Chinese Art Step by Step How to Draw a Girl Body

Editor's Note: This tutorial is a fiddling chip special. It marks the kickoff time in over ten years of Envato Tuts+ history that a tutorial originating in a non-English language language—in this case, Chinese—has been translated for our English-speaking audiences. Nosotros consider that i pocket-size step for Envato Tuts+, merely i giant leap for cross-cultural design dialogue. Author Dao Lian is an splendid vector artist, and is active in the user community of Envato's Chinese content partner, ZCOOL .

In today's tutorial, I'chiliad going to show you how to create a peony—China'due south national flower—in Adobe Illustrator using the Gradient Mesh Tool.

Get inspired! Observe more amazing Vector Flowers on Envato Elements.

The Symbolism Behind the Illustration

Chinese painting has a tremendously long history, with distinctive characteristics and style that gear up information technology autonomously from other artistic schools. While the sometime European masters were particularly fond of rendering bowls of fruit and posed models in painstaking particular, the Chinese masters focused on themes that primarily landed in one 3 categories: people (renwu), scenery (shanshui—literally "mountains and waters"), or "birds and flowers" (huaniao). We'll be tackling the latter today.

You'll notice there's no background color in this piece, and that'south considering whitespace, in Chinese art, is also a large deal. The bully Chinese painters across the ages were expected to primary the principles of 虚实 (xushi) and 藏露 (canglu), or "the simulation and the reality, the hidden and the revealed". In other words, what should be drawn outright, and what should exist left to the viewer's imagination? What should be shown, and what should be suggested?

Our subject field today will be a peony—China'due south national flower—which symbolizes prosperity and luck. It'due south a fairly common theme in Chinese art, oftentimes incorporated into poetry and visual design by artists and the literati. This is what nosotros'll be creating:

This is a vectorized version of brushwork similar this:

Source: Shen Zhihua

Traditional painting is typically done on silk or parchment with a castor dipped in ink or pigment. Nosotros'll be using vector software (Adobe Illustrator CC 2015) to explore how to recreate this mode in vector format. It's pretty amazing how i simple command—"Feather"—tin can simulate Chinese ink-piece of work to such excellent effect.

ane. How to Gear up Your Artboard

Open Adobe Illustrator and select File > New. In the New Document dialogue box, set up the document width to 240 mm, the summit to 280 mm, the resolution to 300 (in order to make it easier to use this in print), and the color style to CMYK. In one case yous've got it set up up similar the motion-picture show below, click OK to create a new document.

2. How to Depict the Flowers

Step 1

We'll exist using a repetitive technique to build each peony: depict the shape of every petal using the Pen Tool, then use color with the Mesh Tool, and finally identify the petal in a layered arrangement to form the concluding flower. Let'due south exercise with i of our easier petal shapes. Using the Pen Tool, describe the outline of a petal.

Step 2

Using the Mesh Tool, gradually add together color to the petal, following the steps and sample palette below:

Mesh Tool technique: When adding a mesh, we accomplish complication through simplicity. Sometimes when a mesh appears complicated, it'south only because additional anchor points were automatically added by Illustrator as the mesh was created. In my experience, the all-time method of building a mesh is to start with a single horizontal and vertical filigree line. This way we lay a good foundation of structural clarity moving forwards.

Calculation color to a mesh: Color blending on a mesh is controlled by the distance betwixt each anchor point. If you want color to smudge together more gradually, motility ballast points farther away from each other. If you move the points closer together, the colour transition happens faster.

When faced with a complicated shape, many people wonder if it's a practiced thought to simply apply a single mesh for the whole object. This, of course, is unlikely to work well. I find that the best way to go on is to interruption your object up into multiple meshes—that manner, the filigree lines are easier to control.

Step 3

The flower is separated into three layers, allowing the front and back petals to come up together in a logical sequence. The first layer is the outermost grouping of petals; the second layer is the primal function of the flower, including the bud and stamen; the third layer is the backdrop petals that encircle the rest of the flower.

