Wassup, guys!

I’m Link, an animator and illustrator from @linkurys

Linkurys (@linkurys) • Instagram photos and videos

 

This is my second time sharing clip studio paint tips online, so if any of my advice seems unclear or confusing, please don't hesitate to ask! You can leave a comment or DM me! 👀

 

In this tutorial, I will guide you through three ways of using selection tools to enhance your drawing experience. These techniques are easy to grasp and quick to master, I’m confident you’ll be able to master it in no time! 😁

 

 

What Is Selection Tools?

Selection tools are like digital magic wands for artists. They’re special tools that help you pick and work on specific parts of your digital drawing. Whether you want to color some specific area of your drawing or fix little mistakes.

 

Before we dive into the techniques, let's first get to know the different types of selection tools, shall we?

The Types of Selection Tools

Clip Studio Paint provides a variety of selection tools, enhancing the flexibility of our drawing process with these tools!

Rectangle: Select areas with rectangular portions.

Ellipse: Select areas with circular or elliptical portions.

Lasso: Create selections by drawing around irregular shapes, ideal for precise and intricate selections.

Polyline: Create custom areas with multi-sided selections to form a polygonal shape, ideal for precise and intricate selections.

Auto Select: Quickly create selections without the need for precise manual outlining.

Selection Pen: Create a selection area with the size of your preferred pen tool!

Note: You can choose the selection tool based on the specific elements you want to isolate in your drawing. Feel free to switch between tools to achieve the best possible results for your creative vision

3 Ways to Use Selection Tools!

As I mentioned earlier, I'll provide you with 3 different ways to use selection tools, which are:

1. Coloring Object

This technique basically just color in the specific areas you want. (This is the main way artists use selection tools)

 

2. Scale & Transform Object

On this one, you choose specific parts of your drawing and adjust their size, rotation, or position as you prefer. (For me, usually I use this technique to correct errors in my drawing such as adjusting the position or size of certain parts)

 

3. Applying Effects & Adjustments

Last but not least, you can precisely apply some cool effects and adjustments to your chosen areas. Like bluring backgrounds, adjusting color, etc! (Very useful for finishing touches ✨)

Learning Assets

In this tutorial, I will provide you with the image assets that I used during the process of all tips! You can download and import the image to your workspace and start learning with me!

 

Download the assets here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cMV6w6iK89JHcBx71cAFrdc-u30CRiRL?usp=drive_link

 

Note: You don’t have to use this assets to proceed in this tutorial, it’s just optional!

1st Tips: Coloring Object

Coloring objects is the first thing that comes to mind when using selection tools. Coloring with selection tools is not just a way to save time when drawing but also significantly streamlines our overall workflow with colors, making it notably more accessible and enjoyable!

 

Those 3 points above are essentially all there’s to it when it comes to using selection tools for doing some color. Well without further ado let’s dive in to it, shall we? 👀

The Case

In this case, you should have the lineart ready for your character or object on a blank canvas before applying these tips. Once you have your lineart prepared, you can seamlessly implement these tips with the same efficient progress

 

Here I already have my character lineart (Mocha The Cat) that I want to put color on, starting from the base color and then the rendering using selection tools!

1. Choose Your Selection Tools

In this case, I’m going to show you the fastest way to create a base color using Auto-Select tools! Auto select tool allows you to create selection areas automatically so you don’t have to manually create the selection.

 

Here’s how to set Auto Select Tool:

1. On the Tools Bar, choose the Auto Select Tool (Magic Wand Icon)

2. Ensure the tool is set to 'Refer to all layers' to make the selection applicable across all layers on the canvas

2. Select Your Preferred Area

Because you chose the auto-select tool, it would significantly speed up your character selection to just a few easy steps! (Well, because you don’t do it manually with other tools)

 

Here’s how to use the auto-select tool:

1. Click on your background (Yes, the blank area outside of your character)

 

The preview would look like this:

2. There would be some selection tool pop-up below the canvas

3. Choose Inverted Selected Area (The 3rd Icon from the left)

 

The result would look like this:

You'll notice a clear difference from the previous image, the selection line once covering the blank space area, now precisely outlines your character area. 👀✨

Now that you've established a selection around your character, you can confidently begin adding colors without concerns about overlapping it!

