Hello everybody! In today’s tutorial I’ll show you how to draw a female cartoon character in Photoshop.

So lets get started.

Open a new document in Photoshop and fill the background with color #e5d48f. Then create a new layer above the background, name it “Sketch” and start sketching the general shape of our character (I prefer to sketch directly in Photoshop but if you feel more comfortable drawing on paper then do it that way).

Now add a new layer, name it “Face”, grab the pen tool and trace around the face. Fill the path with #f7c79b.

On two separate layers draw the eyes using pen tool and fill with #fbfbf3.

Again using pen tool and color #38c2f5 draw the irises (each on a separate layer). Use color #161819 for pupils (again on a separate layers).

  

Using Ellipse tool and white color draw light reflections and lower the opacity to around 85%.

Add a new layer and name it “Eyelashes-up”. Using Pen tool create a path like shown below:

Then click on the brush tool to activate it and make these settings:

Choose #161819 for foreground color. Now switch back to the pen tool, right click and choose “stroke path” from the drop-down menu.

In the stroke dialog choose “Brush” and hit OK.

Using pen tool draw two shapes like shown below, fill them with #161819 and you’ve done with the upper eyelashes.

Create a new layer for the lower eyelashes, draw a path and stroke it with the settings used for the upper eyelashes. Repeat the same steps for the right eye.

       

Next draw the eyelids and nose  using pen tool and color #996536.

Now add a new layer and name it “Teeth”. Select the Pen tool and draw the teeth using color #fcfbfa. On separate layers draw the lips using color #f30638.

  

Next draw the neck with the pen tool and the same color as face. Add some shadow with color #a67e59. Place “Neck” and “Shadow” layers below the “Face” layer

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On a new layer draw the top and fill with color #8e0789.

Add a new layer for the arm. Draw the arm with the pen tool and the same color as face and neck.

Now on a new layer draw the skirt and fill with color #4e4740.

Now add a new layer and name it “Hair-up”. Using the Pen tool draw a shape like shown below and fill with color #6b3e17:

Next on a new layer and again using the pen tool and the same color, draw the other part of the hair. Name this layer “Hair-down” and move it below the “Face” layer.

Create a new layer and name it “Ponytail”. Draw the ponytail with the pen tool and fill the path with the same color as the other parts of the hair.

Next on a new layer draw the hair band with color #f30638.

Now lets add some final touches.

Duplicate the “Hair-up” layer and move it below the original layer. Now add a drop shadow using these settings:

Add a layer mask and using the brush tool and black color, brush over the unwanted parts.

Create a new layer above the “Face” and name it “Cheek”. Now with the Ellipse tool and color white draw a small ellipse on her cheek. Reduce the opacity to 11%. Duplicate the ellipse and move it to the other cheek. Adjust the size and position using the free transform tool. Now hold down Command/Ctrl and click on the “Face” layer to load the selection. Inverse the selection (Select>Inverse).  Make sure you’re on the duplicated “Cheek” layer and hit Delete.

Next create a new layer above the “Lips” and using the pen tool and color white draw two shapes like shown below:

Add a new layer above the “Hair-up” and name it “Shades”. Grab the pen tool and draw a path like shown below:

Stroke the path with color #523012 and hard round brush with these settings:

  

Repeat the steps several times adjusting brush size for each shade.

Add these layer styles to the “Hair Band” layer:

Select the “Top” layer and add these layer styles:

Now add a new layer and draw some shadows using pen tool and color #82067d.

Add a new layer above the “Skirt” and draw the shadow with color #36302b.

Click on the “Arm” layer to select it. Now add the following layer styles:

Apply the layer styles (create a new empty layer below the “Arm” layer and merge them) and create a selection like shown below:

Hide the background layer and press Cmd + Opt + Shift + E (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E on PC) to copy all visible layers. Name the newly created layer “Character”. Make the background layer visible again and hide all other layers except the background and the “Character”.

Add an outer glow to the “Character” layer using the settings below:

Finally add a gradient overlay to the background layer with these settings:

And that’s it!

Final result: