cartoon

Beginner Tutorial: Create Dexter on illustrator

marcos333 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:05:44 +0000

Hi everyone, I decided to insert some nostalgia on today's tutorial. Since I'm a guy born in the early 90s, I thought sharing how to draw Dexter would be really interesting and fun. If you've ever watched Cartoon Network you'll probably recognize this little fella at first sight.

Let me repeat a simple nugget of information: It's a beginner tutorial, that's right, not too many difficult tricks on today's lesson, but if you want something more wicked, you should definitely check out some other illustrator tutorials on the site HERE, thanks.

Step 1

So let's open Adobe Illustrator and make a blank canvas (command + N / ctrl + N), let's not stick with a specific size, use the one you feel more comfortable with.

Here are the colors used on the character, you don't need to screengrab it, it's already in the downloadable file at the bottom of the Tut.

So, let's begin by making its body. First make a rectangle using the rectangle tool (M).

Go to the Brushes panel and choose the one called 5 pt. Oval, it's my favorite since it creates a smooth and thick outline, great for cartoon characters.

Now let's make two spheres using the ellipse tool (L), this will be the head and ear. Make a huge one almost at the top of the rectangle, don't forget to add some beige and stroke on it.

Let's get a bit familiar with pathfinder panel, but first let's make a cut rectangle. You can do it by using the rectangle tool (M) then adjusting one of the anchor points using the direct selection tool (A). Select both the big sphere and the shape then use the pathfinder option called Minus Front.

Then let's repeat this technique in order to define the head and neck of him. This time we're going to use the pathfinder option called Unite.

Do the same thing with the ear.

Step 2

Let's draw the boots, it's best to use the pen tool (P) when trying to draw this one. Then just add some black fill on it.

Let's duplicate it by selecting the boot and using the selection tool (V) + alt.

Right click over it, then go to Transform > Reflect. Reflect the vertical Axis.

Step 3

Lets add a button using the ellipse tool (L) and a line using the line segment tool (\) on his suit.

Let's make his hair. Using the ellipse tool (L) make an ellipse, then using the direct selection tool (A), adjust each point like the the image below.

Again using the same tool and make two ellipses.

Use the pathfinder option called Unite to make them all one.

Using the brush tool (B) you can make these details on the hair.

Step 4

In order to make the glass, let's first make a sphere using the ellipse tool (L).

Make a rectangle above it, select both, then use the pathfinder option called Minus Front, add a black fill on the shape.

Duplicate it and use a blue fill, then using the ellipse tool (L), make a sphere inside of it.

Duplicate and adjust the three paths using the selection tool (V).

We're going to need to use the pen tool (P) again in order to make the mouth, but that's no big deal.

Use the line segment tool (/) to make the teeth and the temples.

Finally let's add a white fill on the boots then let's make a sphere on the bottom using the ellipse tool (L).

Step 5

You know something, I really hate drawing hands and I bet you don't like it either so let's try to make this part easier. First make two ellipses using the ellipse tool (L)

Make a bigger ellipse on the center.

Using the polygon tool or the star tool, make a triangle.

Use the pathfinder option called Unite to make it one path.

Using the pen tool (P), make this open rectangle. And add a stroke on it.

You're going to repeat nearly the same technique for the other arm, using the rectangle tool (M) make the arm.

Make the triangle again and a sphere.

Don't forget to add the stroke on it.

This ellipse will be the toe, after creating it use the path eraser tool to cut only a part of it, later you're going to understand why.

Make a rectangle between the toe and the hand, it's not a big deal.

Using the ellipse tool (L), make the other fingers around the rectangle.

Now create a sphere using the ellipse tool (L), then use the Unite option at the pathfinder panel to make the object.

Add a bottleneck using the rounded rectangle tool.

Using the pen tool (P) you can create the green liquid inside the bottle.

Add some bubbles using the ellipse tool (L) and don't forget to add some simple reflexes on it later.

Final Result

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed trying this. I've tried to make things easier for you guys as you can see we pretty much used basic pre made shapes and avoided using the pen tool. However, even If you're "vector king" there's always some good tricks to learn on a beginner tutorial like this one.

Download the Illustrator File

Click here to download the Illustrator file used for this tutorial.

About the author

My name is Marcos Torres, I'm Graphic Artist from Porto Alegre, Brasil. You can get to know more about me by acessing my Personal Website or by following me on Twitter: @marcos333. You can also see some of my last projects at my Flickr.

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Geometric Illustrations by Guillaumit

abduzeedo — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:53:01 +0000

Guillaumit is an illustrator, graphic designer and motion designer from France. His work combine geometric forms , rigid color scheme and and funny cartoons characters, trying to build an universe both ludic and meaningful.

