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Members Area Tutorial: How to Create a Fitness Girl

Character in Adobe Illustrator
October 3, 2016 | Diana Toma | Character Design

In this new tutorial you will learn how to create a fitness girl character in Adobe
Illustrator.

Improve your drawing skills or put them to the test by following this tutorial and learn
how to draw a fitness girl character in Adobe Illustrator. Some people love the Pen Tool,
some people hate it and some don’t understand it but practice is the key. Let’s make the
Pen Tool your best friend by the end of this tutorial.

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Final Image
As always, this is the final image that we’ll be creating:
Tutorial Details
• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS5
• Estimated Completion Time: 2 hours
• Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate

Step 1
Launch Illustrator and go to File > New in order to open a blank document. Type a
name for your file and set up the dimensions then select Pixels as Units and RGB as
Color Mode. Also, uncheck Align New Objects to Pixel Grid. Next, go to Edit >
Preferences > General and set the Keyboard Increment to 1 px and while there, also
go to Units and make sure that they are set as in the following image. I usually work
with these settings and they will help you throughout the drawing process.
Step 2
Start with a rounded rectangle having the dimensions shown.
Step 3
Draw a 41 x 50 px rectangle right under the first shape; then go to Effect > Warp >
Shell Lower and apply a 20% Horizontal Bend. The fill colors are not important at this
point.

Step 4
Next, draw two 36 x 100 px ellipses and arrange them under the rectangle as in the
following image.
Step 5
Draw other two ellipses but smaller, 24 x 84 px and arrange them as shown below.
Step 6
Now, focus on the first rounded rectangle. Grab the Add Anchor Point Tool (+) and
add a lot more points on the path. Switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) and distort
this shape by moving these points individually and rotate their handles until you get a
shape like in the image below. Fill the new shape with the color indicated and name it
“chest”.

Step 7
Now, select the blue rectangle and from the Object menu choose Expand Appearance
and Ungroup (Shift-Control-G) if necessary. Use the Add Anchor Point Tool (+) again
to add more points along the path and using the Direct Selection Tool (A) distort this
shape by moving these points and rotate their handles. Fill the new shape with the same
beige color and name it “waist”.
Step 8
Grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw the shape of the neck right above the “chest” as in the
following image. Now, select the “neck”, “chest” and “waist” and press Unite in the
Pathfinder panel in order to obtain a single shape. Name the new shape “upper body”.

Step 9
Next, grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw the shape of the legs using the four ellipses as
reference. This will take a while but take your time and draw around the ellipses and
don’t forget that you can make extra adjustments at any time with the Direct Selection
Tool (A). When you are happy with the result, name the shape “legs” and fill it with the
same beige color.
Step 10
Now, focus on the upper body (1) and draw the arm (2) with the Pen Tool (P) and then
continue with the forearm and the hand (3).
Step 11
Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw four small paths between the fingers. Select a 1 pt Stroke
and the Width Profile 5 in the Stroke panel. The thinner side of the brush should be at
the top and the thicker side should be at the bottom. If not, press the Flip Along option
in the Stroke panel.
Step 12
Draw a path with the Pen Tool (P) to define the area where the arm is bent. Select a 1 pt
Stroke and the Width Profile 4 in Stroke panel. If the brush is flipped, press the Flip
Along option again.
Step 13
Next, draw the other arm (1) and after that, the shape of the fist (2) followed by the
thumb (3). Use the same beige color to fill the arm but for the thumb use a slightly
darker shade.
Step 14
Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw three small paths to define the fingers. Select a 0.5 pt
Stroke and the Width Profile 4. The tip of the brush should be at the top and the
thicker side of the brush should be at the bottom. If not, press the Flip Along option in
the Stroke panel.
Step 15
To create a shadow between the fist and the arm, draw a shape like in the following
image. Fill it with the color indicated and reduce the Opacity to 30%. Send this shape
behind the fist but in front of the arm.

Step 16
To create the fold on the arm, draw a curved path as shown below. Select a 0.75 pt
Stroke and the Width Profile 4 in the Stroke panel.
Step 17
Let’s create the sports bra. Start by drawing a curved path above the waist (1). Now,
select the “upper body” and then Copy and Paste in Front (Control-F) in order to create
a copy of it (2). Having this copy selected along with the path, press Divide in the
Pathfinder panel and then Ungroup (Shift-Control-G). As a result you will get two
separate shapes. Fill the shape at the top with bright pink and delete the shape at the
bottom because you don’t need it.
 Tags
adobe illustrator character design vector

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