Start work on the eyeball, draw a perfect circle on the artboard. Hold Shift to keep things in shape. Add a simple radial gradient spanning from grey to white. Adjust the gradient sliders so that the grey creeps in slightly from the edges of the circle.
Copy (CMD+C) and paste (CMD+F) the circle, scale down while holding Shift and Alt, then swap the gradient out for a couple of darker greys to form a pupil.
Repeat the process, but this time scale down the circle into position as the iris. Choose a nice bright colour for the eye, such as green. Switch the gradient to a dark and light tone of your chosen colour.
Draw a couple of specular highlights in the form of circles. Drop the opacity down to 80% to allow the underlying elements to show through.
Paste in one more circle, this time scale it up, and add a gradient from dark to light purple. The outer colour will blend into the main body, which will also be filled with this purple swatch.
Draw a huge rounded rectangle onto the artboard to form the basic body shape. Alter the curvature of the corners by using the cursor keys while dragging. Align everything up centrally down the vertical axis.
Draw a temporary shape that covers the bottom curve of the rounded rectangle. Use the Subtract from Shape Area option in the Pathfinder window to chop out the excess. To extend this flat edge, drag it downwards while holding Shift with the Direct Selection Tool.
Draw another rounded rectangle, this time to form the smiling mouth. Use another temporary tool and the Pathfinder palette to chop out the unwanted area, leaving a flat top edge.
Fill the mouth area with a radial gradient, fading it from grey to black adds a nice touch of depth, which would otherwise be a flat black colour.
Draw a couple of goofy teeth using the rounded rectangle tool. Copy the mouth shape, send it to the front (CMD+Shift+]), then use it as a Clipping Mask to hide and crop the teeth into place.
Draw a red oval to form a cheeky tongue, filled with a pink to red gradient. Use another Clipping Mask to hide the unwanted overlap.
Select the mouth shape, then go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Fill the new object with a purple gradient, then add a Gaussian Blur of around 8px to remove any hard edges.
Elsewhere in the document, draw a small circle. Use the Direct Selection Tool to drag the right hand point outwards. Remove the Bezier curves using the Convert Anchor tool under the Pen tool options, then click the New Brush Icon. In the options, choose New Art Brush, and change the color to Tints.
Now the fun part! Using the Brush tool, draw each piece of hair spanning from the body outwards. Here's where that Graphics Tablet really comes in handy, but it's still achievable with a mouse.
In no time the harsh outline will be invisible through the wealth of fur. Add a little extra to specific areas to flesh out the desired body shape.
Select one of the hairs, then go to Select > Same > Stroke Color. Head over to Object > Expand Appearance, then add the main body to the selection by Shift+clicking. Choose the Add to Shape Area option from the Pathfinder window to blend it all together. Add an Inner Glow from the Effects menu to add depth to the graphic, choose a darker purple and adjust the blur to control the amount of glow that appears.
Duplicate the brush graphic, then change its colour to something garish, the colour itself doesn't matter, but it'll be used to identify them later. Continue drawing a bunch more hairs throughout the internal body area of the monster.
Select just one of the blue hairs, then go to Select > Same > Stroke Color. Expand the Appearance then swap out the blue fill with a gradient that flows from a light pink to zero opacity. (Transparent gradients in CS4 is really required here, otherwise use pink to black and set the blending mode to Screen).
Repeat the process to fill out the monster with even more fur, the more layers, the cuter and cuddlier it becomes!
After plenty of mouse clicking or pen tapping the monster will be completely covered in thick fur.
Zoom in and tidy up any messy hairs, including any that overlap the mouth area. Copy and paste the mouth graphic, position on top and use the Pathfinder tool to crop down the hairs to size.
A simple vibrant background renders the monster illustration complete! The subtle gradients and little touches of transparency really help add depth to the design and allow it to pop from the screen.
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