For more information about Guillaumit visit his Web site at http://guillaumit.tumblr.com/

About the author

Abduzeedo is a blog about design. There are all sorts of articles for those who want to look for inspiration. Also you will find very useful tutorials for the most used applications out there, with a special selection of Photoshop Tutorials and Illustrator Tutorials. You can get in follow us via Twitter at @abduzeedo

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Amazing Cartoon & Comics Characters by JPRart

GisMullr — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:30:07 +0000

Jeremy Roberts, aka JPRart at deviantART is an artist/colorist from Ontario, Canada who has a pretty impressive talent as you will be able to see here. From captain america to hellboy, spider man to wonder woman, batman to wolverine, he has lots of cool cartoon/comic characters in his galleries. And all of them are full of colors and style!

I was browsing around DA yesterday when I bumped into his spider man (the first image from the list) and got stunned. So I decided to make this selection to show more of his work. I hope you enjoy the selection! And don't forget to check out his DA profile. Enjoy. :)

About the author

Someone with a bachelor degree in Foreign Trade that really likes technology, design, photography and creativity. A person ‘digging’ a new way as a ‘geek apprentice’, blogger 'wanna be' and a communication lover! Current location: Porto Alegre, RS – Brazil
Twitter user: gismullr

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Reader Tutorial: Cartoon Character in Photoshop

guest — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:15:40 +0000

I have been thinking of doing a cartoon version of one of my favorite characters, Agatha Christies’ Detective Hercule Poirot, always portrayed as a strong willed and serious man. Doing such an intellectual and grumpy looking character in a cartoon fashion sounded like a funny idea to me. So I got my pencil and drew and colored it entirely on Photoshop CS3.

Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories that were published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era. - Wikipedia

Step 1

First off, I drew him walking on the streets of London, I chose that city because of the mysterious atmosphere that it has and all the history. So I drew him looking for our generic psychopath, who was just around the corner.

Step 2

Then I separated all of the colors. I was going to build from dark colors to bright, setting from the beginning what would be the light sources in the painting. That would be his Oil Lighter, the moon and another unseen source of light, to light up the killer.

Step 3

I began spreading “paint” so I could begin to study the way light would fill up Poirot’s face and clothing. Pay attention that before heading for “full bright oil lamp yellow” I used some strong, saturating orange. It’s creates a neat skin effect. Began as well as shading up a little, creating darker, purple areas around his face.

Step 4

Here I defined a little more of his facial lightning.

Step 5

Here I lighted up his hand, according to his two light sources, including the Moon. For the light, notice that I used blue instead of orange. Behind his ear you can notice it better. Also I created his suspicious looking eyes.

Step 6

Play more with the moonlight both on his head and hand.

Step 7

Now I begin to play with the rest of his body, shading his clothing.

Step 8

The idea here is to refine the lights and shadows, the contrast is really important to create depth.

Step 9

Now I added some light, this is the moonlight over the composition.

Step 10

Here I intensified the coloring of the inner shadows of his jacket.

Step 11

Let's work on the hat, refine the form, taking care to give the tridimensional feeling of the light from the lamp and the shadows it creates.

Step 12

Now let's play with the Killer. Let's start by doing the same thing I did with Poirot, imagining a second oil lamp outside my frame, illuminating him. Here you can notice the layer of Orange I used before the yellow, in his hand. Also I did a quick sketch of how his shadow on the wall should look like.

Step 13

Let's define his face better, I added his eyes and began building his coat lightning.

Step 14

Here the rest of him is completely done, and now I can begin to turn my attention to the city.

Step 15

I used a stone texture I found online and apply to the main wall. The stone bricks that make the wall’s limit were done by changing the type and intensity of my brush. I also lightened up the detail from the street sign.

Step 16

Here I added the Street Name. Just for the lulz.

Step 17

Here is an important part of any kind of artistic creation. Trying. Trying and failing are great ways of learning. I started trying to paint the floor. First I lightened it, knowing that the main light source would be the Lamp. Then I started trying to draw the stones in the ground. When I saw it was going to take an awful lot of time that wouldn’t pay off, as the floor was not looking the way I wanted, I attempted to put on a texture. I decided to leave it there and work on other parts for now, as the painting of the rest of the city. I liked that chimney very much.

Step 18

After looking at Googled pictures of the Big Ben for a long time, and trying to place it in the city, I decided that it would look more realistic if it were smaller, appearing to be farther from our main characters, due to the moonlight.

Step 19

I Added some big part of the rest of the city.

Step 20

More detailing in the city.

Step 21

Here, I created a little stars brush on Photoshop and used it to star up the sky. Also did some clouds, and the moon ring.

