Playing in Artistic Distinctions's Easter Egg Hunt?
Hint 5

Tabby Mouse


This tutorial is best viewed at 1024x768.
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All images are the sole property of © Designs By Astro
Do not copy, place on CD, make into Scripts or send
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All rights reserved.

The image/images you make using this tutorial
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Tutorial written October 27, 2006.

This tutorial is written using PSP X but can done in other version with a little
modification of tool locations.

This is a vector tutorial so a working knowledge of PSP and vectors will come in handy.
I don't recommend this tutorial for true newbies. If this is your first time vectoring,
I suggest you give my Vectors 101 tutes a try first before attempting this tutorial.
You can find them listed on my Tutorial Index page.
SAVE OFTEN!

Let's get started!

1. Open a 450X500 transparent canvas. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Face.

2. Set your foreground color to #60372d and your background color to #a1613c

3. Preset Shapes; Ellipse with these settings....

4. Draw out an oval in the top center of your canvas....

5. Right click on your oval and Convert to Path, click on the Pen Tool. Zoom in so you can see.
Add nodes as I have below to shape your face...

6. Convert to Raster.

7. Make Raster 1 Layer your active layer. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Left Ear.

8. Preset Shape, same as for the face.

9. Draw out an oval at the left side of the face, close to the top. Right click, Convert to
Path, click on the Pen Tool.

10. By adding one node, I shaped my ear like this...

11. Convert to Raster. Copy, Paste as a New Layer, Mirror and move into position as
the right ear. Rename this layer as Right Ear.....

12. Preset Shapes, same as above. Set your foreground color to #131d55 and your
background color to #222f83 Add a New Vector Layer naming it Body.

13. Draw out a large vertical oval just below the chin....

14. Right click, Convert to Path, click on the Pen Tool.

15. By adding nodes and changing them to Cusp where needed, I shaped my body like this....

16. Convert to Raster.

17. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Left Arm.

18. Preset Shapes, same as above. Draw out a horizontal oval to the top left of the body.
Right Click, Convert to Path.

19. I added one node and changed the type to Cusp where to shape my arm like this...

20. Convert to Raster.

21. Duplicate and Mirror the Left Arm layer and move into position as Right Arm,
rename as Right Arm.

22. Set your background color to #f3d449 and your foreground to #a07f0c.

23. Make Raster 1 Layer your active layer. Add a New Vector layer naming it Left Leg.

24. Draw out a small oval at the bottom left of the body. Right click, Convert to Path.

25. Using the existing nodes, shape your leg something like this....

26. Convert to Raster. Duplicate and Mirror the layer and move into position as the
Right Leg, rename as Right Leg.

27. Set your background color to #222f83 and foreground color to the #131d55

28. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Left Trim.

29. Draw out a small oval just below the left leg.

30. Right click, Convert to Path. Click on the Pen Tool.

31. Zoom in if you need to. By following the contour of my leg and adding nodes where
needed, I shaped my trim like this.....

32. Convert to Raster. Duplicate the layer and move into position and rename as Right Trim.

33. Set your foreground color to #60372d and your background color to #a1613c

34. Preset Shapes, same as we've been using. Make Raster 1 Layer your active layer. Add a
New Vector Layer naming it Left Foot.

35. Draw out an oval just below your left trim. Right click, Convert to Path. Click on the Pen
Tool.

36. Zoom in so you can see what you're doing. Add nodes and change the type to Cusp where
needed to shape your foot something like this....

37. Convert to Raster.

38. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Right Foot. Draw out an oval just below the right trim.

39. Right click, Convert to Path, click on the Pen Tool. Add nodes and change to Cusp where
needed to shape your foot something like this...

40. Convert to Raster.

41. Make your Left Arm your active layer. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Left Hand.

42. Preset Shape and colors set to the same as for the feet. Draw out a small oval on the
arm....

43. Right click, Convert to Path, click on the Pen Tool.

44. Zoom in. Add nodes and shape something like this....

45. Convert to Raster.

46 Duplicate the hand, rename as Right Hand. Click on the Pick Tool and
rotate the hand downward just a little...

47. Set your foreground to #a07f0c and background to #f3d449.

48. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Left Arm Trim. Preset Shapes same as for the hand.
Draw out an oval on the left arm. Right click, Convert to Path, click on the Pen Tool.

