Cartoon Bow
~ This tutorial assumes you are familiar with the tools in PSP ~
It was written on April 16, 2009, using PSP 9, but it can be completed in most versions.
Tutorials are only guidelines, it's always fun to experiment with different settings on your own : )
This tutorial is not suitable for a beginner, it's geared more toward someone who is not only familiar with
vectors but is comfortable with the node edit functions in Paint Shop Pro.
~ SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN ~
Step 1:
Open a new 'Vector' file; File > New
Click on the Preset Shapes tool, or type the letter 'P' to activate it.
Locate and load the 'Heart1' shape. If you do not have this shape you can download it HERE.
Place it in PSP's preset shapes folder located in mydocuments\My PSP files\Preset Shapes.
Plug in the following settings in the Tool Options Palette:
(Retain style: Unchecked, Create as vector & Anti-alias: Checked, Line style: Solid, Width: 1.00
Step 2:
Creating the bow loops
In the Materials palette, set the Foreground color to black and the Background to a color of your choice.
I used #8a996d.
On your canvas, hold down your left mouse button and drag out your heart.
My heart is sized at about 90X80.
Rotate your heart 90 degrees to the left.
Image > Rotate > Free rotate
Grab the Pen Tool, or type the letter 'V' to activate it.
Edit your nodes so that the placement of the handles look similar to the image below.
(you will only be able to see the handles of one node at a time when editing)
I moved the top node up, middle node down and to the left a bit, bottom node down,
then rounded the corners using the node handles.
Remember, if you make a mistake, hitting Control 'Z' on your keyboard will undo your last move.
Still using the pen tool, click on the middle node to select it.
Right click on the node with your mouse and select 'Edit > Break'.
You now should have 2 separate middle nodes.
Zoom in closely and hover your mouse over the 2 nodes.
Click on the one that says 'Start' and pull it into the bow to create an illusion of a crease.
When you are done, pull out the node handle to round out the top of the bow loop again and
to close any gap that may be between the broken nodes. We don't want any gaps in our loop.
Step 3:
Using the Move/Pick tool, move the bow loop up toward the top left of the canvas.
Duplicate and mirror your bow loop; Layers > Duplicate, Image > Mirror
Grab the Move/Pick tool again & move the right loop closer to the left loop.
When you are happy with the placement of your loops, right click on the layer and select 'Merge down'
Double click on the layer and name it 'Bow loops'.
Click on the plus sign (+) next to the layer. Notice that both bow loops are located in sublayers. In order
to select a vector object from the layers palette, you must click on it's sublayer.
You can tell if a sublayer is selected if the name is highlighted in bold.
Both of your sublayers should be selected, but if not, click on the first Heart1 sublayer.
Hold down your 'Shift key' and click on the 2nd Heart1 sublayer.
~ Shading Effect ~
With both sublayers selected, right click on one of them and select 'Create Raster Selection'.
Create a new 'Raster' layer.
Selections > Invert
Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow: -2, -2, 56, 48, #151711
Selections > Select none
Name this layer 'Bow loops shading'.
Inside Bow Loops
Because this is a 'vector' file, a new vector layer should automatically be created whenever you use a vector tool.
However, to be safe, I'm having you add a new vector layer where needed, not that I don't trust PSP or anything, lol.
Add a new vector layer; Layers > New vector layer.
Grab your Ellipse Tool, or type the letter 'Q' to activate it.
In the Tool Options Palette, change the Mode to: Draw Ellipse
All other settings remain the same as above.
Change your background color to one that coordinates with your bow loops. I used #bba664.
Your Foreground color should still be set on Black.
Draw out a long thin oval shape.
Grab the Object Selection Tool, or type the letter 'O' to activate it; rotate the oval
into place on top of your Left Bow Loop. You can thin out the bottom of your oval
by converting the shape to a path and using the pen tool to drag in the bottom handles.
Sample of mine:
When you are happy with your results, duplicate and mirror this layer, place the duplicate
on top of your Right bow loop. Merge this layer down and name it 'Inside bow loops'.
In the layers palette, select both inside bow loops.
Apply the above Shading effect, except change the drop shadow to
Horizontal & Vertical 1, blur 10.
Selections > Invert
Apply another drop shadow, changing the blur to 5.
Selections > Select none
Name this layer Inside bow loops shading.
Step 4 :
Adding the knot:
Add a new vector layer; Layers > New vector layer.
Grab your Rectangle tool, or type the letter 'G' to activate it.
Drag out a rectangle large enough to create your bow knot.
I converted my rectangle to a 'path' and edited my nodes a bit for my knot. (see finished bow)
When you are happy with the shape of your knot, place it where you want it, name this layer 'Knot'.
Select the sublayer and apply the Shading effect in Step 3, changing the drop shadow as follows:
Horizontal & Vertical 1, blur 14.
Repeat drop shadow with Horizontal & Vertical at -1.
Name this layer Knot shading.
Adding the tails:
Click back on your Bow loops layer (bottom layer).
Add a new Vector layer, and move it to the bottom of the layers palette.
Layers > Arrange > Send to bottom
Change your Background color back to your original bow loop color.
Grab the pen tool, set the Tool Options Palette as follows:
Mode: Draw point to point, Bezier curves
Connect segments, Show Nodes and Create as Vector: CHECKED
Line Style: Solid, Line Width: 1
Draw out your left tail. Below is an example of mine:
(I didn't close my top, but that's your choice - I've removed the color for tut purposes)
Duplicate this layer, Position your tails where you like, when you're happy with the placement,
right click on the right tail layer and merge down. Name this layer 'Tails'
Select them both and apply the exact same shading effect from Step 3.
Name this layer Tail shading.
Inside tails:
Add a new Vector layer.
Using the Ellipse Tool, follow the same steps we did for the Inside bow loops.
After you merge your ovals together, name the layer Inside tails.
Apply the same drop shadow effect as you did for the Inside Bow loops, but change the drop
shadow blur to 5 and do not apply the 2nd shadow.
Name this layer Inside tails shading.
Whew, are you still with me? We're almost done.
Don't forget to save your file.
Step 5:
Adding details
Click on your Bow loops layer (bottom layer).
Add a new Vector layer - Layers > New Vector Layer
Grab the pen tool again, set the Tool Options Palette as follows:
Mode: Draw freehand
Connect segments and Show Nodes: NOT checked
Create as Vector: CHECKED
Line Style: Solid
Line Width: 1
In the materials palette, set the Foreground color to Black.
Set the Background color to Null (transparent)
Draw some lines across the both loops (under the knot) to simulate folds/creases.
When you are happy with your lines, duplicate the layer. On the original layer,
double click on the sublayer, change the stroke width to 1.5 in the pop up box, hit ok.
Convert this layer to raster; apply a Gaussian blur of 1.5.
Adjust > Blur > Gaussian blur
Click on your top layer, add a new Vector layer.
Now add a line or lines for your knot. Again, duplicate this layer. On the original layer,
double click on the sublayer, change the stroke width to 1.5 in the pop up box, hit ok.
Convert this layer to raster; apply a Gaussian blur of 1.5.
Adjust > Blur > Gaussian blur
Sample of my lines
Click on your Inside tails layer, add a new Vector layer.
Repeat the above process on each tail, if desired.
You are done!
Save this file as a psp file and you will keep all vector objects
editable which is nice for changing colors, etc.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this rather long tutorial ; )