Overview:

Open a new document of width > 1200px and height of 900px to have sufficient space to draw the cartoons. Create seperate layers for each parts such as face, hair, eyes etc, before creating the shapes. Or you can also first draw all the required shapes in one particular layer and then cut each part and paste them after creating each layer. If in future, you want to see the effects made to each shape / part for referance, go to Window menu > and select the option > Appearance. Here, you can view the changes made to every shape or path and also alter them by double clicking the effect applied in the Apearance box.

Illustrator ONE :

First draw a circle using Ellipse tool and fill it with yellow color and set the stroke color as Black to highlight the edges. Once you have a circle, select the yellow circle with the Selection tool and go to Edit menu > copy to copy the circle. Again go to Edit menu > Paste in Back, to paste the the copied circle behind the same original circle. Once pasted, the new pasted circle is automatically selected. Now, you can simply select the anchor points of the circle and transform it by clicking the top part's middle point and drag upward, to extend the pasted circle. Now fill this pasted circle with brown color. Now there are two items, yellow circle in front and brown ellipse behind the yellow circle.

• Effect to the face > For adding effect to the Face (yellow circle), first select the yellow circle using selection tool and then use the Crystal Tool which is available with warp tool under Tools box. Click OUTSIDE the yellow circle and Drag In towards inside.
  
  
• Adding effect to Hair > Now for adding effect to the hair, by bringing out the spiky effect in the middle, select the brown circle using selection tool and use the same Crystal Tool but, click inside the Brown circle in the middle part, and Drag out towards outside. Perform this on the areas required.
  
  
• Transforming the Eyes > Use, the Ellipse tool in tools box to create oval shape eyes and  fill them with orange color and set the stroke color as Black. Create the insides of the eye also using the Ellipse tool and fill them with grey color and set the stroke color as Black. Rotate them to get the desired expression.
  
  
• Eye lashes > Draw straight lines using the line tool and place them above the eyes and rotate them to blend them properly in proportion to the eyes. For getting the crooked effect for eye lashes, use the wrinkle tool which is available under the Warp tool in tools box and scribble over the lines drawn.
  
  
• Twisting the Mouth > Use the Ellipse tool in tools box to create oval shape mouth. Then go to Effects > Distort and Transform > Twist and set the Twist angle to 45 degree.

Now finally let us perform one additional step. The hair part is in the form of an ellipse with crystal effect applied to the top part. If you want the hair part alone and to remove the excess portion that is hidden behind the yellow circle and is not necessary, use the option called > Devide Objects Below. Sewlect the YELLOW circle and Go to Object menu > Path > Divide Object Below. This yellow circle acts as a knife to the Brown ellepse behind and cuts the brown ellipse. Now you will have the top part of the hair seperately. This option may not work on all situations. It works here because, the yellow and the brown shapes are of same size and shape on all sides except the top. That is why the top part alone was cut. If there was difference in the shape say for example at the side also, the the side also will be cut and the cheek part can be removed which will be awkward.

Illustrator TWO :

Draw a circle using Ellipse tool but slightly having the oval look at the cheeks rather than having a perfect circle and fill it with pink color and set the stroke color as Black to highlight the borders. Once you have a circle, select the pink circle with the Selection tool and go to Edit menu > copy to copy the circle. Again go to Edit menu > Paste in Back, to paste the the copied circle behind the same original circle. Once pasted, the new pasted circle is automatically selected. Now, you can simply select the circle and transform it by clicking the top part's middle point and drag upward, to extend the pasted circle upward. Now select the pasted circle with Direct Selection Tool and select the side part of the pasted circle to view the anchor points and click the side point and drag outwards to extend the circle not only upwards but also side ways but only half part should be extended and not the whole side. Do this for the other side also.Leave the color of the pasted circle as pink itself.

• Adding effect  to the Hair >  Select the pasted circle present behind, To get the curly hair use the warp tool in tools box, and click on the insides of the sides and drag out. Perform this on both sides. The curve is obtained for the hair. Now for the top, to get a string of hair popping out, use the Twirl tool in the tools box which is available with the warp tool and click on the top side on the stroke in the center. There is no effect for the face. It is just left like that.
  
  
• Effects for the eyes > Use, the Ellipse tool in tools box to create oval shape eyes and  fill them with the same pink color and set the stroke color as dark grey. Now for the pupils, use the Star tool under the shapes tool in tools box. Fill the pupils with yellow color and set the Stroke color to Black.
  
  
• Mouth > Simply use the ellipse tool for the mouth, and draw a vertical ellipse shape and fill it with the color of the pupils that is yellow. This is avery simple illustrator.

