Grafpedia

Cartoon Girl In Photoshop

Today I will show you how to draw a girl portrait in Photoshop. If you want to follow this tutorial please prepare yourself for a few hours of work. I made this tutorial using a Wacom Cintiq Tablet, but i assure you you can use also your mouse to create the same female, but it will take you a little longer.
Download the PSD file if you want to understand better how this tutorial was made. The PSD file comes with all layers, and you can play alone with the settings

For start i will create a simple sketch on a piece of paper, or you can create directly in Photoshop if you have a Wacom tablet.

I will start this tutorial with a normal sketch girl illustration. It doesn’t matter right now how many details you will add in this sketch.

With Brush Tool I will draw the skin of the girl. I will use the following color for the face :  #f5d388 and this one for the neck: #f5c576. It is very important if you create the face , the ears and the neck on separate layers.

I will select Burn Tool, and I will make some drawings, to give a nice shape on the neck

I will select the layer with the face and I will make some drawing on the edge of the face.

I will draw further with Brush Tool over the face. I will create the eyes, the nose and the lips

I will work right now to create the basic shape of the eyes. With a smooth round brush ( set the opacity value to 50% I will start to add some light and shadows on my eyes. Please use a different layer each time when you add another details.

I will create also the iris of the eyes with a dark color.

Now I will create another layer, and with Brush Tool I will make a drawing . You can use also Ellipse Tool to create a perfect circle. I will use the following color for the eyes: #43c6cb

I will lower the brush size, and I will create another point in the middle of the iris with the following color: #2b898c

I will change the foreground color to #04354f and I will make the brush size much smaller. I will create right now the middle of the iris

I will select Custom Shape Tool, and I will make the changes to create a nice star

I will place this start with the following color: #41768f on my eyes. Then I will go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur and I will use a a small value for the blur settings.

I will create another layer above all layers, and with a white brush I will make some small lights in her eyes

This is my result so far

I will create a new layer, and I will try to accentuate the contour of the eye

I will set the foreground color to #9c6167 . I will choose a smooth round brush, and in the same time I will change the opacity value to 50 %.

I will start to add some make up on the eyes.

I will create a new layer, and I will download some eyelash brushes from deviantart.

Load the eyelash Photoshop brushes in Photoshop, then on a new layer add them to fit on your eye. Please note that I have used Warp tool to place exactly over my eye.

I will create another layer, and with a small brush I will add some shadows inside my eye.

I will start working right now on the nose. I will create the lights and shadows with burn and Dodge Tool. Please use a smooth round brush when you create the nose.

I will add other shadows inside the nostril

You will see that the shadows of the face are accentuated. I will create a new layer, and with a big smooth brush. I will create another layer ( press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+N ) and I will draw on this layer with the following color: # f6ba6c.

Now I will start working on the lips.

I will create another layer and I will make a line between the lips

With Smudge Tool I will draw over this line until I will get the following result. You can use also Burn Tool, and Dodge Tool to create a more realistic lips.

With Burn Tool try to add some shadows

And like on the eyes I will add a source of lightning reflecting in the lips. For doing this trick I will create a new layer, and with a small round brush I will create the small source of light.

I will select the layer with the ears, and with Burn Tool I will add some shadows.

I will accentuate the shadows a little

I will change the brush size to a lower one and I will add more shadows with Burn Tool.

I will leave these ears as it is now. The reason I do not want to work on it, is because I will add the hair on the next step, and I will cover some parts of the ears. I will create another layer, and with the following color I will draw the background of the hair: # ca4737.

I will Select Burn Tool, and I will make some lines. Please try to follow the natural way of the hair. This step it will take you some time. Do not hurry up. You will mess the hair later.

Now I will select Dodge Tool, and I will create some lights. This step takes too some time.

I will delete some parts of the hair. I want to make the ears visible on the bottom part. In the same time I will add more hair. I will lower the brush size when I will use Dodge Tool, and Burn Tool.

Here are more details

Now comes the funny part. Prepare yourself to work a few good minutes on this part if you want to make it right. Select Smudge Tool, and bring up the brush preset window ( F5 ).
Please note that I am using a Wacom Cintiq tablet. Believe me you can make it also with the mouse, but it will take you more time. I will make the adjustments for the brush.

I will start drawing on the edges of the hair. I remember that this step it will take you a good amount of time.
This is my result so far.

WHOAA – Nice transformation

I will create another layer under the hair, and with a smooth round brush I will add some shadows under the hair.

Then with a bigger brush I will add more .

On the side of the face of course I will add more shadows.

I was looking on my drawing and something is missing: the eyebrows. I will create them in a few easy steps.
I will create two simple drawings with Brush Tool, and with a smooth round brush.

And you can add also some shadows around the eyebrows with another smooth round brush

I am almost ready with this cartoon girl drawing. I will create another layer, and with a pink color I will add some makeup.  This is my result

If you want a more natural look I will show you exactly how to achieve this effect. Select all the layers with the face, ears, eyes, . Be sure you select all the layers with skin.

Then press on CTRL+E  to merge all the layers into a single one.
After you have a single layer, press on CTRL+U, to bring the HUE/ Saturation window, and use the following values

This is my final result

In the next days I will show you how to add texture to this drawing to make it look more natural.
Here are some color variations for this girl.

If you want to understand better how this drawing was made please apply for a VIP membership and you will be able to download this layered PSD file. You can play with the values until you achieve your desired effect.