Created with Adobe Firefly
Embedded Files
Emojis
Almost everyone uses graphics to add an emotional dimension to our written communication. They function as a kind of shorthand for emotional concepts in our instant messages. You've used them, but have you considered making a set of your own? We'll start off by turning our Sample Graphics circles into the parts of a face, then go from there.
BEFORE YOU START - open your Sample Graphic file and use File --> Save As to create a copy of the sample graphic called:
241104 Emoji 1 - Firstname Lastname
We will use the circles from our sample graphic to make your first emoji. Make the largest of your circles the color of your emoji's face and enlarge it as much as you can leaving just a little bit of a margin. (Shift-Alt works best for scaling without moving the center of an object) You can re-color, re-shape and re-size the other circle to create one eye. You do NOT have to keep the colors the same as my example - just keep the contrast so we can see all the details of your emoji's face.
Make sure you rename and organize the layers as you go. This is essential! When you bring your artwork into another program to animate it, the names of those layers will show up and make it incredibly easier to work there. Besides, it's not just a good idea... it's required.
Circle Recycling
Circle Recycling
Updated version - using the circles from Sample Graphic to construct the face of an emoji by renaming and resizing each one. Use the Recolor Artwork method instead of editing the gradient as I did here, if you prefer.
New Eye, New Layer
New Eye, New Layer
If both eyes are on one layer, you could make your emoji blink. If each has it's own layer, you could make it wink OR blink one eye. I use the Object --> Transform --> Reflect to make the eyes exactly symmetrical... very handy thing to know how to do!
IMPORTANT - The white of our Emoji's eye can look much better with the freeform gradient tool for the fill and the curvature tool to modify the shape into a more natural oval shape with a tear duct. You can do it the way it is shown in this video.
Eyebrow Effects
Eyebrow Effects
There are many ways to change what a stroke looks like - here I show the Roughen and ZigZag distortion effects to turn a boring straight line into a feature showing more character.
Curvature Smile
Curvature Smile
Sure, you can create a shape for the mouth, but a simple width profile can make a sharp looking smile or frown in a fraction of the time. Changing the curve of a stroke is much quicker than moving multiple anchor points of a mouth shape.
Shape Tools
Manipulating the stroke of a path is how you draw what you want. The mouse is an imprecise tool to draw with, but since you can easily change anchor points, you can get exactly what you had in mind. There are also a number of ways to automatically distort what you see on the screen based on your path.
Transforming Your Path
Transforming Your Path
Make a new file called Shape Sampler using today's date code as a place to try out these tools the way I did here. Your doodles could be the seeds of a design you turn into true vector artwork - keep track of everything!
There are so many tools you can use to be a digital artist. These tutorials touch on some really important ones, but don't be afraid to search the web for additional resources if something interests you. Especially since they are constantly adding new features!
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