Create a Cool Vector Panda Character in Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is my favourite tool for creating fun and cute character designs. With just a few simple shapes, a mix of gradient colours and a few shadows here and there you can build some great looking illustrations. Here’s a step by step walkthrough of the process used to create a cool Panda character, from the 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 put together in Illustrator. This provides the foundation upon which multiple gradients and colours can be overlaid to build up a recognisable character. Then, when everything is

coming together and looking how it should, a few extra touches in the form of shadows can really help add that extra level of depth and realism. Here’s how 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 the topmost 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 to also 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 in place (CMD+F), then scale downwards while holding Shift and Alt. Use a circle for the outline of the eye, the pupil, 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 key repeatedly 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 the Minus 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 downwards while 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 to tweak 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. Match up 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 use as 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 from behind the body.

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

Continue replacing the fill of all the individual elements with gradients. Any black areas should use a dark grey to 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 to give 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 the muzzle with a mid-grey fill.

Duplicate a circle from the muzzle and nudge inwards slightly. Paste in another copy of the circle and use this as a tool along with the pathfinder to cut away the excess. This leaves a thin crescent that can be filled with a dark 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 black circles 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 the outlines stays prominent.

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

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 can really help the design stand out. Add a soft Drop Shadow (Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow) to the outline of the 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 the Transparency 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 with pure 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 from the 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 first point, followed by a single click at the tip. Click the point once again to reset the curves, then complete the path back at the start.

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

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

Modeling the Human Body in Adobe Illustratorby Iaroslav Lazunov24 May 20107 Comments

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In this tutorial we will use Adobe Illustrator to create the ideal proportions of a female figure. Factors such as race, sex and personality do not allow us to apply strict rules concerning proportions. By learning the skills in this tutorial you will be well on your way to drawing any shape and size of body. Let's get started!

Step 1Launch Adobe Illustrator and create a new document 600 by 600 pixels in size. The height of a head is considered to be the unit of measurement for the human body. Human height on average equals 8 heads. Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and create an ellipse in the shape of human head. The height of the ellipse is 90 pixels, the width is 68 pixels. The technique of creation of a human head is covered in detail in my tutorial Modeling the Human Face in Illustrator. Name the layer with the created ellipse 'Diagram'.

Step 2

Create a new layer called 'Guides' below the 'Diagram' layer. Now create a vertical guide line passing through the center of the ellipse. To create the guides go to View> Show Rulers and drag the vertical ruler to the right. Then create a horizontal guide passing through the upper point of the ellipse. Create another 7 head sized horizontal guides (90 pixels). Select the horizontal guide, and go to Object> Transform> Move. Apply the settings shown on the picture below and press Copy. Paste your copy 7 times using Command + D.

The guides are the basic lines and determine the height of the person and the location of key elements. Numbers on the picture denote the lines: 1 - chin, 2 – nipples, 3 - navel, 4 – crotch, 5 – fingertips, 6 - bottom of the knees, 7 - middle of the shin, 8 - floor.

Step 3Define the length of the arms and shoulder line. The length of the arm is 3 integers and 3/4 or 15/4 of head height. Thus the length of the arm is 90 pixels * 15/ 4 = 337.5 pixels. Select guide 5 and go to Object> Transform> Move, apply the settings shown on the picture below and press Copy. So this is how we got the guide of the shoulders, mark it with the letter A. Lock the layer Guides and move on to the layer Diagram.

Step 4Create the line of the shoulders at the A guide. The length of the line will correspond to the width of the shoulders and for women it approximately equals to 1.5 of the head height (90 * 1.5 = 135 pixels), the center of the line should lie on the vertical guide. Draw a line of hips on the guide 4, the length of this line equals to the width of the shoulders. The girl will lean on the right leg, so bend the lines to each other from the right side of the figure.

Step 5Create two triangles that overlap each other with the apexes on the guides A and 4. Triangles intersect at points B and C, show the location of the waist and its width. The main advantage of building the human figure using two triangles is that it helps to understand the proportions between four extreme points of the torso. When viewed from the front, as well as from the back, the apex of each triangle is at the same point - at the neck and at the crotch.

Step 6Create two small circles on guide 2, which will show the location of the nipples, the distance between the nipples is equal to the head height (90 pixels).

Step 7Create axial lines of the legs. Let's start with the hips. The hips are located at a certain angle to each other and reach to the horizontal 6. The knee of the right straight leg should be over the horizontal 6, the bent knee of the left leg should be placed below this horizontal. The knees are marked as ellipses. Now create the axial line of the shin. The shin of the left leg is shorter than one of the right leg, as the leg is bent and it is farther from the viewer.

Step 8Draw the contours of the legs with straight lines. The hip narrows towards the knee, then the shin broadens down the knee in the shape of gastrocnemius muscle and then narrows again towards the foot.

Step 9Now schematically draw the arms. Green line indicates the axis of the shoulder, the red line is the axis of the forearm. We assumed that the elbow is slightly higher the guide 3 (above the navel) in fact this is the way it is, you can check this out on your own figure. Hand is slightly higher the middle line (guide 4).

The girl will keep her hands on the sides, turn the green line clockwise relating to the point D, using the Rotate Tool (R). The hand in this position will be taken back a little bit, so the distance of DF will shorten to DG. Move the upper point of the forearm to the point G and turn it relating to this point. Using the same technique build the axial lines of the left hand.

Step 10Draw the contours of the hands with straight lines. The arm narrows towards the elbow and from elbow towards the wrist.

