In this hyper-detailed tutorial, learn how to shade two views of the human face (basic and "left"-side lighting), as well as how to use Clip Studio's latest tool, the Shading Assist, to help you with your illustrations!

Introduction

Hello, all!

 

My name is Dreamer, and I’m an artist who LOVES to draw people!

In this article, I will be teaching you all how to shade the human face in two of my favorite ways: basic indoor and “left”-sided lighting! As an extra, I also included how I add highlights into the skin as well! 😀

 

I will also show you a way you can use Clip Studio Paint’s latest tool, the Shading Assist Tool, to help reference where shadows should go in your illustration!

 

DISCLAIMER: These two lighting examples I'm showing you is just for the SKIN, and my technique for shading faces is NOT the 100 %, totally right, if-you-don't-follow-it-it's-wrong technique! This is PURELY my take on tackling the shadows and highlights of the human face! Feel free to observe the way other artists shade their character’s faces for more ways to do so!

If you already know how to shade skin, though, you can skip down to the last tip about using Shading Assist for your illustrations! 😀

Tools

I currently use a few brushes I have downloaded from Clip Studio’s asset store, but for the sake of you all being able to follow along easily, I will use the standard G-PEN, blend/blur, soft airbrush, and lasso/lasso fill tools for my demonstration!

If you’re curious, though, I’ve included the links to the brushes I use most often at the bottom of this article!

 

Credits to the people who made them!

 

Now then, let’s get into it!

Basic Lighting

For me, basic lighting consists only of the necessary parts of the face that would create shadows when seen by the viewer. So that would be places like the bottom of the nose, under the bottom lip, over the mouth line, where the hair overlaps the skin, etc.

 

Depending on the angle the viewer is gazing at the character also depends on how much of the shadow you see, though! For instance: in my style you would see a lot more of the shadow the nose can produce on the face in a ¾ view than in a frontal view! So, keep that in mind!

For this demonstration, I will be using the face of my OC Archeus. Feel free to pull up a face of your own character and follow along with me! 😀

 

First, we’ll need to lay down the base colors! Using the lasso tool, I’m going to carefully trace around the skin area of Archeus’ face. I may need to press the shift key to add more to the selection, or the alt key to subtract some areas. Then, when I have it all selected, I will pick his skin color using the standard color palette under the color wheel!

 

Under the part the lasso tool has selected, there should be a little tool bar with a bunch of different symbols. We’re going to select the paint bucket tool in this little tool bar—this will fill in the spot on the drawing we’ve selected!

Another slightly quicker way to do this is to select the lasso fill tool under the shapes category on the lefthand side of the screen! When you select the area, it will automatically fill it up once you are done selecting the desired spot! It can get a bit messy, though, so I just prefer to use it for places I’ve already lined color in for, or for circular shapes. If you want it neat on the first try, the lasso tool may be better for you, as you can press shift and alt to add or subtract areas until you get all the spots you want, then fill it in.

But either way, you should be at this point with me!

Now, we’re going to add in the basic shadows! I will open a new raster layer on top of the base color layer and clip this new one to the base color layer. Then, we’re going to change the blending mode of this new layer to multiply!

 

(To clip a layer, we're going to select the icon that has a dotted square diagonally on top of another square! You can see it selected in the below screenshot!)

 

(To add a new layer, press the little square with a plus sign! It’s right next to the new folder button (the small folder); you can see it in the screenshot I have!)

(FYI: clipping a layer over the original one keeps whatever you draw in the new layer within the lines or color of the original one! That way, you don't have to worry about going outside of the lines!)

The neat thing about the multiply layer is that you don’t need to select a darker color to shade with; it makes the color you have selected darker already! So, using the G-PEN, with his base color still selected, we’re going to shade the basic parts of his face and neck that would be in shadow. These are the places I mentioned earlier; the bottom of the nose and bottom lip, above the mouth line, where the hair overlaps the skin, inside the ears, where the chin overlaps the neck...

 

And (as a learned technique—shout out to all the people I’ve ever studied 😊), by stylistic choice, I like to add a little shadow under their eyes, and I run around the frame of the face with an airbrush (you can see that in the final picture)! You don’t have to, though 😊

 

(TIP: When using multiple layers, try naming them! It helps to keep you organized, and you don't have to switch each layer on and off to figure out what's what!)

I use the blend (or blur, depending on the illustration) tool to smooth some edges out, and with that, the basic lighting is done! You can leave it as is, or if the color of the shadows is a bit jarring, you can lower the opacity of the layer! I have both options presented!

 

(FYI: the difference between the blend and blur tool is that the blend mixes the colors together, while the blur tool just blurs the pixels it’s applied to. It blends a little bit, but not as much as the blending tool would! Experiment with both to see which one you like! )

 

Top: Opacity at 100%; Bottom: Opacity Lowered

This is the dial to lower opacity, by the way! I have it highlighted in red 😊

“Left”-sided Lighting

Next, I will show you all how to shade the character’s face when light is hitting it from the “left”!

