Basic Male Cartoon Bodies

Cartooning can become addictive! In this tutorial we are going to create the cartoon body above.

For each shape we create we need a foreground style set to black and the background style to whatever color you'd like unless otherwise noted. We also will be working with vector shapes.

Create a new blank image 400x400 pixels. Create a new vector layer. Click the Shapes icon on the tool palette and choose the rectangle shape. Draw a rectangle on your new layer and from the Image menu choose Flip.

Click on the Vector Selection tool on the Tool Palette and choose Node Edit on the Tool Options palette.  You will see three nodes. Right click on each and select Node Type>Asymmetric. Once you've done that will all three nodes you should have a shape similar to below.

Copy the first shape (Edit>Copy) and Paste as a New Layer (Edit>Paste as New Layer). From the Image menu choose flip. Drag the bottom resize handle up to shorten the shape as shown below.

Create a new vector layer. Using the Ellipse shape create a foot and position it. Copy it and paste it as a new layer to create the second foot and position it.

Choose one of the triangle shapes you've already created, copy it and paste it to a new layer. Flip and position as necessary to achieve the effect below.

Create a new vector layer. Create a contrasting triangle, flip it and position it as shown below.

Congratulations! You have just created a basic male cartoon body type. Add a head and some hands you have a full character.

When you're all done you can save each body shape to the Shapes library for use later. To do that:

1. Select all the pieces of your body.
2. Right click on the body and choose Group.
3. On the Tool Options palette choose Properties and name the Group.
    I usually name it the same as I am going to name the group for the library.
4. From the File menu choose Export>Shape.
5. Name the Shape.
6. Paint Shop Pro will create the shape in the shapes library so you'll always have it handy without having to recreate it.

Copyright Vikki Olds, All Rights Reserved