Step 11Draw the contour of the neck with straight lines, the blue arrows show the line bounding the trapezius muscle.

Step 12Thus, the diagram is ready, lock the layer. Create a new layer called 'Body' over the 'Diagram' layer. In this layer we will create the body of a girl, guided by the points and lines of the diagram, as the visual aid I chose the red color as the color of the stroke, work using the Pen Tool (P).

Step 13It will be convenient for our work if we create the body, arms, and legs as separate objects.

Step 14Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and create breasts and position them in place.

Step 15Now create hands. Using the Pen Tool (P) create the shape of a hand. Create Art Brush for the fingers. Using the Pen Tool (P) create the shape shown on the picture below; now drag this shape to the Brushes palette. Using the Pen Tool (P) draw the axis lines of the fingers and apply the created brush. Select the fingers and go to Object> Expand Appearance, then select the fingers and wrist, and press Add from pathfinder box. Using the same technique, create another hand.

Step 16Now create the feet. Using the Pen Tool (P) create the shape of a foot and join this shape with a shin, using the Pathfinder box. Create another foot the same way.

Step 17Fill all the shapes with the colour of your choice, I've used light brown (C3, M36, Y63 and K0) and outline with a black stroke in order to see the contours of the body, the stroke will be deleted later.

Step 18Work out the details starting with the head. Take the template from the tutorial Modeling the Human Face in Illustrator and place it in the right place. Create the face, using the tips of this tutorial.

Step 19Let us take a quick break from the body and create a background. Create a layer and name it 'BG', position it below all the layers. Now take the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a rectangle in the size of the document. Fill the rectangle with a linear gradient containing three colors: white, sky-blue, and blue.

Step 20Feel less tired? Let's get back to work. Suppose that the light source is to the left of the girl, therefore, the lights will be on the left and the shadows – on the right. Let us review the techniques of creating shadows. Create the shape of shadow with the pen (color shade (C10, M50, Y73 and K0). Copy the shape of shadow and paste it in back, deform as shown on the picture below, the fill color of this shape is the same as the color of the skin (see step 18). Select both shapes and apply the Blend (Object> Blend> Make ), set the Smooth Color in the dialog box.

Now copy the shape of the body and paste it in front, move up the copy in the layers palette so that it seems higher than Blend. Select the upper body shape and the blend and go to Object> Clipping Mask> Make. If you do not like the result, you can always edit original shapes included in the Blend using the Direct Selection Tool (A).

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Step 21Thus, we have created all the shadows and lights on the body of the girl. There are a few stages of creating shadows and lights on the pictures below. Notice that I use the color (C0, M27, Y50 and K0) as the color of the light areas. You can use a linear or radial gradient on some easy sections. Red arrows on the picture below show the location of lights, and the blue ones show the location of shadows.

ConclusionI hope that through simple and understandable methods offered in this tutorial, you will realize that it is quite possible to draw a nice human figure. Work hard and if you learn to draw people, you can draw almost anything. But remember, the secret to success is perseverance.

Illustrator and CorelDraw Tutorial: How to Create a Vector Girl with a FanFinal Image Preview

In this Adobe Illustrator tutorial Alexandra Honcharova will demonstrate you the process of creation of a real vector art. This vector tutorial is designed for advanced users and can be done

in any vector editor, like Illustrator or CorelDraw. So how can we create a vector girl with a fan? Find out at the jump!

Tutorial Details Program: CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator CS3 -CS6; Difficulty: advanced; Estimated Completion Time: 5+ hours;

Create Vector Outline in Illustrator or CorelDraw

Step 1

Create a sketch in Photoshop.

Step 2

Place a sketch to Adobe Illustrator then create a vector outline in a new layer. The Paintbrush Tool or the Blob Brush Tool is perfect for that.

It is desirable to reduce the opacity of our sketch. It would be easier to create a vector outline like so.

Vector Coloring in Illustrator or CorelDraw

Step 3

Create a new layer and place it below the vector outline layer. Now in this layer create objects which will illustrate the main colors of our artwork. It is easier to do the coloring in Illustrator with the Pencil Tool (N) or the Pen Tool (P). Try to color in such a way, that the outlines of color vector objects remain in the vector outline.

Step 4

I changed the fan’s color, I think in this way our composition looks better. Now draw the details of the eyebrows while painting the hair with the Paintbrush Tool. The process of eye creation is indicated on the figure below.

To create some glares on eyes and iris I draw the objects with different degree of opacity with the Pencil Tool (N). I use the same technique to create some light and shadow on the skin around eyes and on the whole face.

I can give some volume to any object in this way. The lower the degree of opacity is, the more you are "allowed” to make a mistake.

Step 5

Now let’s focus on the lips of our vector girl in more detail.

Step 6

Give some volume to the arms. The same as before, create some half transparent objects for that. I don’t use any Blending modes; I just simply reduce the opacity in the Transparency panel. Create a shape of hair on a head with the Pen Tool (P).

Step 7

Create some light and shade on the clothes. Now draw the back of the hair, it should be darker than the front. Begin drawing the hair details; start with some lighter and thinner locks.

Continue to draw some details in clothes and hair.

Step 8

Draw some eyelashes, add a bit of shade to the face, neck and fan. Draw some light on clothes and on hair.

Work on hair.

Create a floral background. That’s all! Our vector girl with a fan is ready!

This vector artwork won the award of Daily Deviation last year. Never get tired of creating and you will be noticed!

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