【High-Quality Live2D Guide for Beginners】 What I Keep in Mind While Colouring Character Illustrations and separating them into parts. (Patreon)

Hello, everyone! This is Kanbutsu Himono. 😊

As mentioned in my previous article where I shared the PSD file ↓

https://www.patreon.com/posts/psd-file-release-114937444?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

This time, I’ll be sharing the points I kept in mind and the techniques I used while colouring the illustration of Nekomaguro Nyan-chan and separating this illustration into parts.

Although this might lean more toward an illustration guide rather than a Live2D specific tutorial, I believe there are some riggers who draw illusration among supporters reading this.

 If this helps even just a little, I’ll be happy!

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Changes and Adjustments Made from the Rough Sketch

1. Skirt Length

While working on the rough sketch, I had feelings the skirt length might not flatter the legs and would make shadow placement difficult. As expected, it was a struggle, so I shortened the skirt slightly. I also made major adjustments to the way I shaded it.

2. Overall Body Balance

While I didn’t notice any issues during the rough sketch stage, the further I progressed with coloring, the more I felt something was off about the body balance.

The problem was that the body had a slight upward perspective (as seen from below), but the head was in a downward perspective (as seen from above). This created a mismatch in eye levels between the head and body, causing inconsistencies.

To fix it, I enlarged the hands, reduced the size of the feet, and slightly transformed the entire layer into an inverted trapezoid.

(Like this!)This is quite a brute-force fix, haha, so please don’t copy this approach,smart you!

Ideally, you should address such issues by reviewing the structure from the ground up. That said, I think the results are much improved.

3. Sleeve Orientation(front and back)

This is easier to understand when compared side by side. I changed the sleeve orientation from “facing forward” to “facing backward.”

Nyanchan’s arms curve outward,

 but if you mimic her pose with the sleeves facing forward, your arms will likely look like this from the side...

 It feels unnatural, doesn’t it?lol

The pose I wanted was like that, more like a princess preparing to bow.

When Nyanchan takes the pose,the upper arms should move backward.

I realised this after the fact and hurriedly adjusted the sleeves.

4. Facial Details

I added flower-shaped highlights to the eyes and heart-shaped highlights to the cheeks. I think it turned out super cute!

Challenges I Faced

1. Knees

As mentioned earlier, the skirt length made shading particularly tricky.

If you look at the data, you’ll notice that also Nyanchan’s thighs are fully drawn to ensure the body balance is clear (Ara ara,kind of ecchi).

However, since most of the thighs are hidden by the skirt, I really struggled with how to portray the texture of the knees and calves.

When I tried adding detailed shading to make the legs look nice, it clashed with the simpler shading of the upper body, throwing off the balance. After much trial and error, I settled on the current shading.

2. Color Palette

I tend to rely heavily on blending modes like overlay, addition, and multiplication when coloring, so my works often end up looking quite different from the flat-colored rough sketch.

If I’m not careful, the colors can become overly vivid or saturated. However, recent trends lean toward lower-saturation, matte textures, so I was stuck between trying to follow the trend and sticking to my usual style,I've lost my track a little bit.(・ω<)

In the end, I managed to incorporate a bit of the trendy matte feel while maintaining my style—or at least I hope I did. I want to believe so!

Looking back, I realize there weren’t actually that many challenges. This was thanks to the simple design I created from the start to make it easier to animate(rigg), as well as the effort I put into the rough sketch stage.Despite this, it still took me so much time simply because the tediousness of the process got the better of me. Live2D illustrations are incredibly time-consuming—it’s exhausting! 😭When I worked on the Himono-chan model, I kept my motivation up by alternating between drawing and Live2D rigging, even before the artwork was fully complete. However, since this was a tutorial model, I couldn’t do that this time.I have nothing but immense respect for illustrators who everytime create such complex and detailed works.This experience has deepened my gratitude and appreciation for all illustrators even more. 🙇‍♀️

Personal Tips and Time-Saving Techniques

1. Use Symmetry Ruler for Symmetrical Parts

Photoshop has a powerful symmetry mode that centers perfectly on the canvas with a single click. I use this for symmetrical parts, from linework to coloring.

During the coloring data stage, I don’t split the layers for the left and right sides until later.

 As mentioned this article,

https://www.patreon.com/posts/part-1-of-course-110750622?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Setting the light source above the character helps maintain consistent shading even with symmetrical designs. For areas where asymmetrical shading is necessary, I first work with the symmetry ruler enabled, then turn it off for touch-ups.

 (↑The edge of the skirt has a slightly different colour. The colour is added later on the left side only by overlay) 

2. Copy and Refine Shadows from the Rough Sketch

For Nyanchan’s illustration, I had already separated shadows and highlights by color in the rough stage.

During coloring, I simply copied these layers and refined their shapes.

(↑ The state of the flat-colored)

 (↑Copy and paste rough layers)

(↑Refine the shadow)

This allows me to retain the subtle textures from the rough stage while speeding up the coloring process. However, this approach requires some effort during the rough stage to include detailed shading. I think it’s particularly useful for those who color as they separate layers, like me.

That’s it for my personal tips and time-saving tricks! It’s not much… (´;ω;｀)

The truth is, there was a significant gap between finishing the coloring and writing this article, so I ended up forgetting most of the things I was thinking about while coloring. I should have kept some real-time notes, even just as bullet points!

If you have any questions like, “How did you color this part?” or “How do you separate these layers?” please feel free to ask in the comments! I’ll make sure to address them in future posts.

By the way, I recorded the entire process—from rough sketch to coloring. These recordings will be uploaded as exclusive content for YouTube members.

Cmo3 files → Available on FANBOX

Full process videos → Available on YouTube Membership

If you’re subscribed to both platforms, I hope you’ll find both types of content helpful! Of course, I’ll make sure that each article or video is crafted to stand on its own, so even if you’re only subscribed to one, you won’t miss out.

That’s all for now—thank you for reading! 😊