Blog.SpoonGraphicsCreate a Cool Vector Panda Character in Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is my favourite tool for creating fun and cute character designs. With just a few simpleshapes, a mix of gradient colours and a few shadows here and there you can build some great lookingillustrations. Here’s a step by step walkthrough of the process used to create a cool Panda character, fromthe basic outlines through to the detailed final design.

The character we’ll be building today started out as a mockup of a series of random shapes quickly puttogether in Illustrator. This provides the foundation upon which multiple gradients and colours can be overlaidto build up a recognisable character. Then, when everything is coming together and looking how it should, afew extra touches in the form of shadows can really help add that extra level of depth and realism. Here’show it’s all done from the very start…

Open up Adobe Illustrator and create a new document. Draw a circle onto the artboard, then drag thetopmost point downwards with the Direct Selection Tool to squash the circle slightly.

Draw another circle, this time a little smaller to represent the nose. Drag the topmost point of this circle toalso squash the circle into an irregular shape.

Add a couple of perfectly round circles to flesh out the muzzle area, ensuring they meet in the centre.

A range of circles can build up the eye area. Draw a large overall circle, then copy (CMD+C) and paste inplace (CMD+F), then scale downwards while holding Shift and Alt. Use a circle for the outline of the eye, thepupil, then a couple of smaller highlights.

Use more circles to build an ear, using the shortcut CMD+Shift+[ to send the circles to the back of the stack.Copy the ear and eye, reflect (Object > Transform > Reflect) and position on the opposite side.

The main body of the Panda originates from a large rounded rectangle. Press the upwards cursor keyrepeatedly to maximise the corner radius.

We don’t want the rounded corner on the lower portion, so draw a temporary shape to use along with theMinus Front option from the pathfinder tool.

Use the Pen Tool to then add an extra point in the centre of the lower edge. Then drag this point downwardswhile holding CMD with the Pen tool (this temporarily switches to the Direct Selection Tool).

Hold the Alt key, then drag outwards from the point. This will create bezier handles that will allow you totweak the curvature of the bottom edge.

Draw a small circle elsewhere on the artboard, then position a temporary rectangle covering half the shape.Use the Minus Front option from the Pathfinder palette to cut away the shape.

Position the two semi-circles as feet, then draw the outline of the legs with rough clicks of the Pen tool. Matchup the top corners with the edges of the body, then press CMD+Shift+[ to send to back.

Paste in another copy of the semi-circle, but this time rotate it by 180 degrees and scale it up slightly for useas a paw.

Use the Pen tool to roughly draw the rest of the arm. Drag the bezier curves to add a flowing curved edge.

Duplicate the arm, reflect then position it on the opposite side. Send this arm to the back so it creeps out frombehind the body.

With the outlines complete, it’s time to add some colour. Clear the stroke from the head, then replace the fillwith a white to grey gradient. Adjust the settings to Radial and bring the white slider close to the grey tomaximise the amount of white. Use the Gradient tool to drag, squash and position the gradient accurately overthe head to give the desired colouring.

Continue replacing the fill of all the individual elements with gradients. Any black areas should use a dark greyto black gradient and the angles adjusted as necessary with the Gradient tool.

The two circles that make up the muzzle can be adjusted so that a gradient flows to grey to transparency togive a subtle effect. Adjust the angles so that the gradient starts from the centre then flows outwards.

Draw in a few extra details such as a few circles to represent whiskers. Position them on each side of themuzzle with a mid-grey fill.

Duplicate a circle from the muzzle and nudge inwards slightly. Paste in another copy of the circle and use thisas a tool along with the pathfinder to cut away the excess. This leaves a thin crescent that can be filled with adark grey to emphasise the mouth.

Position a copy of the crescent on the opposite side, and finish off the facial area with a couple of blackcircles to represent the nostrils.

Add a similar white to grey gradient to the body, adjusting the angles as necessary. Also add an Inner Glow(Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow) of grey to extend the shading around the edges of the body, so that theoutlines stays prominent.

A simple circle with a soft and subtle grey to transparent gradient can quickly create a chest area for thePanda.

Fill all the limbs with the black to dark grey gradient, adjusting the angles so that the gradients flow vertically.

All the colour is now in place and the character is recognisable, but there’s some finishing touches that canreally help the design stand out. Add a soft Drop Shadow (Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow) to the outline ofthe eyes and the nose. Use subtle settings of 30% opacity, 0 offset and 1mm blur.

Duplicate the outline of the head and squash slightly. Fill it with black then add a Gaussian Blur (Effect > Blur> Gaussian Blur) with settings of around 30 pixels.

