In this tutorial you will learn how to use the Gradient Mesh tool for character design. We will begin with a sketch and build the character using different shapes and gradients to achieve a smooth, almost 3D finish. The final outcome may appear to be difficult to achieve, I assure you it’s simple once you begin.
Step 1
First off we will sketch our picture onto paper. Sketching enables you to solidify your idea and makes it much easier to draw once your in Illustrator. There’s no need to buy a scanner if you don’t already have one, a good quality camera phone, web cam or digital camera will do the trick. In my case I’ve drawn a sketch of this picture, taken a photo of it and imported to computer. My sketch is below. It doesn’t matter if your sketch and the final product have some differences. It’s only a sketch.
Step 2
Open Adobe Illustrator and create a new artboard with the dimensions 1200px by 1400px. Go to File > Place and select your sketch. Create a new layer above the first one so you can trace your sketch. Create a rectangle and place in behind your trace ( Object > Arrange > Send to Back). Select the rectangle with the Selection Tool (V) and color it #FFDABF (Double click the color chip at the bottom of the tools panel to bring up the Color Options).
Step 3
The three colors I’m using for skin are listed below, you can chose any base color you like as long as there’s a mid, light and dark tone. You can find the Skin Color Pallet by going to Windows > Swatches then navigating to the Swatches Panel Options and choosing Open Swatch Library > Skintones.
The colors I’m using are
- Dark rose #F59AAB
- Middle dark rose #F8B6C2
- Light rose #FAD3D9
Let’s start with the face. To begin, draw a white rectangle the same size as the face (mine is 300px by 200px). Reduce the opacity of the rectangle to 40% (You can find the Opacity settings by going to Window > Transparency)
Step 4
Select the rectangle and go to Object > Create Gradient Mesh. Make a Mesh with 6 columns and 9 rows.
Step 5
Now you can move those mesh points with the help of the Direct Selection Tool (A). Once you click on a point a set of handles will appear, you can use these to fit the mesh to the shape of the face. Start adjusting the lines and points around the outside of the face, one after the other, until they’re all in place.
Step 6
Once you’ve finished with the outer lines, start to adjust inner lines. The purpose of this is to color the face. Each point in the object will be colored to make the contours of the face. You should end up with a Gradient Mesh similar to the one below.
Step 7
It’s time to add color to the mesh. Select the object that you have just created, increase the opacity to 100% then change the color to #FAD3D9.
Step 8
Hold down the Shift Key and select the top and bottom mesh points with the Direct Selection Tool (D) and color them with #FAD3D9 (Or your chosen darkest shade of color) Don’t draw circles as shown below, the circles are to show the mesh points.
Step 9
The colored points will look similar to what you see in the following image.
Step 10
Now you can color some more mesh points with a color that is lighter that previous color. Please refer the illustration below. Select the mesh points and color them with #F8B6C2 (Or your chosen mid shade of color).
Step 11
After coloring the mesh points you will see a picture similar to this.
Step 12
This face looks good, but still we can develop it further. To add more color follow the guide below.
Step 13
After coloring the final points, your image should look similar to the one below.
Step 14
See how simple it is to color an object using the mesh tool?! All you need to do is draw a rectangle, create a Gradient Mesh, adjust the points to match the object and color the mesh points to get 3D effect. That’s all! We will use this technique to color the rest of the picture. Our next step is coloring the neck. Start with a rectangle and apply a Gradient Mesh with 10 rows and 5 columns.
Step 15
Start to adjust the outer mesh points to make the shape of neck. Then adjust the inner points like we did on the face. Note that Your adjustment of the mesh points should facilitate the use of color. See my mesh points below. You may end up with different adjustments, however it should add beauty to the picture. Change the color of neck to #FAD3D9 (or a suitable color of your choosing). To help you get a better understanding of this step, I’ve included a short video showing the process you will follow to fit the rectangle to the neck shape.
