Post by Ruth on Jul 2, 2012 21:53:09 GMT -5
Cat Face Tutorial ©RuthArt 3/21/2007
Hosted on Fotki
I will be showing you how to make the face of a similar cat using the eyes you already made in the CAT EYE TUTORIAL (not the animation above)
This tutorial is heavily VECTORS and not a beginners tut. You really need to know your tools because I won’t be doing ‘basic’ screen shots.
Because this tutorial is based on having done the Cat Eyes Tutorial, it really is best if you do the eyes first. The placement of the facial features is dependent on the placement of the eyes, not vice versa. This is a long tutorial and requires you save often and keep your layers separate as much as possible for easier changes later as you so desire.
Also, be sure to label your layers as you go, making it easier to keep track of everything!!!
View, Guides…… we’ll use them to line things up.
I always work with my Rulers open too (View, Rulers)
Part 1......Head and Ears
A. Make a copy of your finished eyes (that has either been maintained in vector layers or merged)
Hosted on Fotki
these are my original eyes, (all the layers intact) so I resized them to 50%
B. Increase the canvas size to 400 x 400 with the eyes centered in the canvas.
Hosted on Fotki
1. HEAD SHAPE:
Add a new Vector Layer (labeled Head Shape) and pull it under the eye layers.
Select your Ellipse Preset Shape, foreground black (width 1), fill/background - dark grey (404040) and draw an oval.
Hosted on Fotki
Please save after every new layer/change.
We’ll work on the head shape in a moment, let’s add an ear and work on that first.
2. EARS:
Make a new vector layer (labeled 'right ear') above the Head Shape.
Select the Triangle Preset Shape, same settings/color as the ellipse.
Place it at the top of the ellipse, over the right eye, (eye on right side of canvas)
the inner triangle corner lined up with the inside edge of the right eyeball.
Hosted on Fotki
Now select your pen tool and you should see 3 nodes (red arrows below) on the triangle.
Hold the Control Key down as you click the pen tool onto the middle portion of the bottom line of the triangle. (you should see a ‘add’ message). Do this to the other 2 sides as well, adding 3 nodes total (green arrows below).
Pull the node at the bottom right corner of the triangle down to meet the head shape (about 2/3 the distance between the outside edge of the eye and the outside portion of the head shape.)
Hosted on Fotki
Change each of those new nodes to Symmetric (right click on the node, node type, symmetric).
Pull the topmost node (1) to the right so it lines up with the bottom right node (2) and stretch the arrows on the new node on the left side so that the curve starts at the bottom of the ear and slopes up gradually. You will have to move that node to the right a bit too. I can’t give exact measurements, you’ll have to rely your ability to see it shaping up right.
Hosted on Fotki
Click on the pen tool, foreground black, background null. You are going to make a new line (width 1) from the top node to the edge of the bottom line – in between the 2 bottom nodes. I use the point to point option and just click once at the starting point, hold down the shift key and click again at the end point. Then add another node in the middle of that line and change it to symmetric (sometimes it is already, but check). The curve will be opposite of the outside edge of the ear.
Hosted on Fotki
below... this is what you have so far,……….. hopefully
Hosted on Fotki
OK, that was a lot of work you say??? Oh my, there is sooooo much more to do, but the other ear is very easy.
You should have both the ear and the ear line on the same vector layer. Using the shift key, highlite them both, right click and group. Deselect (select none)
Now, duplicate that whole vector layer and Image, mirror. It should fall right into place on the left side!!! (just like we did with the eyes, remember??)
Hosted on Fotki
OK, could be a cat!!!
Part II - Facial Features (Nose, Upper & Lower Muzzle)
New Vector layer labeled Nose Triangle - make sure the nose layer is above the face layer.
Choose the Triangle Preset Shape with line width 1, Black Foreground and 202020 (dark grey) for the fill color.
