How To Make An Anime Character With Pixlr

In this tutorial, we'll learn how to depict an Anime Style character. To start, we'll rely on bones shapes and the Castor Tool. Also, you'll larn ane of my personal techniques I call "The Front end Mirror" which I employ for almost any of my blitheness projects. This technique will save you lots of time, and volition aid you to draw many characters for your projects in a very fast fashion.

I volition show you how to depict everything using the "Line-past-Line" organization and I'll do my all-time to describe what every line will nowadays.
I hope you'll enjoy this tutorial and make use of some of Anime industry secrets I'm about to reveal!

Tutorial Details

Program: Adobe Photoshop CS4 v11.0
Difficulty: Intermediate
Estimated Completion Time: 30 minutes or less

Preparations

Lets make some basic tweaks before we start drawing the head. Make sure the following options are Enabled under the View carte du jour:

Show > Guides
Snap
Snap to > Guides, Layers, Document Premises.

Step 1

Utilise the ruler to create two guides in the center of the document, a horizontal and vertical one. Employ the center of the document to create a circle (it will snap to the guides). Make sure that the circumvolve'due south stroke size is 1px with 0% Make full Opacity.

The size of the circle shown beneath is 300px by 300px. After creating the circle yous tin use the Transform tool (Control+T) and manually enter 300px past 300px, and then apply.

Step two

The next line will nowadays the side of our graphic symbol'due south caput. Select the Line Tool, make certain the Weight is prepare at 1px. From the middle left side of the circle, draw a line from 1 point to the the 2nd bespeak, every bit shown below:

Footstep 3

Now we are going to make a "freehand" line. (This will be the lower jaw / mentum) don't be afraid to apply the brush tool. It's always adept practice to become used to cartoon your own shapes and lines without depending on photoshop shape tools. Select the Brush Tool, Brand sure it's on 1px, and follow the points from the end of the last straight line, to the right. Do it smoothly and laissez passer the center guide by a bit.

You tin practice the exact same thing using the Pen Tool, just the reason I made this tutorial is to teach you how to railroad train yourself. I highly recommend you employ the Brush Tool when yous draw your characters, simply you can choose whatsoever you feel more comfortable with. There are no rules for being creative! :)

Tip: Zoom in 200% to draw the 1px lines, I practice it all the time considering information technology'southward easier to draw and control thin lines.

Step 4

Cartoon the Ear is very elementary, but follow the points shown bellow:

Tip: Use the straight line nosotros created in Step ii equally a base for the offset of the ear, Employ 200% Zoom for best control.

Step 5

Continue with the Ear, endmost the basic shape. Follow the the points shown bellow. It's easier to encounter what nosotros are drawing by disabling the guides (Control + ;)

Footstep vi

Draw a parallel line to the upper line, Then add a smaller line from the end of it in well-nigh 35 or forty degrees. Follow the points shown beneath.

Step 7

The last step in finishing the ear is very absurd because information technology reminds of two letters: Fifty and C.

From the last line we drew, start to describe the L shape until it touches the side of the caput (that line from footstep #2 again). The same goes for the C shape, it looks like a broad letter C.

Footstep 8

Let's draw the neck now. Before you get-go drawing though, enable guides again (Command + ;).
From the middle of the lower jaw line (Step 3), draw a line that goes down and bend it a bit to the left. Similar to what we did in Step iii, depict some other line from the cease of this line to the right and laissez passer the eye guide a bit.

Tip: It'southward e'er a good matter to recall shapes as letters or other symbols. It will make your brain memorize how to draw specific shapes in the future.

Pace nine

Drawing the shoulder is just a simple curved free line from the middle point of the neck, that goes down to the left.

Step 10

So far we've created the bones shape of our one-half-character. Cool :). In the side by side step, we are about to go on the technique I phone call The Front end Mirror, and believe it or non, I use it a lot in my projects. Why Front Mirror? Simply considering it works all-time for front (and back) view of characters, every bit well every bit other designs, not only heads merely nigh anything you'll create. I got started on this technique when some of my clients needed a reference to create 3D Models, and even before that to develop character sheets for 2d animated projects. (I may teach this in a hereafter tutorial).

Step 11

Welcome to the make clean up phase! While creating the very showtime shape in Stride one, we created a full circle just all we need is a specific part of it. Zoom in to 200% then select the layer with the circumvolve and convert it to raster:

Right Click on the layer > Convert to Smart Object
Right Click on the layer > Rasterize Layer

Pan the view where the circle and the line that creates the side of the head clash (Step 2). You tin either use the Eraser or the Lasso Tool to get rid of the bottom part of the circle. Take your fourth dimension to do it slowly until the line and the rest of the circle looks like they are united as i shape.

