Cartoon Doll Illustration

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In this tutorial I will take you on a guide to illustrating these cartoon-like doll images. This tutorial was requested; I was approached on my Ask and Answer form and asked to create this tutorial with this image as a reference. The image, ideas, etc that inspired this requested tutorial are copyright to the owner.

To begin, open up a blank canvas on Paint Shop Pro. The images are quite small and 'cute', so don't make the canvas too large. My canvas is sized 173 x 204.

First off we will draw a template of the body and face. To do this, select the Pen Tool (V) . Match your pen tool settings to those listed below:
Segment type: Point to point
Meter limit: 15
Line width: 1.50
Create as vector

Before proceeding to draw the image, it is important that we understand the pallets. Obviously, you have two pallets; and if you have read any of my other illustration tutorials you will know that I usually make the first pallet transparent. However, with this image, you want your illustration to be bordered as this adds emphasis to the cartoon-like effect of the image, so leave the first pallet untouched.

For my first pallet, I selected the colour #404040; for the second pallet (which colours the skin), I selected the colour #FEE4C6.

Use these settings to draw the face! In order to trace your shape with curve, click where you want the shape to begin, click at a different point and then drag the mouse (Example (from illustration guide tutorial). The image on the right is my image at this point.

After you are satisfied with your face drawing, to make the image easier to work with; right click the vector layer created and convert it into a raster layer. After, draw on the other body parts following a similar method as you did when drawing the face. Every time you draw a new body part you can choose to create a new layer (making sure you convert the existing vector layer into a raster layer), or right click and select 'new drawing object'. Once you have finished drawing the template of the body however and you are pleased, convert all of your layers into raster layers if they are not already!

Next we will draw on the clothes. This is where the template comes in handy - it makes it very easy to layer on new objects in the correct position. The border colour (first pallet) I will keep the same throughout, however it's up to you to change the seocnd pallet to the colour you want your clothes to be. Go for something bright, as the image is meant to be cute. I selected a yellow colour. Once illustrating, remember to convert the vector layer into a raster layer! You can change the positions of your layer too to control where the objects appear, this layer (clothes) I placed below the layer containing the face, but above that containing the body illustrations.

Now - the hair. Again, we're using the Pen Tool (V) to illustrate this. The colour of the first pallet remains the same throughout, however the hair colour on the second pallet changes to #515151. We're going to draw the hair in two different layers, the first layer is the basic outline of the hair. After creating this layer, remember to convert the vector layer into a raster layer. The second hair layer holds the fringe. To do the fringe, use the pen tool to draw on the different strands, each time you create a new strand, right click and select 'New Drawing Object', remember to convert this layer into a raster layer also. It took me absolutely ages to draw the fringe and be satisfied with it! Be patient with your drawing, the undo button is always there.

Use the pen tool to 'touch' up the image, filling in any uneeded spots and straightening out anything that looks wrong.

Use the pen tool again to draw on all the facial features. Remember that the first pallet is incharge of the line and the second is incharge of the fill when you make your decisions on what you want the face to look like. For example, when drawing on the cheeks, I made the top layer transparent. For the eyes, I adjusted the width of my line. All of these layers should be created and placed above the very top layer.

Finally, to make the image more exciting we'll add in some shading. This is very easy to do, take the pen tool and make the second colour transparent, make the first pallet black and the line width 4.00; use these settings to shade in various areas such as the dress and/or the mouth; after doing the shading, it is important you adjust this layer to soft light; the transparency of the layer is up to you.

Lastly, merge all of your layers together - and anything you add from that point is up to you!