Johanna's cute Path Bird Tutorial for PI6

This bird is created using mainly Path Shapes and the Path Drawing Tool. To Start, Create a New Image - 300 x 300 pixels and Click on the Color box to select a black background (you'll be able to see what you're doing better).
Using the Path Tool, click on the Path Drawing Tool to activate it. The body of our bird will be mainly an off-white, so click on the Color box and enter the RGB values 248, 241, 230. In Mode, make sure it's set at 2D Object. Click on Shape/Custom Shape and scroll down until you see Raindrop. Select it and click OK. You're now ready to make the bird's head. As you drag to size, watch the Status Bar on the lower left side of the PI window. Once it hits about 53x86, let go.
The bird's head is facing the wrong way, so we need to rotate it to the proper angle. Make sure it's still activated and click on the Transform Tool. Change the Rotate by Degree to 120 and click Rotate Clockwise. We need to make the bird's body now, so repeat what you did for the head, but make it about 2 times bigger in size. (I've made the body a little darker here so you can see how they fit together.) Once the two pieces are positioned correctly, select from the Menu Bar, Object/Select All Objects, then Right Click and select Merge as Single Object. With the bird shape still activated, from the Tool Panel, click on the Retouch Tool, open it and select the Burn Tool. Gently outline the bird to give it some definition. OR, you can use the Paint Tool/Airbrush to lightly outline in a shade of pale brown so you can see where the rest of the bird's parts are suppose to go..
Now it's time that this bird got his wings. Press on your keyboard's Space Bar to DE-select your bird shape. Click on the Path Tool/Shapes/Custom Shapes and scroll down to Raindrop. Click OK and pull your new shape till it reaches about 37x98 in size. Position it over the bird, then while it's still active, click on the Transform Tool because we need to stretch it and rotate it. Set the Rotate by Degree to 50 and click the Rotate Clockwise button. Now click the Freely Transform/Resize button and stretch the wing upward so it becomes around 113w x 99h. Press on your keyboard's Space Bar to DE-select everything. Don't merge the shapes yet. We now have the wing "body", but we need to add feathers.
Click the Path Tool/Shape/Custom shape and scroll down to Brush Tip 2. Click OK. Pull the shape till it reaches about 24x69. While this new shape is still active, click the Editing button so we can edit this path shape. You may want to zoom in to about 200 so you can see it better... While the shape is in edit mode (you'll see little boxes around it-make sure the Toggle button is pushed in), click the bottom line of the feather shape to activate it, then click Convert Line/Convert Path to Curve Segment. You'll see that the bottom line has now changed from a straight line to a curve. It's too "fat", so we need to make it skinnier. Click the Pick Tool button (that arrow under the Toggle Button) to take it out of Edit mode. Click the Transform Tool button, make sure Freely Transform/ Resize is selected and push in the side till the feather is about 16 x 72. The Rotate by Degree is still at 50. Leave it at that, but this time click the Rotate Counterclockwise button. Click on the Pick Tool, right click on your feather to open the menu, then click on Duplicate. Repeat this until you've got enough feathers going up the feather's "body" You'll need to use the Transform, Rotate to adjust the feather's angle near the tip. For the tail feathers, use another one of the duplicated wing feathers and make it longer by using the Transform tool. You'll need a few (depending on how full you want the tail to be), so duplicate them and use the Transform/Rotate tool to position them the way you like. Select from the Menu Bar, Object/Select All Objects, then Right Click and select Merge as Single Object.
Now that you have the shape of the bird, it's time to give it some detail. Click on the Zoom Tool so you can see better (it's the button on the Tool Panel that looks like a magnifying glass). While your bird shape is active, click on the Paint/Airbrush button. Use the Round Brush (that's it default setting anyway), size 10, Transparent 25, Soft Edge 75 and shade in to accentuate the wing and tail feathers etc. I used brown - 128, 97, 47. Blend lightly using the Retouch/Smudge tool. At this point, you can start to add as much detail as you want or you can wait till the end. You can add some highlights...just think about where your "light" is coming from and use some white here and there. Remember to blend as you change colours. I won't go into detail here...that's up to you-the goal is to make it look natural. :) Press on your keyboard's Space Bar to DE-select your bird shape.
This bird still can't see or eat, so he needs an eye and beak. For the eye, click on Path Tool/, Path Drawing Tool to activate it. Click on Shape/Custom Shape and scroll down until you see Raindrop. Select it and click OK. From the Colour box, change the colour to White. Now make a small eye. Using the Transform Tool, Rotate by Degree/50, click on the Rotate Clockwise button to make the eye slant upwards the proper way. Move it over the bird's "cheek". We need to outline it, so while the eye is still active, click Paint Tool/Paintbrush and change the settings to Size 1, Colour Black, Transparent 0, Soft Edge 0. Click the Pick Tool Button (that arrow again) then, on the Menu Bar, click Effect/Paint on Edges. Press on your keyboard's Space Bar to DE-select your bird shape. Next, click on the Path Tool/, Path Drawing Tool to activate it. Click Shape/Circle and change the colour to black. Draw a small circle to fit inside the eye. Press on your keyboard's Space Bar to DE-select the circle. Make another TINY circle, this time white, and put in on the black circle to use as a highlight.
To make the beak, click on the Path Tool/, Path Drawing Tool, then Shape/Custom Shape and scroll down until you see Arrow 2. Click on it and choose OK. From the Colour box, choose the browny/gold colour-second from the bottom left. Make the beak about 38x16. From the Menu Bar, choose Edit/Rotate and Flip/Flip Horizontally and then Flip Vertically. Then Right Click on the Beak, choose Arrange/Send to Back. The beak is still at the wrong angle, so click Transform/Rotate by Degree/20/Counterclockwise. Use the Pick Tool to move the beak to the correct place on the bird's head. To make this birdie all one piece, on the Menu Bar, select Object/Select all Objects then Right Click and choose Merge as Single Object.
To finish him off, click on the Zoom Tool/300 so we can blend his new beak info his face. Click on the bird to activate, then from the Retouch Tools, choose Smudge. Set it to 10 and gently drag the beak colour into the face. Using the Airbrush, add some highlight and shading. Don't forget to add a little black dot for his nostril. Tweak him with shading, highlights etc. to make him more customized. You can even make it a different colour. Oh, and don't forget to give him/her a name! TIP - The CORRECT way to name your files: When creating files, use all lower case, no spaces and as little digits as possible. Hyphen may be used in place of a space. EXAMPLE: painted-dove.jpg (or .gif) or for BW Projects: project-number-yourname.gif Top of Page