Sheep Drawing
(Sketching + Vector)
A stunned sheep drawing is the subject of this quite entertaining drawing lesson! Most of the cartoon animals found on this site have been drawn a few times by your host, me. This is even more accurate when we take a look at the sheep.
I must have drawn 10 different versions of this cute and adorable character. My goal was to come up with something unusual and original for this particular tutorial. That's why I created a character with blue skin and lots of wool around the head.
Step 1
First, I have sketched my character using a piece of paper and a pencil. I still enjoy the flexibility of a good old drawing made with basic tools.
Step 2
Next I have scanned my illustration and import it into my vector software. I need to add black outlines using irregular lines made with pointed ends. Round shapes can be used for the eyes and pupils.
Step 3
To create colors, all I needed to do was to add some solid shapes behind the lines. You are right, sheep are not grey. But if I want to add some reflection later, I need to have a colored background to apply white shapes to.
Step 4
Using the gradient tool, I now change the colors of plain shapes using two different tones for each element. I already have a small sense of depth, but that's not enough for me.
Step 5
So I decided to create a third layer that will contain stronger shadows. These new elements can be dark and placed on areas not affected by the (virtual) light source.
Step 6
Using the transparency tool, I need to partially hide the top part of each shadow. I want this effect to be subtle. Otherwise, the illustration might be difficult to read.
Step 7
To create reflection, I need to draw new shapes colored in white. I like to keep a small space between these shapes and the outlines.
Step 8
Once again, I need to select the transparency tool to hide the bottom part of each white shapes. Notice how the colors are now closer to white (and the one from a real sheep).
Step 9
Black outlines are fine, but modifying the colors of these lines can give more depth to the illustration. Now my sheep drawing is finished and I can move on with the creation of another cool cartoon character that you can learn how to draw! :)
Go back to Animal drawing tutorials
Go back from Sheep drawing (Sketching + vector) to home page
