Head
Insert a new layer.
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Choose a skin color
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Select the Ellipse shape tool…
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Set to draw fill only.
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Draw out a circle/oval for the head. Click off the set the shape, then 2 more for the ears.
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Double-click on “Layer 1” and rename it “face”.
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Eyes
Eyeball
Insert a new layer and rename it “eye”.
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Set colors to default.
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Set Ellipse to draw Fill & Outline.
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Draw an eyeball…
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Click off the shape to set it.
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Pupil
Ellipse Shape – change to draw fill only
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Draw a pupil…
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If you’re happy with the positioning of the pupil, click off the shape to set it.
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Duplicate
Duplicate the eye layer.
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Move
Select the Move tool
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Move the new eye over – click on the canvas and drag it over.
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CTRL+D to deselect (get rid of the dotted outline).
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Nose
Insert a new layer, rename it “nose”.
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Select the “face” layer
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Select the Color Picker tool.
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Click on the face to select the skin color. Then go to More color options and move the Saturation slider up a bit, or the Vibrancy slider down a bit.
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Select the Line/Curve tool. Choose the 2nd type…
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Increase the thickness of the line to about 5.
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Drag out a line to start…
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Then pull/push the circles…
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When you’re happy with it, click off to set the shape.
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Mouth
Insert a new layer, and rename it “mouth”.
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Set the lip color…
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Use Line/Curve tool to draw a smile…
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…then click off to set the shape.
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Neck
Select the “face” layer and select the skin color using the eye dropper tool.
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Insert a new layer just above body and call it “neck”.
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Select the Brush tool again.
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Set the Brush hardness to 100% and increase the thickness to about 40.
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Draw the neck. Don’t worry if it’s a blob like mine…
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Move the neck layer below the face layer.
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Darker
Go to Adjustments>Brightness & Contrast…
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Reduce Brightness to -5
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Clean Up Edges
Then use the Ellipse Select tool and drag out on the side…
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… and Delete (not Backspace).
Repeat on the other side – click & drag to select, then Delete.
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So you should have a cleaned up neck like this…
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Do the same on the other side.
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Hair
Insert a new layer and rename it “hair”.
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Select the Brush tool
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Change your primary color to what you want your hair to be.
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Short Hair
Draw your hair however you like…
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Long Hair
If you want to have long hair, draw the hair in front first, above the head. Then add another layer for the hair.
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Make sure the layer is behind the head/neck…
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Effect
Add an effect to your hair – choose one of the following options:
- Effects>Distort>Crystalize
- Effects>Distort>Dents
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Here’s the example with long hair – you only need to do it to the front hair layer.
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Crop (if lots of empty space)
At this point we want to reduce our canvas size to just fit the face. Click on the Rectangle Select Tool…
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Then select the area you want to keep (your face/body and a bit around)…
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Then either go to Image>Crop to selection… or use the crop button on the toolbar.
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You should now have something like this…
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Background Gradient
Select the Background layer…
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Click on the Gradient Tool.
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Select a dark color…
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Click and drag down past the bottom of your canvas…
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Enter or click on another layer to set the gradient (or click on another tool/layer).
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Your layers should look like this:
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