Step 16
Color the mesh points with the same colors that you used to on the face. After adding color to the neck, move it behind the face. You can do this by pasting your object one layer down in the layer window, or use the shortcut Control + Square Left Bracket. Repeat this shortcut until the object moves to the position that you want.
Step 17
Use the same technique to draw and color the hands and fingers. The hand and fingers should be drawn separately. You shouldn’t draw the hand and fingers as one object. It’s too difficult to draw and color.
Step 18
You may notice that when you draw the parts of the hand with separate objects, the color may not match. It will appear to be separate objects. Therefore you need to select the nearest color in the overlapping object to be the boarder color of the object. Use the Eyedropper Tool (I) to select the color.
Step 19
We are going to draw the T-shirt and color it. Draw another rectangle in middle of the picture. Adjust the mesh points to look like the illustrated example below.
Step 20
Now you need to create a mesh line similar to the one in the rectangle box. You will need to have two mesh lines very closed to each other in the middle of the body. Zoom to the existing line, select the Mesh Tool and click once closely underneath it to make a second mesh line.
Step 21
Start to color the mesh points. Color according to the lights and shadows. I’ve colored the T-shirt using #E9E9E9. Now color the double mesh line you created in the previous step. I’ve used #E6E6E6 for the bottom line and #CCCCCC for the top line. This will create the shape of the body.
Step 22
Draw the skirt next. We will use the same technique as the previous steps. Draw a rectangle, create a Gradient Mesh, and adjust the Mesh Points.
Step 23
Color the mesh points. I’ve used #00017F for the dark blue and #0010BF for the light blue. You’re free to use different colors, just remember to have one dark tone and one light tone.
Step 24
Draw the remaining parts of the T-shirt. Your mesh lines should look like this.
Step 25
Color the mesh points with the dark and light colors to achieve the effect shown in the example image below.
Step 26
We will now move onto the hair. You will need to draw several objects to construct the hair. Draw the shapes one by one and color them by using Gradient Tool (G).
`
Step 27
Hide the face layer and make a new layer above it, here we will draw the facial features. You can draw the features using the Pen Tool (P) and Gradient Tool (G).
Step 28
Using the same technique, draw the nose and the mouth.
Step 29
Now draw the opening of the T-shirt. Go back to the layer with your T-shirt on it and draw a rectangle. Move the rectangle below the collar of the shirt, apply a Gradient Mesh and adjust the points and color.
Step 30
Draw the buttons and some seam lines to finish the T-shirt.
Step 31
Now draw the ear. You can do this using the Pen and Gradient Tool.
Step 32
With the Pen and Gradient Tools draw some additional features, such as the sleeve, sweat band and head band.
Step 33
Next we are going to draw the Tennis Racket. With the Ellipse Tool (E) draw a black oval shape and with a stroke of 8pt. Draw two lines under the oval to make the neck. Select all the objects and go to Object > Expand. Then go the Pathfinder Pallet and select Unite. Make a copy of the shape and move it slightly above the other and fill it with a White to Black Gradient.
Step 34
Now draw the rest of the Tennis Racket. Draw the strings and send the entire racket behind the fingers (Control + Left Square Bracket, until the shape is in place). It should now look like the figure is holding the racket.
Step 35
Next we will draw the collar bone. The triangle shape is colored with the mesh tool, the collar bone is colored with a fill only.
Step 36
Our drawing is almost complete. You can now delete the sketch lines and make a background. Draw an orange rectangle and add a line of white text.
Step 37
Select the rectangle and the text and group them together (Command G). Then apply a soft blur using Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur (I’ve used a 4 pixel radius).
Step 38
Finally we will draw the wall and the floor. Select the wall, floor, orange rectangle and the text and send them behind the girl (Object > Arrange > Send to Back)
Conclusion
There you have it, a character made from Gradient Mesh. Now you should have a good idea of how to apply Gradient Mesh and the different effects that can be achieved from the use of color and modeling. Try drawing different cartoon pictures for practice with this simple technique.