Place your guides so that they are at the inside corners of the eyes. Draw an inverted triangle and position it between the guides as shown below.
Hosted on Fotki
Next, make all the nodes symmetric and add 1 node to each ‘downward’ side in the middle, making them symmetric also.
Rotate the side node arrows making the sides of the nose look like my example below.
Hosted on Fotki
Add a new Vector Layer (label it Upper Muzzle) bring that layer below the Nose layer.
Use your Ellipse Preset Shape with foreground black (width 1) and fill color a light grey (808080)
Draw your ellipse and place it so that the upper portion just comes to the middle, or a little above the middle of the nose.
Set your guides to be in the middle of the pupils of the eyes and pull the ellipse you just made so that the sides are just touching the inside of the guides. In other words, the outside edges of the upper muzzle will line up with the middle of the pupils.
Hosted on Fotki
At this point, choose your pen tool and click on the bottom node and pull it up to meet the bottom of the nose, (1) then pull the handles down so that they both meet in the middle. (2 & 3)
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Is yours looking like this??
Make a new Vector Layer (label it Lower Muzzle) and pull it below the Upper Muzzle layer.
Set your guides so that they are now lined up with the inside edge of the eyeballs.
Using the same preset Ellipse Shape, same colors and settings, draw an oval and place it so that the outside edges are just touching the inside of the guides.
The top part of it has to be a little above the ‘split’ in the upper muzzle.
And the bottom, well, that’s a judgement call because we’re going to be changing the Head Shape soon anyway.
It looks like lining up the side nodes with the arrows at the guide marks should work (see below).
Hosted on Fotki
Make the bottom node symmetric and pull it down a little and maybe push the handles of the arrow ‘in’ a bit.
Then select each side node… pull the arrow end that’s pointing down, moving it to the side a little.
See below for how mine turned out.
Hosted on Fotki
(The upper and lower muzzle placements can make a big difference in how your cat looks. A male can have a bigger muzzle and the female can be more petite. It’s up to you to make your cat yours!!!
See the pictures of large, medium and small muzzles below. (Guides are in same position in each so you can see the difference.)
Hosted on Fotki
Large Muzzle
Hosted on Fotki
Medium Muzzle
Hosted on Fotki
Small Muzzle
Part III - Making Hair Tufts and Shading/Hilites
It would be fine to leave the head as it is, but I thought this cat would look nice with some tufts of hair, so here we go.
This is a tricky procedure so please follow carefully. Once you get the idea, it won’t be difficult at all.
Let’s practice first with a new canvas to help you get this process down to a science.
Open a new canvas, 400 x 400 transparent.
Using the ellipse preset shape, same colors as the face, draw a circle (holding down the shift key as you pull the circle out onto the canvas.) Right click on the layer, Align Object, Center in canvas.
When you choose the pen tool at this point, you will see 4 nodes. They are ‘cusp’ nodes, you can pull each arrow handle in either direction, and not affect the other end of the handle. That makes for sharp points. Try moving the handles around to get a feel for what you can do with them.
Below is an example of what can be done. (I animated so you can get the idea of the movement required)
Hosted on Fotki
Did you practice a bit and are you ready to add the tufts of hair to the Head Shape? OK, let's do it!
Go to the Head Shape vector layer and Duplicate it.
Close out (x the eye) on the original and just work on the duplicate, that way, if something happens with the oval and you can't get it back to the original shape, and there are too many undo's to do, you'll have your starting Head Shape.
I always work with duplicates....my files are huge!!! (my DH keeps telling me I waste space and have to keep getting bigger and bigger hard drives....oh well, what's a girl to do??!!)
First, let's pull the node at the bottom of the oval 'up' beneath the lower muzzle. This gives a different look to the cat. I just brought it up about halfway between the lower muzzle and the split of the upper muzzle.
Hosted on Fotki
For each 'tuft', you are going to do perhaps 6 steps.