49. Add Nodes and change the type where needed. Follow the contour of your hand to shape
the trim...

50. Convert to Raster. Duplicate the layer, use the Pick Tool to rotate to fit as the Right Arm
Trim. This is what you should have now.....

51. Make Raster 1 Layer your active Layer. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Tail.

52. Set your foreground color to #60372d and your background to #a1613c

53. Preset Shapes set to the Ellipse settings we've been using.

54. Draw out a long horizontal oval just to the bottom left of the dress...

55. Right click, Convert to Path, click on the Pen Tool.

56. By adding nodes and changing the type where needed, shape your tail something
 like this...

57. Convert to Raster.

58. Make your Body your active layer. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Cheese.

Note... you could make a star, heart, Easter Egg or Christmas lights to place
on your string if you prefer to use your mouse for a holiday image.

59. Set your foreground to #a07f0c and your background to #f3c24b

60. Preset Shapes set to ...

61. Draw out an upside down triangle. Make it a little larger than what you want, you can
resize it later...

62. Use the rotation handle to pull down and rotate your triangle a little....

63. Click on the Pen Tool and click Apply.

64. Click on your Preset Shapes. Change your background color to #f5d381
 Draw out another triangle, this time the right way and narrower than the first one...

65. Click on the Pen Tool. Move the two bottom nodes so that they are below the point on the
upside down triangle...

66. Add one node on the bottom line up close to the end point node. Move the nodes like this....

67. In the Layer Palette click on the + to open up the two vector layers. Drag the small
triangle so that it is under the larger triangle layer. Make the large triangle your active
layer.

68. Move the top left node down and in a little so that your image looks like a wedge of
cheese or a piece of pie....

69. Convert to Raster.

70. You can use the Pick Tool to resize and rotate the Cheese.

71. Make your top Layer your active layer, should be your Face Layer. Add a New Vector
Layer naming it String.

72. Set your foreground color to #004000. Your background should be turned off.

73. Click on the Pen Tool and set to these settings...

74. With the Pen Tool, start at the left of your wedge of cheese and draw a line through the
left fingers...

75. Look at the 3 fingers on my hand in the above image. I only have two nodes on my fingers,
one where the finger next to the thumb starts and one between the index and second finger.
I added one node so that it was on the edge of my little finger, so now I have 3 nodes across
the hand.

76.  Make the middle node active and hit the delete key on your keyboard. This removes the node
and makes the string look as if it goes through the hand...

77. Make any adjustments you'd like to the rest of your nodes on the string. You can click Apply
from time to time and the undo to make sure your line is on the very edge of your fingers and up
as close as possible to your cheese. Click Apply when you're happy with your string but don't
convert to raster yet.

78. Follow the same steps to draw a string from the other side of the cheese to your right hand...

79. Duplicate, rotate and mirror a few layers of your cheese. Place them on your string. Use
the steps above to remove the area of the string you do not want....

Once you have all the cheese you want on your string you can Convert the String to Raster.

80. Make your top layer your active layer. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Eyes.

81. Set your foreground color to #60372d, background should be off.

82. Pen Tool with these settings...

83. On the left side of the face, click once to add a node, move over towards the center of the face
just a little and click again. Right click on the node, change the type to Symmetric. Use the handles
to pull down on your line....

84. Convert to Raster. Duplicate and move into position as the other eye.

85. Add a New Vector Layer naming it Nose. Use the above Pen Tool settings and steps to make
a nose...

86. Convert to Raster.

87. Add a New Vector Layer naming it mouth. Use the Pen Tool settings to draw a mouth....

88. You can use the Pen Tool to add lines to the ears and make brows if you want....

89. I used the Airbrush with these settings with my background color set to #c88c6c to add
a little color to the ears and the cheeks...

That's it, your mouse vectors are finished! You can add shading and or cutouts to your layers to
finish your mouse anyway you want! Below is Tabby in gray and dressed for Christmas!

 

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial.
Until next time, God Bless!
Connie