 

Q: What if the character lineart is complicated? would it still work?

A: Absolutely! Clip Studio Paint offers incredibly optimized selection tools to ensure the best drawing experience. So, no matter how intricate your character or object is, it shouldn't pose any problem!

 

Note: This trick works best when selecting lineart on a blank canvas. Make sure to disable any

background or other layers that may hinder your process.

3. Color Your Canvas

Now let’s color our character starting with putting the base color! 😁

(ensure the selection is still active!)

 

Filling your base color:

1. Create a new layer beneath your character lineart & rename it to ‘color’ (optional)

2. Grab the fill tool and pick your preferred color.

3. Fill the color within the selected areas

4. Done!

 

Note: Make sure you fill the color on the correct layer!

The result would look like this:

So easy right!?

Well of course! That's the simplest and easiest way to add a base color to your drawing! 😁

Oh! for a quick reminder!

After using the selection tools, remember to deactivate or erase the selection area by using the selection tools again and tapping anywhere on the screen with it (or you can’t draw anywhere besides the selected area lmao)

Note: Use basic selection tools (not the auto-select one)

4. Repeat

Now, the final step in this tip is to repeat the previous three steps, but this time, try using a different selection tool! Let's do one more round quickly with a fresh tool!👀✨

 

But first, let’s add a new layer to it!

1. Create a new layer above the base color layer(Feel free to use the layer folder)

2. Clip the new layer to the base color layer

Now, let's switch to the Lasso selection tool. Use it to select specific areas within our character, and we'll add the second color or the rendering!

1. Open the selection tools menu

2. Pick Lasso Selection tools (yes the one with lasso or rope icon 🗿)

3. Now draw the selection line to cover up your preferred area for the second color

(In my case, I covered his ears and tails)

 

It would look like this:

Don't worry about the outside area; since we've clipped our second layer to the first one, it won't appear outside the base color. Focus on the selection area you want to cover

 

Tips: If you make mistakes while creating the selection area, no need to start over.

Hold ALT to delete unnecessary selected areas, or

Hold SHIFT to add more to the selection.

(While using the selection tool)

 

P.S You can use this tricks with any other selection tools too!

Then all you have to do is:

1. Color the area with your preferred color

2. Disable the selection by tapping on the canvas

3. It’s Done!

 

The result would look like this:

And here’s another result just by using more layers, more color, and more selection tools to create more details! 💖😁

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED! 🌟 BRAVO! 🎉

You’ve completed the Coloring Object chapter. Now, you’re ready to go to the next chapter: Scale & Transform Object!

2nd Tips: Scale & Transform Object

Scale & Transform Object proves invaluable for enhancing your drawing's overall appeal. With this technique, you have the power to select specific areas in your drawing, enabling adjustments to size, shape, or even positioning. This flexibility allows for versatile fine-tuning without impacting the entire composition!

The Case

In this case, we're going to experiment with multiple adjustments like changing shape, position, and size all in one go!

 

For example, I've prepared an image featuring two objects: an illustration of a picture and a book. Our goal is to seamlessly place and align the picture within the book frame using selection tools!

The challenge

Because we want to experiment with the scale and transform technique. We aim to adjust the image and fit it into the book frame without separating the layers (Yes, the two different objects need to remain on the same layer from start to finish) AND with just using one selection!

1. Choose Your Selection Tools

In my case, the picture has a rectangular shape, so the best option to choose is the Rectangle one!

Note: Choosing the best selection tools can improve and speeds up your selection processes. But as I said before, feel free to use any selection tools that you are comfortable with, the function is all the same tho!

2. Select Your Preferred Parts

After selecting the most suitable selection tool for your drawing, the next step is to create a selection area around the picture you want to adjust.

 

Important: Make sure not to accidentally selecting the other image area!