1. Add 3 new nodes next to each other
2. Pull the middle of those 3 nodes out, and either up or down, depending on which kind of tuft you are making
3. Continue pulling out the node until you have it where you want it
4. Add 2 more nodes on each side of the 'tuft' to facilitate bending the tuft up or down
5. Pull the arrow of the node at the tip downward to make the 'pointed' end
6. Pull the newest nodes down (or up, depending on the direction of the tuft) to help the bend look better
Hosted on Fotki
I hope you got this process down. OK, don't let it intimidate you, it can be loads of fun!!
Make as many tufts as you want, (I made 6..........4 down and 2 up) they don't have to be symmetrical, just have some fun with it.
Hosted on Fotki
Just need to add shading, a few hilites and whiskers. Let's proceed.
** Shading
Since you have kept everything in vector layers, (you have, haven't you!?) it will be a simple matter of making raster selections from those vectors, making new layers above each of the vector layers and applying a cutout effect.
1. Head Shape Shading:
Go to the vector layer for the Head Shape,
right click on the layer and select ‘create raster selection’,
make a new raster layer above that vector layer (label it Cutout Shading –10, 0, 100, 68, black),
Effects,
Cutout,
and apply those settings to that raster layer.
Therefore, you will have shading just on that layer above the vector head shape. That way, you can change the color of the vector and not affect anything else. You could even make it a pattern of your choice, add more colors above it with the same method by making a raster selection, new layer and dropping in a color and changing the blend mode. Get used to it, there are many things you can do when you learn to use layers this way.
2. Ear Shading:
Go to the Right Ear Vector Layer
Right click and create raster selection
Make a new raster layer above the right ear layer
Label that layer, ear shading 4, 5, 70, 26
And apply the cutout effect with those settings on the new layer.
Duplicate that ear shading layer, move it above the left ear vector layer, mirror, and it should drop right into place.
Whenever you want to add any shading to a particular area, you can always add a new raster layer, draw a line with the paint brush set at round, width 2, next to the place you want shaded and apply a gaussian blur of 1-3. Since it’s on a new layer, you can even move it around, rotate it, lower the opacity…..fool around with the possibilities, OK?
So that’s what I did with the line in the ear, I just made a new line next to it on another layer above the ear shading, applied the gaussian blur and moved it if needed to make it look right.
3. Nose Line Shading:
And the same thing was done with the lines to the sides of the nose. I did make a vector line, duplicated it and mirrored. I think the mirrored one had to be moved a bit, but that depends on how symmetrical a face you're making. Then it's just a matter of putting those vector lines on the same vector layer, duplicating and turning the duplicate into a raster layer and applying a gaussian blur.
4. Muzzle Shading:
Go to the Upper Muzzle Vector Layer
Create a raster selection
Make a new raster layer above the vector layer
Label it Cutout Upper Muzzle –5, 0, 70, 16
Apply the cutout effect with those settings on the raster layer
Do the same thing with the Lower Muzzle Vector Layer and apply the same cutout settings on a raster layer above the vector layer.
5. Nose Hilite:
Make a raster selection from the Nose Vector Layer, contract 1
(this is so the hilite won't go over the dark line)
Make a new raster layer, label it Nose Hilite
Apply a cutout to the new raster layer using white, 1, 0, 43, 8.70
6. Upper Muzzle Drop Shadow:
Make a new raster layer below the Upper Muzzle Vector Layer (label it Upper Muzzle Shadow)
Create a raster selection from the vector layer
Apply a drop shadow onto the new raster layer with these settings:
-4, 0, 45, 9
7. Eye Hilites:
Make a new raster layer under the eyes
Using the paint brush, round, width 4 – 5
Draw a line above the eye, following the contour of the eye liner (dark line)
Do the same under the eye.
Apply a gaussian blur of 3-5, whatever looks nice
Duplicate that layer, mirror and both eyes are hilited!