Illustrator THREE :

First draw a vertical oval shape for the face using Ellipse tool and fill it with red color and set the stroke color as Black. Once you have an ellipse, select the red circle with the Selection tool and go to Edit menu > copy to copy the circle. Again go to Edit menu > Paste in Back, to paste the the copied circle behind the same original circle. Once pasted, the new pasted circle is automatically selected. Now, select the pasted circle with Direct Selection Tool and select the top part of the pasted circle to view the anchor points and click the top point and drag towards the left that is side ways to extend the circle sideways and to get a cap for the figure. Set the fill color of the cap as Blue and the stroke has the same Black color.

• Effects for the face > One effect is for the forehead. Select the red circle using selection tool and then use the Crystal Tool which is available with warp tool under Tools box. Click OUTSIDE the red circle and Drag In towards inside. Next effect is for the ear. Select the red shape and use the Bloat tool in the tools box and click inside the shape in the lest side corner. The more you press, the bigger is the Bolt effect. The result is a swelling effect. Here, place the ear only for the left side. For the ear, draw an oval shape using ellipse tool and using direct selection tool, you can bend them to get the desired shape. NOTE : set both the fill and the stroke color for the ear as brown. Do not have seperate colors for both.

• Effects for the eyes > Use, the Ellipse tool in tools box to create perfect circle shaped eyes (SHIFT + Click and drag to get perfect circles)and fill them with the orange color and set the stroke color as Black. Now for the pupils, use the Spiral tool under the Lines tool in tools box. Fill the pupils with red color and set the Stroke color also to red. Copy this piece and paste it for other eye also. If you want to flip it symmetrical to the other pupil, you can use the transform tool in Edit menu and use the option > Reflect to get the desired result.

• Eye lashes > Draw straight lines using the line tool and place them above the eyes and rotate them to let them be in proportion to the eyes. For getting the  effect for eye lashes, use the Scallop tool which is available under the Warp tool in tools box and click above the lines drawn. The lines are stretched and you get the desired effect. Apply this for both the lashes.

• Creating Mouth > Use, the Ellipse tool in tools box to create horizontal oval shape eyes and  fill them with the yellow color and set the stroke color also as yellow. Create another elipse shape but in small size, using the Ellipse tool to create vertical oval shape eyes and  fill them with the yellow color and set the stroke color also as yellow and place it below the mouth to get the drip effect. This illustrator is complete. You can also add effects to the cap in Photoshop to add designs.

Illustrator Four :

Draw a vertical oval shape for the face using Ellipse tool and fill it with light green color and set the stroke color as Black. Once you have an ellipse, select the light green circle with the Selection tool and go to Edit menu > copy to copy the circle. Again go to Edit menu > Paste in Back, to paste the the copied circle behind the same original circle. Once pasted, the new pasted circle is automatically selected. Now, select the pasted circle with Direct Selection Tool and select the top part of the pasted circle to view the anchor points and click the top point and drag upwards to extend the circle upwards and also select the side points to extend sideways also. Set the fill color of the cap as Greenish blue and the stroke has the same Black color.

• Effects for the face > The effect for the forehead is obtained using, the wrinkle tool which is available under the Warp tool in tools box and scribble over the stroke of the top part of the face.

• Eye lashes > Draw straight lines using the line tool and place them above the eyes and rotate them to blend them properly with the eyes. For getting the effect for eye lashes, use the Crystal tool which is available under the Warp tool in tools box and click below the the lines drawn. The stroke color for the eye lashes are Black. There is no fill color.

• Creating the Eyes > Use, the Ellipse tool in tools box to create oval shape eyes and  fill them with green color and set the stroke color as Black. For the pupils, use the Text tool and type the letter 'S' and select the text using Transform tool and enlarge the text. Then use the line tool and draw a line in the middle of the letter to get a Dollar symbol. Make another copy and paste it on the other eye also.

• Mouth > Use the ellipse tool for the mouth, and draw an horizontal ellipse shape and fill it with the color grey and stroke color as Black. Now, use the warp tool in Tools box and click inside the shape and drag outside on the right side of the shape. Do the same for the left side of the shape also. You will get a smiling effect. Select the shape with the Direct selection tool, to drag and make the corners give a pointy look. You can add another rectangle shape use the option, Object menu > Path > Split into Grid, and split the rectangle shape into grids by leaving gutter size to Zero and making two rows and three columns, for the teeth. You can reduce its opacity to 20 and also use the Direct selection tool to adjust the shape to fit correctly in the mouth. This is the end of this cartoon effect. Similarly you can create simple but effective illustrations.
  
  

• Written by Anusha.M.
• In category Animation & 3d Design.
• 14 years ago.

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