Body
Start by inserting a new layer, rename it “body”.
Select the Shape Tool …
Then select Triangle.
Change to draw Filled Shape.
Set the primary/fill color to yellow.
Draw a big triangle on the canvas, almost filling it.
Outline
Insert a new layer; rename it “outline”.
Set the colors back to default.
Select the Line/Curve Tool.
Set the thickness of the line to 10.
Draw a straight line across the middle of the triangle to start…
Then push in the middle circles to curve it. Make sure it meets & blends with the straight lines along the left & right side of the yellow triangle!
Click off to set the curve.
Draw another line across the middle, the end points meeting the other line.
Push the middle circles to curve the line like this…
Click off to see if the end points meeting the other lines nicely – in my example, on the right you can’t see where the lines meet, but on the left you can…
To fix this, CTRL+Z to go back to editing mode, and adjust the circle handle where it’s meeting.
Click off to check again – if it’s good (like what you see below), then continue; if not, repeat (CTR+Z, adjust the circle, click off to check) until it’s good.
Delete Outside
Now select the Magic Wand tool.
Click inside the outline…
Then select the body layer …
Go to Edit > Select Inverse or use the keyboard shortcut (CTRL+I).
This will select everything outside the outline we want to get rid of for the yellow/body.
Then Delete to erase the yellow outside the outline.
Chin
Insert a new layer, rename it “chin”.
Set the colors to default and then switch so white is the front color.
Select the Ellipse Select Tool.
Select an area along the bottom (more in the middle, not too close to the corners).
Backspace to fill the area with white.
Enter or CTRL+D to deselect.
Hide the Background layer for now.
Make the outline layer active…
Select the Magic Wand tool again.
Click in the area outside the outline.
Make the chin layer active again and Delete.
Move the chin layer below the outline layer….
Show the Background layer again.
Eyes
Insert a new layer ; rename it “eye” and make sure it’s at the top, above outline.
Set the colors to default.
Select the Shape tool – set it to Ellipse and reduce the width to 5.
Draw an eye about this size. Click off to set the shape.
Set the Ellipse Shape tool to Fill only. Draw a pupil; click off to set the shape.
Go to Effects > Distort > Bulge …
Play with the arrows to get a more cartoon-like shape for the eye.
Duplicate the eye layer.
Select the Move tool.
Click on the canvas and move the eye over to the right, so it’s overlapping.
Enter to get rid of the dotted outline. Move the top eye layer below the original one.
This should make it behind the left eye.
Eyebrows
Insert a new layer, name it “eyebrows”.
Set your foreground color to red.
Change the Shape tool to Trapezoid.
Draw out a trapezoid – make sure to drag down, not across!
Move and rotate it into place, resizing as needed to fit over one of the eyes nicely.
Click off to set the shape.
Then draw another trapezoid; move/rotate it for the eye on the right. Click off to set the shape.
Feathers
Insert a new layer for “feathers”.
Set colors to default.
Change Shape tool to the Six-point star
Draw a decent size star in the middle of your canvas (not near the edge or else parts may be chopped off later).
Go to Effects > Distort > Twist…
Play with settings to get something like this.
Select the feathers with the Rectangle Select Tool.
Move the layer below the body
Then use the Move tool to move/rotate it into place.
CTRL+D to deselect.
Tail
Duplicate feathers and rename it tail.
Go to Layers > Flip Vertical …
Then use the Move tool to move/rotate it into place like this… you can also squish it or make it smaller.
When you’ve happy with the size & position of it, [Enter] or CTRL+D.
Beak
Insert a new layer at the top; rename it “beak”
Change the color to an orange.
Select the Pentagon arrow shape tool.
Draw/rotate a shape like this to start.
Go to Effects > Noise > Median
Set the Radius slider to about 30 so you get round/smooth the corners like this…
Then go to Effects > Distort > Twist
Play with the settings until you have a beak shape you like.
Move/rotate it into place like this…
Then CTRL+D to deselect.
Background Gradient
Set your foreground color to something you like.
Select the Gradient Tool.
Select the Background layer and drag the gradient down.
Effects
Glow
With the beak layer still active…
Go to Effects > Photo > Glow …
Slide Brightness & Contrast all the way down.
Then go to Effects > Repeat Glow for each of the following layers:
- both eyes
- outline
- feathers
- tail
Soften Portrait
Select the eyebrows layer…
Go to Effects > Photo > Soften Portrait (default settings):
And you’re done.
Your layers should look like this…
Bad Outline?
If your body outline is not lining up nicely, you will have to fix it…
Select the outline layer…
Select the Ellipse Select tool…
Select the bad area with a bit before & after it…
Delete
Make sure colors are back to default.
Select the Line/Curve Tool.
Make sure the thickness is 10.
Draw a new line that joins the line better.
Click off to see if it’s good; if not, CTRL+Z and adjust the circles.
