"Lion Around"

Copyright Arizona Kate 2002 All rights reserved.
All tutorials, including images, remain the property of Arizona Kate and
may not be sold or distributed in any format without purchasing a license from Arizona Kate.

With this tutorial you'll practice using the PSP vector tools to create a cartoon style lion. We can also make a lioness by simply removing the mane! ;-)

This is not a beginners tutorial...it requires some experience with node editing.

Open new image 400x400, background any neutral color.

I prefer to not look at the checkerboard background while working...so I always use a separate background layer filled with color. This can always be deleted later when making a transparent gif or changed to your webpage color/pattern.

Don't forget to SAVE often and to empty your clipboard frequently!!

Note: RC=Right Click

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OK...let's start drawing! ;-)
I'm not providing a color swatch for this tutorial because exact color doesn't really matter..you can make the lion pink and blue if you want...this is a cartoon!! It's a caricature of a lion...not a realistic portrait!!!

To draw this character, we'll be using all pre-set shapes with antialias and vector ON, line width 1, line style solid....unless it says otherwise!

Set your color palette to black for stroke color and golden brown for fill color.

Use the 'fat' heart preset shape provided by Jasc and draw the heart in center of canvas...this will be the lion's mane.

Don't make mane so huge it fills entire canvas area...save some room for lion's body!

Now we'll set up a bunch more preset shapes for editing later. The first screenshot shows all the shapes we'll be making...all spread out so you can see what we have! The second screenshot shows each shape placed in the approximate final position. Exact placement or exact size of each shape isn't important at this point, we're just doing a set up...we'll edit them shortly.... one by one.

Draw these vector shapes in the following order....placement on layer pallette will matter!
Use pre-set shapes with antialias and vector ON, line width 1, line style solid, stroke and fill colors described below.

Stroke color is black, fill color is a lighter shade of the golden brown used for the mane.
Draw:
    a circle for the head
    a fat heart for the cheeks
    a circle for the left ear and one for the right ear

Change fill color to an even lighter shade of golden brown...sort of a flesh color, and draw:
    a circle for the chin
    a circle for the left muzzle and a circle for the right muzzle

Change fill color to the deep golden brown used for the mane and draw:
    a triangle for the top of the nose

Change the fill color to black and draw:
    a triangle for the black part of the nose.
This triangle needs to be drawn 'upside down'...so use the tool to draw from the bottom to the top. If you draw from the top to the bottom, the triangle will point the other way! If you have trouble doing this, grab one of the handles in the selection box and drag this shape over itself to turn it around.

Change the fill color to white and draw:
    a circle for the left eye
    a circle for the right eye

Change fill color back to black and draw:
    a circle for both eye pupils

How about that! We already have a drawing that looks a little like a lion! We could even use it 'as is'...but, with a little vector editing, we can add some personality!!

With Object Selector, select the mane, RC and Node Edit.
Add a bunch of nodes, approximately 12, to each side of the 'heart'. We'll use these to make a few hair 'spikes' for the mane. It might be easier if you finish editing the nodes on one side of the mane before starting the other.

The Node Type for each new node should be 'Cusp'. When you add NEW nodes, the default Node Type will probably NOT be Cusp and they'll all have to be changed. Remember, you can change the Node Type for all nodes at once by selecting them all at once. Use the Object Selector to drag a selection around your nodes, then RC Node Edit>Node Type>Cusp.

To shape the hair spikes, the Cusp Nodes will also need to be set for 'Curve Before' or 'Curve After'. Grab those handles with your mouse and pull them into shapes needed to make a 'hairy' mane....refer to finished image. Make sharp turns at the point and base of each hair 'spike' by turning the handles for each Node until they make a V shape....see below for close ups of a typical 'hair spike'.

   

ZOOM IN to closely view location of handles as you work. Keep making minor adjustments to the length and angle of all Node handles until you have smooth curves, clean points, and a nice full, shaggy mane. Take your time...the way to avoid jagged corners and bumpy turns is to check the position and length of every node handle!!

Do some stretching of the preset shapes and make the lion's face, cheeks and chin bigger/longer/narrower. There's no right or wrong here...give the lion your own look!!

Add a 'smile' with a bezier curve, black, 2 pixels, vector & antialias ON. Start your curve on one cheek, end on the other, and then tap/click twice near the chin. That should result in a smooth curve. Do some node editing if you didn't get the smile 'just right'. Now add a little 'freehand' curved line on each end of the smile. Use the same settings. Zoom in!!!

Uh-oh...this smile line is in the wrong place...it's sitting on TOP of the muzzle! The best way to fix this is to move the whole muzzle to the top layer. Hold down your shift key, select each of the 3 pieces of flesh colored muzzle, the black nose and the brown triangle above it. RC, select Arrange>Bring to Top. It should look like the screenshot above when done.

Move the eyes into position and give them whatever expression you want. Use screenshot as example.

Depending on your eye placement, you might have to move the layers for the eye shapes down so they are below/behind the cheek layer. You can drag the 'eye' layer on the Layer Palette until it is below the 'cheek' layer or you can RC, select Arrange>Move Down.

