As you’ve seen already, we are starting a huge project: creating Wizard of
Oz characters. It is a children’s story written by L. Frank Baum, and the original name of this story is “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. It is a
story about a little girl named Dorothy and her puppy Toto’s adventures
after their house was swept away from Kansas to the Land of
Oz by a cyclone.
In this tutorial, we will create our cute puppy character, Toto. We will
use basic shapes and add new fills to existing ones. You will also learn
one of the many ways to create fur. At the end of this tutorial, you
will get a puppy in a basket against a floral background, and a little
gratification from a job well done!
1. Make the Basket
Step 1
After creating a New document (600 x 600 px Width and Height), we will start by forming the shape of the
basket. Hit the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle similar to the
shape shown below. While keeping it selected, go to Effect > Warp
> Arc. In the new dialogue window, adjust the options as you see
here:
Step 2
Now look at the Appearance panel. Click on the tiny triangle in the top
right corner and in the pop-up menu, select Add New Fill. Then look at
the Swatches panel. Go to Swatches > Patterns > Basic Graphics
> Basic Graphics_Lines and select the 6 lpi 50% pattern for this new
fill. Set the Opacity to Soft Light.
We don’t want to stop here just yet. Let’s add one more fill. Press Add
New Fill again, and go to Swatches > Patterns > Basic Graphics
> Basic Graphics_Lines. Select the Scotch Rule 4 pattern and set the
Opacity to Soft Light.
Step 3
Take the Rounded Rectangle Tool—draw two rounded rectangles and place them at the top and bottom of the basket shape.
Step 4
While keeping the same fill color, use the Ellipse Tool (L) to create
two circles (to create an even circle, hold down the Shift button while
drawing). Draw the small circle over the bigger circle. Then go to the Pathfinder panel and press the Exclude button. This will be the handle
of the basket.
Step 5
Put the handle on top of the basket, but behind the basket (Control-X, Control-B).
2. Draw Toto’s Head
Step 1
With the help of the Ellipse Tool (L), create two ellipses which are
overlapping each other. Go to the Pathfinder panel and press the Unite
button.
Step 2
Double-click on the Warp Tool (Shift-R) and let’s adjust the options. We will use this tool to draw the fur.
Once the Warp Tool Options appear, enter the settings you see below, and then
press OK.
Now we will start creating the fur. Draw each strand of hair spanning from the head outwards. Try not make the fur too long.
Step 3
Create another copy of this furry head in front (copy-paste), making it smaller and lighter.
Step 4
Let’s add the eyes. Using the Ellipse Tool (L), first create two
ellipses: a large, dark blue one, and a small, white one for the highlight. Then
copy-paste to complete the set of eyes, and place those two eyes on
the head.
Step 5
Now let’s create the nose. Keep the same fill color as we had for the
eyes and create an ellipse. Then you will need to make a sharp corner
with the help of the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C). Click on the
bottom anchor point to make it sharp. Add a white ellipse to create a
highlight.
Place the nose under the eyes of the dog.
Step 6
To create the mouth of Toto, we will draw an ellipse (R=92 G=115 B=130)
and rotate it slightly to the right. Using the Reflect Tool (O), let’s
create another copy of this ellipse. Here’s the trick, though: once you
have selected this tool, hold down the Alt key and click on the right
side of the ellipse. A new dialogue window will appear where you need to
enter Vertical, Angle 90 degrees and press Copy.
Use the Warp Tool (Shift-R) again as you did for the head to add furry effect around the mouth.
Now, place the mouth under the nose.
Step 7
Set the fill color to R=85 G=108 B=123, and once more draw an ellipse.
Take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move the handles of the anchor
points of the ellipse to create the shape as in the second image below.
Then, using the Warp Tool (Shift-R), add the furs.
Copy-paste this shape in the front and make it smaller and darker (R=49 G=68 B=79).
Step 8
We just created the left ear! But we still need the right one. Hit the
Reflect Tool (O) and make a reflection of the whole ear as you did for
the mouth. Place the right ear on the right side of the head.
We can now also align everything if you didn’t do this before. So,
select the two ears and group them together (right-click > Group), and then group the two eyes, the nose (along with the white highlights), and the
mouth. After that select, the whole head and on the Align panel, press
Horizontal Align Center.
3. Create Toto’s Body
Step 1
Make the fill color darker than the face (R=55 G=78 B=91), and draw an
ellipse. After that take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move the
three handles to create the shape as shown in the image below.
Step 2
Using the Warp Tool (Shift-R), create some fur on the body as you did
before. You don’t need to add the fur on the bottom of the body, because
it won’t be visible later.
Place the body behind the head (Control-X, Control-B).
4. Place Toto in the Basket
Select your dog and set it inside the basket.
5. Create the Paws and the Tail
Step 1
Now we can create the paws. Their position in the basket depends on how deep the dog is sitting in the basket.
Hit the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw a small, narrow ellipse. Keep the same
fill color as we had for the body. Move the handles to create the shape
shown below.
Step 2
Copy-paste the paw you just created and make it darker (R=42 G=64 B=73). Place the darker paw behind the whole body of the dog.
Step 3
Let’s add some furs to the paws. Remember to select the object before using the Warp Tool (Shift-R).
Step 4
Using the same method as you did with the paws, create a tail and then add the fur.
6. Create the Background
Step 1
Let’s make a light blue oval for our background—place it behind
everything (Control-X, Control-B) and set the fill color to R=232 G=239
B=239.
Step 2
Take the Polygon Tool and click on your work space. In the new dialogue
window, enter 6 Sides and for the Radius, it doesn’t matter, just not
too big. Set the fill color at R=202 G=219 B=221. To make a flower from
it, go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Pucker & Bloat
and set the slider to 55%. The flower is ready.
Step 3
Spread the blue flowers on the left side of the background by
copying-pasting the flowers. Then add a few more very light blue flowers
(fill color R=249 G=252 B=251).
Step 4
Now for a slightly tricky step: select all the objects which are overlapping the
oval background as well as the oval background itself. Keep them selected
and press Control-C, Control-B on your keyboard. On the Pathfinder
panel, press the Unite button to create one shape from all these
objects. Delete the fill color and set the stroke color to R=216 G=226
B=227. Make this stroke very thick on the Stroke panel. We are done!
I Don’t Think We’re in Kansas Anymore, Toto
Our illustration is ready, and you’ve done a great job! You’ve just
mastered creating different shapes by moving the handles of the anchor
points on an ellipse, adding multiple fills to an existing one, and one
of the many ways to create animal fur. I hope you’ve enjoyed the
tutorial.
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