Step 22

Here I finally defined the final shadows of the characters, as well as a better distorted and suited stone floor.

Step 23

Here I did my best to light up the killer’s hair and mustache. I did this hole thing without a tablet pen, witch makes it a little difficult to draw details like hair.

Finished Painting

And finally here I got to detail a little bit of the Moon, and that’s it for Monsieur Poirot and his knife wielding killer. Hope you enjoyed this simple tutorial, and I hope it really can help you!

About the Author

Silas Chosen is an illustrator from São Paulo, Brazil. His favorite style of artworks is those with pencil and Photoshop. You can see more of his works at his DeviantArt page or follow his blog (only in portuguese) at http://silaschosen.blogspot.com/

Fun Cartoon Illustrations by Juan Molinet

amanda — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:27:59 +0000

Juan is an illustrator, graphic designer, and art director based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I keep coming across his work everywhere. First I stumbled across an illustration of his on ffffound a week or two ago, then last night I stumbled across his portfolio on behance. I am in love with his style! I gave in and decided to share some of his fun pieces with you today!

Juan's illustrations are colorful and his use of texture is really nice. Most of all though, I think the one thing that pleases me the most about his work is its playfulness. Each little monster that he creates is as cute and cuddly as the next! Don't forget to give his flickr and behance a peek to see what else he's getting up to! And let me know what you think via twitter or facebook :)

About the author

Amanda Macedo is a designer and blogger by passion and profession. Living and working out of her backpack, she can now be found in San Francisco, CA, biking, writing, dancing, and tweeting .

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The Incredible Evolution of Pixar

amanda — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:44:45 +0000

No one makes animated movies quite like Pixar. With 23 years, 10 films, and 22 Academy Awards under their belt, the incredible guys over at Pixar Animation Studios keep getting better and better with each passing year.

Last week we received a suggestion from one of our readers about doing a post on Up, their latest masterpiece. I thought this was an excellent idea, but I also think that their other films deserve some recognition too. So here I bring you a collection of all the Pixar feature films to date plus some of their shorts at the end. My all-time favorite Pixar short is Presto!, so definitely be sure to check that one out ;) Actually, now that I come to think of it, Toy Story 2 was the first film I ever saw in theatres (to my memory). I was seven :)

Have an idea for the next post? Send me your suggestions via facebook or twitter!

Feature Films

Of course everybody remembers the classics like Toy Story. I should probably admit that I wasn't too crazy for The Incredibles and Cars though. But after Ratatouille they just get better and better.

Toy Story, 1995

A Bug's Life, 1998

Toy Story 2, 1999

Monsters, Inc., 2001

Finding Nemo, 2003

The Incredibles, 2004

Cars, 2006

Ratatouille, 2007

WALL-E, 2008 (came out on my birthday :D)

Up, 2009

Short Films

It's seriously amazing to see how much these guys have evolved and how much emotion they're able to portray in a few short minutes of little to no dialogue. Enjoy!

The Adventures of André and Wally B., 1984

Tin Toy, 1988

For the Birds, 2000

Boundin', 2003

One Man Band, 2005

Lifted, 2006

Presto, 2008

Partly Cloudy, 2009 (preview)

About the author

Amanda Macedo is a designer and blogger by passion and profession. Living and working out of her backpack, she can now be found in San Francisco, CA, biking, writing, dancing, and tweeting .

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20 Great Digital Drawings by Patrick Brown

paul0v2 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:11:29 +0000

The Australian artist Patrick Brown really impressed me with his drawing skills. If you play Gran theft Auto you will be amazed how similar his style is to the graphics on the game, and how he also adapts that in other drawings. Awesome work, great inspiration, Enjoy!

Make sure you visit patrickbrown.deviantart.com for more.

About the author

Hi there! I'm Paulo Canabarro, 26 year old web designer - paulocanabarro.com I'm from Brazil currently living and working out of Providence RI, USA. I'm truly passionate about design of all kinds, finding and sharing inspiration here has become part of my life. If you like to know more about me or get in touch visit my website paulocanabarro.com Stock me at Twitter and Dribbble

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Really Cool Illustrations by McBess

GisMullr — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:07:13 +0000

Doing my everyday research online to get inspiration for my posts I saw Matthieu Bessudo's work and really liked it. He is an illustrator graduated from Supinfocom France also known as McBess and owner of a great talent to produce pieces that can really catch our attention. His work mixes great shapes, few colors, rock and roll elements and some 'old school' cartoonist characters. Enjoy here some of his work and also check out McBess' website.

