Clip Studio Paint Mirror Drawing

I just love to draw portraits and for that reason, I wanted to show you one of the fastest ways to draw those. Not every art softwhashave this feature but then again, Clip Studio Paint does have. So here is my short introduction to the "maybe" coolest clip studio paint feature I know.

Symmetrical Ruler in Highlight

I have always loved to draw portraits, there is just something nice about them. Character facing straight to you. Watching you or even if they have eyes closed they are still exciting. Portraits are just so much fun. I have been using this feature quite a lot. Mainly because it is so productive and fast to use. You also get so much to the canvas at so fast pace, which is always nice when you are just wanting to fill the canvas quickly. Feature what I am talking about is, of course, the Symmetrical Ruler (U).

Clip Studio Paint Pro has Perspective Ruler also but that is not the one I will be covering this time. In this post, I will concentrate on the "basic" ruler. I will go through shortly the other options but will be concentrating on the Symmetrical on this post.

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Ruler_Image

Linear Ruler

You can draw a straight line but also bend it with the 'Operation' (white cube-like object) tool. Extremely useful when drawing long lines, like hair.

Curve Ruler

You can create "closed" ones, for example, if you want to draw a triangle or bubble of the sort. This tool would be nice for that. Yet again you can transform the shape afterward with the 'Operation' tool. You can also delete the line with the Operation tool.

Figure Ruler

Create ovals, spheres, cubes, and objects with a "pre-defined" shape.

Ruler Pen

Draw a line with your pen and transform it using the 'Operation' tool.

Special Ruler

Generates a line so that when you draw to the canvas the pen follows the ruler's line. If you draw multiple lines, the most recent one is active. You can switch to another line yet again with 'Operation' tool.

Guide

You can create guides similar to Adobe Photoshop. Just drag the mouse or pen to determine which way to insert the guide. You can modify the line placement with the 'Operation' tool. When drawing on top of the line, the brush or pen follows the line but everything outside the line is free to draw the way you want.

Perspective Ruler

Too significant to be covered here 🙂

Symmetrical Ruler

The coolest feature I know (so far):

Drawing with the ruler

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When drawing portraits I use the settings shown in the picture. To use this ruler, just open a new canvas: File – New (CTRL + N). I usually draw at the A3 size (297 x 420 mm). When you have selected the ruler just go your blank canvas and click left mouse button (or just put the digital pen to your drawing tablet) and drag from up to bottom while holding the SHIFT key. This way you get a straight line.

When you have the ruler line in place, pick a brush and start drawing. However what I have noticed in my setup is that you have to drag the ruler in your drawing tablet and draw in the drawing tablet the first time to activate the ruler correctly. I have Wacom Cintiq 12WX drawing tablet and a separate monitor. If I use the ruler in the monitor and then start drawing in the tablet, the ruler doesn't work. So I draw the line on the tablet and start drawing. After the "activation" you can draw in the monitor view or in the tablet view, doesn't matter. With this setup, everything you draw will mirror to the other side of the line.

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When you change the Ruler setting to Show in All Layers, you can draw at any layer and still it follows the ruler. When you have the Show Only When Editing Target, the ruler is only active in the layer you are currently working on.

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I have yet to truly drawn anything else than portraits with this function but you can also draw awesome mandalas by increasing the 'number of lines' setting. Do experiment and try different settings. I truly think this feature is one of the best or even essential for portraits.

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That's all for the symmetrical ruler. I might do a follow-up post about this feature but we'll see. Do leave a comment if you have had the time to try the feature. It would be awesome to see what you have drawn with the ruler. If you have questions or anything, just post it in the comments section. I try my best to answer them.