How to Create a Cute Cat Character in Adobe Illustrator

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

In the following steps, you will learn how to create a cute cat character in Adobe Illustrator.

For starters, you will learn how to set up a simple grid and how to create the main shapes of the head using basic shapes along with some Warp and Rounded Corners effects. Using a simple blend, the Inner Glow effect and some Gaussian Blur effects, you will learn how to add shading and depth for your flat vector shapes.

Moving on, you will learn how the Transform effect can make your work easier, and how to add some neat shading effects using the Appearance panel. Using some stroke tricks, you will create some nice eyebrows and whiskers. Finally, you will learn how to create a pretty simple paw pattern.

For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final character, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.

1. How to Create a New Document and Set Up a Grid

Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 700 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.

Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). For starters, you will need a grid every 10 px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid, and enter 10 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid—it will make your work easier, and keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control-" keyboard shortcut.

You can learn more about Illustrator's grid system in this short tutorial from Andrei Stefan: Understanding Adobe Illustrator's Grid System.

You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don't forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.

2. How to Create the Head

Step 1

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and focus on your Toolbar. Remove the color from the stroke and then select the fill and set its color to R=241 G=119 B=44. Move to your artboard and simply create a 400 x 300 px shape—the gird and the Snap to Grid should make this easier. Place this squeezed circle about as shown in the following image.

Step 2

Now, you will need a grid every 5 px. Simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 5 in the Gridline every box.

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create two 100 x 40 px shapes and place them exactly as shown in the following image. Once again, the grid and the Snap to Grid will help. Fill both shapes with yellow (R=251 G=176 B=59) and then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 20 px Radius and then click OK.

Step 3

Make sure that your yellow rectangles are still selected and Group them (Control-G). With this newly made group selected, go to Effect > Warp > Bulge. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and then click OK.

Make a copy of your group (Control-C > Control-V) and place it exactly as shown in the second image.

Step 4

Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), create three 40 x 100 px shapes, and place them exactly as shown in the following image. Fill these shapes with that same yellow and then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 20 px Radius and then click OK.

Step 5

Group your three rectangles (Control-G) and then go to Effect > Warp > Bulge. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and then click OK.

Step 6

Select all the shapes made so far and Group them (Control-G). Make sure that this new group is selected and go to Effect > Warp > Fisheye. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and then go to Object > Expand Appearance.

With the resulting group of shapes selected, hit Shift-Control-G three times to Ungroup all those groups and subgroups. In the end, you should have seven yellow shapes and one orange.

Step 7

Select your seven yellow shapes and turn them into one compound path (Control-8 or Object > Compound Path > Make). Select the orange shape and add a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F). Select it along with your yellow compound path, open the Pathfinder panel, (Window > Pathfinder) and click the Intersect button.

Be sure that the resulting group of shapes is selected and turn it into a new compound path. Select it and focus on the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance). First, replace the existing fill color with R=152 G=78 B=255 and then click that Opacity piece of text to open the Transparency fly-out panel and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 8

Disable the Snap to Grid (Shift-Control-") and then go to Edit > Preferences > General and make sure that the Keyboard Increment is set to 1 px.

Select your orange shape, make a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F), and bring it to front (Shift-Control-]). Select this copy, replace the orange with yellow, and then go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -5 px Offset and then click OK. Fill the resulting shape with a random blue and then move it 10 px up using the Up Arrow button on your keyboard.

Reselect both shapes made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with black (R=0 G=0 B=0), lower its Opacity to 5%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 9

Select your orange shape, make a new copy in front (Control-C > Control-F), and bring it to front (Shift-Control-]). Make sure that this copy stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.

Remove the color from the fill and then select the stroke. Set the color to black, lower its Opacity to 5%, change the Blending Mode to Soft Light, and then click that Stroke piece of text to open the Stroke fly-out panel. Set the Weight to 20 px, and don't forget to check that Align Stroke to Inside button.

Step 10

Set the fill color to blue and then go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and then go to Object > Expand Appearance.

Make sure that the resulting group remains selected and focus on the Layers panel. Open the existing layer, take a closer look at your selected group, and then Ungroup it (Shift-Control-G). Delete the blue shape and select the remaining masked shape.

Move to the Appearance panel or the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency), lower the Opacity to 30%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Return to the Layers panel and simply lock your masked shape to make sure that you won't accidentally select or move it later.

Step 11

Enable the Snap to Grid (Control-"). Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 200 x 50 px shape and place it as shown in the following image. Fill this squeezed circle with white (R=255 G=255 B=255), lower its Opacity to 50%, change the Blending Mode to Soft Light, and then go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 20 px Radius and click OK.

Step 12

Disable the Snap to Grid (Control-"). Select your orange shape and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -120 px Offset and click OK. Select the resulting shape, move it 20 px up, and replace the existing fill color with R=243 G=158 B=93.

Focus on your Toolbar and simply double-click on the Blend Tool to open the Blend Options window. Select Specified Steps from the Spacing drop-down menu and enter 50 in that white box. Reselect your orange shape along with the one made in this step and hit Alt-Control-B to create a new blend. In the end, things should look like in the second image.

Step 13

Focus on the Layers panel. First, lock the existing layer and rename it "Head". Use that Create New Layer button to add a second layer, rename it "Eyes", and select it.

Enable the Snap to Grid (Control-"). Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 90 x 100 px shape, fill it with blue, and place it exactly as shown in the following image.