イラストレータでデザインをやってみましょう

Cute Cartoon Turtle

This tutorial is for Adobe Illustrator.

Download the Source File Here

Get this design on a t-shirt!

1. Draw a Circle

First, draw a large circle in the middle of the document. Keep from making it too large because we will be putting some objects around the outside so you need a little wiggle room.

2. Color

Next color the circle with some “turtle-esque” colors. I opened the “Garden” color swatch and used the greens in there for the strokes and the fills.

3. Set Some Guides

After your circle is nice and greenish (or whatever colors you went with) you’ll want to set some guides to help position the squares on the turtle’s shell. You can do this randomly, but if you follow the same guides I set you can do a cool trick with your turtle that I’ll show you later.

You’ll want to evenly position 4 guidelines going from top to bottom and 4 line from left to right. You should end up with 5 columns and 5 rows in the middle section of the shell.

4. Draw Some Rounded Boxes

With the Rounded Rectangle Tool, draw a rounded box over the shell and in between the guidelines. Then color it with a shade of green that is a little darker than the rest of the shell.

Now the Rounded Rectangle Tool should be set to the colors you set and you can draw the rest of the boxes. Draw them in between the guidelines, but keep a little distance from the edges of the boxes and the guidelines. It is O.K. if it doesn’t end up symmetrical.

5. Copy the Circle and Bring It to Front

Once you are done drawing all your boxes, select the circle you first created and copy it (Edit -> Copy). Then move the circle to the front (Object -> Arrange -> Bring to Front).

6. Set a Clipping Mask

Next, select all the objects in the layer (Select -> All). Right-Click (or Ctrl-Click on a Mac-Attack) on them and select “Make Clipping Mask“. Now the boxes should look like they are inside the original circle you created.

Select the clipping mask in the layers window and set the stroke color to what you had previously. Just set the stroke here.

7. Paste Circle in Back

After you’ve given the clipping mask a stroke color select all objects in the layer again (Select -> All). Now, select Edit -> Paste in Back. A copy of the original circle you created will pop behind all the rounded boxes.

8. Scale the Shell Edge

Select the Scale Tool and scale the circle so it makes the edge around the shell.

9. Add Feet

Draw and color a small oval. Using the Rotate Tool, rotate the oval so it is pointing northwest.

Position the foot to the upper left part of the shell and click Object -> Arrange -> Send to Back to put the foot behind the shell.

Copy the foot and paste it. Then select Object -> Transform -> Reflect… and make a mirror copy of the foot. Position the foot to the upper right part of the shell and click Object -> Arrange -> Send to Back. Repeat this for the other 2 feetses.

10. Add the Head, Eyes, and Tail

Similar to adding the feet, create a circle for the head and place it at the bottom of the shell. Once you’ve positioned it behind the shell, draw two little eyes with the Paintbrush or Pencil Tool.

Next, create a triangle with the Shape Tool and position it behind the top part of the shell and there you go. A purty wittle turtle. You should probably give it a cute name too. Like Mortimer or Stumps.

11. Variations

A few things you can do to make your turtle even cuter is to randomly select some of the squares on the shell and make them lighter and darker shades of green.

You can also widen some of the squares on the shell to give the shell more depth. A little twist of the tail with the Path Tool is nice too.