The three levels

We'll be drawing the stamen (the yellow bit in the center of the bloom) in the next footstep, just for at present, we'll offset with the first layer. Using the Pen Tool, draw each of the v petals according to the image beneath, and so color them with the Mesh Tooland adjust them as shown on the left. When you're washed, select all the petals and Group them (Command-G).

Level 1

Stride 4

The second layer has 10 petals. Using the Pen Tool, describe each one of the petal shapes. Then color each one using the Mesh Tool, and arrange them equally shown. Select all the petals in the layer, Group them (Control-G), then click Arrange > Send to Dorsum (Shift-Command-[) to move information technology behind the get-go layer.

Level 2

Step v

The third and final layer has five petals, the simplest of which we already drew in our warm-up. Repeat the above process for the third layer: using thePen Tool, draw each one of the petal shapes. And then color each i using theMesh Tool, and suit them every bit shown. Group this layer, and clickArrange > Transport to Back ( Shift-Control-[ )to move information technology behind the first layer.

Level iii

Pace six

Now, allow's draw the stamen. The central office of the flower is split into a background color, with the stamen filaments in the foreground. The blueish groundwork color is created using the Pen Tool and colored using the Mesh Tool, like our petals. The yellowish filaments are painted with a self-divers brush.

Compare the outline of the two flowers below, and y'all'll run across that the stamen is a thick-to-sparse Pen Tool path, while the blue groundwork is a filled mesh.

Step seven

Apply the Pen Tool to draw a closed path in the shape of a single stamen filament. Open your Colors panel and in your color selector, change the fill up color to yellow (C=0, Thou=0, Y=100, K=0).

Footstep eight

Side by side, make sure your yellow stamen is selected. Open theBrushes panel(F5), and click theNew Brush icon. ChooseArt Brushand confirm.

New Brush icon is bottom-correct

Cull "art brush"

Step 9

Set the brush name to "Flower Stamen Brush", and all other options can be left as default. After yous're done, you lot'll run across the new brush appear in your Brushes console.

Proper name your brush. All other settings can be left as default.

Step 10

In guild to build a stamen with visual depth, we need a variety of filament strokes. Repeating the procedure in a higher place (starting with Stride 5), build three more stamen brushes with slightly varying shapes and colors.

Colors:

• The first brush: 26 times per stamen, color: C=0, Thou=0, Y=100, K=0 (y'all already created this i)
• The 2d brush: C=31, 1000=58, Y=95, K=0
• The third castor: C=12, M=11, Y=78, K=0
• The fourth brush: C=5, Thousand=1, Y=52, 1000=0

Step 11

Use the Pen Tool to create a series of around 40 paths in lightly curved lines, and apply the brushes you created in the last footstep to those paths.

Stroke Frequency I used:

• The first brush: 26 times per stamen
• The 2d brush: half-dozen times per stamen
• The third brush: 6 times per stamen
• The fourth brush: 3 times per stamen

Step 12

Finally, use the Pen Tool to depict the background shapes and theMesh Tool to create the colored background. Now we're done with this bit.

iii. How to Draw the Remaining Flowers

Nosotros'll be using the same method as above to draw the remaining peonies: sketching out the petal outlines with the Pen Tool, coloring the petals with the Mesh Tool, and so arranging them in layers around a fundamental stamen.

Step one

This darker peony is likewise crafted in three layers, moving from front to dorsum. Here's an overview of the layering:

The offset layer contains a lesser cluster of 3 petals, plus a chief group composed of 13 petals. Using the Pen Tool, draw the base shapes of each petal. Using the Mesh Tool, shade them with a palette of darker pinks.

Darker pink palette

Step 2

The second and third layers each have five petals. Using thePen Tool, draw the base shapes of each. Using theMesh Tool, shade them, arrange them as shown, and Grouping them together.

Step 3

Next, nosotros'll draw the centerpiece flower, which is made upward of two peonies joined together. Because this is the main torso of our picture, this flower group needs to look lush and have clear depth. Here's a layer overview:

The palette is the same as we used for the previous pink peony.

Step four

Finally, arrange the flowers on the artboard, and we'll move on to cartoon the leaves.

