In this tutorial, learn how to implement the Layer Property’s “Border Effect” and “Overlay Texture” tools into your illustrations!

Intro

Hello, all! My name is Dreamer! Welcome!

 

In this month’s tutorial, I will be teaching you how to apply both the “Border Effect” and “Overlay Texture” tools found in Clip Studio’s “Layer Property” palette to create interesting effects to your illustrations! When used, these layer properties can create fun and interesting pops to your art that I would love to share with you!

 

 

(Friendly advice): with the textures we will be implementing, I would advise that you do your illustrations beforehand. Because the textures I will be using add a depth of value to the artwork, if you were to try and color pick, the color you pick up may not be the same as the color you originally placed down. Of course, if you are going for a look that incorporates many different values of the same color into your artwork, disregard this advice and go for it! :D

 

 

Now, without further ado, let’s get started!

Border Effects

A Brief Explanation

In this part of the tutorial, I will be explaining the “Border Effect” tool! If you’d rather learn about the “Overlay Texture” tool, feel free to skip this bit! :)

 

So basically, when applied, the “Border Effect” tool adds… well…? Just as its name implies! A borderline is added to your art! :)

I will be showing you how to create this effect on your drawing!

Example Time!

In this illustration, I have drawn one of my OCs with stickers on her face. But the stickers don’t look the way I want them to… I want them to stick out (no pun intended) from her face. That’s where the “Border Effect” comes into play!

First thing’s first, we’re gonna open the Layer Property palette. That’s where we’ll find the effect we’re looking for! The Layer Property palette looks like the image below! After that, we’re gonna select the “Border Effect” tool for the stickers! Make sure you have the layer of what you want to have a border selected! Otherwise, you may apply it to the wrong thing! :)

With the “Border Effect” tool selected, it should’ve automatically applied a default border to your drawing for you to change around! Options should also show up for what kind of border you’d like (edge or watercolor edge), how thick you’d want it to be, and what color you’d like it to be! I decided to make the color of the border a pure white, since they’re unnatural. Since they’re stickers, I wanted the border to be relatively thick, so I increased the size.

 

But if you liked the default border, don’t worry about all that! Leave it as is! :)

After that, add a little bit of shading and highlights to fit the environment and a few more finishing touches, and you’re done! Great work!

Overlay Textures

A Brief Explanation

Next on the list is the “Overlay Texture” tool! When applied, it makes whatever image material you’ve dragged onto the canvas show its texture on the illustration!

I will show you how to apply textures into your drawings to get a material look you want, or to make the art look traditional—as if it were drawn on paper!

Let’s get started!

Example 1! Traditional Art Looks!

Now, then! The first example I am going to show you is how to achieve a traditional look on your illustration when it is finished! If you don’t want a traditional look, feel free to skip down to the next one! :)

 

Here I have some watercolor illustrations. I love how it looks, but something is missing... I want the piece to have a sort of natural look… like I did it on watercolor paper.

Well, that’s when the layer property comes into play! We are going to use the “Overlay Texture” tool under the “Layer Property” palette to incorporate a paper feel into this illustration!

 

First, we’re going to select the image material we want the illustration to have and drag it onto the canvas! You’re going to want to open the “Material” palette first, then go to the “Monochromatic Pattern” category.

 

Underneath that category, you should see the “Texture” subcategory. When you click on that, a bunch of textures are going to show up for you to scroll through!

I want a texture that resembles the bumpy surface of watercolor paper, so I’m going to select the “rough paper” one! You could also select the “medium textured”, “fine textured”, or “rough textured” ones, if wanted!

 

Once you’ve figured out the texture you want, click and drag it onto your canvas, then let go of the mouse! The texture should now be on your canvas!

Don’t freak out that it’s covered your drawing!! It’s going to be okay—hang in there!

 

Change the blend mode of your texture’s layer from “Normal” to “Overlay!”

 

(At times you may not have to change the blend mode of your layer to “overlay,” because it will already do that when you select “Overlay Texture.” But in this case, I had to select “Overlay” because the hue of the texture was still noticeable when applied. It depends on the situation! I just like to do it to be doubly certain -w-)

Next, we’re going to go to the layer property palette and select “Overlay Texture!” Once you select that, if you like how it looks, then you’re good! If not, then under the “Strength” subcategory, change the strength of the texture to what you like! I wanted the texture to come through a bit more, so I dialed my up from the default 30 to 45!

