This guide is a comprehensive list of the custom brushes and materials I use to illustrate in Clip Studio Paint. Almost all of the items included in this list are free to use and available in the Clip Studio Paint Assets page.

Introduction

Hello there! My name is INKY. I’m a digital illustrator and designer and have been using Clip Studio Paint to draw and illustrate for years now. During that time, I have gone through a long process of finding what tools work for me as a digital artist.

 

There are so many custom brushes and other materials out there, so I’ve created this list as a reference guide to help you gather the tools you need to get better at digital illustration in no time.

 

 

Pencil Brushes for Sketching

I use three main custom pencil brushes during my sketching process. The sketch is the foundation to your work, so it’s important to have tools that make this process efficient.

Pencil R Brush

When sketching, I first lay out very rough and blocky shapes using the Pencil R Brush. This is a nice textured and blocky brush, it’s smooth too, so it feels a bit like pastel crayons.

My Sketching Set

Next, I refine those blocky shapes using my own custom sketching pencil set that I created.

 

I use the Soft Pencil Brush to help define shapes more,  and then use the Hard Pencil Brush to finalize my illustration and prepare it for inking.

 

Pen Brushes for Inking & Line Art

It was a struggle for me to find the right pen brush that felt natural and worked with my workflow. I know many artists are a fan of the G-Pen in Clip Studio Paint, but it was a bit too hard and stiff for my liking.

 

Luckily, I have found one pen brush that is my go to during the line art stage.

 

 

Debbie Mapping Pen

I actually found this on a YouTube speedpaint video, and I’ve used it in all of my current illustrations.

I love how responsive it is to my pressure, and the subtle texture makes it feel and look like real ink. Given the amount of pen brushes I have used and tried, this pen brush is by far my favorite. It adds so much character and energy to my illustrations.

 

Once I started using this, I haven’t used another pen brush since.

Brushes for Coloring & Blending

During my coloring process, I prefer brushes that blend naturally like a real paintbrush. Personally, I’m not a fan of the blending tools in Clip Studio Paint because they feel like they’re blurring everything, rather than mixing the actual color and strokes.

 

I love brushes that not only show some texture, but ones that can mix the colors naturally and have sensitivity to the stylus pressure.

 

 

Magda's Brush Set

For all of my main coloring, I use Magda’s Basic Clip Studio Brush Pack, which is available for free outside of the Clip Studio Paint Assets page. These brushes are great to help you lay down lighting and values.

 

Magda also has a lot of other free Clip Studio Paint resources, but these brushes are my favorite!

Cream Brush

I also use the Cream Brush, but mainly for final rendering and blending. The Cream Brush beautifully blends and softens any shadows you create. I use this to soften up harsher edges and to naturally blend colors without having to use the color picker tool or to go back and forth between midtone colors.

 

It’s buttery smooth and I love how colors respond to this brush. I come from a traditional art background, so when I first started illustrating digitally, I wanted to replicate a painterly feeling. After trying various brushes, this is by far the best one I’ve used.

Eric Anthony J’s Mega Brush Set

Finally, I also use the Mega Bundle Clip Studio Paint Brush Set. You have to pay for it, but sometimes there is a sale and it comes with a bunch of different brushes, blenders, pens and pencils.

 

My favorite brushes in this set are the Photoshop, Hotline and Butterbrot ones. The set overall has a very painterly style and feels similar to brushes you’d use with acrylic or oil paint. I definitely recommend buying this.

Brushes for Background Rendering

While many of us dislike making backgrounds for our characters, it can really enhance the piece and tie it all together. To simplify that process, here are a few of my favorite background brushes that can help you achieve a more nuanced environment in your illustrations.

 

Air/Dust Particles Brush Set

If you’re looking to recreate a calm and detailed scene of a bright room, adding some particles to the enviroment will give it a more realistic effect. No matter how clean an enviroment is, there will always be some bits of particulate or dust floating around, and you tend to see that more on very bright and sunny days.

Smoke Brush Set

If you’re looking to add a smoke or haze to your illustration, this is a great brush set that creates a translucent effect for fires or even the glow of neon lights.

Cloud Brushes

These brush sets are great to have for illustrations with a natural or outdoorsy environment. Included is a variety of cloud shapes, textures and patterns. I also love the added speckle and dust particle brushes for a more natural and real effect.

Bokeh Lights Brush Set

If you’re not familiar, bokeh lights are a blurred effect (typically on outdoor lights at night) caused by an out of focus camera lens in photography. This brush set gives you a somewhat distorted, but calming similar effect to real life bokeh.

Space/Galaxy Brushes

Whether you’re planning to create a sci-fi illustration or night scene, these brush sets have everything you need to create the perfect starry background.

Color Swatches

I think it’s best to have a set of colors prepared before you begin to lay your flats down. Having a more focused palette can help you produce better illustrations. Here are some of my favorite custom color swatches I have found in the Clip Studio Paint Assets page.

Prismacolor Color Set

If you’ve used the real life Prismacolor markers, I recommend giving this swatch set a try. I usually use it when focusing on pastel like tones.

Copic Color Set

Similar to the Prismacolor swatch set, this mimics the colors found in real life Copic markers. This is my go to set for flats, and I really enjoy the vibrant swatches included in this set.

Skin/Flesh Tone Color Set

While this swatch set has limited colors, it’s great for skin tones and lighting. I love that it also includes various undertones that balance nicely with all skin shades.

My Grayscale Color Set

This is a set that I created myself for grayscale value rendering. If you’re new to digital illustration, give grayscale rendering a try. It’s helped me understand lighting and values a lot better.

 

The swatch set includes highlights, midtones and shadow colors to help you define the lightest and darkest parts of your illustration.

 

 

Gradient Mapping Color Set

If you’re familar with the Gradient Mapping Method in digital art, then this color set will come in handy. This set has a bunch of interesting color gradients that can be overlaid onto your illustration to quickly color and render work.

Other Materials

Here I’ve included a list of custom materials that I’ve found helpful and used in certain projects that don’t fall under the categories listed above. I don’t use them in every project, but I still wanted to showcase the amazing creators who uploaded them.

Wood Texture

This is a nicely created material asset that can be warped to fit any perspective plane. If you’re in a hurry to add a final touch to an illustration, but don’t have time to render detailed flooring, give this a try!

 

It comes with four different textures and can be used to replicate a natural wood look on flooring, walls and even furniture.

 

3D Skeleton Model

If you’re looking to pose a spooky character without flesh, have a go at this skeleton modeler. It’s pretty accurate and you can make some fun poses.

 

It's also a great reference to study when trying to understand human anatomy.

Isometric Rulers

Clip Studio Paint has a bunch of ruler options, but the one thing not included is an isometric ruler. Isometric art relies on a precise grid to create, and making one using the supplied ruler tools can become tedious and frustrating.

 

Luckily, a few isometric rulers have been created by other artists and are availble for you to use in your next project.

Many Thanks!

I hope my comprehensive list of custom brushes, materials and other assets helps you in your journey as a digital artist. I am incredibly grateful to the numerous artists who take the time to create and upload such tools, so the rest of us can bring our ideas to life.

 

Let me know what you think, and if you have your own favorite tools, feel free to link them in the comments below.

 

Additionally, if you found this guide helpful, don’t forget to like and share!