Santa Cartoon
(Advance Vector Tutorial)

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A nice Santa cartoon is now the subject of this new drawing lesson! Indeed, it doesn't matter whether you are in the middle of winter or relaxing under the sun. Drawing a fun cartoon character like Santa is always a pleasure!

Don't forget that this tutorial is strictly based on adding nice shadows and reflection to a simple character. You don't need to draw a detailed illustration to come up with something clean with a touch of 3D.



Step 1

Santa cartoon
Santa cartoon

First, create your illustration using a few basic shapes. Don't forget to add small details like the hat, the belt, the beard and long shoes. Once you are finished, add plain colors on each shape of the drawing. Great! The character looks good, but we can definitely add a few more effects to make it even better! 

Step 2

Santa cartoon
Santa cartoon

Once again, select each shape one-by-one and grab the gradient tool. Your goal is to create a simple shadow on each part of the body using both a darker and lighter version of the color already available on your shape. Don't forget that the light is coming from above in the illustration so the bottom of each shape of the Santa cartoon must be darker.

Step 3

Santa cartoon
Santa cartoon

Nice! Now we need to create additional shapes that will be used to create darker shadows in a few places that needs to be easier to read. Create one under the hat, another one under the beard and moustache and finally a few circles on the eyes to create reflection. Don't hesitate to use transparency to hide the part of the shadow that is closer to the source of light.

Step 4

Santa cartoon
Santa cartoon

Repeat the same process for the white stripe on the hat, the left part of the moustache, the bottom part of the beard and the shoes. Remember that you should use a similar tone of color than the shape available below for this to work properly.

Step 5

Santa cartoon
Santa cartoon

Finally, create more shadows on the top part of the hat, the left part of the face and the side of the body. Great job! Now we do have a nice Santa cartoon filled with vivid colors and great shapes. As you can see, this character is fun to draw even in the middle of summer! 

If you are not 100% sure about the techniques described in this tutorial, don't hesitate to read this page. I will show you a few tips that I use to create this cartoon character and it will be easier for you to go through the whole process! Enjoy! :)

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