Hi everyone! This is how I make watercolor style illustrations on Clip Studio Paint.

SKETCH

The “PACHE BRUSH” is my preferred brush for sketching and it’s available in the Assets Store. But you can use any brush you’d like since this is just the sketch. Any of the default brushes are great for sketching!

I like to use the Liquify tool to adjust the proportions of the character I’m sketching.

These are the settings that I use. I keep the Strength and Hardness less than 50 since it tends to be too harsh if it is higher than that. 

I also like to flip my illustration during the sketching phase to see if it is coming out symmetrical and proportionate, which also makes it easier to fix issues!

LINEART

For lineart, these are some of the best brushes to use for the realistic pencil aesthetic.

The Su-Cream Pencil brush is my favorite, but Pencil and Mechanical Pencil are also really great default brushes!

I’m going to be using the Su-Cream Pencil Brush for this illustration, with these settings. I also like to use a lighter gray color to give it that granite look.

 

 

COLORING

There’s a bunch of really good default Watercolor brushes and I tend to use a mix of all these brushes in my illustrations.

I’d also recommend these 2 blending brushes for a great watercolor look!

So when I color in the illustration, I like to block out the parts that I’m about to color with a solid G-pen or Fill tool. This is so the color doesn't bleed out of the lines! I’m using the Wet Wash brush that might take some practice to get used to. It is heavily guided by your pen pressure which affects the color and spread of the brush. I like using this for watercoloring since it does feel very similar to actual traditional watercolor! 

For adding shadows and things like that I use the brushes that have a darker edge, just like real watercolor when it dries a little! 

I think it’s most important to look at examples of traditional watercolor art to see the way that they use color and water to create shadows and highlights. You can use this to attempt to bring out the same effect digitally using these brushes and blenders, by leaving out blank white areas to create a shine, just like traditional watercolor!

TEXTURE

Another important part of trying to make the illustration look like watercolor is using Textures that mimic watercolor paper! The one I use is the Rough textured one which you just drag onto your canvas and you can adjust the size of the grain.

A good tip is to set your texture layer as a Draft layer, which marks it with this blue line. You then change your Eyedropper Tool settings to exclude the Draft Layer, so that you can accurately color pick from the previously colored parts of your illustration! (since as you can see it has turned a little darker)

HIGHLIGHTS

The last step is to put in your highlights! I like to use the same brush that I used for line art to make it look like it was also done with pencil or maybe a gel pen like you would with traditional watercolor! 

 

I do this on a slightly higher opacity since I want the white to pop and make the whole thing look a lot more vibrant! I also like adding strands to the hair for a little more flow.

 

 

Then with just a few minor adjustments, it’s done! 

 

And that’s how I make watercolor-like illustrations digitally. 

Thanks so much for watching! Bye!