Press CMD+[ repeatedly until the black object appears under the head, but above the body. Reduce theTransparency right down to 10% to create a subtle shadow.

Repeat the process with the arm and hand graphics. Merge the two shapes with the Pathfinder tool, fill withpure black, add a Gaussian blur, adjust the stacking order then reduce the opacity.

These little shading techniques really help add depth to the character, allowing certain elements to jump fromthe screen.

Use the Pen Tool to draw a rough branch shape from the Panda’s paw.

Fill the branch with a green gradient, then add ribs along its length with rough shapes with the Pen Tool.

Continuing with the Pen Tool, draw some curved shapes to represent a few leaves. Click and drag the firstpoint, followed by a single click at the tip. Click the point once again to reset the curves, then complete thepath back at the start.

Copy the whole branch of bamboo, merge together, fill with black, add the Gaussian Blur then position it as ashadow across the Panda’s body.

(http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/panda/vector-panda-character-lg.jpg)

A simple radial gradient in the background soon renders our cool little Panda character complete! Whatstarted off as a few basic shapes is now a full-on character complete with variations of shade and tone.

Download the source file (http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/login)

Written by Chris Spooner

Chris Spooner is a designer who has a love for creativity and enjoys experimenting with various techniques inboth print and web. Follow Chris' daily design links on Twitter (http://twitter.com/chrisspooner) , and be sure tocheck out his second blog over at Line25.com (http://line25.com) .

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57 Comments

Julien L says:March 22, 2010 at 8:07 am

Nice tut’! Really cute character.

Callum Chapman says:March 22, 2010 at 8:17 am

Excellent outcome Chris, bookmarked for future round-ups! :) Reminds me a bit of Kung Fu Panda –great movie! :D

Callum Chapman says:March 22, 2010 at 8:18 am

P.S. Not sure if you know this, but when you submit a comment it takes you to a page that doesn’tdisplay and you gotta hit the back button to come back?

Chris Spooner says:March 24, 2010 at 9:19 am

Thanks Callum. It looks like it’s a side effect to the caching plugin. As soon as the cache iscleared it works again. The interval is currently set to 60mins, will try reducing it.

Ben says:March 31, 2010 at 12:53 pm

sorry to be the bearer of bad news but its still doing it (31st march 2010 )

excellent vector tut though – much thnks

Mitch says:March 22, 2010 at 8:49 am

Really nice, thank you Chris :)

Mariel says:March 22, 2010 at 9:23 am

It’s really cool Panda! Bravo! Amazing

as sahar says:March 22, 2010 at 9:38 am

i love it!! thanks!!

Develop says:March 22, 2010 at 12:22 pm

Nice one – going to have a go at adapting this to make a zombie character!Thanks

darryl brocklesby says:March 22, 2010 at 4:10 pm

Thanks for this tutorial I must admit I did enjoy the drawing and the end results for this.

adelmo83 says:March 22, 2010 at 4:32 pm

genial, muy bueno este tutorial, tiene interesantes tips, gracias

Marouen says:March 22, 2010 at 4:32 pm

j’aime bien ce stylemerci pour ce job

Joefrey Mahusay says:March 22, 2010 at 5:47 pm

Great tutorial, I will try this one!

online müzik dinle says:March 22, 2010 at 7:32 pm

good tutorial very nice mascot !

youresorandom says:March 22, 2010 at 8:14 pm

Jealous of your skills!, very neat design!

cssrex says:March 22, 2010 at 8:51 pm

Hey I made it! Very Nice however your Panda’s face a bit different from mine.Thanks

Manuela says:March 23, 2010 at 9:36 am

Wow! I love this tutorial! Thank you so much! :)

vilao says:March 23, 2010 at 3:31 pm

nice tutu!!! good work.thanks

billy says:March 23, 2010 at 9:31 pm

Your panda would make a brilliant mascot…Excellent tut !

Josh says:March 23, 2010 at 11:16 pm

Thanks for this…Very useful!

Artem says:March 24, 2010 at 2:48 am

tanx Chris.. if i had a steady income yer site would be my fist choice as a member site.. im currently astudy in pharmacy wit a hobby in web and graphic desing

Doink @ Designioustimes.com says:March 24, 2010 at 9:22 am

This looks great! Gratz!Can i add a few things ? Give him a facial expression. Keep in mind the real panda behavior: slow,calm, passive. Give him a chillaxed expression :D

Chris Spooner says:March 24, 2010 at 1:46 pm

Thanks for the comments everyone. Glad to hear people are enjoying giving it a go!