 

(I say “left” and “right” in quotation marks because the light is really on the right of his face in his point of view; in the eyes of the viewer, though, it’s to his left 😊)

 

Because the light source is coming from the “left” side of the character, the viewer will see the “right” side of the character’s face in shadow! So, with that in mind, let’s get into it!

 

For convenience, I will be using Archeus again, but feel free to use another character if you wish! 😊

 

Using the steps from before with picking the base color and opening a multiply layer (clipped over the base color layer), we are going to use the light source as a guide to figure out where to draw the shadows.

 

Certain parts of the face are more lifted than others, such as the tip of the nose, the chin, the forehead, the cheek, etc. These will not be in as much shadow as parts like below the bottom lip or under the nose will be. With that in mind, using the G-PEN, and with the base color of the character still selected, I will begin to shade his face. There will be a spot on his cheek that will not be as deeply affected by the shadow as the other parts will be. Also, the shadow at his chin should be curved, following the shape of the chin. There will still be a cast shadow on his neck, but let’s put it a little further to the “right”.

 

For deeper shadows, you can color pick the shadow color using the ALT key and apply where wanted!

 

So, you should be at this point! Again, if you wish, adjust the opacity to the strength of the light source (or your liking)! If the light source is strong, you may want to leave it as is!

Afterwards, I'll grab the blend tool and soften some of the edges of the shadows. I tend to blend together areas where a darker shadow meets a lighter shadow (except for if it's a cast shadow, like around the nose. That should remain pretty solid!).

 

Now, highlight time! I open a new layer over the shadow one (clipped to base color layer), and I set the blending mode to “Add (Glow);” then, using the soft airbrush, I run over the spots of his face that would be closer to the light source, like his “left” cheek, where his Adam’s Apple lies, etc.

 

And with that, we’re done! Great work!

Bounce Lights

If you want to make it more realistic, then depending on the color of their indoor environment, you can add bounce lighting in the shadows! If you’re fine with how it looks without the bounce lighting though, you can skip down to the last tip! 😀

 

Let’s say Archeus is in a green-colored environment. We’re going to incorporate some of that into the shadow color!

 

Let’s open a new raster layer (multiply blending mode) on top of the multiply layer (make sure it’s clipped to the base color layer!)

 

Now, with the soft airbrush, we’re going to add in the color of the environment to his shadows! Press the ALT key to temporarily open the eyedropper tool, and select the environment color (if you already have the color selected, disregard this direction). Then, using that color, color one or two spots on your character’s face where the bounce light may hit. For Arch, I only have it hitting the right side of his face and on his shoulder. It looks a little jarring right now, but trust me, it gets better!

 

Now, we’re going to lower the opacity of this layer, to where the bounce light is weak, but noticeable. Where you stop the opacity level is up to you, but remember that bounce light is always weaker than the original light source!

 

And now we’re done with bounce lighting! Good job!

Shading Assist (and How I Use It)

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Let's use this basic illustration as an example. After you have the base colors selected, you would merge them all together into one layer. The sketch layer can be excluded, though, as that may be covered up in the rendering process!

This is the button to merge a layer to the one below it.

Now, let’s open Shading Assist! It will be in the “Edit” panel at the top of the screen.

It may take a few seconds to load, so be patient!

 

When it loads, you should have a little pop-up menu that allows you to select a preset shading assist (like evening, morning, night, etc.). If you press the little plus icons by the “Shadow Type” and “Light Source” tabs, you can also customize the colors of the shadows you want, and whether the light source is in ball or directional form.

 

I decided to just go with the "Evening" preset.

 

It takes a few seconds for the system to kick into play what you requested, so wait a little bit! Afterwards, the change should appear on the preview! If it’s to your liking, press OK; if not, switch up whatever you need until it’s what you want!

Once I’m satisfied with how it looks, I save it as a duplicate PNG file to import into my first illustration as an image! Open your first illustration that has the base colors applied. Then, under the “File” tab, hit “Import,” then “Image;” it should take you to your files, where you can select whatever image you want to bring into your illustration.

 

You can see the “Import” tab in this image, as well as the “Save Duplicate” tab!

I set the image in the corner of the screen to look at as a reference (and pick colors from with the ALT key), and then I’m good to go! You can also change the canvas size to twice the width and height of its current size, so that you can have it side by side. If you go under the “Edit” tab, you’ll find “Change Canvas Size” towards the bottom of it.

Outro

Congratulations! You’ve just learned two ways to shade human skin, and an awesome way to figure out where lights and shadows go in your illustration!! I’m so proud of you!

 

I hope this tutorial helped you a lot!

 

Remember, this is my way of tackling shading! You may like another way! Experiment with different techniques until you find a method that best suits your style!

Just remember to credit all the artists you've ever studied (another thank you to all the people that I have studied 😊)!

 

I wish you all the best! Until next time, see you later!

Brushes I Use from the Asset Store

I use the default G-Pen or the below brushes for lineart; and the default soft airbrush for soft shadows, bounce lighting, etc. :)

 

Credits to the artists who made the below brushes/sets!

 

For lineart, coloring, and shading:

For neat application of base colors:

To fill without gaps:

And there are many more! Go see for yourselves! :D