Hello, Stelamoris here. In this tutorial I will be showing how to create another holiday card in Clip Studio Paint while using some materials from Clip Studio Asset.

About this Holiday Card

This card will be Christmas themed and Landscape oriented. The color scheme will consist of mainly Red and Green with hints of Yellow/Gold. The background will have a blurred dark border along with some glitter. The words ‘ Have A Very Merry Christmas And A Cheerful New Year’ will be aligned to the right while a set of hanging Christmas Balls will be aligned to the left.

 

The Border

Open Clip Studio Paint and create a new canvas. I set my canvas to 800 pixels wide and 530 pixels high at a resolution of 350 dpi. It is good practice to save your work after you have created it.

On the ‘blank layer’ that was created along with a Paper Layer when you created the canvas, select the color you want your background to be from the Color Wheel and use the Fill Tool to fill the canvas with it.

 

Create a new layer above this one by going to Layer> New Raster Layer or by clicking the New Raster Layer icon in the Layer Palette. Select a dark color or the color Black from the Color Wheel.

Then go to Select> Select All to create a selection around the canvas. With everything selected, go to Edit> Outline Selection. When the Dialogue box comes up, check ‘Draw inside’ and ‘Draw on canvas edge’ then enter a line width. Press ‘OK’.

 

To deselect everything, go to Select> Deselect or press Ctrl+D.

 

To blur the border, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Set the strength then press ‘OK’. You can make your blurred border darker by duplicating the layer a couple of times, or setting the Blending Mode to Multiply if you feel it is too pale.

 

The Christmas Balls

We will be creating four Christmas Balls with different decorations and they will be hanging from strings of different kinds. For each ball, create a new layer.On each layer, using the G-Pen, create a circle. The circles may be of different colors, sizes and overlap with other balls. Now, Lock Transparent Pixels on all these four layers.

 

Click on a layer that has a ball on it from the Layer Palette. Choose a dark color from the Color Wheel and apply shadows around the edges of the ball using the Tone Scraping Airbrush. Make sure the Particle size is small enough to pass as glitter. Then, using the same brush, apply a lighter and more saturated color to the center of the ball. This color would be found to the top right of the Color Wheel.

 

Afterwards, select the Decoration Tool and select the Glitter brush that is found in the Effect category. Using the same color, apply glitter to a small spot in the center of the ball. Ensure the particle size of the Glitter brush is close to that of the Tone Scraping brush previously used. Also, add ambient light to the edges of the ball using the Glitter brush with a color from the surrounding. My background is green so I used the color Green. And finally, select a Sparkle Brush from the Effect Category of the Decoration tool and add sparkles to the center/ most reflective part of the ball using the color White.

 

Time to do another ball. Select a different layer that has a ball on it. Select a dark color and add shadows around the ball using the Airbrush. Then, create a new layer above this one and clip this new layer to the layer below it with the ball. Set the Blending Mode of this layer to Color then paint on some stripes using any color of your choice with the G-Pen.

 

Above this layer, create another layer and set its Blending Mode to Vivid Light.Then click on the layer that has the ball on it from the Layer Palette then go to Layer>Selection from layer>Create Selection. When a selection is created around the ball go back to the layer that has its Blending Mode set to Vivid Light. With a light color selected, apply highlights to the ball using the Airbrush. Deselect the ball by clicking the Deselect icon from the small bar of icon below the selection itself or go to Select>Deselect.

 

You guest it. Now it's time to do another Christmas ball. But this ball will have a pattern on it.Select another layer that has a ball on it from the Layer Palette. Using the Airbrush, add shadows and highlights to the ball.

Above this layer, create a new Layer. Select the color that you want your pattern to be from the Color Wheel. I chose the color Red. Now choose a Decoration brush with a pattern you like. You can even download more decorative brushes from Clip Studio Asset. The link to the brush that I am using is below.

 

Using a reasonable brush size, apply the brush pattern to the size of the canvas until you have enough to fully cover the ball. Then, select the Lasso Selection Tool and select one of the brush particles from the set you have created. Select the ‘Scale/Rotate’ icon from the bar of icons below the selection itself. Now, move the particle to the ball. You may rotate the particle however you feel. Then, press the OK option when you are satisfied with the transformation. To deselect, simply press the ‘Deselect’ icon from the bar of icons below the selection.

 

Repeat this process until your ball is completely covered with the brush pattern.

 

Then, clip this layer with the brush pattern on it to the layer below with the ball. Also, Lock Transparent Pixels on this layer. Now, use a dark color to add patches of shadow and a light color to add patches of highlights to the pattern using the Airbrush set to a small brush size.

 

And finally, it’s time to do the last Christmas ball. Click on the layer with the last ball from the Layer Palette. For this ball we are just going to add shadows and highlights. So select the Airbrush and apply shadows using a darker color and apply highlights using a lighter color from that of the ball.

 

The Strings and Attachment

Create a new layer and select the color you want the ball attachment to be from the Color Wheel. Then select the Figure Tool and choose the Rectangle Tool. In its Tool Property Palette, set the ‘Line/Fill’ option to ‘Fill’ and uncheck the ‘Aspect Type’ checkbox. Now draw a small rectangle only above one of the balls. With the Figure Tool still selected, select the Eclipse Tool. In its Tool Property Palette, set the ‘Line/Fill’ option to ‘Line’ and check the ‘Aspect Type’ checkbox. Now draw a circle above the rectangle. Lock Transparent Pixels on this layer then paint in sharp shadows and highlights using the G-Pen. Finally, duplicate this layer three more times by going to Layer>Duplicate Layer. Use the Move Tool to position each attachment above their ball.

 

For the strings, they will be done using chain brushes. If you want more dynamic chain brushes than the ones you already have, there are many already available on Clip Studio Asset for you to download.

 

The link to the additional chain brush that I downloaded is below.

 

So, like always, create a new layer. Then go to the Decoration Tool and select a chain brush that is normally found in the Clothing category. Then position your cursor so that it is inline with the attachment but below it. Click on the canvas and let go. Then position the cursor above and outside of the canvas and hold down the Shift key. When the guide for the line is straight, click and let go. Use the Eraser Tool to erase the excess chain or the Move Tool to move it to a better position. Repeat this for the other balls while using different decoration brushes and the colors you want. If you want to change the color of your chain, for example the chain drawn using the pearl brush, create a new layer and clip it to it. Set its Blending Mode to Color or Multiply then color on the color you want the chain to be.

 

The Words

To add the words to your card, select the Text Tool and click on the canvas. A new Text Layer will automatically be created in the Layer Palette. Go to the Tool Property Palette and set the specifications for your text, namely the Font, Size, Style and Justify options. After you’ve specify what you want for each, type your words on the canvas and place some words on different lines by pressing ‘Enter’. When you are done typing, press the ‘Tick’ below it.

 

To add shine to your text, create a new layer above this text layer and clip it to it. Using the Airbrush and a lighter color, add highlights to your text.

 

Finally, use the Glitter Brush, with Particle Density set to low, and add some glitter around edges of the card. Then use the Sparkle brush to add sparkles and you are done

 

Thank you for reading my tutorial and I hope it was helpful to you in some way. Bye.

 

Check out my comic on Webtoon Canvas, he he.