【Easy Tutorial】How to draw the moon

In this tutorial, I will be making the “moon”.

You can use it as an additional detail for a fantasy background or a character illustration so I hope you stay with me until the very end.

 

Create the shape using the Fill Tool

Let’s start right away.

First, paint over the sky with a night color.

From the toolbar, choose the Bucket Tool with the bucket icon.

Select a dark blue and paint over the canvas.

Next, I will create the shape of the moon.

Choose the Fill Tool with the square icon.

From the small box at the top of the screen, change the shape to “Ellipse”. 

This is where you can change the shape of the fill.

On the right side of the screen, there is a box with “Constrain Proportions” so add a check to that item.

Now you will be able to create a perfect circle shape, not a regular elliptical shape.

Choose a slightly bright shade of yellow and create a circle in the middle of the canvas.

 

Draw the patterns

I will then draw in the patterns.

I’ve created a new layer with the “Clipping” since I don’t want to paint beyond the boundaries of the moon shape.

Place a new layer on top of the Moon layer and click the “Clipping” item to turn it on.

This will allow you to draw only inside the moon.

Select the Brush tool next.

Change the type of the brush to Watercolor.

To set the mood of the illustration, I drew the clouds roughly.

The patterns of the moon are known to be “a rabbit pounding mochi”.

Some of you might be wondering what it means so I will briefly explain with the illustration below.

The rabbit stands on the left and the mortar is positioned a little below the center.

The rabbit ears extend towards the right and there is barely any pattern on the right side of the moon.

While we recognize the pattern as a rabbit in Japan, other countries see it as “a crab”, “a lady reading a book”, “a lion” etc.

It’s interesting to see how different ways of thinking influence these ideas too. 

Paint the color in the shape of the rabbit.

Choose a shade a little more dull than the base yellow.

Start cleaning the pattern.

Switch the color to a bright yellow and sharpen the pattern.

Keeping in mind the shape of the rabbit, start blurring the border of paint.

At this point, the moon looks flat so mix a bit of dark color to the pattern.

Let’s start drawing the crater. 

The crater is at the bottom of the moon. Choose a brighter color than the base yellow to draw a circle, and add radial lines around it.

Check the balance of the moon and increase the number of radial lines.

I also drew smaller craters around the bottom left of the moon too.

I blended the color of the crater as well.

Add a couple white patterns around the moon using the Watercolor brush.

Lastly, trace the circular outline of the moon using a bright yellow.

By drawing this edge, you can emphasize the brightness of the moon.

The pattern of the moon is now complete.

The tip here is to paint the base with a yellow color that is one shade darker than the color you imagine.

The moon will look very realistic if you can still see the difference between the base yellow color and the shades used for drawing craters/patterns.

 

Draw the sky and the clouds

Move on to drawing the surrounding areas.

Paint the sky around the moon with a slightly brighter shade of blue.

You can upgrade the illustration by making it look as if there is an aura leaving the moon.

Then I cleaned the shape of the clouds.

I will portray the moonlight reaching far by outlining the clouds with a bright yellow.

Blend the borderline of colors.

Emphasize the brightness of the moon by adding shadows to the clouds.

I used a dark gray shade here.

Blend these colors as well.

Trace the clouds with a soft touch until you can no longer see the borderline of colors.

Once the shape of the clouds have been cleaned up, the making is complete.

The moon of course creates a very beautiful background by itself but it stands out even more when you create dynamics by placing uneven clouds around the perfect circle.

I didn’t use any difficult techniques here so I think beginners will be able to do the same too!

For example, this illustration generates a story when it is used as a background for the character like this.

I hope this tutorial becomes useful for those of you who struggle with background designs or for anyone looking for details to add in their character illustration!

I’m sure you will be able to create a game changing illustration!

 

Thank you for reading my tutorial.

 

（Text・Illustration／荒金ひろみ）