4. How to Draw the Leaves

Step 1

Use the Pen Tool to describe the leaf outline. Fill the central Strokes with a darker black, and Fill up the outermost Stroke with a grayness Gradient. Note that the heart gray has an Opacity of 80%.

The middle gray has an Opacity of 80.

Step 2

Select all the paths in the leaf, then selectEffect > Stylize > Feather, and set thePlumage radius to0.3 mm (0.1 inches).

Step 3

Using the Pen Tool, draw out the background of the leaf, so using theMesh Tool, apply colour. Stick the color on the layer behind the outline.

Step 4

Set the leaf outline'sColor Way toMultiply andOpacity to90%, and you're done with the leafage. This technique is what creates the traditional Chinese brush-stroke upshot.

Transparency Panel: Blend Fashion = Multiply; Opacity = 90%

Step 5

Using the same method, describe more leaves in dissimilar shapes and sizes. Because real leaves sprout at different times during a constitute's life cycle, and considering leaves make upwardly a considerable corporeality of the flick, nosotros need to make several kinds of leaves to requite our flick some depth; about four to half-dozen types is enough. Here are some leaves that I created.

Color palettes I used.

Stride 6

Conform your finished leaves on the artboard.

five. How to Draw the Blue Leaf Sprig

Step 1

The blueish leap consists of seven unlike leaves collected into a single bunch. Allow's start with the commencement 1. Using the Pen Tool, draw the foliage outline, and Make full it with blue (C=94, M=87, Y=98, K=61).

Step 2

Using the Mesh Tool, click along the leaf's edge to add anchor points, and accommodate the anchor point colors.

Stride 3

Using the Pen Tool, draw the rest of the leaves in the shapes below.

Step four

Using the Mesh Tool, colour the leaves as shown.

Stride v

Suit the leaves into a sprig, select them all, and Group (Command-G) them.

6. How to Depict the Branches

Footstep i

There are three types of branches in this piece: primary branches, thin branches, and filler branches. We'll exist starting with the primary branches, which, like the leaves we drew in Section iv, consist of an outline paired with a background mesh.

Using the Pen Tool, draw the outline of a thick co-operative. Remember, we're simulating calligraphic brush strokes hither, so the strokes should exist a little craggy.

Step 2

Using the Pen Tool, draw the background shape of the branch, and fill it with brownish.

Step three

Using the Mesh Tool, add together color to the co-operative. In terms of calculation color with the mesh, you don't have to fastidiously structure the shape of the grid. It's fine if an anchor point is a little off—this style, the colors blend together a fleck more naturally, and the style jives with traditional Chinese painting.

Color palette for the thicker branches.

Step 4

Place the color under the outline, and Group (Control-Yard).

Step 5

In that location are v chief branches in the piece. Continue cartoon the rest of the primary branches following the process outlined to a higher place. Those that are arranged towards the back should be lighter and more desaturated. Those towards the front should be darker, with more full-bodied color.

Palette for dorsum primary branches.

Footstep 6

We'll now be tackling the thinner branches at the superlative left of the pic. Using the Pen Tool, depict the outline of the branch, Fill up it with a medium greyness, and set the Opacity to eighty%.

Step 7

Use the Pen Tool to describe the fill shape, and so brand the Fill color a lighter grey than the branch outline.

Step 8

Using the Pen Tool, draw the outline for the second sparse branch, and so create a groundwork shape and Fill information technology in with gray.

Step 9

Employ the Mesh Tool to shade both sparse branches for a watercolor effect. Y'all'll be using the same colors that y'all used on the dorsum thick branches.

Slope mesh colour palette for thin branches.

Step 10

There are a total of eleven bloom buds in my final piece, but of course you lot can add as many or as few as y'all similar. Use the Pen Tool to draw the shapes of the flower buds.

Step xi

Use theMesh Tool to shade each bud. For these buds, you don't need to add complex mesh anchor points; only adding one on each bud is fine. Utilise a lighter red graduating to a darker reddish groundwork.

Step 12

Arrange the buds along the sparse branches.

