How to turn a photo into a digital painting

Hey! I’m Lily, today I want to share with you how to turn a photo into a painting using the blur tools you can find in Clip Studio Paint. Hope they help you, so stay here and let’s do it!

The first step is to import from File Object the image you want to work with. First, we will fix its size in the corner of the canvas to use as a reference, and create a special layer to extract the color palette from it.

To do this, we will use an eyedropper, with which you will take every color you see fit, do not limit yourself to a small spectrum, but remember that later, by blurring, you can get the desired mixtures.

The grid is a technique I use to keep the aspect ratio of the image; it is that I draw lines to separate the image and find shapes such as circles, squares and triangles, which helps to define areas, and then transfer them to the canvas and place them correctly.

For complete readiness, you need to choose working tools, use paper in accordance with the chosen technique or material to give a slightly more realistic effect. Try not to use more than two or three brushes per area, numbering and choosing them in advance makes the process easier.

For coloring, I use the eyedropper to select the color that we need to transfer to the corresponding area, with the help of the selected brush we will place each color taking into account the light and shadow, without overloading the space, since you can add color later if necessary.

In this case I am using watercolor brushes, so the tempera mixer will be very useful for blurring the material. Regardless of the technique, when blurring, always follow the shape of the object, paint with long strokes if the area requires it, and in places where the color is concentrated, like in the shadows, use short strokes and even small strokes so as not to get an unwanted effect on the volume.

To finish off the basic coloring, it’s time to add texture to our painting, use brushes that mimic the characteristics of your image, use the selection tool to select the area you are going to apply color to. I will use brush # 5, use the eyedropper to select a base color, increase its tone and add color with small strokes.

For the central part of the flower, I will repeat the previous process, this time I will apply the color with a running watercolor brush, the eyedropper will help me transfer the colors and then blur them with the tempera mixer.

To complete the second color layer, I use the color mixer in the blending tools section.

Unlike the petals, which appear more purple, the center looks brighter and smoother, for this effect I use brush # 8 from the list of tools, the ink is quite thin, so I only use three shades in the outer areas and using the wet blend tool I’ll start blurring by first connecting the ink to the base color and then dragging it towards the center in separate lines.

The trick is to respect the shape and use tools that complement each other, depending on the type of paint - this is the blender you should use: dry-dry, wet-in-liquid, you can get the most out of them when they work together…

The marquee tool will allow you not to leave the edges, if this happens due to the nature of the brush, you can invert the selection and thus erase what is left without affecting the previous one.

Finally, I will use the # 7 brush to texture the pistil of the flower, and add details such as the outline and paint droplets around it.

That’s all! Hope this was helpful, you can visit my YouTube channel: Journal Lily if you want to take a look at the video tutorial to get these tips in a little more detail. Remember, don’t give up and always try! See you…