This tutorial will teach you how to create a cartoon face like shown below. The face is made up of only shapes, and a layer created by the Pen Tool.
1. Create a new document, 300px x 300px.
2. Fill the background layer with white.
3. Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool, and make an oval that covers most of the document. Fill it with black.
4. Create another new layer. Using the Elliptical Marquee Tool, hold Shift and create a circle for an eye. Fill it with white. Duplicate this layer, and position them correctly.
5. Using the Elliptical Marquee Tool create the rest of the important features, such as pupils, ears, and a mouth.
6. Now we need to add some colour to our face. Firstly, we will add colour to the skin and ears of the face. Click on the first layer (black oval) and add a Gradient Overlay to it. Do this by selecting the face layer in the layers list, and pressing the "Add a Layer Style" button. (
). Select Gradient Overlay from the list. Change the colours of the gradient to...#FFD200 and #FFFC00.
Add a 1 pixel stroke to the face, and change its opacity to 50%.
7. Add this same gradient and stroke to both of the ears.
8. Now to colour the rest of the face, you can just follow the same method as above. Follow the instructions for each part of the face as instructed:
Nose
Gradient Overlay:
- Colours: #FFD200 to #FFFC00
Drop Shadow:
Angle: 45
Distance: 1
Spread: 0
Size: 5
Stroke:
Size: 1 pixel
Opacity: 50%
Colour: Black
Eyes
Stroke:
Size: 1 pixel
Opacity: 50%
Colour: Black
Gradient Overlay:
Colours: #E6E6E6 to #FFFFFF
Pupil
Stroke:
Size: 1 pixel
Opacity: 50%
Colour: Black
Gradient Overlay:
Colours: #000000 to #727272
Mouth
Gradient Overlay:
Angle: 66
Colours: #000000 to #3E3E3E
Now your face should look something like mine.
9. Now use the Pen Tool to create your hair. You can also use the Polygonal Lasso Tool, or the Lasso Tool for this step. You can use the pen tool to adjust your hair once you have set it out, as shown below.
10. Fill your hair with #362B21 for brown, or choose a colour of your own. You can also use some grunge brushes to add some texture to your hair.
Add a background of some sort, and your done! Here's my final result.





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