Hello! My name is Liz Staley and I’m a long-time user of Clip Studio Paint (I started using the program back when it was known as Manga Studio 4!). I was a beta-tester on the Manga Studio 5 program and for Clip Studio Paint, and I have written three books and several video courses about the program. Many of you probably know my name from those books, in fact. I write weekly posts on Graphixly.com and on CSP Tips, so be sure to come back every week to learn more Clip Studio Tips and Tricks from me!

While trying to recover from a cold this week, I was sketching on my iPad and realized just how easy it is to add a head model for a quick angle and lighting reference! If you don’t know about this awesome feature of CSP, read on to find out more!

In this article we will cover the following topics:

Setting Up a Head Model

Sketching With the Model

Let’s get started!

Setting Up a Head Model

For these screenshots I will be using Simple Mode on the iPad, your screen setup may be different depending on your device!

After opening CSP in Simple Mode, tap on the Materials icon in the upper right corner of the screen, shown in the red box below. 

Tap on “Head Model”, then select one of the head models from the list. There are different types of heads with different proportions, such as anime, realistic, etc. This choice doesn’t matter much because you can choose a different preset even after you add the head model, as you will see in the next few steps!

Once you choose an option from the Head Model category, the model will be pasted to your open canvas. The settings window will also be open, allowing us to make adjustments so we get a perfect reference for our drawing. 

If you’ve decided that you want a different default head model, tap on the “Change head model” option.

Choose another default model from the list and the current model on the canvas will be updated to the new selection. 

Once you are happy with the general look of the head, you can also adjust the features. Tap on “Adjust Features” to open the features settings. At the top of this window are icons for different groups of settings, which are for eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, neck, and overall head settings. Tap on the icon of the category you want to adjust.

For instance, shown below are the Eye category settings. 

Height: Change the height of the eyes relative to the head (up or down on the head)

Rotation: Adjust the rotation of the eyes.

Size (W): Make the eyes larger or smaller width-wise.

Size (H): Make the height of the eyes larger or smaller.

Shape: Change the shape between slanted and drooped eyes. 

Most of the individual features have similar settings, allowing for nearly infinite customization of each head model to make the perfect reference for your character whatever your style is. 

The final category is how you can adjust the rotation and side tilt of the head model relative to the neck so you can add movement and character to the pose as well. 

Once you’ve adjusted the features and tap the back button, tap on the Camera Details options. Here you can set the perspective to do a fish-eye lens or extreme foreshortening.

Tap on “Apply angle preset” to choose a preset for the camera. This is a fast and easy way to get a variety of very common angles to draw from. You can further position the camera by dragging on the canvas to rotate around the model, or pinch with two fingers to zoom the camera. 

At the left side of the screen are options to change the lighting on your model. Tap the Light icon (the one that looks like a sun). The slider controls the intensity of the lighting so you can make it look like your character is in a very dark place or standing in a harsh spotlight.

The control at the bottom left that looks like a 3D arrow changes the angle of the light source. Tap and drag it around to adjust the light. I love this because I often use the same lighting angle all the time, but this makes it so easy to have a good lighting reference without having to leave CSP and find a reference!

Using the Model as a Drawing Reference

Now that the model is the way we want it, it’s time to draw! I like to lower the opacity of the 3D model layer before I start drawing so that I can see my lines easily. 

Using your favorite drawing tools, now you can draw on a new layer directly over the 3D model.

Conclusion

Whether you’re just starting on your artistic journey or just need reference for the trickier angles, head model references are an invaluable part of the CSP workflow!

For more information on CLIP Studio Paint, please visit https://www.clipstudio.net/en or https://graphixly.com