Step 12

Now we volition merge all the electric current layers we already have into a single outline. Now that nosotros accept only one outline, nosotros will select the correct side of the document. Zoom out to 100%, select the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) and apply the guides to make a choice. Delete the extra portions. You should accept something similar to the screenshot below.

Step 13

Select the layer with the cleaned upward half graphic symbol, and duplicate information technology (Control + J). Flip it horizontally. The flipped layer may appear on the wrong place and it looks weird, just that's easy to prepare so just drag it to the right side until it snaps exactly to the heart of the certificate (thanks to the guides).

Step xiv

It's time to make the face up. Let's start with the eyes. In Anime (and Manga) manner, There are and then many different kinds of eyes and hair styles, so we won't get stuck on this. Nosotros will focus on a specific eye style that I made for this specific style of cartoon. Zoom in at 200% and cull the Castor Tool (B) with a 4px bore. Draw the bottom eyelash. Start to draw a line from the correct to left, but finish the line with a gentle thin line equally the tip (look carefully on betoken 2).

Pace 15

Start to draw a gentle line from the left to right. While drawing the line, recall to start with depression force per unit area. The same applies to ending the tip. Try to draw the tips thinner than the middle line.

Step 16

Finish the upper eyelash, Add together the last tiny tip.

Step 17

There are many ways to creating the iris. I used to describe information technology with the brush, simply you tin but do information technology using the Circle Tool with 4px. In the example beneath, I used the circle tool in red so you tin can see where to place information technology. You should make it in the same colour of the eyelashes which is blackness.

Step 18

Delete the upper part of the circle that overlaps as shown below.

Step 19

Select the brush tool (B) and draw a directly line in the eye of the circumvolve.

Step 20

While drawing the countenance, it doesn't matter where y'all offset. The of import matter is to make information technology start and cease with thin lines for a nice and gentle tip.

Step 21

Flatten all the parts of the eye, including the eyebrow and duplicate it. Flip it horizontally and move information technology to the right place in case it's a bit offside.

Step 22

So far, everything we've washed is perfectly symmetrical. This is nice if we want to create a robot or machine-type character. But in our case, we need to break the symmetry to requite our character a more organic feel. The easiest manner to practise information technology is to outset with the rima oris, then add more than parts to complete our task.

Draw the upper lip of the mouth using the Castor tool (B) at 4px. First, disable the Guides (Control + ;). Then commencement to draw a wavy shape and attempt to brand an upper curve at the center of this line. Information technology doesn't need to be perfect because we desire information technology to be twisted just a chip.

Pace 23

Draw and connect the lower lip with the upper lip. Start from the left, endeavor to make the graphic symbol's mouth smile in a sick, twisted manner. This is not going to be a "mama'southward petty boy" ;)

Step 24

Drawing the teeth may look complicated only if you'll follow this you'll go the idea. Change the brush size to 1px. Showtime to draw the letter of the alphabet L. From the upper lip downwards to the right a bit, make sure it'due south not exactly straight.

Footstep 25

Draw 2 tiny lines to what nosotros've washed already, follow the screenshot beneath.

Step 26

Describe 2 tiny lines to what nosotros've done already to complete the left side. For the right side, draw a tiny squashed M letter similar in the screenshot below. Remember: the teeth or oral cavity shape doesn't have to be exactly like I showed you. My goal is to testify you the society and the way I'm used to cartoon it.

Footstep 27

To complete the smile, nosotros want to add a few more than lines that will add some expression to our grapheme. Draw something like two keyboard arrows similar to: >>. If you'll look carefully, they look like rotated L's. Make the outset one bigger then the 2d one. Those lines will add "Smile Wrinkles" to our character. Add a small line under the lower lip and brand sure it's in the middle of the lip and the chin.

Stride 28

Now that we're washed with the mouth, we demand to add together a olfactory organ. Estimate what...? Yes... L is coming to town and we're going to use it again.

Draw the alphabetic character L - this time arrive really straight like 90 degrees.
Draw a parallel straight line under the L.
Depict a < shape (similar a triangle arrow pointing to the left, or 45 degrees rotated 50)
Describe the final directly line to shut the olfactory organ shape.

Pace 29

Pigment the within shape of the nose with blackness. It should await similar in the screenshot below.

Step xxx

Draw a curved line on the heart of the neck to get in more interesting.