Hosted on Fotki
Well, you've come a long way, I hope you have something you like at this point.
OK, last thing....Whiskers
Part IV Whiskers
wow, I'm really sorry this has turned into such a long tutorial, but I hope you are getting something good from it. We're on the last page!!!
Hosted on Fotki
I made a very small circle with 404040 fill (foreground null) on a new vector layer above the muzzle shading.
Then, using the pen tool, I made a point to point line with white foreground (width 1), background/fill null.
I added a node to the middle of that line then turned all the nodes to symmetric and moved the nodes to my satisfaction to make a nice curving whisker. I started with the right side of the muzzle and made the lines curving to the right.
Select the circle and the line, group
Using the object selection tool, Control C, then Control G to paste another whisker over the muzzle, do it again. So, on that vector layer, you should have 3 whiskers with 3 ‘pads’ that the whiskers come out of. That takes care of the right side.
Duplicate that vector layer, deselect and mirror. Now you should have the left side with whiskers.
7. Whisker Shadows:
You can make a selection from the group vector layer from the right side whiskers,
add a new raster layer below the vector layer,
apply a drop shadow of 1, 1, 56, 3 onto the new layer.
Duplicate and mirror and the shadow will drop over to the left side whiskers.
Make sure it is under the left whisker group.
You may do the same process with eyebrow whiskers if you like.
Hosted on Fotki
I think the eyes are very important and I noticed these eyes needed a bit more shadow to make them look dimensional, so I added a new raster layer above the eyes, using the round brush at width 1-3 and drew a line following the underside of the dark eye liner, giving it a gaussian blur of 2-3. If you don’t like what it looks like the first time, undo and keep trying, it really makes a difference!!! Then duplicate the layer and mirror and it should drop over the opposite eye.
OK, that's all. I hope you have enjoyed this long winded tutorial and that you surround yourself with many cute cats.
©RuthArt 2007
(I am a member of Animation Lessons and they have my permission to host this tutorial on their site. Since only members can see the tutorial, I have decided to post it here as well.)
Hosted on FotkiI will be showing you how to make the face of a similar cat using the eyes you already made in the CAT EYE TUTORIAL (not the animation above)
This tutorial is heavily VECTORS and not a beginners tut. You really need to know your tools because I won’t be doing ‘basic’ screen shots.
Because this tutorial is based on having done the Cat Eyes Tutorial, it really is best if you do the eyes first. The placement of the facial features is dependent on the placement of the eyes, not vice versa. This is a long tutorial and requires you save often and keep your layers separate as much as possible for easier changes later as you so desire.
Also, be sure to label your layers as you go, making it easier to keep track of everything!!!
View, Guides…… we’ll use them to line things up.
I always work with my Rulers open too (View, Rulers)
Part 1......Head and Ears
A. Make a copy of your finished eyes (that has either been maintained in vector layers or merged)
Hosted on Fotkithese are my original eyes, (all the layers intact) so I resized them to 50%
B. Increase the canvas size to 400 x 400 with the eyes centered in the canvas.
Hosted on Fotki1. HEAD SHAPE:
Add a new Vector Layer (labeled Head Shape) and pull it under the eye layers.
Select your Ellipse Preset Shape, foreground black (width 1), fill/background - dark grey (404040) and draw an oval.
Hosted on FotkiPlease save after every new layer/change.
We’ll work on the head shape in a moment, let’s add an ear and work on that first.
2. EARS:
Make a new vector layer (labeled 'right ear') above the Head Shape.
Select the Triangle Preset Shape, same settings/color as the ellipse.
Place it at the top of the ellipse, over the right eye, (eye on right side of canvas)
the inner triangle corner lined up with the inside edge of the right eyeball.
Hosted on FotkiNow select your pen tool and you should see 3 nodes (red arrows below) on the triangle.
Hold the Control Key down as you click the pen tool onto the middle portion of the bottom line of the triangle. (you should see a ‘add’ message). Do this to the other 2 sides as well, adding 3 nodes total (green arrows below).
Pull the node at the bottom right corner of the triangle down to meet the head shape (about 2/3 the distance between the outside edge of the eye and the outside portion of the head shape.)
Hosted on FotkiChange each of those new nodes to Symmetric (right click on the node, node type, symmetric).
Pull the topmost node (1) to the right so it lines up with the bottom right node (2) and stretch the arrows on the new node on the left side so that the curve starts at the bottom of the ear and slopes up gradually. You will have to move that node to the right a bit too. I can’t give exact measurements, you’ll have to rely your ability to see it shaping up right.
Hosted on FotkiClick on the pen tool, foreground black, background null. You are going to make a new line (width 1) from the top node to the edge of the bottom line – in between the 2 bottom nodes. I use the point to point option and just click once at the starting point, hold down the shift key and click again at the end point. Then add another node in the middle of that line and change it to symmetric (sometimes it is already, but check). The curve will be opposite of the outside edge of the ear.
Hosted on Fotkibelow... this is what you have so far,……….. hopefully
Hosted on FotkiOK, that was a lot of work you say??? Oh my, there is sooooo much more to do, but the other ear is very easy.
You should have both the ear and the ear line on the same vector layer. Using the shift key, highlite them both, right click and group. Deselect (select none)
Now, duplicate that whole vector layer and Image, mirror. It should fall right into place on the left side!!! (just like we did with the eyes, remember??)
Hosted on FotkiOK, could be a cat!!!
Part II - Facial Features (Nose, Upper & Lower Muzzle)
New Vector layer labeled Nose Triangle - make sure the nose layer is above the face layer.
Choose the Triangle Preset Shape with line width 1, Black Foreground and 202020 (dark grey) for the fill color.
Place your guides so that they are at the inside corners of the eyes. Draw an inverted triangle and position it between the guides as shown below.
Hosted on FotkiNext, make all the nodes symmetric and add 1 node to each ‘downward’ side in the middle, making them symmetric also.
Rotate the side node arrows making the sides of the nose look like my example below.
Hosted on FotkiAdd a new Vector Layer (label it Upper Muzzle) bring that layer below the Nose layer.
Use your Ellipse Preset Shape with foreground black (width 1) and fill color a light grey (808080)
Draw your ellipse and place it so that the upper portion just comes to the middle, or a little above the middle of the nose.
Set your guides to be in the middle of the pupils of the eyes and pull the ellipse you just made so that the sides are just touching the inside of the guides. In other words, the outside edges of the upper muzzle will line up with the middle of the pupils.
Hosted on FotkiAt this point, choose your pen tool and click on the bottom node and pull it up to meet the bottom of the nose, (1) then pull the handles down so that they both meet in the middle. (2 & 3)
Hosted on FotkiHosted on FotkiHosted on FotkiHosted on FotkiIs yours looking like this??
Make a new Vector Layer (label it Lower Muzzle) and pull it below the Upper Muzzle layer.
Set your guides so that they are now lined up with the inside edge of the eyeballs.
Using the same preset Ellipse Shape, same colors and settings, draw an oval and place it so that the outside edges are just touching the inside of the guides.
The top part of it has to be a little above the ‘split’ in the upper muzzle.
And the bottom, well, that’s a judgement call because we’re going to be changing the Head Shape soon anyway.
It looks like lining up the side nodes with the arrows at the guide marks should work (see below).
Hosted on FotkiMake the bottom node symmetric and pull it down a little and maybe push the handles of the arrow ‘in’ a bit.
Then select each side node… pull the arrow end that’s pointing down, moving it to the side a little.
See below for how mine turned out.
Hosted on Fotki(The upper and lower muzzle placements can make a big difference in how your cat looks. A male can have a bigger muzzle and the female can be more petite. It’s up to you to make your cat yours!!!
See the pictures of large, medium and small muzzles below. (Guides are in same position in each so you can see the difference.)
Hosted on FotkiLarge Muzzle
Hosted on FotkiMedium Muzzle
Hosted on FotkiSmall Muzzle
Part III - Making Hair Tufts and Shading/Hilites
It would be fine to leave the head as it is, but I thought this cat would look nice with some tufts of hair, so here we go.
This is a tricky procedure so please follow carefully. Once you get the idea, it won’t be difficult at all.
Let’s practice first with a new canvas to help you get this process down to a science.
Open a new canvas, 400 x 400 transparent.
Using the ellipse preset shape, same colors as the face, draw a circle (holding down the shift key as you pull the circle out onto the canvas.) Right click on the layer, Align Object, Center in canvas.
When you choose the pen tool at this point, you will see 4 nodes. They are ‘cusp’ nodes, you can pull each arrow handle in either direction, and not affect the other end of the handle. That makes for sharp points. Try moving the handles around to get a feel for what you can do with them.
Below is an example of what can be done. (I animated so you can get the idea of the movement required)
Hosted on FotkiDid you practice a bit and are you ready to add the tufts of hair to the Head Shape? OK, let's do it!
Go to the Head Shape vector layer and Duplicate it.
Close out (x the eye) on the original and just work on the duplicate, that way, if something happens with the oval and you can't get it back to the original shape, and there are too many undo's to do, you'll have your starting Head Shape.
I always work with duplicates....my files are huge!!! (my DH keeps telling me I waste space and have to keep getting bigger and bigger hard drives....oh well, what's a girl to do??!!)
First, let's pull the node at the bottom of the oval 'up' beneath the lower muzzle. This gives a different look to the cat. I just brought it up about halfway between the lower muzzle and the split of the upper muzzle.
Hosted on FotkiFor each 'tuft', you are going to do perhaps 6 steps.
1. Add 3 new nodes next to each other
2. Pull the middle of those 3 nodes out, and either up or down, depending on which kind of tuft you are making
3. Continue pulling out the node until you have it where you want it
4. Add 2 more nodes on each side of the 'tuft' to facilitate bending the tuft up or down
5. Pull the arrow of the node at the tip downward to make the 'pointed' end
6. Pull the newest nodes down (or up, depending on the direction of the tuft) to help the bend look better
Hosted on FotkiI hope you got this process down. OK, don't let it intimidate you, it can be loads of fun!!
Make as many tufts as you want, (I made 6..........4 down and 2 up) they don't have to be symmetrical, just have some fun with it.
Hosted on FotkiJust need to add shading, a few hilites and whiskers. Let's proceed.
** Shading
Since you have kept everything in vector layers, (you have, haven't you!?) it will be a simple matter of making raster selections from those vectors, making new layers above each of the vector layers and applying a cutout effect.
1. Head Shape Shading:
Go to the vector layer for the Head Shape,
right click on the layer and select ‘create raster selection’,
make a new raster layer above that vector layer (label it Cutout Shading –10, 0, 100, 68, black),
Effects,
Cutout,
and apply those settings to that raster layer.
Therefore, you will have shading just on that layer above the vector head shape. That way, you can change the color of the vector and not affect anything else. You could even make it a pattern of your choice, add more colors above it with the same method by making a raster selection, new layer and dropping in a color and changing the blend mode. Get used to it, there are many things you can do when you learn to use layers this way.
2. Ear Shading:
Go to the Right Ear Vector Layer
Right click and create raster selection
Make a new raster layer above the right ear layer
Label that layer, ear shading 4, 5, 70, 26
And apply the cutout effect with those settings on the new layer.
Duplicate that ear shading layer, move it above the left ear vector layer, mirror, and it should drop right into place.
Whenever you want to add any shading to a particular area, you can always add a new raster layer, draw a line with the paint brush set at round, width 2, next to the place you want shaded and apply a gaussian blur of 1-3. Since it’s on a new layer, you can even move it around, rotate it, lower the opacity…..fool around with the possibilities, OK?
So that’s what I did with the line in the ear, I just made a new line next to it on another layer above the ear shading, applied the gaussian blur and moved it if needed to make it look right.
3. Nose Line Shading:
And the same thing was done with the lines to the sides of the nose. I did make a vector line, duplicated it and mirrored. I think the mirrored one had to be moved a bit, but that depends on how symmetrical a face you're making. Then it's just a matter of putting those vector lines on the same vector layer, duplicating and turning the duplicate into a raster layer and applying a gaussian blur.
4. Muzzle Shading:
Go to the Upper Muzzle Vector Layer
Create a raster selection
Make a new raster layer above the vector layer
Label it Cutout Upper Muzzle –5, 0, 70, 16
Apply the cutout effect with those settings on the raster layer
Do the same thing with the Lower Muzzle Vector Layer and apply the same cutout settings on a raster layer above the vector layer.
5. Nose Hilite:
Make a raster selection from the Nose Vector Layer, contract 1
(this is so the hilite won't go over the dark line)
Make a new raster layer, label it Nose Hilite
Apply a cutout to the new raster layer using white, 1, 0, 43, 8.70
6. Upper Muzzle Drop Shadow:
Make a new raster layer below the Upper Muzzle Vector Layer (label it Upper Muzzle Shadow)
Create a raster selection from the vector layer
Apply a drop shadow onto the new raster layer with these settings:
-4, 0, 45, 9
7. Eye Hilites:
Make a new raster layer under the eyes
Using the paint brush, round, width 4 – 5
Draw a line above the eye, following the contour of the eye liner (dark line)
Do the same under the eye.
Apply a gaussian blur of 3-5, whatever looks nice
Duplicate that layer, mirror and both eyes are hilited!
Hosted on FotkiWell, you've come a long way, I hope you have something you like at this point.
OK, last thing....Whiskers
Part IV Whiskers
wow, I'm really sorry this has turned into such a long tutorial, but I hope you are getting something good from it. We're on the last page!!!
Hosted on FotkiI made a very small circle with 404040 fill (foreground null) on a new vector layer above the muzzle shading.
Then, using the pen tool, I made a point to point line with white foreground (width 1), background/fill null.
I added a node to the middle of that line then turned all the nodes to symmetric and moved the nodes to my satisfaction to make a nice curving whisker. I started with the right side of the muzzle and made the lines curving to the right.
Select the circle and the line, group
Using the object selection tool, Control C, then Control G to paste another whisker over the muzzle, do it again. So, on that vector layer, you should have 3 whiskers with 3 ‘pads’ that the whiskers come out of. That takes care of the right side.
Duplicate that vector layer, deselect and mirror. Now you should have the left side with whiskers.
7. Whisker Shadows:
You can make a selection from the group vector layer from the right side whiskers,
add a new raster layer below the vector layer,
apply a drop shadow of 1, 1, 56, 3 onto the new layer.
Duplicate and mirror and the shadow will drop over to the left side whiskers.
Make sure it is under the left whisker group.
You may do the same process with eyebrow whiskers if you like.
Hosted on FotkiI think the eyes are very important and I noticed these eyes needed a bit more shadow to make them look dimensional, so I added a new raster layer above the eyes, using the round brush at width 1-3 and drew a line following the underside of the dark eye liner, giving it a gaussian blur of 2-3. If you don’t like what it looks like the first time, undo and keep trying, it really makes a difference!!! Then duplicate the layer and mirror and it should drop over the opposite eye.
OK, that's all. I hope you have enjoyed this long winded tutorial and that you surround yourself with many cute cats.
©RuthArt 2007
(I am a member of Animation Lessons and they have my permission to host this tutorial on their site. Since only members can see the tutorial, I have decided to post it here as well.)
