| Vector Drawing Tutorial for Paint Shop Pro - Page 5 | |
(If you arrived on this page from a search, you can start the tutorial on page one.)
STEP 6 ...LINES & DETAILS
First we'll accent where the 2 front legs come together by adding a V shape line with the Pen tool.
PSP 7 users: Use the Draw Tool (pencil) and select settings in the Tool Options dialog box (vector checked).
- Select Pen tool and click Mode: Drawing (the pencil)
- Click the New Shape icon on the left side of tool palette (create as vector should be grayed out as we're already working on a vector layer)
- Select the Segment Type for the line. We'll use Point to Point (the center one) for this first line. Note: 'Contiguous' is only used with Freehand and Line Segment styles...that is why we left it unchecked.
- Line style solid, width 1 pixel, anti-alias checked, Join: Miter join
- Choose black for stroke color (foreground) with no fill color (none-null-transparent ...whatever you're used to calling it! *G*)
- When you are finished drawing your line, you can de-select tool by clicking 'New Shape' icon (to draw another object) or choosing a new tool.
STEP 7 ....FACE
Create new VECTOR layer. Name it FACE. Putting the face features on a different layer will have some advantages ....so we are planning ahead here by using a separate layer! Zoom in to draw face.
Change line width to 2. Draw 2 short little lines on the face for the cat's eyes.
Switch back to Edit mode if you need to adjust length of lines or reposition.
Using Pen tool, Draw mode, Point to Point line, create a new V shape to represent the nose. This time select Join: Round Join (in Pen toolbar, next to anti-alias checkbox).
When done... change Join back to Miter Join and line Width back to 1 pixel.
Now draw 2 U shapes for mouth...meeting each one at bottom center of nose. You can do this freehand...but if you do it as described below .... it's much easier!
- Draw mode, New line, Segment Type: Point to Point, Line Width 1
- Click in 3 places for a 3 point line. One at start of cheek, one at bottom center of nose and a 3rd an equal distance on the other side. It'll be a semi-straight line...but easy to change to U shape!
- Switch Mode to Edit.
- Select your first node (START should appear next to cursor), right click, select NODE TYPE, select CURVE AFTER. Grab the node handle that now appears and pull/rotate until the line segment curves into U shape (for one side of mouth).
- Select your last node (END should appear next to cursor), right click, select NODE TYPE, select CURVE BEFORE. Grab the node handle and pull/rotate until the line segment curves into another U shape, same size as first.
Now create some whiskers on each side of face the exact same way you created curves for mouth. Change line width to 0.5 pixels.
Using Pen tool, Point to Point line, place a START and END point for a whisker, click the NEW icon, place a START and END point for next whisker, click the NEW icon again and place another until you have 6 whiskers. You must click NEW between each one or they will be connected. Switch to EDIT mode and add a curve to each whisker by selecting one of the nodes and changing type to CURVE BEFORE or CURVE AFTER.
Use the Object Selector to drag a rectangle around all the face features to move it up or down .....trying various positions that will change the facial expression some and maybe give your kitty an attitude!
STEP 8 ....COLOR AND PATTERN
OK...now it's time to give Miss Kitty a flashy pattern to wear or just a pretty color! Your choice. Select something wild and funky or keep it soft. The kitty on left is color #00C0C0. The one on the right is filled with the PSP8 pattern called 'Cracked Paint' (45 degree angle, 20% scale).
You can change the fill color or pattern by selecting 1 shape at a time and clicking the fill color on the Materials Palette to change each .... or you can use the Object Selector to select all shapes/objects at once. We don't want to change the properties of the FACE layer, so turn off visibility for the FACE layer by clicking the eye next to the Layer button on the Layer Palette. With the Object Selector, drag a selection box completely around our kitty and then click the Materials Palette to change the fill color, pattern or texture. When done, de-select and turn visibility back on for FACE layer.
With the Object Selector, you can select one object or select several vector objects by dragging a selection rectangle around them. All visible objects within the selection rectangle will be selected, whether they are on the same layer or on different layers. A nice feature of PSP is that we can avoid selecting certain objects by making them invisible. In other words, if we turn off visibility for the FACE layer in our drawing, the objects on that layer will NOT be included in the selection - even though the objects are within the boundary of the selection box!