 

The result would look like this:

3. Adjust Your Selected Part

It’s time for the fun part, Let’s start changing some shapes!

All we need to do is go and switch to the free-transform mode!

 

Free Transform Mode:

1. Make sure to select the image layer and the selection area still active

2. Switch to the Free Transform mode by clicking CTRL, SHIFT, T on the keyboard

Alternative: Select the transform mode on the toolbar on the top side of the workspace then change the mode to Free Transform

As you can see from the mode options, there are a lot of things that you can do with your selected image like skewing or rotating your image! So make the best use of em will ya! 😉

Okay back to the learning session! let’s start adjusting our picture to the book frame

Adjusting the picture:

1. Make sure you are still on the free transform mode

2. Click, hold, and drag the picture to the book frame

3. Change the shape and size of the picture by dragging the square on each corner of the selected part

4. Adjust the image until it fits the book frame perfectly

5. Exit the transform mode by clicking ENTER

6. Disable the selection using the selection tool and tap anywhere on the canvas

7. DONE!

Here’s some little step by step:

Now we have our picture combined with the book without separating their layer!

The result would look like this:

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED! 🌟 FANTASTIC! 🎉

You’ve completed the Scale & Transform Object chapter. Now, you’re ready to go to the next chapter: Applying Effects & Adjustments!

3rd Tips: Applying Effects & Adjustments

Applying effects and adjustments proves to be invaluable during the finishing touches ✨. The idea of this technique is basically to select specific areas and enhance them with filters and adjustments, such as color and saturation tweaks

The Case

For this tips, I already have some illustrations of my cat character mocha looking at you menacingly! 😈Now the challenge is, we’re going to make him even more menacing by applying effects and some adjustments to the background! and yes, we’ll be doing this on one single layer only!

 

 

1. Choose Your Selection Tools

For this one, the idea is I want to make the wiggly line that surrounds the character look more menacingly by putting some effects on it, so I’ll be selecting those lines by using Lasso Tool to draw the selection line freely

 

Why not use the auto-select tool? well because I want to include some of the background too! to make the effects more blend (I think?) 🤔

2. Select Your Preferred Parts

Next, let’s do the selection for that wiggly line.

 

Instead of aiming for all of the wiggly lines, do this trick to speed up your processes!

1. Create selection on your character area

2. After selecting there will be some selection tool pop-up, then choose Invert Selected Area (the third icon from the left)

3. The selection will be inverted and make the selection area to your background instead!

 

The result would look like this:

3. Applying Effects & Adjustments

Now let’s start making our character look more menacingly by adding those filters and some adjustments to the background! 😈

 

Adding filter on the selected area:

1. Open Filter on the menu bar

2. Click Blur > Radial Blur

3. The Radial Blur menu will pop-up

4. Set the strength amount to your liking

5. OK

The result would look like this:

Then we going to add more stuff to it! by adjusting some color on the corner of the background. I want to make the image composition more focused on the character, so the idea is I will going to add some black gradient to it!

Adding Gradient:

1. Choose Gradient Tools on toolbar

2. Pick the Foreground to transparent gradient

3. Set the color

4. Choose the 1st shape gradient

Then all you have to do is create the gradient on every corner of it and you’re done!

 

The result would look like this:

The Super Ultra Menacing Stare!!!😈

Comparison

The drawing looks so significantly different right!?

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED! ✨ AMAZING! 🎉

You’ve completed the Applying Effects & Adjustments! chapter. With this achievement under your belt, you're now ready to embark on new creative journeys and further hone your skills! 🚀

Selection Mastery Pin

Now, that you’ve completed your quick session of learning some things about selection tools with me, why don’t you go grab some of your titles here? Which one do you get!? 👀

Closing

Congratulations on mastering these selection tips! 🌟 Remember, the power of selection tools extends beyond mere precision; it's a gateway to unleashing your creativity. Whether coloring, transforming objects, or applying nuanced effects, the possibilities are endless. Keep experimenting, refining, and most importantly, enjoy the artistic journey! 🎨✨

Until next time! ✨✨✨