Now he needs some eyebrows. Use rectangular preset shape with black stroke and the same brown as mane for fill color (antialias and vector ON) and draw some skinny rectangles for eyebrows.

Optional...do some node editing on the eyebrows to give them some expression. If you want some curve to the eyebrows, RC select Node Type>Curve Before or Curve After and move the node handle to give a slight curve to that part of the rectangle.

Add white dots to highlight eyes. Don't switch to using raster tools yet!....continue to use vector tools for this! Change fill color to white, stroke color to null, and draw a very tiny circle!

Finishing Head

Move ears next to head. Select an ear, RC>Node Edit, select the node closest to the head, RC>Delete. There should be 3 nodes left ..... in the shape of a half circle. RC>Quit Node Editing. Move the half circle over until it is touching the head. Do the same for the other ear.

If you want both ears to be the exact same size, select the ear you like best first, hold shift key down, select the second ear, RC>Make Objects Same Size>Both.

If you want both ears to align with each other, select both ears, RC>Align Object>Top.

Now draw the 'inner ear' with a freehand vector line, black, 1 pixel. Node edit this line to resemble the screenshot.

Add an elongated solid white oval to highlight the tip of the nose.

Either add whiskers on the muzzle (with freehand line) or dots (circles) to give the hint of whiskers. Use vector tools...not raster!

Adding the Body

I believe in drawing objects that are close in size to the final image I plan on using. Why make a drawing that's 600x600 or 700x700 unless you plan on having a final image that will fill the entire monitor screen! The extra large file will require a lot more of your system's memory during editing and, if it's a raster image, can loose all clarity of color and line when re-sized drastically! If you need something larger to see detail better....use the Zoom Tool as you work. There's usually no need to start with a drawing that is 3 or 4 times larger than the final image!!!

Next we'll create a body for the lion. If the lion's head is filling up your entire canvas and you don't have room to add the body, make the head a little smaller to give you more working area. I don't recommend making the canvas bigger unless you really want a VERY large lion. To make the head smaller, drag a selection around all vector objects and use corner node of selection box to push/pull lion head into a new size.
This screenshot shows the 6 ellipses we'll be adding next.

This is a good spot to SAVE...just in case you haven't already!! ;-)

You can have your lion standing, sitting, laying down, attacking...whatever your preference!! I will make mine laying down and being lazy! *G* I will be creating the body on a separate vector layer so that I can make a few different bodies to use with the same head!! On the Layer Palette, RC>New Vector Layer, name it 'body'. Drag this body layer BELOW the lion head layer.

Set up the preset shapes for the body. Draw 6 ovals with black as the stroke color and the medium golden brown that you used for the face as the fill color. Line width 1, vector and antialias ON. These shapes will be the hips, legs and paws.

Use screenshot as example and shape the body parts as follows. The shapes don't have to be exact...most will get covered by the head & mane!

Shape the ovals furthest back into 2 large hips and the rear feet.
Shape the middle ovals into forelegs.
Shape the ovals in front into paws.

To get both sides of lion similar in size, use RC>Make Objects Same Size>Both while selecting each pair of objects as appropriate. To position feet the same on both sides, select both objects, RC>Align Object>Bottom

.

Add toes to paws with little curved lines. Select and COPY the line used for inside ear. RC and 'paste as vector selection' by one of the feet. Rotate selection so you have a C shape and move it into position onto paw. Paste as vector selection a couple of times onto every paw until you have 3 toes on each foot!

Optional: You can add some claws if you want. Use an elongated black triangle for a claw.

Oops!! We almost forgot his tail!!

Add two more preset shapes to the body layer....both antialias and vector ON.
Using black for stroke color and the body color for fill, draw a long skinny rectangle for tail.
Using black for stroke color and the mane color for fill, draw an oval for tuft at tip of tail.
Hold shift key down, select both of these shapes, RC>Arrange>Send to Bottom.

Add some gentle curves to the tail by changing some of the node types to Cusp, Curve Before & Curve After and move the node handles to slightly curve the tail.
Node edit the tail tuft to add a couple of hair spikes...the same way we did the mane.
Move the tail tuft into position at the end of the tail.

Save, Resize and Optimize

If you save a .psp copy of the lion with all vector objects and layers intact, you can come back and change the lions expression, add a different body, make a female lion by leaving off the mane, change the colors used, change the image size....lots of things you can do when you save image in vector format! Both lions at the top of this page are the same 'original' lion as the one shown here...with just a few minor changes!

When I want to make a few more changes, but don't want to change the original, I make a duplicate image and close original. Window>Duplicate
If you want the final image a little smaller, use the vector tools to resize. With Object Selector, drag a selection around entire object...make sure you get all pieces...and push/pull a corner handle on the selection box to resize smaller. If you are going to use this lion as a Sig Tag or in an animation, it is especially important to start with a small image and a small file size.

Insert your own webpage color in background layer or delete layer and set palette for a transparent GIF.

Merge all layers or merge visible. Add your signature or other text.

Export as an optimized GIF when completely done!
The settings I used:
No transparency...white background
256 colors, 0 dither, Optimized Octree
Non-interlaced