Michelle says:March 25, 2010 at 4:43 am

Great post! I love the step-by-step explanation!

Patricia says:March 25, 2010 at 5:55 pm

That panda…has some sass and I like sass. Good Job!

Nick says:

March 25, 2010 at 11:31 pm

Great post. I especially like your use of subtle gradients to add a bit more depth. I always seem tolearn something new from your posts…good stuff

Chamelon Code Ltd says:March 26, 2010 at 3:58 am

MUy Buen Tutorial

Chameleon Code says:March 26, 2010 at 4:00 am

MUy buena explicacion

Andrew P says:March 26, 2010 at 4:30 am

Hey Chris,Thanks heaps for this. Enjoyed making it. I turned it into a card for my 4 year old niece. Best designblog around!!! Thanks again

DidE says:March 26, 2010 at 11:43 am

Thanks a lot, nice work Chris.This is my panda http://www.flickr.com/photos/dide/4463914281/(http://www.flickr.com/photos/dide/4463914281/)

Looks great! hehehehe (its my first illustrator project)

ashwin says:March 27, 2010 at 9:41 am

perfect

George Barlow says:March 27, 2010 at 4:08 pm

Awesome tutorial! Looks so simple to do but creates an awesome result!

Yanno says:March 27, 2010 at 7:52 pm

Excellent tutorial Chris! This was my first animated character ever made in illustrator and it made mehungry to do some more. My result for comparisonhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/_yanno/4467833188/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/_yanno/4467833188/)

Vincent Klaiber says:March 28, 2010 at 1:39 pm

Exellent Tutorial! Looking forward to your next one! Can´t wait to see more of these!

John Yorke says:March 28, 2010 at 5:58 pm

Awesome tutorial Chris! This was my first time using Illustrator properly and just doing this tutorial hasme hooked. A great lesson for beginners.

I made a Mr and Mrs version, planning to give it to my girlfriend for her birthday printed on card. I’llcredit you on the card Chris!!

My attempt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48872074@N08/4469749961/sizes/o/in/set-72157623720668222/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/48872074@N08/4469749961/sizes/o/in/set-72157623720668222/)

Birgit says:March 28, 2010 at 9:02 pm

great tutorial, …you’re so good! I wonder how you can accomplish so much with so little, it seems likeyou can do in 5 minutes what would take me hours… :D

thanks a lot :)

Nelspruit Web Design says:March 29, 2010 at 8:47 am

Thanks for this, can’t wait to start designing my very own characters, think I will start with a Tiger!

Nelspruit Web Design says:March 29, 2010 at 8:48 am

Thanks for this, can’t wait to start my own characters!

Steve says:March 29, 2010 at 2:35 pm

Hey Chris, thanks for the great tutorial. It was really helpfull getting into illustrator. You make somegreat and helpfull stuff. You can check out mine version if you like.

thanks a lot!

best articles says:March 29, 2010 at 2:41 pm

woow…thats good tuts.. i am new to illustrator..hope i will learn it…

Michal Kozak says:March 30, 2010 at 2:50 am

Chris, this panda is amazing :) !

Read the tut and started to making my own panda immediately! Absolutely love it.

tahir says:March 30, 2010 at 10:21 am

thats really nice :)

PSDDude says:March 31, 2010 at 12:32 pm

Simple Cute Funny !

danielle says:March 31, 2010 at 5:36 pm

i hate it its so hard so complikated!!!!!!!!!!

Vinod says:April 1, 2010 at 9:36 am

I like it.but panda’s eyes look not to good.

Zabava says:April 2, 2010 at 5:15 pm

Nice tutorial thank you for sharing!

Uldens says:April 3, 2010 at 11:51 pm

Hey!Thank you for the great tutorial, I really enjoyed it! Here is my result:http://www.flickr.com/photos/uldis/4487475553/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/uldis/4487475553/)

rodolfo says:April 5, 2010 at 2:02 am

¡Muy buen tutorial se aprende bastante! ¡¡¡felicitaciones!!!!

natasha says:

April 5, 2010 at 4:58 pm

very informative….liked it

matt says:April 5, 2010 at 10:30 pm

Thanks Chris, excellent tutorial. I’m just starting with Illustrator and finding your tips SO helpful. Keepthem coming :)

catherina says:April 7, 2010 at 10:44 am

Really nice. Excellent character!

Color Experts says:April 7, 2010 at 11:59 am

Very funny tutorial actually….

Thanks…

Comments are now closed.