How to Draw Chihuahua – Material List
- Computer
- Photoshop
- Drawing Tablet
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 0 – Set Up Your File
- Open Photoshop
- Click Window on the top bar, choose Workspace from the menu, choose Painting from the sub menu, if this does not give you the Painting Workspace, click on Reset Painting from the sub menu.
- Look for the Swatches palette on the right, click on the triple line icon on the top right corner of the Swatches pallet, and then click on Legacy Swatches. Now you should be able to find and expand the Legacy Swatches Folder, and then choose the Paint Color Swatches, this is the swatch that we’re gonna use for this exercise.
- Look for the Brushes Palette below the Swatches Palette, under the Dry Media Brush folder you’ll find the KYLE Ultimate Pencil Hard, this is the brush we’re gonna use when drawing for this exercise, inside the same brush folder you’ll find Kyle’s Ultimate Pastel Palooza, this is the brush we’re gonna use when coloring for this exercise.
- Ctrl+N to create a new file
- Choose Print, and then Tabloid as your paper, modify the Resolutions from 300 Pixel/Inch to 600 Pixel/Inch, and then click Create
- Ctrl+Space+Left Mouse Button Click to Zoom in
- Ctrl+Alt+Space+Left Mouse Button Click to Zoom out
- Space+Left Mouse Button Drag to Pan
- B is for Brush Tool, set Brush Style to KYLE Ultimate Pencil Hard, [ to decrease the brush size, and ] to increase the brush size.
- E is for Eraser Tool, set Eraser Style to Soft Round Pressure Opacity, [ to decrease the brush size, and ] to increase the brush size.
- Let’s Draw!
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 1 – Rough Sketch
- Ctrl+Shift+S to Save As and name your file
- Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new layer, name it Rough Sketch
- B to use the Brush Tool, set brush size to 60
- Draw the Form Figure of the character by using the Brush Tool (B) and the Eraser Tool (E)
- Study the reference pictures, find out the characteristics and features of a Corgi, for example the pointy ears, the foxy face, the puffy neck, the dotted eyebrows, the short legs, the long body, the way the fur pattern layout, the long hanging tongue. Try to incorporate all the different traits into your stylization.
Tip 1: Ctrl+Z to Undo an action, Ctrl+Shift+Z to Redo an action
Tip 2: Ctrl+A will select everything in the current layer, and then hit Delete to erase everything, and then Ctrl+D will deselect everything.
Tip 3: if Space+Left Mouse Button Drag to Pan doesn’t work it’s because your whole document is visible in the workspace, click Edit on the top bar, choose Preferences from the menu, choose Tools… from the sub menu, and in the new pop out window check Overscroll under Options, and then click OK to close the Preferences window. You should now be able to pan your document even when the whole document is visible in the workspace.
Tip 4: Capslk to hide/unhide the shape of the tip of your brush/eraser
Tip 5: Tab to hide/unhide the tool bar and option pallets
Tip 6: When using the Brush Tool (B) click on the butterfly Symmetry icon on the top tool option bar to turn on symmetry, use Vertical symmetry it will help you draw characters that has a symmetrical pose.
Tip 7: L for Lasso Tool, if L gives you Polygonal Lasso Tool, click and hold on the Lasso Tool icon in the tool bar on the left, and a sub menu will appear, change back from Polygonal Lasso Tool to Lasso Tool. In the top tool option bar, set the Feather to 10~100 px depending on the area you’re trying to select. Draw around the shape you want to select, you can shift draw again or Alt
Tip 8: Use the Lasso Tool (L) to make a selection, and then Ctrl+T to enter Free Transformation Mode:
- Drag inside the selection to move the selection
- Use Arrow Key to nudge the selection
- Move your mouse a little bit away from the selection and it will turn into a rotation icon, drag to rotate your selection
- Drag a handle to uniformly scale the selection
- Alt+drag a handle to uniformly scale the selection while center anchored
- Shift+drag a side handle to directional scale the selection
- Shift+drag a corner handle to free scale the selection
- Shift+Alt+drag a corner handle to free scale the selection while center anchored
- Ctrl+drag a handle to distort the selection
- Ctrl+Alt+drag a handle to distort uniformly on the selection
- Esc will exit Free Transformation Mode and discard all transformations
- Enter will exit Free Transformation Mode and apply all transformations
Tip 9: click Image on the top bar, choose Image Rotation from the menu, choose Flip Canvas Horizontally from the sub menu, your document will flip allowing you to catch mistakes you normally wouldn’t notice the other way around.
Tip 10: D to set the Foreground Color and the Background Color to Black and White, and then X will swap Foreground Color and the Background Color, your foreground/background color square are on the bottom of the left side tool bar. When you’re working on a layer with Multiply blending mode, drawing with white has the effect of an eraser.
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 2 – Refined Drawing
- Make sure that Rough Sketch is your current layer, in the Layer Palette on the right, turn the layer Opacity down to around 20%.
- Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new layer, name it Refined Drawing
- in the Layer Palette on the right, change the layer blending mode from Normal to Multiply
- Refine the drawing by using the Brush Tool (B) and the Eraser Tool (E)
- Hide the Rough Sketch layer
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 3 – Silhouette
- Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new layer, name it Midtone
- Select the Pencil Tool on the left side tool bar, know that from this point on B will give you the Pencil Tool instead of the Brush Tool, until you manually select the Brush Tool again on the left side tool bar.