Stride 13

Adjust the thick branches and thin branches on the artboard.

Step 14

The construction is still a niggling loose, so nosotros'll want to add a few additional branches to fill it out. We'll be creating about ten of these piffling branches to fill up out the disconnected spaces betwixt the leaves. And then allow'due south do the first ane: using thePen Tool, describe the branch shape.

Step 15

Go toEffect > Stylize > Plumage and set theFeather Radius to0.3 mm (0.1 inches).

Outcome > Stylize > Plumage > set Feather Radius to 0.3 mm (0.i inches)

Footstep 16

In theTransparency console, alter theBlending Mode toMultiply.

Transparency panel: Prepare Blend Way to Multiply

Step 17

Echo the steps in a higher place, filling in the blank spaces betwixt the leaves.

The main body of the painting is now done! We'll finish up past adding some final touches for dissimilarity: a butterfly and a rock.

7. How to Draw the Butterfly

Pace 1

Because the butterfly serves as a contrast to the main trunk of the painting, we don't demand to make it excessively complicated.

Using the Pen Tool, draw the outline of the butterfly and Fill it with black.

Step 2

Select the whole outline, and go to Event > Stylize > Plumage. Set up the plumage radius to 0.iii mm (0.ane inches).  Then in the Transparency panel, set up the Blending Mode to Multiply.

Step 3

Using the Pen Tool, draw the groundwork fill shape for the torso.

Step 4

Using the Mesh Tool, color in the body. I'm using splashes of brilliant colors fading into gray for an iridescent event.

Step 5

Arrange the body on a layer that'southward over the wings, simply nether the arms and legs.

Step half dozen

Using the Pen Tool, draw the background make full shape for the wings.

Step 7

Using the Mesh Tool, color the background shape of the wings, and arrange beneath the wing outlines.

eight. How to Describe the Rock

Step 1

At present for our finishing affect: the rock. In Bird and Flower paintings, yous'll often come across this type of rockery used as dissimilarity so that the picture feels more complete. When drawing the rock, the outline strokes are done using Illustrator'southward native brushes to simulate a calligraphic dry ink castor effect. For the color, we'll be using our old friend, the Mesh Tool.

Let's tackle this last item together.

I'm using three different methods to create the different strokes of the rock outline. For the selected strokes below, I used the Pen Tool to draw a path and practical a castor to that path.

Using the Pen Tool, draw three split up paths.

Step 2

Open theBrushes panel (F5)and selectVector Packs > Grunge Brush Vector Pack > Grunge Castor Vector Pack 06, and apply that brush to the paths.

Step three

For the top and bottom strokes, nosotros'll use the Pen Tool to draw the shape of the stroke and the Mesh Tool to add together colour. Using the Pen Tool, draw the shapes as shown below.

Step iv

Using the Mesh Tool, apply dark colour to the top and lesser strokes.

Step 5

Now for the central strokes. Utilize thePen Tool to draw the shape of the path, color it, and and so apply theFeather effect (Effect > Stylize > Feather > Plumage Radius 0.3 mm / 0.one in).

Step 6

Use the Pen Tool to depict greyness background shapes, and place those backside the strokes.

Step 7

Utilise the Mesh Tool to apply color to the background shapes in shades of green and gray.

Nice Piece of work!

Finally, identify the rock and the butterfly in the system, and you're done!

The techniques used in this tutorial—peculiarly the pairing of feathered top-strokes with mesh-colored shape layers—can be used to recreate a whole school of traditional East Asian art in vector format.

Interested in learning more than nigh traditional Bird and Flower paintings? Bank check out these resource for a look at some of the great masters:

• Wu Changshuo (1844–1927): A bird and blossom revivalist
• Xu Wei(1521–1593): The Van Gogh of Bird and Blossom paintings and a chip of an early women's rights advocate
• Emperor Vocal Huizong (1082–1135): A bad strategist, a bang-up artist

Permit's take a last await at our completed slice and the mesh outlines:

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Source: https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-traditional-chinese-bird-and-flower-painting-in-adobe-illustrator--cms-27767

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