:

Some things you can do with "Expand":

 

Fixing parts that are too small:

Using "Expand" to make eyes bigger can give your character a cuter look:

3. Pinch

"Pinch" is the exact opposite of "Expand". So instead of enlarging parts, this mode allows you to make them smaller:

You can find the mode here:

Some things you can do with "Pinch":

 

Correcting parts that are too big:

Tip: Giving characters smaller eyes can make them look tougher or more laid back:

4-5. Push Left & Push Right

These two can be used to push parts of your drawing to one side or another. By changing the direction of your brush stroke, you can push to all directions even using only one of the two modes:

You can find the mode here:

These two modes are best for correcting anatomy mistakes:

6-7. Twirl Clockwise & Twirl Anti-Clockwise

These two modes can twirl parts of your drawing. One can do it clockwise, while the other twirls you drawing anti-clockwise:

You can find the mode here:

Some things you can do with these two modes are:

 

Twirling hair strands to make it look flowy:

It's also great for painting stylistic smokes and clouds:

8. Strength

The higher the value of strength is, the more powerful/effective the liquify tool is:

(note: both high and low examples are 3 strokes each with different values)

9. Hardness

If the value of hardness is low, the effect is focused on the center point so it looks rounder and more circle-like. Contrary to it, if the value is high, then the result of the liquify brush will follow the shape of the brush and will look less round. The effect of hardness is a lot more visible if you're using "Expand" and "Pinch":

(note: both high and low examples are 3 strokes each with different values)

A few notes

Liquify is pretty laggy if you're using it on a large canvas, so using liquify with lower strength and hardness while slowly building the effect up is the most effective way to use it. You can't use liquify to multiple layers at the same time, so merging it together beforehand would be really useful. Just like a few other tools, you can access the "Pinch" while using "Expand" (or the other way around) by pressing and holding alt on your keyboard key. This applies the same way where you can access the opposite tool using alt to the modes Push Left-Push Right and also Twirl Clockwise-Twirl Anti-Clockwise. Examples given in these tips aren't the only things you can use liquify for, so get creative on using this tool!

Closing

And we're at the end now!

I hope this can be useful to you in some way and I really encourage you to use this tool if you haven't already.

 

Thank you for reading~~