- Select a bright and noticeable color from the Swatch Palette on the right
- Draw the silhouette of the character using the Pencil Tool (B)
- G for Paint Bucket Tool, if G gives you Gradient Tool, click and hold on the Gradient Tool icon in the tool bar on the left, and a sub menu will appear, change back from Gradient Tool to Paint Bucket Tool.
- In the top tool option bar, make sure Anti-alias is unchecked
- Click inside the silhouette to fill in the color
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 4 – Midtone
- in the Layer Palette on the right, change the layer blending mode from Normal to Multiply
- In the Layers Palette on the right, click on the Lock Transparency icon to turn it on, it looks like a 9-square checker box.
- Use the Pencil Tool (B) and Paint Bucket Tool (G) to color in all the midtones.
- Use the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to drop in the right colors for each midtone, or use the Magic Wand Tool (W) to select the midtone flat you want to adjust and use Ctrl+U for Hue/Saturation Adjustment to change to the color you like.
Tip: Use W for Magic Wand Tool, if W gives you Quick Selection Tool, click and hold on the Quick Selection Tool icon in the tool bar on the left, and a sub menu will appear, change back from Quick Selection Tool to Magic Wand Tool. After you’ve drawn and filled the first midtone block from the silhouette, use Magic Wand Tool (W) to select new areas, and then use Ctrl+H to hide/unhide the selection marquee, draw new midtone borders, then Deselect (Ctrl+D) and fill with Paint Bucket Tool (G), repeat for rest of the area.
Glossary – Midtone: the flat neutral color of an object without light and shadow
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 5 – Rough Shadow
- Ctrl+Click the thumbnail on Midtone layer to make a selection of everything on that layer
- Create a New Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer with the selection still active
- Decrease the Saturation by 60 and decrease the Lightness by 40
- Make sure that the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer is selected, Ctrl+G to put it in a folder, and rename the folder Shadow
- In the Layers Palette on the right, add a mask to the Shadow folder by clicking on the mask icon on the bottom of the palette, it’s the third one from the left.
- Make sure the mask of the Shadow folder is select it (click the mask to select the mask)
- Manually select the Brush Tool on the left side tool bar, change the style to Kyle’s Ultimate Pastel Palooza, use brush size around 200, and start roughing in the shadow with the Foreground Color set to black, keep using X to switch between black and white to make any corrections.
Tip: Treat the furs as volume mass form
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 6 – Rough Highlight
- Ctrl+Click the thumbnail on Midtone layer to make a selection of everything on that layer
- Create a New Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer with the selection still active
- Increase the Saturation to 100 and increase the Lightness by 60
- Make sure that the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer is selected, Ctrl+G to put it in a folder, and rename the folder Highlight
- In the Layers Palette on the right, add a mask to the Highlight folder by clicking on the mask icon on the bottom of the palette, it’s the third one from the left.
- Make sure the mask of the Highlight folder is select it (click the mask to select the mask)
- Maker sure that the Foreground Color is black, use Alt+Backspace to fill the entire mask black
- Start roughing in the highlights with the Foreground Color set to white, keep using X to switch between black and white to make any corrections.
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 7 – Refined Shadow
- We’re gonna make some adjustment to the default Kyle’s Ultimate Pastel Palooza brush, remember the changes will reset to default if you re-select the brush.
- Make sure Kyle’s Ultimate Pastel Palooza is the current brush in the Brush Palette on the right, click the the Brush Settings icon to open Brush Settings, the icon looks like a brush on a folder.
- Check the box next to Transfer, and then click on Transfer (the text) to go into it’s settings, make sure that both Opacity and Flow Control is set to Pen Pressure, and that the Minimum is set to 0%, both Opacity and Flow Jitter should be at 0%.
- Go to the top option bar, and set the Flow to 60%
- Select the Shadow folder mask
- Start refining the shadows with the new brush, keep using X to switch between black and white to make any corrections.
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 8 – Refined Highlight
- Select the Highlight folder mask
- Start refining the highlights with the new brush, keep using X to switch between black and white to make any corrections.
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 9 – Rimlight
- Ctrl+Click the thumbnail on Midtone layer to make a selection of everything on that layer
- Create a New Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer with the selection still active
- Increase the Saturation to 100 and increase the Lightness by 60
- Make sure that the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer is selected, Ctrl+G to put it in a folder, and rename the folder Rimlight
- In the Layers Palette on the right, add a mask to the Rimlight folder by clicking on the mask icon on the bottom of the palette, it’s the third one from the left.
- Make sure the mask of the Rimlight folder is select it (click the mask to select the mask)
- Maker sure that the Foreground Color is black, use Alt+Backspace to fill the entire mask black
- Draw the rimlights with the Foreground Color set to white, keep using X to switch between black and white to make any corrections.
How to Draw Chihuahua – Step 10 – Profile
- Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new layer, name it Profile
- Use the Brush Tool (B) with style set to KYLE Ultimate Pencil Hard and draw the profile lines
How to Draw Chihuahua – Complete
Thank you for drawing with me, please remember to like and subscribe to the YouTube video on top! Thank you again for your support!