Stride 31

In the next few steps, nosotros will make our graphic symbol more "awesome". For now we're going to add some piercings. Nosotros'll start with the eyebrow piercing. Draw iii circles, large, medium and small. Brand sure that they are aligned to the correct eyebrow and every bit spaced

Step 32

Lets add a nice earring on the correct ear. Draw some kind of long foursquare from the lower function of the ear. Make the corners a bit curved. I didn't apply the Foursquare Tool because I wanted to make information technology a bit twisted and not symmetrical, but you can apply the square tool if you like.

Step 33

Erase the line of the ear that appears inside the earring. Erase a bit of it and it volition await much better, like in the screenshot beneath. When y'all're done, merge all the layers of the face together into one layer. It will be easier to add the hair, which is our adjacent step.

Step 34

Hair... at that place are so many kinds of Anime/Manga hair styles, but permit'southward make something simple and nice looking to fit our character. Since I'm here to teach yous techniques that you'll memorize and help you describe your own characters, I won't just draw it with no reason because I want you to understand what are you doing, and that's why you'll have to remember a few simple rules in order to draw and empathise the specific hairstyle we're aiming to. Remember these rules and you'll be able to depict the hair faster without thinking much.

Every group of hair is fabricated of two lines just.
Every group of hair is built from one curved, open triangle.
When a group of pilus ends, another starts, which results in two connected triangles.
The formula: ii lines create one curved triangle = group of hair.

Let's begin. Make a new layer for the hair. We will need to delete parts of the character to combine them together seamlessly. Depict the offset curved triangle, starting from the centre of the left ear.

Footstep 35

From the end of the final group of hair, beginning another group. Brand this one a chip longer.

Step 36

Again, from the end of the latest group of hair, beginning another group, and another line until it touches the neck'due south outline.

Step 37

Now brand the other side, just time start from the tip of the earring. If you're looking for a shortcut, there is one in this specific hairstyle. All you need to do is duplicate, flip horizontally, and complete or cut the parts that are needed or not. I highly recommend on drawing information technology from scratch because information technology'south the best practice for Anime/Manga Hair though.

Step 38

Cartoon the superlative role of the hair is simple. When nosotros made the lesser way, if you'll count how many groups nosotros've created you'll get: iii.v groups of pilus in each side. Now that you're understanding the meaning of groups even improve, information technology volition be easier for you to work considering I'm virtually to tell you lot that we're going to draw 5.5 Group of hairs in total for the top part. Draw the first group of hair from the centre of the top left ear.

Footstep 39

The next group of hair will end with an imaginary line that will intersect with the tips of the eyebrows and the eyelashes.

Step forty

The heart (the tip) of the adjacent group of hair will intersect with the right ear.

Stride 41

The fourth group of pilus ends with an imaginary line that intersects with one the of the starting time groups of pilus.

Step 42

Finishing the last hair group (and a half). The final line should bear on near the middle of the top correct ear.

Pace 43

The front part of the pilus (pony tail) will be also built from 5.5 groups of hairs. By at present y'all should have already gotten the idea of how the hair works, and so I won't prove it to you lot again. In case you however don't feel comfy with the formula, keep practicing from Step 34 until you'll go it right. Start drawing the commencement group of pilus from the left top side of the forehead.

Step 44

For the last step, we need to clean up the lines that we don't need anymore so the pilus will cover the brow.

Step 45

Congratulations! Yous've created your outset Anime Head! :D

What Now? Basically the next footstep is to paint the graphic symbol. And luckily for yous, I already accept a tutorial that covers exactly that. You are more then welcome to check out the tutorial, entitled "How to Get that Anime Look in Photoshop Using a Flexible Workflow".

Determination

After you've learned i of my personal techniques that I've been using for many years for both stills and animation, you are ready to create your very own characters with amazing quality that any producer would love to work with.

Try make different eyes, eyebrows, rima oris, ears and hair and you'll go your own original character. For those who had some bug, or difficult times with specific parts on this tutorial I highly recommend you to download the PSD file to explore every single role, it may help yous sympathize parts I didn't discuss on this particular lesson, such equally the hierarchy.

I hope that you enjoyed and learned something new. I would love to read your comments and opinions, and if you lot want me to make more than tutorials related to animation (not but Anime) manufacture, I would beloved to do it :) Have a wonderful, creative twenty-four hour period Y'all!

Just an Example of what you can get if yous'll follow my earlier tutorial at Psdtuts+ :)

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My name is Alon Dan. I work as a freelance and produce animations and music for my living - and for my own fun.

Source: https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-slick-anime-character-in-photoshop--psd-6059

Posted by: alvaresbeelty.blogspot.com