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

Example 2! Materials!

This next example is going to be how to use the “Overlay Texture” tool to incorporate specific textures you want into certain aspects of your drawing!

 

Again, I would advise you to do this bit after you’ve made the illustration, because the textures will cause different value shifts in your colors. But if you want to incorporate that style when you color pick from your illustrations, then by all means—go ahead! Whatever works for you! :)

 

So, for this illustration, I want to create the look of sand, but I don’t want to go through the hassle of drawing a bunch of bumps and grooves to get that look across. This is where “Overlay Texture” comes into play! Here we go—let's do it!!

If you read the last example (if not, please refer to the screenshots in that section), it’s the same as that; we’re gonna go to the “Material” palette, go to the “Monochromatic Pattern” category, select the “Texture” subcategory, and pick the texture you want! Since I want the grainy texture of sand, I’m gonna select the “fine textured” one!

 

Next, just like last time, you’re gonna click and drag the image material you chose onto the canvas, and it should appear! Again, don’t freak out if it covers your drawing! When we select the “Overlay Texture” tool, it will dial it back to where it doesn’t do that! Hang in there!

 

Change the blend mode of the texture layer from “Normal” to “Overlay”! That will knock out the black and white colors and keep the texture!

 

Next, go to the “Layer Property” palette and select the “Overlay Texture” tool! If you like the default strength of 30, keep it that way! If you want the texture to pop a bit more, then turn up the strength of the texture under the “Strength” subcategory!

 

If you want to make doubly sure the texture is only clipped on to the sand, you can move the texture layer to just above the sand layer, then apply the clipping mask!

After that and a few more finishing touches, you’ve got yourself some sand! Yay!! Good job!

Final Example--Mashing it All Together!

Now, then! Let’s use all the tips we learned in the last two sections and plug it into one big drawing!

 

Here is an illustration of my OC. I like how it looks, but I want a sort of thin outline to be on the wood part of the door, and I want a sort of cloth-like material to be shown in the windows, as well as a woody texture on the doorframe itself.

Let’s use our newly discovered skills in the “Border Effect” and “Overlay Texture” tools to apply those!

First thing’s first, the door outline! This is the best time for me to show you the “watercolor edge” option the “Border Effect” tool has to offer. When selected, it will create an outline for your drawing, but you won’t be able to change the color of the outline—just the thickness (area), how faint it is (opacity), the darkness of the outline, and the blurring width! Since I want the outline to just be a darker color than the wood, this is the perfect option!

So, making sure the layer I want the outline in is selected, I’m gonna select the “watercolor edge” option for the outline! I want it to be a little bit noticeable, but not too much, so I will adjust the area and darkness of the outline accordingly. I don’t really care about anything else, so I will leave them as is!

 

And so, the border part of the door is done! Now, for the wood and windows!

For the wood, I’m going to select the “Wood” texture under the “Material” palette and click and drag it onto the canvas! I only want it to be on the door, so I’m gonna select the clipping mask for that layer to be on! Next, I’m going to change the blend mode of that layer to “Overlay,” and with that, I’m going to open up the “Overlay Texture” tool to adjust the strength of the wood texture to my liking!

Then, for the window section, I’m going to (strangely enough) select the “Kimono 02” texture under the “Material” palette and drag it onto the canvas as well! Since I only want the texture to be on the window area, I made sure to drag the texture layer under the other layers until it was on top of the window one! Otherwise, the texture will be on top of everything in the illustration!

 

After that, if you wanna make doubly sure, you can clip the texture to the desired layer!

 

Now, we’re gonna switch the blend mode of the layer to “Overlay,” and then use the “Overlay Texture” tool under the “Layer Property” palette to either tone up or down the strength of the texture! I want it to be a little bit more noticeable, since the sun is shining on it, so I dialed it up from 30 to 154!

 

I used the tone curve layer to adjust some colors and values.

And with that, the illustration is complete! Good job!!

Outro

Congratulations! You’ve seen ways you can apply the “Border Effect” and “Overlay Texture” layer properties to your illustrations! I’m so proud of you!

 

Experiment with methods on how you can use these properties in your illustrations, and feel free to read and watch other tutorials on how to use them! Just be sure to credit the people you’ve learned from—shout out to all the ones I’ve studied!

 

Until next time, I wish you all the best!