Showreel

Illustration

About the author

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The Art of Master Bruce Timm

PauloGabriel — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:09:02 +0000

One thing is for sure: you've been exposed to Bruce Timm's work at least once in your life. Any of you. And now you ask me, who the heck is Bruce Timm? Well, Bruce Timm is one of the most famous comics/cartoon illustrators alive. If you ever caught the morning cartoons, then you know his work.

He's the owner of a totally unique style, easy to recognize miles away. He was the producer of the great Batman: The Animated Series, also he worked with Superman and mostly recently, he helped to create the Batman Beyond cartoon. That's right, that's all his traces. This guy is a freaking comics jedi. Anyways, here are some of his work, which I know you'll like very much. Unfortunately, I didn't find his own portfolio, but I did find a lot of his work at the awesome Pop Culture Shock.

About the author

Hello, everyone! I'm Paulo Gabriel, designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil, born in 1984. I have worked as a webdesigner since 2006, but websites and blogs have been a hobby for me since 1999. Here in Abduzeedo, I try to bring only the hot stuff for you... and hope that all of you enjoy my posts! For more cool stuff, you may also follow me on Twitter.

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Video of the Week #33

PauloGabriel — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:06:12 +0000

During this past year, we've seen plenty of watercolor inspirations, which were pretty awesome! Sometimes we get to see trends repeat from time to time. The video of this week is an awesome Donald Duck cartoon, the one where he visits Brazil for the first time.

Once you start watching it you'll realize why I say that trends repeat from time to time. This cartoon first aired in 1942 within Disney's project called "Saludos Amigos". Take a good look at this cool cartoon, and we'll get much more than just watercolor inspiration. Enjoy, and Cheers! ;)

About the author

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Akira: The Live-Action film

Francisco — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:02:56 +0000

Akira is probably the most famous anime ever. It introduced a generation to the world of Japanese animation and showed western cultures that animation (which at the time was dominated by Disney movies) can be dark, experimental, and very artistic. For years now, probably since the mid-90's, I've been hearing about a remake of this anime classic into a live-action film. Time went by and I just assumed it was never going to happen. Looks like it's now back on track and Leonardo DiCaprio's production company is behind it and there's even a script.

Anime is such a huge influence in our culture now. If you look at cartoons on television now (in the U.S., I can't speak for the rest of the world) they are either imported from Japan or they are copies of the Japanese style. It's also a big influence on young designers. The flashy bright and colorful style of anime can be seen in the work of many designers, illustrators, and graffiti artists these days.

Click here to read a review of the script.

source: NewYork-Tokyo

About the author

Hi readers!
I'm a Graphic Designer in New York City (Brooklyn!). NY is a hub for design and my posts will try to focus on, but will not be limited to, design related things happening in NY, such as museum exhibits, architecture, events, local artist interviews, galleries, etc. I'm very much into technology and art and how they intersect to make multimedia art installations. Hope you enjoy my posts!
Check out my blog Distracticon.com
My site: www.franciscog.com
Follow me on Twitter

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Robots Rock!

Francisco — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:56:43 +0000

I ♥ robots! I hope you do too because I have three robot-related things to tell you about. First, an awesome CG short film. Second, a look at the new Transformers 2 posters. Finally, some info on the upcoming Voltron movie.

Update (8/24/08):
- Apparently the Transformers 2 posters are fake. Sorry about that! Oh well, they are still really cool!

- Not too long after posting this Design Boom posted an awesome blog entry about female robots. Check it out.

1. World War

World War is a short film about two 1940s era vehicles that transform into robots and battle. It takes place 100 years after WWII, Hiroshima, Japan 2045 A.D. It was made by Vincent Chai, a recent graduate of the University of Hertfordshire in the UK. What's even more amazing was that he only used off-the-shelf softwares like Maya, Photoshop, and After Effects. This stuff looks like it was made in a professional CG studio! It's a great example that you don't need a huge budget to create stunning visual effects.

Go to his website to watch the complete short film (it also has an HD version) and check out the making of the film as well.

Here are some screen grabs:

2. Transformers 2 Posters

Two new posters for the upcoming Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen have been released and here's a glimpse. I really enjoyed the first movie so I'm excited that they are making a sequal.

3. Voltron the live action movie

I've heard rumors that someone wanted to make a live-action version of Voltron. Well apparently it's no longer a rumor. With the success of Tranformers, studios are jumping on the 80's cartoons-with-Robots bandwagon. What's next? A Go-Bots movies? Robotech? I used to love Voltron so I'm definitely interested. Plus I read they are supposed to use a similar type of style/effects that they used in the movie 300.

Read more about this at this i09 blog entry.

Here's a blog following the progress of the film: http://voltron-2008.blogspot.com/

and for your nostalgia, here are 2 clips from the 80's Voltron cartoons:

The Classic intro to the series:

Voltron animated movie (part 1 of 5):